Another Satisfied Customer

Some of you may remember that a while ago I blogged about my love affair with a piece of technology, namely my iPod Touch. Needless to say, when the backlight on it recently went kaput, I was a bit dismayed. Apple makes fine products, but when they die prematurely, it makes me angry (like my G5 tower that I can only sell for parts now).

Let me preface the rest of this post by saying that although I used to be an Apple Fanboy, I no longer am as vehement in my devotion to them as I used to be. Truthfully, I have two hard drives in my Mac Pro, and one of them is running Vista (*gasp!*). Personally, I think Steve Jobs is an incredibly wealthy hippie-turned-egomaniac and hope that some day he has an Ebenezer Scrooge-esque experience. That being said, he has done something incredibly brilliant with the company: creating a seamless total brand experience (albeit at a pretty penny).

Back to the story: I tried all the normal stuff like rebooting, recharging, and restoring, but nothing would work. My little iPod had lost it's backlight. Thankfully, I discovered that it was still under warranty until June of 2010. Thus began one of the best experiences in customer service I have had in all of my life.

First of all, I started on Apple's support web site by answering a few generic questions on a submission form. I then added a comment about all of the things that I had tried and sent the support request form on its merry way. The web site had an option for you to put in your phone number and they would call you with a support call. I only waited a few minutes on the line until I spoke with a real human being.

The customer support lady was very nice and after verifying my information took a look at the note I had added to my support ticket and said, "Well, it looks like you've been completely thorough. At this point it looks like the only solution is to get you a replacement." She then gave me a few reference numbers and emailed me a link to a web site where I could check the replacement status. She even offered to keep the same laser engraving on the back of the replacement as I had on my original. Quick and painless, I was off the phone in under ten minutes.

The next morning I found a box on my doorstep that contained the following:

• A return shipping label underneath the current shipping label.
• Packaging foam with a removable cutout for whatever size iPod you have.
• A plastic bag for placing the damaged iPod in.
• Instructions for returning the damaged iPod.
• A few pre-cut strips of tape to seal the box back up.

After following the instructions, I was able to drop my old iPod off at a FedEx office and have it shipped overnight to the iPod repair facility.

I then could visit the link and was continually updated on the status of my replacement. Because I had requested my original laser engraving, it took a little longer to receive the replacement, but it got here all the same.

The whole experience has left me very satisfied with Apple as a brand. I still have my qualms about their sneaky business tactics, but as a consumer, I appreciate what I have paid for. I have had some bad experiences in the past with other brands, but this one was quick and easy. Let's just see how long after the warranty expires that the replacement lasts....