The repulsive story of my Archos Jukebox
Written: Jul 10 '01
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Pros: Nothing is good since this thing only lasts 2 weeks.
Cons: Made in China products will never last.
The Bottom Line: This is the biggest piece of junk. The Jukebox broke and I lost all my Mp3s because of a bumpy car ride. Never will I buy another Archos product.
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| audioplanets's Full Review: Archos Jukebox Studio (20 GB) MP3 Player |
The Initial Problem
I bought my Archos Jukebox 6000 about 2 weeks ago. I always kept it in good condition and never have I dropped it on the ground. Yesterday I was in my car and using this product with a car set that I have. Everything was working fine until we hit a bumpy section of the road. It was just some pot holes here and there but nothing unusual. The jukebox was placed on a seat and all of a sudden it started skipping. I figured it wasn't anything serious and probably was skipping due to the road. That's where the problem started.
I turned off my Archos when it started skipping and when we got on the highway where it was a smooth ride, I turned it back on again. This time, it wouldn't turn on fully. It would reach the screen that says "Jukebox 6 gig version 4.53g" and just stop. It wouldn't get to the main screen where all my mp3s were stored. I then tried to turn it off and restarting it and the outcome was the same. So then I figured it must be running low on batteries. Thus, I unplugged the jukebox and stored it in the glove compartment.
When I got home, I decided to plug the jukebox into the ac adapter that came with this product and see if it would work then. Result was the same! The Archos wouldn't get past that start up screen! That's when I got worried and my last hope of getting this thing to work was to plug it into my PC and see if I could access the hard drive from there. Everything was fine when I plugged this thing in, but when I went to "My Computer," I noticed that the Archos drive was no longer known as the "ARCHOS" drive but now my comp reads it as "Local Disk (E:)." I then decided to double click on the drive and it said "Drive not formatted, would you like to format it now?" I clicked the "NO" button hoping that maybe some of my MP3s would be saved.
I then unplugged the jukebox from the PC and tried once again turning it on. This time the jukebox actually got to the main screen where all my MP3s are supposed to stored. However, instead of showing all my folders and all the mp3s I had, it said "Empty." I then proceeded to browse the menu and see if the settings I had were still there. The result was everything seemed to be set back to default.
My Contacts With Customer Support (AND THE AGGRIVATION)
My Jukebox problem got even more complicated when I tried getting it fixed. I first emailed Archos Tech Support, but after 4 days and no response, I decided I had to call them. Before I called them, I realized that their telephone number wasn’t a 1-800 number! I live in NJ and their Tech Support is in California which means that I would have to probably spend $20 on a long distance phone call just to get my product fixed. Despite this, I decided that I had to call because I had no other way of getting my jukebox fixed.
When I called Archos, I was received by an operator who transferred me to the Tech Department. I ended up waiting on hold for 30 minutes. Remember, this was a long distance call for me so this 30 minute wait probably costed me $10. Eventually, I was received by someone in their Tech Department. I explained my problem to him and the only answer he could give me was that I probably had a lose hard drive and that my Jukebox was defective. However, he told me that he would call their Engineering Department in France tomorrow morning and see if there was anyway to save my files. I had 3 GIGS on my Jukebox and not all of those files were saved on my hard drive. I was told that he would call me back the following day at 1 PM with a solution.
The following day, I patiently waited for my phone call. I waited for nearly 4 hours from 1 to 5 and still no call from Archos!!! Finally, I decided to call them up and see what I could do to fix my mp3 player. At the time, it was Tuesday and I was scheduled to leave for a 10 day vacation on Saturday morning so I wanted to get this problem resolved so I would be able to use my Jukebox for during my vacation. Well when I finally got through with the Tech Department, they told me that my Jukebox was defective (like I didn’t know that already) and that it was supposed to be a problem that has recently occurred in many of their Jukeboxes. They then told me to send my Jukebox to them because their Engineering Department in France wanted to take a look at my Jukebox and find out what was causing the recent problems in their Jukeboxes. They then told me that once they receive my Jukebox, they would immediately send me a BRAND NEW ONE with OVERNIGHT DELIVERY. Because I only had 4 days till my departure for my vacation, I decided to go to my UPS drop off center immediately and send Archos my Jukebox. Because of my shortage of time, I decided to use 2 day delivery. This way, the Jukebox would arrive at Archos on Thursday and if they do what they say, I should be able to receive my Jukebox on Friday with their overnight delivery. Well, as you can probably guess, I never received my Jukebox on Friday so I was forced to spend my 10 day vacation without much of my Mp3s.
When I came back from my 10 day retreat, my neighbor (who signed for the Jukebox when I was away) gave me the supposedly “new” Jukebox sent to me from Archos. Before I opened the package, I read the receipt from the delivery company (Airborne Express) and it said that the package was sent on Monday. Archos Tech Dept. told me that they would send me the package immediately when they receive it which meant that it should’ve been sent on THURSDAY!!! Then what angered me more was that instead of using overnight delivery, those cheap b*stards used ground shipping! However, my pain was no to end there. I opened the package and the first thing I noticed was that it was the very same package I sent to them! I then took at the Jukebox they sent back and lone and behold, it was the very same one I sent to them. I was able to identify this because the serial number on the back was the excate same thing and a very tiny scratch I had on the side of the Jukebox was still there. Apparently, they did not keep their word in sending me a brand new Jukebox, but hey they didn’t keep their word on many other things so this wasn’t so shocking to me. Evidently, they never even opened the Jukebox to fix the internal problem. All they did was formatted my hard drive and sent it right back to me. I was knew that they never did the internal correction because the warranty seal that covers one of the screws that must be loosened in order to open the Jukebox was still there.
I have never heard of such a sleazy company in my life!!! For a nearly $300 product, you would expect good quality and service (by the way, Archos Inc. is a French run company which is why they offer costumer support in French and English). But of course, when was the last time the French could be trusted for their promises? Arrrrrrrr, the more I write about my experience with Archos the angrier I get. Oh and by the way, Archos Jukebox is made in China. Since when do products that are made in China last for a respectable time? And one more thing, the sound quality on this Jukebox is HORRID!
This must be the worst thing I've ever bought! My $300 went to complete waste and I will return this product and get a Treo Player or a Nomad Jukebox. I’m sure those products will last more than 2 weeks.
To all those who has bought or will buy an Archos product in the future, in the words of Mr. T…
“I PITY THE FOOL!”
A disgruntled Archos victim,
-Randolph Zhao
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 300
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Epinions.com ID:
audioplanets
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Location: NJ, USA
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 1 member
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