Sansa Repair Service Policies and Concerns...

[robmason101]

I own a Sansa Fuze 8G that I absolutely love - or loved, as the case may be. You see, a few weeks ago the thumb wheel stopped turning because a friend of mine spilled a single drop of soda on the unit. The moisture did not damage the electronics, thankfully, but the sugar gummed up the wheel. I knew immediately that the unit would not be covered under warranty, so I contacted Sansa Technical Support to open a case file so I could send it in for non-warranty repair. As many of you know, Sansa does not offer repair services on the Fuze.

 

My next option, having nothing to lose, was to attempt to repair the unit myself, but I need repair parts to do so. Namely, a thumb wheel. Sansa does not sell these parts and could not provide a resource that does.

 

The reason for this thread is fairly simple. While speaking with a tech support representative in the Phillipines, he recommended that I “simply purchase a brand new unit”. As much as I love this MP3 player, why in the world would I spend another $80.00 on a piece of equipment that cannot be repaired and is not supported? Sure they have a 1 year warranty as long as you do nothing to cause the issue…but that doesn’t help those of us who drop the unit or, like in my case, have friends who aren’t really careful with their sodas. The thumb wheel assembly couldn’t cost more than few dollars sold separately, and would be very easy to replace. Since Sansa doesn’t sell them and can’t refer a company that does, I’m faced with one of two choices: roll the dice on another Fuze, hoping that nothing happens to the unit…ever, or buy an iPod. While I don’t like iPods…at least the manufacturer services and supports their products.

Sansa should consider advertising the Fuze as the world’s finest DISPOSABLE MP3 player. At least you’d be aware that you’re throwing away your money in the event something happens to it outside the scope of the warranty…in advance.

 

Rob

[marcose]

Couldn’t you order some crappy, no-good used Fuze with a cracked screen for like $10 on ebay, and get the thumbwheel off of that?

[robmason101]

That is one feasible solution, but that still makes the buyer responsible for becoming severely resourceful just to get his or her money’s worth out of the unit…and let’s not forget those individuals who have no technical expertise or ability whatsoever. This group most likely represents 95% of Sansa customers.

[robmason101]

In reference to your reply - thank you for replying, by the way - I searched eBay for a broken Sansa Fuze. No luck there. While I’m certain one will eventually pop up, I have to refer back to my original response to your kind reply.

[mags1230]

If you do a search in this board, you’ll find threads with suggestions on how to unstick the thumbwheel without taking it apart.

[robmason101]

I followed them all…the most successful short-term solution was the damp towel. As you may have read in some of those posts, as soon as it dried completely, the wheel became stuck again. I tried this 5 or 6 times in an effort to get it cleaned out.

[sansablue11]

you can try WD-40 with a cotton swab. just spray some on the tip of the cotton swab and rub it around the wheel. This is what another user suggested.Let me know if it works.Thanks

[robmason101]

Will give it a shot. Thanks.

[rpgs49]

Gee, itis a shame that the sansaclip cannot be repaired. It is te cheapest mp3 that i know of, but I am crazy about mine. I can no longer download audio books to it, so I will probably buy another one later this month. Too bafd.

[black_rectangle]

If you cannot specifically download audiobooks, but can download other stuff, change your USB mode to MTP.

If you can’t download anything but it otherwise appears to be working, you could try getting a new cord. They break. Don’t use an iPod cord.

[bob_engelhardt]

I think that you’re being unrealistic.  Most customers would not choose to repair an $80 Fuze.  The cost to repair would be too close to the cost of a new one & then you’d still have a once-broken Fuze.  With such an expected low volume of repair customers it would not make sense for Sansa to maintain a facility.

Offering parts makes little sense also - there are practically no customers (percentage wise) who would attempt to repair their player.  And commercial shops wouldn’t bother for the same reason as Fuze doesn’t - not enough customers.

Bob

BTW - you weren’t looking hard enough on eBay for broken ones.  Here’s 6 of them:

http://tinyurl.com/37sc76s

11 have sold recnetly for as little as $6, shipped.

[bob_engelhardt]

Bob_Engelhardt wrote:   …

BTW - you weren’t looking hard enough on eBay for broken ones.  Here’s 6 of them:

http://tinyurl.com/37sc76s

…

Oops, that link doesn’t work for some reason. It’s an eBay search on “Fuze (as is,parts)”

Bob

[bob_engelhardt]

@robmason101 wrote:

<snip>

While I don’t like iPods…at least the manufacturer services and supports their products. …

 

Being curious, I went to the Ipod repair page:

http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/prices/#us

 

And having way too much time on my hands, I imported those prices into Excel and got the following repair price “averages”:

mean - $118

median - $99

mode - $79

 

Ideally these averages would be weighted by the number of each type being repaired, but you get the picture.

 

Bob

 

 

[black_rectangle]

The tradeoff is between a low initial price, cheap components and build quality and the assumption that people will toss rather than repair, or a higher initial price,higher-quality materials and some kind of repair operation. An easily repairable device would probably have to be larger, too, given the size of human fingers.

SanDisk’s wager is that consumers would rather pay less in the first place . It seems to work. The company aims at the lower-priced end of the market, not luxury or electronics hobbyists. 

And personally, I have used my first Fuze steadily for more than two years now. It has lived in a silicone skin and a screen protector, but it has been dropped more than a few times, bounced around in a pocket, gotten damp in rainstorms,etc. When it finally goes kaput, which it shows no sign of doing, I will be more than satisfied with its build quality and durability.I’m still getting great battery life, too.

You can’t pour soda on small electronics, or use them for hockey pucks, or abuse them in other ways and expect them to always survive.  (Fuzes have survived a spin in washing machines, though, according to posts on this forum.) iPods aren’t invulnerable, either.

You can build a tank. Or you can build a Hyundai. I don’t need a tank.

[hellie112]

I had the same problem, and i will defintly never buy a sandisk again. the weel is defintly constructed to fail…

[mags1230]

@hellie112 wrote:

I had the same problem, and i will defintly never buy a sandisk again. the weel is defintly constructed to fail…

Sorry to hear that.  The scrollwheel is the part of the player that gets used the most, IMO, and can be one of the first parts of the player to fail.  Have you contacted Sandisk Tech Support about a warranty replacement if you bought the player new?  There is a one year warranty in the U.S. and two in Europe.

Edit: Tech Support link updated

[lash_larue]

The reason to repair an $80 Fuze is that for my purposes there is no MP3 player as good. I wish I could buy a new Fuze for $80. I did not say Fuze+. I have 3 I would love to have regurbished but Sansa won’t even respond when you ask them where to get it repaired or refurbished. Nothing since the Fuze has been as good. I want to drag and drop podcasts to the unit and play them while deleted them as I listen to them. It does everything I want it do do better than anything else including iPods, Coby, Sony, Fuze+, Clip, etc.

[jerseygirl]

I know this is an old post, but I totally agree with you in every regard.  I have a Sansa Fuze that I love - loved - also.  Mine is “old”, I’ve  had it for about four years and while I had a couple of issues in the past that the 800 number was able to help me with, it  just broke – wont’t turn on, is unrecognizable to my PC, won’t charge – just dead.  After scanning the net to try and find a solution, I concluded that it is a lost cause.  I am totally bummed because it is not only the cost of a new unit, but that I LOST ALL OF MY SONGS!!! with over 300 titles @ around 1.99 per song I am about PISSED to have lost all of that music.   

I am EVEN MORE PISSED that there is no-one who can fix it !!!

[deadmeow]

You may only need a new cable.  I have had sansa fuze cables go bad, and the comptuer will not recognize it, althought it may or may not charge with the cable at that point.  

I would suggest to buy a sansa fuze off of Ebay, (make sure it comes with charging cable), and if you get lucky, you can charge or maybe at least rescue your songs from your old fuze, and at the same time have a working fuze either way.

[tapeworm]

And always remeber to try a reset. It may not be dead, but merely playing possum.

Slide the spring-loaded power switch on the side to the uppermost position and hold it there for 20-30 secs. Release, then slide it up again momentarily as to normally turn it on. Cross your fingers; it may just start up normally.