I’ve bought two of these in the past year, and each time, after 4 months, perhaps 5, they started to go sideways on me. Some of the problems: the previous song button (left button) stopped working, instead giving me volume controls. And in both instances, when that happened, the up arrow didn’t work either. Most recently, probablem accepting a charge. Perhaps what’s going on is the USB wires don’t sit naturally in the MP3 player; instead, i need to sit and hold the wire in a funny angle - not something I’m pprepaed to do for the duration of the charge period. And I wish there was a direct mechanism for me to get this message to their management.
I sometimes worry that the connection tab inside the micro USB socket can get pushed off-center by improper insertion of the micro USB cable. I think this happens to me when I attempt to use an alternate micro USB cable from my random collection.
->Maybe take a close look at that little tab and make sure it is not jammed toward the upper lip of the USB socket.
->I enjoy best results with connecting and charging when I use the short micro USB cable that came with the player.
@randyschafer wrote:
I’ve bought two of these in the past year, and each time, after 4 months, perhaps 5, they started to go sideways on me.
And I wish there was a direct mechanism for me to get this message to their management.
Have you availed yourself of the replacement warranty (US - 1 year, EU - 2 years)?
The Admin of this forum may forward on your concerns, but you can also contact SanDisk directly via the contact info found here. You won’t find any of the mucky-muck’s e-mail or phone numbers, but you can start with a complaint to Tech Support and ask them to forward it up the chain of command. 
