Post Sixty-Four: Apple and my iPod

I just want to say that Apple's customer service department has to be the greatest customer service department in the entire world. Hands down. I have a slight issue with their compliance with legal settlements, but as you will see, it all worked out.

I registered as part of the class in the class action lawsuit brought against Apple complaining of too-short battery life in their iPods. Well, time went by, and I finally received instructions for sending my depleted iPod back for either 1) a new battery; or 2) a replacement iPod. After paying the $29.95 for the shipping of my original iPod to their techs, I received, approximately five days later, the very same iPod I had sent in. Acoompanying my iPod was a letter stating that their techs ran diagnostic tests, and that it met specs, and that they updated the iPod software. Therefore, no new battery, and no new iPod.

Well, wait just a minute: first off, no the iPod did not meet specs, unless having the battery die after 1/2 hour of playing songs meets Apple's "specs." But never mind that: the express terms of the settlement I was made a part of gave me either 1) a new battery; or 2) a replacement iPod, at Apple's discretion. There was no "only if our test results confirm your sworn statement" qualifier in the settlement terms.

But hey, I'm a trusting guy, and the techs did obivously mess with it as it had a slight charge. So I hooked it back up to my computer, and started up iTunes to get my music back on the iPod. Well, that's when it went "funny." I instantly got a message that said the software on my iPod had to be updated.

Huh?

Recall here that the letter accompanying my iPod stated that the software had been updated. But who am I to argue? So I, again being the trusting sort, began the download of the iPod software update. Almost instantly, the fucking thing aborted, and my iPod completely crashed. Completely. It would not take a charge; nothing on the screen would appear, not even the little-apple-thing. Resetting it would not work. Zip. Zero. Nada.

Well, I was a little miffed, to put it mildly. The next day, I called up the Apple service department and laid out all of the foregoing for them, including the part about them committing fraud with respect to the settlement terms. And I have to say that their rep, Abrin, was completely helpful. He sent me out a new box to ship the iPod back to Apple for free, and I was told I'd probably get another iPod out of it.

Wouldn't you know it? I did. A "new" (i.e., refurbished) iPod with a different serial number. Only this time, the letter told me to download the update for the iPod software. So I did so, as instructed.

The exact same damn thing happened. A complete crash of the iPod. So I was again forced to contact Apple and make arrangements for a "new" (i.e., refurbished) iPod. Only this time around, customer service didn't sound quite as friendly this time around, so I was fully expecting to get some letter that said it wasn't Apple's fault, but was some kind of user-error on my part.

But they proved me wrong. Yesterday, I received my second "new" (i.e., refurbished) iPod with a different serial number, and the damn thing works. Took the updated software and everything. And despite it all, I have to hand it to Apple's customer service department because they really took care of their customer, and made sure that at the end of the day I had a fully-functional iPod. So thanks, Apple.