Over the weekend, I bowed to new tech peer pressure and replaced my ancient (13-month old) iPod Nano with a hot spankin' new iPod Touch.
The product is superb; web browsing is simple, music interface is a blast, great widgets...basically all the benefits of the iPhone except for the phone, which is actually the iPhone's weak link, but I digress.
But this story is not about the product itself. It's about the Surprising way I was treated by the two companies I dealt with to buy it--Apple and Future Shop.
Friday night, I get the iPod home, and immediately start playing. Everything works great, save for the much ballyhooed "vertical/horizontal screen flip" (where you can view content portrait or landscape-style). Seems the internal gyroscope was out of whack, so I called AppleCare service for a little AppleLove.
Unfortunately, my call must've got re-routed to Microsoft or perhaps even Taco Bell, as the Apple rep knew sad little of her company's new (one-month old) flagship device.
When I told her my device didn't switch screen formats, she asked me what video I was watching. "None," I responded, "I was browsing the web." She then told me that the screen didn't change for that.
When I countered that indeed it did, she was incredulous, and asked me where I had learned of such a preposterous claim. "On the promo material inside the box!," I replied, somewhat...yeah somewhat exasperated.
Well, her next diagnostic suggestion led me to re-setting the entire device via the web, wiping out all downloaded music in the process. A half-hour later, no difference--the screen-changing was still sporadic at best.
"Faulty device," the rep surmised, and told me to return it to the point of purchase for refund or exchange.
CHHRRRIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTT!!!!
Saturday morning, I have a brunch scheduled with my family, so I head over to Future Shop bright and early. I hunt down Johnathan, the guy who sold me the iPod a little more than 13 hours prior, and recounted my story of woe.
"No prob," said he, "we'll exchange it for a new one (which was my choice). All you have to do is wait in that Customer Service line..."
To which he pointed to a serpent made up of two dozen or so humans.
No way. No effin' way. I politely (and believe me, I held my cool, but it was tough) told Johnathan that there was no hope in hell I would ever wait in that line, particularly with my family waiting for me downstairs at a restaurant. Just gimme a new one and I'm out of here.
"No can do," was his reply, "but don't worry," he continued (get ready for the Surprise of your life)...
"I'll wait in line FOR you."
I couldn't believe my ears, but took him up on it.
And after a leisurely breakfast, I returned for the iPod.
The bad news was I didn't get a new one. The good news was that Johnathan, while waiting in line, consulted one of his confreres who explained that to get the screen to change, the unit has to be held perpendicular to the floor, not parallel. The gyro doesn't pick up the motion otherwise.
That was it. That simple. I hope the Apple woman is reading this. Or at least plays with the device a bit. Guys, I thought you were better than this.
Johnathan, of course, got a big tip (which I will write off on my taxes as a donation to the "Keep Andy Sane" charity). Go figure I'd get that type of service from a big box store.
And I learned a huge, most valuable lesson--if you wanna know something about anything technical, don't ask the company that made it...
Ask a teenager.