Good Service from an Apple Store

A couple of weeks ago, we went down to our local Apple Store and I brought my 'older' Ipod and its charger. I had been having a hard time charging it and I assumed it was due for a new battery, which, according the Apple, means you simply get a new Ipod, since there are no user serviceable parts inside.

I had purchased Apple's extended warranty in May 2005 and I assumed (wrongly) that my coverage would extend to May 2007. The way Apple sees it, an 'extended 2 year' warranty only adds an extra year to the product, since you normally get one. But they also view it as beginning from the 'date of purchase', which for me was November 6, 2004.

I had stopped it once before to ask about the problem but I didn't think the prolem was the charger, so all I brought in the store with me was the Ipod. It seemed to charge just fine, which made me look like a fool, and I really didn't want to go through the hassle of getting help online, so I made sure I had my charger. Turns out it was the firewire cable that had gone bad and thus it charged when it wanted to. Of course, I tried it in different outlets, which is the first of the stupid questions people ask.

So, I got the cable (for free) as part of the extended warranty, and the guy behind the counter, looked up my serial number and saw that my Ipod was 'due' since I had made mention of the possibility of needing a new battery. Since the battery wasn't the problem, he said let me check in the back for a new Ipod since you are due and I was just a few perilous days away from expiration. Since I didn't know about the 'date of purchase' thing, had I gone in just a few days later, I would have been shit outta luck. Fortunately, the guy behind the counter caught it and I got a fresh new Ipod. He could have been a dickhead and not mentioned anything, so I would like to commend this particular Genius Bar guy at the South Shore Plaza for his great customer service.

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I finished reading Shadowlands 'Haunted Florida' bring the total numer of haunted sites to 2269.

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E.J. Dionne wrote a god article today about how the Middle Class in America has been squuezed as a result of 8 to 12 years of 'Supply Side Economics'. I've always argued that the GOP has pushed most of 'risk' of living onto the average guy, everything from health care to their 'inbestment' strategies about the Privatization of Social Security. He argues that people will only take more risk only when they feel more secure about their own financial circumstances. He points out that a rising stock market only benefits the already well off, while this latest 'recession' has hit the middle class particularly hard - its not just the unskilled that have been feeling the pain, its the college-educated skilled force as well. Ask anyone who lost their jobs in high-tech due to outsourcing to India. That's great for the Indian Middle Class, not for use here, especially, if you are middle aged and have had a hard time finding 'suitable' work to stay ahead of rising home prices (which are leveling off) and high gas prices. As if you need further proof how many jobs went oversees - IBM has a machine to help train Indian workers to practice their English, so that they drop their British/Indian accents, so Americans won't be so painfully aware just how many jobs have gone overseas. I once called Earthlink (I no longer have an account with them) for technical support and I got 'Kevin' who was obviously calling from Bangalore. I hope that the Democrats pay heed to the cries of the Middle Class in America or their majority party status will be brief indeed.

At least I have finally found employment albeit with an 86% drop in income with a well known phone provider. I start on the 27th.

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October's visitors: AZ, FL, IL, ME, MI, MD, MO, NE, NV, RI, VA, W.V., and TX.
California: Ceres, Glendale, Maywood, Oceanside, San Mateo and Thousand Oaks
Foreign: France, India, UK, Chile, Australia (Queensland). (What? No Canada?!)