Thursday, January 10, 2013

Hats Off to Apple...

So, we chose to be really generous and give our eldest daughter an iPod for Christmas. It was an iPod Nano, and to be fair, it was a 1st Generation iPod Nano which Amy had been given a number of years ago, But, thanks to my inability to throw anything away, we had all the original packaging, so we were able to clean it up and make it look like new - like a Christmas present, in fact.
We charged it up, and on Christmas Day we gave it to ED. I loaded some songs on to it when I had a moment. On Boxing Day, ED brought the iPod to me and told me it wouldn't switch on. I thought maybe she hadn't held the button down for long enough, so I gve it a go. Unfortunately that didn't work, so I thought maybe I would reset it. I went online to look for tips, and while I was browsing around, I came across a "1st Generation iPod Nano Replacement Scheme". It turns out that some of the batteries in the 1st Gen Nanos were a bit dodgy, and as a result they had decided to replace all 1st Generation iPod Nanos. Result!

So I went to the Apple website, entered my serial number, and clicked 'Enter'. I got an instant reply; Apple were sending me some packaging I should use to return the Nano, and they would replace it. ED and I waited a day or two and the packaging arrived. We packed up the Nano and sent it off, and waited. I checked the website regularly for updates, and then I saw it - a replacement unit had been dispatched and UPS were going to deliver it last Friday. Unfortunately TW wasn't in, so UPS took it back to their depot and advised they would redeliver it on Monday.

Monday came, and I sat on UPS's website, refreshing my tracking number every five minutes. I was worried that TW had such a full day of exercise and work and dropping off the kids and picking up the kids and driving and errands and BEING OUT OF THE HOUSE that she would miss the delivery. I think I was more eager to receive the delivery than ED! Late in the afternoon, I pressed F5 for what seemed like the 1,000th time, and instead of being "Out For Delivery", the replacement iPod Nano was "Delivered and Signed For by Customer". I rang home immediately to check, and counted down the minutes until I could leave the office and get home.

Upon arriving home, I went to look at the delivery, and we had been sent a 6th Generation iPod Nano. This iteration has a touchscreen and 8gb of memory.

So because Apple had identified a potential fault in a 6 or 7 year old piece of tech we had lying unused in the bottom of a drawer somewhere, an old bit of kit with a clickwheel and 1gb of memory, they were willing to replace that with a two-year old newer bit of kit with a touchscreen and 8gb of memory. And it's got a 90-day warranty. I'm sure that by then ED will be bored of it. :-)

Great customer service - but then I think most people say that, right?

Posted via email from Rob Thorley's Posterous Site

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