iSaga
It all looks so easy, doesn’t it?In September 2004, I bought my very first iPod from the Apple Store in New York. I was on a holiday there and the exchange rate was very much in my favour so I couldn’t saay no really. (I didn’t do it just so I could tell everyone I bought it in NYC, as some cynics have suggested.) I cannot tell a lie - I was obsessed. I loaded up everything I could, since now I could carry my entire record collection around with me wherever I went. It was brilliant. I need never listen to the same song twice in the same four years! Amazing! This was the future; until it wasn’t.It started slowly at first. Occasionally it would skip the first track of an album and start straight into track two. This started getting more and more frequent, before it wasn’t just the first track that it missed: chunks of albums were omitted and entirely at random. Before long, if it wasn’t skipping a track it was freezing and crashing left, right and centre. Since I bought it in New York, it wasn’t like I could just pop into the store and change it, so I entered the black hole that is “Apple Customer Services”…Apple couldn’t diagnose my problem over the phone so I returned it to them in a special box for inspection. They sent it back almost immediately, declaring that nothing was wrong with it - “the software has loaded correctly” - and that their investigation had ended there. Disgruntled, I hoped that a spell at the clinic had done it some good and that the problem had resolved itself (who knew that their diagnostic equipment couldn’t have fixed the problem as a routine practice so that nothing showed up later?). I carried on using it and, for a time, things seemed normal. Then, as some of you will remember, it started happening again.
After months of trouble, my iPod finally gave up the ghost on Monday morning. Pretty much ever since I bought it I’ve had trouble with it. When it works, it’s the best thing since the last amazing gadget I bought (the digital camera), but when it sticks or skips or resets or freezes and you have to reset it 3 times a day on a bad day, it’s not so hot. I sent it off for repair once and they told me it was fine (”the software loaded correctly the first time so we have returned your iPod to you without further investigation”); however, the problems continued and despite my ringing Apple again to say it wasn’t fixed, nothing much really happened. The trouble seemed to stop for a while and when the time came to upgrade my pc, I thought a Mac would (a) be a better buy than Windows - I am still convinced it is a 100% improvement on XP - and (b) it might sort out any problems with the iPod since it needs to be re-programmed to use a Mac iTunes. Boy, was I wrong.On the final day of the warranty I nipped into the local Apple specialist in Bath and explained my situation. They told me not to worry too much about the warranty running out and to sort it out with Apple since the history of uncorrected errors would show I wasn’t just making it up. This week (as you all know I’ve been swamped lately and just didn’t have the time to do anything about it before now) the whole thing packed in so I called Apple to report the passing of my toy. They were having none of it. It was out of warranty and because I hadn’t sent it back to them again (despite being told not to), they would fix it for me for a fee of £169! For two-thirds of what I originally paid, they would put it back to the way it should have been when I bought it: what an offer! Cue the verbal pasting for iPod technical support.Not getting anywhere on the telephone, I stormed out of the office and into the Apple specialist again, giving the poor man in the store full vent: he was positively taken aback by the vitriol that I poured on Apple and everyone who worked for them, and also quite disgusted with Apple himself, took my iPod from me saying he would sort it out. I haven’t seen it since. I am hoping that no news is good news and it will make it’s way back to me fully functional and totally scratch-free too (though just plain working would be a start). Not one to waste a good rage, I drafted my letter of complaint and saved it, ready for the worst. I also e-mailed it to a friend who promptly shit their pants at my rage. Woe betide Apple if they fail me now.
Well, they did fail me, so I sent them this:
Customer Relations,Apple Computer International,Hollyhill Industrial Estate,Cork,Republic of Ireland1 November 2005Dear Sir or Madam:Apple iPod Serial Number: JQ*******Q7I write to express my utter disgust at my recent treatment by your company, and the continuing problems I have experienced with this appliance since I bought it last September (2004) in the Apple Store in New York.Shortly after buying my iPod, it began to skip tracks – most notably starting every album on track two – and about a month or so later began to freeze with no explanation. I researched the problem on your website and found that the freezing was easily remedied by resetting, which I duly did. At this time, the problem was fairly intermittent and although I was not overly impressed, neither was I especially concerned.As time passed, the problem worsened: the iPod would freeze several times a day – often to the extent that it would not respond or reset until the battery died or it was reconnected to the dock; skip several tracks on albums or refuse to play certain albums; turn itself off, or refuse to turn on. In short, it was barely worth having and I began to regret spending $399 on it. I resolved to send it for repair when the problem became unbearable in June 2005.The repair service was fast and efficient, although I discovered upon opening the package that it had been returned to me with little more than a cursory inspection. I was informed that there was no real problem and that the software had loaded correctly first time, thus no further action was warranted. For a time, the problem did appear to have fixed itself: within a month later I was back in familiar territory, resetting my iPod three times on the ten-minute walk to work.Over the summer I used it less and less, the technical difficulties making it barely worth my while. When I managed to get into the local Apple retailer (Farpoint in Bath) on the final day of my warranty, I was told that the impending expiry should not be a sticking point since I had returned it once and Apple were aware of the problem. Rightly or wrongly, I believed them. In the meantime, I had upgraded my PC to an iBook hoping that the problems might sort themselves out if I were using the same system for everything.Recently my iPod ceased to function altogether and when it “died” I was finally pushed to the point where I could take no more: I was forced to ring Apple. After a lengthy telephone call with Technical Support I was told that Customer Relations would not authorise a repair as I had waited so long to report the problem after it was returned to me in July. When I asked to speak directly to Customer Relations, I was essentially “fobbed off” under the advice that there could be no discussion on the matter, and told to seek cheaper repairs if I did not want to pay for the Apple Service that had previously failed me. Livid, I went into Farpoint again and demanded something be done. Mr X, the assistant I spoke to, agreed to contact Apple again on my behalf and to attempt to resolve this matter satisfactorily.One week later and having heard nothing, I called into Farpoint to see how things were going. My hopes that “no news was good news” were dashed when I was told that a telephone call had been made and the same result had been reache
d, though I was given a glimmer of hope when Dan told me he hadn’t had the opportunity to call again and properly address the situation. Another week’s silence later and my enquiry into the fate of my iPod was met with a rather curt “Apple won’t budge so your iPod is here ready for your collection”. The assistant was unfazed by my concern over the length of time taken and the lack of effort made to keep me informed: had I not contacted them how long would I have had to wait before getting my faulty iPod returned in the same condition I left it there? And what cause is there for me to collect it in any case? It doesn’t work.Understandably, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with the service I have received, not only by the Apple themselves, but the attitude of your affiliates in Bath; all of this give me serious doubts about the reliability of the Apple products I now own. I am alarmed that your servicing centre did not identify the problems the first time around; had this been successfully spotted I would not be in the situation I now find myself facing. I am concerned that your Customer Relations appear unable to recognise the fact that this is a problem of your own making and, although my delays may have exacerbated it, I could not have control over the errant inner workings of the iPod which have successfully eluded even your own technicians. I am disappointed that I have now spent almost one thousand pounds on Apple products with no real guarantee that they will remain functional beyond the warranty. What certainty do I have that I will not be forced to replace my new iBook thirteen months after I bought it, as it appears I must my iPod? What faith can I have that any servicing carried out by Apple will have actually repaired any future problems?Had I known I would be required to replace any of my Apple products a year after I bought them, I would not have considered spending my money on them. At present, I would not recommend Apple to anyone: for products intending to enhance and/or simplify your life, I have found the iPod, and perhaps more accurately Apple Customer Service, to be distracting, aggravating and complicated in the extreme.I look forward to hearing how you intend to address these concerns for myself and other customers like me by return.Yours faithfully,SvenCc: The Manager, Farpoint Developments Limited, 25, Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2AP
Well, after that they did supply me with a ‘replacement unit’, which sadly and rather predictably went the way of the first one. I sent it off AGAIN and got yet another replacement. By now I was at my wits end. The poor staff on the phone were as exasperated as I was. I was desperate for them to identify the fault that kept occuring: it had to be me - I was the only common link! I tried and tried to take responsibilty, just for it to be over but, like lambs to the slaughter, they just kept sending me new units to ruin! How could I let them down? In the end, I was forced to write to Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, to get things resolved.The letter was short and to the point, and included copies of all the previous correspondence and refernce numbers of the previous iPods so they could see I wasn’t making it up. Some days later I received an e-mail in response, from Colin at European Executive Relations: now we’re getting somewhere! Colin seemed to think that mine was a problem best resolved over the telephone. By four different people. I went from Colin (relations) to Hazel (Level 1 technician) to Kathryn (Level 2 technician) to Sarah (relations - Colin was on holiday) and eventually, after ‘top level’ discussions, the decision wasmade to nip it in the bud - two years on - and upgrade me to a newer model.So, after two years of trouble, I now have an all-singing, all-dancing 60GB colour-screen phot/video/radio you-name-it-I-can-do-it iPod to make up for my trouble! I haven’t quite discovered the virtues of being able to carry around movies in my pocket yet (as And pointed out to me, the only real benefit is watching porn on the bus, and who wants to do that?) but, two weeks into the new iPod and there’s no sign of any trouble yet. Fingers crossed that two years of tenacious badgering have finally paid off!
