9 month old Zen Micro with the headphone jack problem

So, I've been putting up with the headphone jack problem for a few months now, and i've finally decided to get it repaired or fixed. I emailed Creative a few months back and they told me to send it in. My question is, since I am out of warranty, will they repair the unit or send me a whole new one all together?
thanks,
mike

Actually, I just sent in my 7-month old Micro in b/c of the headphone jack problem and they sent me a brand new shrink-wrapped one. They <EM>didn't </EM>charge me for anything. All I had to do was wait 2 weeks for them to send it back to me (grueling but doable) and pay about 2.44 for shipping the micro to them. So now I'd have three batteries if it weren't for the fact that one of them swelled up; I have NO IDEA how that happened. So yeah I guess the point of the post is that you don't get charged anything even if you're out of the 90-day labor warranty.

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New Zen Micros and the headphone jack prob

I unfortunately had one of the zen micros with the headphone jack that ceased to work. Has this flaw been fixed in the new ones?

SSR wrote:
The charge is likely to be expensi've, but as this is the second time it's failed and as the warranty has just ended try pursuing a repair under warranty with support.
repair under warranty with support? how do i go about? im located in Singapore, any website or support number to call for Singapore side? thanks.

My Zen Micro story: Busted Headphone Jack, Need Adv

First of all, I'd like to apologize beforehand for posting a topic on the headphone jack problem. I've been visiting these forums for almost two months and by now you're all probably tired of hearing about the Zen Micro's headphone jack, yada yada yada. But with that over, here's the story of my Zen Micro experience.
I got it about two months ago from Fry's Electronics. Silver 5 GB, not bad. I was really happy using it until I stumbled upon this discussion board and realized the extent of this headphone jack problem. So being the dumb "who-needs-tech-support" kinda guy I am, I opened up my Zen on the third day of having it, breaking the warranty seal in the process (big mistake). I 'fixed' the headphone jack problem by sticking a little piece of folded up paper in the metal plate holding down the jack, hoping that by doing it early the problem would never come up.
Well, two months go by and by now I've opened it again a few times just for fun, and to 'check' on the headphone jack to see if my fix did any good. Well, three days ago, I decided to open it up again and document the steps with pictures. Everything went fine, though I lost one of the two top screws in the top that you must unscrew before opening the player. Oh well, no biggie, I thought, I could always get some more at the Home Depot or something.
So that night I plug in my headphones to listen to music, and to my utter horror, the sound only comes out of one side of the headphones. I'm not sure if this is because of ) the missing screw, 2) something I did wrong while taking it apart, or 3) just the problem finally randomly surfacing like in most cases. This is when I tell myself, "Crap, you really did it now. There goes $200." I frantically open it up again and stick another piece of paper between the plate and the jack and screw that plate in really, really, tightly. I am a little relieved to find that the sound is back in both sides, though if I push hard on the headphone connector a certain way the sound will disappear in the right side.
After thinking about it, I decided that the only way to go was to get a replacement. I had read a tutorial on how to fix the headphone jack problem using epoxy and paper, only to have the maker of that tutorial report that the headphone jack problem had happened anyway (a month later). He also mentioned that even with a busted warranty, he had managed to get a replacement Zen Micro free of charge. This gave me hope.
At any rate, I fired off an RMA request on Creative's site just to see what they would say. I admitted that the warranty seal was busted. They emailed back an obviously pre-written response that gave me vague instructions on how to ship my Zen for a replacement. My questions are the following:
) What are the implications of my broken warranty? Is there any way I can receive a replacement without buying a whole new one? I really like my Zen Micro, as I'm sure many of you do too.
2) Have any of you guys had a similar experience with RMAing? How does the whole thing work?
3) The only person I have ever heard of with a Zen Micro lasting more than 6 months without the headphone jack problem coming up is Jeremy, one of the moderators here. The jack problem IS a general design flaw, isn't it's What should I say if Creative blames the headphone jack problem on 'abuse' or something like that? Should I let them charge me for fixing it, etc.
Thank you all, so much. I know that was a lot to read, but I have been so happy with my Zen Micro up until this point that I really want this to end well. You guys have been a great help to me these last two months already. I appreciate it a lot. -Willy CMessage Edited by beefqube on 0-22-2005 08:22 AM

Did you find out how much it would cost because of the void warranty?
If you do want to lie to them, you are on your own in this issue.
You can do what one guy suggested on buying a new micro and returning your old one. Which is wrong ethically and morally.
If you have experience in soldering or know someone that can do so might be helpful. There should be some threads about soldering it back to normal.
Well if this my situations I really don't know what to do. Since if I do send it to Creative and that my warranty is still in effet, I still have to pay $25 and my own shipping/handling charges. It would only be replaced and I don't believe they actually repair it. That $25 goes to labor cost, which is something I don't understand when they give you a replacement, where is the labor in that?
But if I did lose my warranty and Creative won't take it or would charge me more than $25+. Then I would solder them myself. I just need to find out where to begin. Maybe I should find broken headphone jack Micros on ebay and see if I could fix them.

My ipod touch is having problems with the headphone jack when I rotate a little song stops

my ipod touch is having problems with the headphone jack when I rotate a little song stops

Hey Silverdemon, sounds like a short, most likely in the headphones. Try a different set of headphones with this iPod or try the headphones with a different device. If the problem stops with your iPod or it moves to another device, then replace the headphones. If within 1 year of date of purchase Apple will replace the headphones for free if problem is a defect, not abuse. If the problem continues with a different set of headphones, check the port for damage and foreign debris. If you note debris, attempt to remove it, if damage noted contact Apple and set up an appointment to have it evaluated. if nothing appears wrong, try plugging / unplugging to jack about 12 times maybe corrosion on the contacts if so that should clean it. Next thing to try reset your iPod. After that try restore from backup. Last resort, restore to new. Just make sure you make a full backup to your computer before you restore so no data is lost. If nothing works, contact Apple and set up an appointment to have your iPod evaluated. Good luck, Cheers.

Petition: Make the headphone jack problem's status publ

Dear CEO of Creative Labs [I still have to find out how to contact the CEO]:
I was very excited about buying your product, the Creative Nomad Zen Micro, as an alternati've to competitors such as Apple's iPod mini and the Rio Carbon. I was impressed by the numerous features, the looks, and the size of the player, which could fit into the palm of your hand.
Unfortunately, I came across a serious problem with the player that could have serious consuquences on my (and many other people's) buying descisions. There seems to be a defect in the headphone jack of the player, causing it to pop loose and make the sound intermittently come through only one of the headphones, in a few months or even a matter of days, making the player unusable.
Countless members of the Creative community in the forums on your website have gone through three to four Micros with this problem, as well as people commenting on the player at review websites such as Cnet. There have been numerous messages sent to customer support about this problem, but it has all been attributed to user error.
If you just take a look at the Creative forum, there are so many people with this problem that it can't possibly be a rare manufacturing defect, especially considering the fact that quite a few people have gone through 2 or 3 micros already, all with the same problem. We are not asking you to immediately fix the problem, we understand that it would probably entail a large and costly effort to do so. What we do want to know is that we want a public announcement of the problem, whether Creative has confirmed it or not, and what is being done/not being done about it, and perhaps customer tips about how to avoid it. There have been rumors that the headphone jack as been supposedly reinforced by a metal plate, and others... Many potential creative customers like such as me are left in the dark about what most forum users refer to as the "dreaded" headphone jack problem. We would like to know about it, what to do to avoid it, and whether or not something is being done/has been done to new products to prevent this problem from happening. Again, contacting support has not answered our questions.
If I, (and countless other potential customers), are uncertian about this problem, we might as well give up a few features like the FM tuner and buy and iPod mini or another competing product free of such a problem. We would very much appreciate it if you would publicly release information about this problem.
Please contact me at the address shown. [Yes, this IS a snail-mail letter] We are all looking forward to a reply. For more information, please refer to the petition here:
[http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=dap&message.id=34476]
Sincerely,
The Creative Forum Community
Any suggestions/comments/corrections? (This is just a quick first draft) Please sign here for the petition. Also, you could post "testimonials" about your opinion on the headphone jack problem. I'm not expecting a reply from the CEO him/herself but I hope to get a better response than just an email to support.Message Edited by CreativeHead on 03-7-2005 02:03 PM

There are threads ongoing on similar topics. This is not a suitable topic for this forum.
I will pass on any comments from the other threads and original post in this one, but I'm closing this topic and any further petitions like this as it will just result in "Creative-bashing" and unproducti've comments.
Cat

New micro with the headphone problem fi

I just orded a new Zen micro off of ebay. How can i tell if it is a newer one with the headphone problem fixed? If does not come with the ac charger or the belt clip. Does that tell anything about the age. Any other way to see when my micro was manufactured? When did the headphone problem start getting fixed?

Justinw wrote:
I just orded a new Zen micro off of ebay. How can i tell if it is a newer one with the headphone problem fixed? If does not come with the ac charger or the belt clip. Does that tell anything about the age. Any other way to see when my micro was manufactured? When did the headphone problem start getting fixed?
Im not sure that the creative people will honor my warranty, and I was wondering how much would it cost to have the jack problem fixed? It should be a recall, but I suppose that wont happen.

Problem with the headphone jack

I was watching a movie with the headphones in, I put the computer to sleep, pulled the headphones out and put it away. Later that day I went to use it and noticed that the jack for the headphones was lit up red. Sound will NOT work without headphones in now.
Please help!

Hi Matteo,
I take it you've checked the Audio output tab of your sound panel in Sys.Pref.
Also maybe check the audio Midi Setup Utility in your Utilities folder.
Am unsure of the red light thing - maybe someone else can help.

Zen Micro(Original/Color) Headphone Jacks: Finally Solved or N

I haven't been to these forums in a very, very long time. The last time I was here was when Creative barely released the Zen Micro Photo onto the market. I have the original zen micro without color screen and I was wondering if the infamous headphone jack issue has been fixed permenently on either of them. Have they?

rvfon wrote:
2 months ago i sent in my Zen Micro 6GB player for that particular problem. I bought it in November '05. Nope, they still don't know how to make a working headphone jack.
Wow no kidding eh? Has anyone bought a Zen Micro during 06 that has this problem?

Lumina 920 - making calls with the headphone jack

maybe this is the typical nokia phone operation, but it seems like the heaphone jack should work with a microphone headset for making calls. I've tried three different wired sets with no luck.
havig switched from an iPhone, this is a little dissapointing. Unless it's a faulty device?

Hi there,
unfortunately you may have a faulty device. From what i have heard, all mic headsets should be able to work, even if button support is not optimised (i.e. the microphone bit should work, and the other caller hear you). If it doesn't work, then you can try performing a reset of the phone by going into Settings > About > Reset your phone, or a soft reset (by pressing the volume down and power buttons together for five seconds). You won't lose any data, but always pays to perform periodic backups anyway.
Failing that, try performing a hard reset as detailed here: http://mynokiablog.com/2011/11/08/how-to-hard-reset-nokia-wps-three-finger-restart/ and if that STILL isn't working, then you will need to take your phone to your local Nokia Care point for them to inspect.
to locate your nearest Nokia Care point: http://nokia.com/support

GREAT! The headphone jack problem has hit

Well, after about one month of owning what I thought was a great player my headphone jack is crapping out!
To answer quesitons about abuse in advance, let me say this >>> From day one, i have used an L-shape extension plug. So for anyone who thought that was a solution >>> WRONG!
Regardless of what you may thing, I also baby this player. That doesn't mean it doesn't get used. I bet it gets 3-4 hours of use a day. So after about 30 days, it has had about 90 - 20 hours of use and the plug is beginning to fail.
The gap on my jack is towards the top (towards the screen). Everytime the plug gets bumped in that direction then the problem occurs. It is also that way now when I first turn on the player. I have to unplug and plug back in. I'm sure this is going to get worse quickly.
So, i guess it's RMA time. YIPPEE!
I read that they are reinforcing the plug now. Are people receiving reinforced Micro's now as part of their RMA?
Does my 90 day replacement warranty reset when I get the new player?
I am thoroughly dissatisfied, that they didn't reinforce that plug to begin with!

Out of the blue out of absolute nowhereness my zen micro's headjack thingie started cutting out the sound it was really weird my heart froze because well i had read and done so much research, it works still just the voice cuts out a few times i dunno what to do i am really sad and depressed i refused to use it all day i really wanted it to work and its just past its one month birthday by like fi've days, since i got it in the uae i dunno about whther or not they can get me a new one but i doubt it i dunno im really depressed and well just that. i am gonna wait and see and if it dies i'll just store my music in it until i can burn a million cds with all my faves, back to the ol discman.

Has the headphone jack problem been fixe

I bought a Zen Micro about 2 months ago, and the jack has been broken since the day I got it. Has Creative fixed this problem completely yet? Or will I still have a 50/50% chance of getting another broken one when exchanging it's

Out of the blue out of absolute nowhereness my zen micro's headjack thingie started cutting out the sound it was really weird my heart froze because well i had read and done so much research, it works still just the voice cuts out a few times i dunno what to do i am really sad and depressed i refused to use it all day i really wanted it to work and its just past its one month birthday by like fi've days, since i got it in the uae i dunno about whther or not they can get me a new one but i doubt it i dunno im really depressed and well just that. i am gonna wait and see and if it dies i'll just store my music in it until i can burn a million cds with all my faves, back to the ol discman.

Problem with the headphone jack part 2

Ok. Now I have been to the "sound tab" and tried to select the output audio and change it. But it will not bring up any type of change. It does not offer anything but Digital out. It says it is built in audio. I need help.

i contacted them for service on Friday from the service website but when they say that i should get a package within 2 business days to send it back for replacement but when they say 2 business days do they mean Monday to Friday no weekends or holidays like most businesses? (just curious)

The headphone jack desease has cought me too

Well after like 2 months of having my zen micro.. the headphone jack is screwing up on me... sound shuts off.. i hear only the backround of the songs.. sometimes i hear the music in mono.. i dont know what to do i cant even listen to my music any more cuz it keeps messing up when its in my pocket or just sitting...
what should i do? i bought it strait from creative.
thanks

Me and my roomate both have Zen Micros, bought around when they first came out, so they were probaly some of the first models. His jack went out after about a month, mine lasted 2. We both sent them in with little hassle and got replacements promptly. But he has had the replacement for less than a month and the jack is starting to get screwy again, leading me to believe that they have not fixed an obvious manufacturing flaw but are just sending out replacements. The warranty on my player just ran out, but you can bet your ass if the headphone jack gives out again I will not be paying for it to get fixed. I think it's ridiculous that a company with such a good reputation wouldn't take proper action against a flaw like this and issue some form of recall or extended warranty for the problem. Happy for now, even though i do have to re-transfer all my files.Message Edited by Velvetunder66 on 05-4-2005 :46 PM

Headphone jack problem with Zen Micro

Hi.
I bought my zen micro on April 4 and everything was fine until a few weeks ago
when I got the headphone jack problem. When I touch the plug that is connected
with the player, it makes a weird noise and the volume decreases and goes back to normal
and it keeps doing it.
Can I get a/s for no charge since it's a yr hardware warranty?
P.S.) I can see there are some ppl who are getting upset by this same problem here.
Message Edited by locomocoto on 08-9-2005 2:57 AM

locomocoto,
If the store can't assist you, contact our Customer Support to see what they can do:
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Cat

Zen Micro Headphone Jack problems-are the new ones

Gonna buy a Zen Micro Photo 8GB player-had one of the 5gb ones a year and a half ago and the headphone jack went on that-have the problems with the headphone jack been sorted out in the new ones?

I have not seen any reports of problems with the Zen MicroPhoto's headphone jack.
Cat

9 month old Zen Micro with the headphone jack problem

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