[thehairofelguapo]

Hi All,
For Europe (or anywhere other than North America!) does anyone know the location to return an iPod to Apple? I know that you have to get an RMA from them, but I'm curious where they have you ship it (sometimes they give you a box w/ a pre-printed lable on it). Do broken / returned iPods go to Cork, or do they have them shipped to some distributor's warehouse in the middle of nowhere? Does Apple use distributors or warehouses for iPods sold internationally, or do they just direct ship all orders not destined for North America? Thanks so much for any insight you might have!

[Jackonicko]

At the moment they go to a repair centre in the Netherlands.

[thehairofelguapo]

Thanks for writing, Jackonicko. Wow, the Netherlands? Is there an Apple factory there, or do they outsource it to someone? Do you know if that's for all European returns or if they've alwasy done the repairs in the Netherlands?

[Jackonicko]

I think the repair centre is probably a third party company.

Previously, repairs were out-sourced to companies in the major customer countries (I remember sending a Gen 1 iPod to somewhere in Hertforshire, IIRC).

[Jackonicko]

Remember that Apple don't usually repair the iPod you send in, they send out a new one of the same model. They never seem to send out a newer model. That means that the repair centre has to keep examples of every model for two years (one year, plus another year of Apple Care) after the very last one is sold.

IPod Minis were still being sold as refurbs two months ago, so will need to be supported and stocked for some 22 months.

The repair centre must now have to carry all the current range, plus Gen 3 and Gen 4 iPods, iPod Photos, Minis in nine colours (five old, four new) and two sizes, Gen 1 nanos in two colours and three sizes, Gen 1 Shuffles, etc.

It makes sense to centralise this kind of stock holding, rather than to duplicate or triplicate.

[thehairofelguapo]

They must keep a huge inventory of old iPods! I guess taht they must actually refurbish the ones that get sent in...either that or they're carrying whole lot of excess stock. I know that they ahve a factory in Cork...any idea who owns / runs the repair facility in the Netherlands (is it in Rotterdam?) Do you know who their distribution parter is in Europe? In the US, I think they use Ingram or TechData, but I have no idea who helps w/ country warehousing etc. over there. Thanks again for writing!

[Jackonicko]

If you look at the way in which new models replace old, overnight (or quicker) every time there is a model change, it's clear that Apple do have huge stocks to sell off as refurbs or to give out as warranty replacements.

The labour costs of cracking open an existing iPod, repairing it, installing a new battery, and then fitting all of it in a new enclosure (which was how it used to work) would be pretty prohibitive.