Cowon iAudio 7 user reviews (4GB, silver)

3.0 stars

"General Cowon Review" on September 10, 2007 by CowonSUX

Pros: looks nice

Cons: Cowon Customer Service

Summary: I do not own this product, and have never seen an iAudio 7. This review is about Cowon in general.

I purchased an iAudio X5L in January of 2006 because of the favorable reviews they have received from many owners. From the perspective of audio quality, it was a superb performer for me. The FM radio was quite functional and was able to pull in all the stations I regularly listened to, and the voice recorder was at least adequate, although I think it really needs a powered external mic to realize its full potential. The video, on the other hand, was quite awful – at least as compared to the iPod. I didn’t care about the video, however, so this was not really a factor in my purchase.

I use the line-out capabilities of my iAudio to play music through my home stereo and in both of our family cars. Unfortunately, in March of 2007, shortly after my warranty expired, my left line-out channel went dead. This was the beginning of my worst customer service nightmare ever.

Fortunately, or so I thought, I had bought an extended warranty from Mack Camera & Video Service. I packaged up the unit and sent it to Mack Camera, including a letter detailing my problem. I fully expected that I’d receive my repaired unit back in a couple of weeks. It was not until late May of 2007 that I received an obviously refurbished unit. During this time I called and emailed Mack Camera numerous times only to be ignored at every opportunity. At Mack Camera’s website you can check the status of your repairs. For my repair it always said “Status: Manufacturer,” “Reason: Manufacturer.” It seems that Cowon does its repairs somewhere in CA and does not have a phone number that customers, or extended warranty providers such as Mack Camera, can use. All correspondence must be via email. Cowon was content to drag its feet endlessly. Mack Camera, for its part, seemingly felt no obligation to help speed things along for me and was perfectly content to keep me in the dark. I had NO idea as to the status of my repair until I received the refurbished unit in the mail.

To my great disgust, the refurbished unit I received was itself damaged. The circuit board tab to which the sub-pack connects was slightly, but noticeably, bent. It took me more than 20 minutes of jiggling the sub pack before I could get it attached so I could transfer over my music files. I also charged the unit at this time – the only time I was EVER able to charge the refurbished unit.

So, after a few days of frustration, I called up Mack Camera once again and carefully explained the new problem. No problem, they said. They sent me a UPS call tag and I shipped the damaged refurbished unit back to them at their expense. They told me on the phone that I’d have the unit back in a few days. It is now late September 2007 and after six months I still don’t have my iAudio back! I’m getting the same old run around from Mack Camera. No response to any of my phone calls or emails, and apparently I went straight to the bottom of the queue at Cowon’s US repair site. Honestly, doesn’t it make you wonder how reliable Cowon products really are if there is such a long line of repair work to be done?

Well, to add insult to injury, today I received a repair estimate in the mail from Mack Camera. They are asking that I pay $105 to repair the bent sub-pack connector! They are claiming Cowon has determined that I damaged the unit, for crying out loud. My wife and I just rolled our eyes when we saw that. She watched me struggle at length to get the sub-pack connected to the refurbished unit. Cowon sent me a lemon, yet because it is my word against theirs, and because if Mack acknowledges that Cowon is at fault they would have to pay for the repair themselves under the terms of the extended warranty, Mack is sticking me with the bill.

I don’t know what I will do frankly. With extra cables and accessories I have more than $600 in this unit. I feel like if I pay the $105 I’ll be paying extortion fees, but if I don’t I’ll just have an expensive pile of junk that I won’t even be able to sell on eBay. If I do pay the bill, I expect not to see the unit until at least November or early December.

The only thing I am certain of is that I hope I’ll be able to cost both Cowon and Mack Camera far more in lost business than they would have spent to treat me fairly and like a valued customer - thus this review. If you have read this far, you had better fully understand what you are getting into. As long as your Cowon product is working you will love it. But if it fails, you will end up in the same endless pit of customer service hell that I’m currently in. And beware of Mack Camera extended warranties. They will ignore your requests for information on repairs, and they will take every step they can to deny your claims. Consider yourself warned!