For my Christmas present in 2008, Tom gave me a 2nd generation iPod Touch.  We had some long flights coming up and I was looking forward to the bigger screen (compared to my iPod Classic) for watching movies on the plane.  Having used Tom's iPod Touch previously, I was excited to get my own.

But what really made this gift special was on the back.  Tom had had it laser engraved with a wonderful sentiment that made me smile and tear up at the same time.  I especially loved it because it meant that Tom planned ahead in order to get it personalized in time for Christmas.  He was also kind enough to buy AppleCare for my iPod Touch.

Flash forward to this summer.  Despite having the capability of listening to music and podcasts on first my Blackberry and now my Droid X, my iPod Touch has been my go-to music and podcast machine.  It traveled with me everywhere until, finally, as Apple ones are prone to do, the battery was no longer holding a charge.  This being my third iPod, I knew it was time to go see the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store. Because Uncle Steve decided we shouldn't be able to replace our own batteries...

Got the appointment on September 9th (always make a Genius Bar appointment!) and was actually seen very quickly by one of the geniuses.  He verified that the battery was indeed dying and gave me two options: swap it out then and there for a new one or, if I wanted the personalization still, send it in to AppleCare for replacement.  I explained the symbolism of the personalization and he gave me the information on how to do that.

Here's how you send something into AppleCare for repair or replacement. 1) Call Apple Care at 1-800-APL-CARE and work your way through the prompts until you get a human. Explain to the human everything you already told the Apple Store genius and what you were told there. 2) Get a Repair ID and take your Apple product to your local UPS Store for them to ship it at no cost to you at the time.  3) Get an email from Apple confirming the Repair ID and giving you a link to check on the status on your repair.

Steps 1 and 2 went fairly smoothly. Graham at Apple Care (my human) got everything set up for me and listened patiently as I explained again why the personalization was so important.  He told me it should take four to six business days for my iPod Touch to be replaced which was great to hear.  He gave me the address of my nearest UPS Store and my Repair ID.  I was off to the UPS Store and the woman there said Apple Care would receive my iPod Touch on September 10th.  A quick check of UPS.com on September 10th showed that was the case.

Here's where it starts going off the tracks... Every day, I kept checking my repair status and every day it said it was still in transit.  Not good.  Finally, by Saturday, September 18th, I called Apple Care again to find out what was going on.  Finally got another human after the way too many not-human options.  He couldn't find out why it wasn't showing as received though.  He made some excuse about the tech who has my iPod hasn't inputted this information yet. <sarcasm>Greaaaat...</sarcasm>  He said he escalated my case (one of those customer service phrases that means nothing) and said first that I should call back in a day. Then he remembered it was Saturday and told me I should wait until Monday. I'm not happy, but I wait until Monday.

It's now Monday, September 20th and they've had my iPod Touch for 10 calendar days and basically six business days.  I call that afternoon to check again on my iPod since, of couse, the repair status page still says that it's in transit.  This time, I get a young female human named Betty after wading through the "Press one" crap for the third time.  Once again, she can't find any information on my repair status or indication that it's even been received.  Now the excuse is that the techs don't work on the weekends so they have lots of work to catch up on when they come in on Mondays so <sarcasm>obviously it's my fault for calling too soon in the day</sarcasm>.  I'm gritting my teeth at this point because I'm trying to start walking for exercise again and I really want my iPod for that.

And we've now reached today, September 21st.  I call Apple Care yet again.  I work my way through the maze of prompts and then spend about ten minutes on hold. (I will give Apple credit for having decent on-hold music.)  Today's human FINALLY verifies that they do indeed have my iPod Touch.  Yay! But then he launches in to a spiel about how they have to determine whether it can be repaired or needs to be replaced. HUH?!? Isn't that what they did at the Genius Bar already? Do they not even trust their own employees? But, wait... there's more... Then he informs me that because it is personalized (with an almost how dare I have something personalized tone of voice) ...that because it is personalized, it would be probably two weeks if it needs to be replaced. WTF?!?  I point out that Graham from Apple Care had told me four to six business days when I originally set everything up.  "Oh, he must have not known it was personalized." No, dude, he did.

So now I sit without my iPod Touch for God know how long.  My repair status page still claims that it's still in transit (since 9/10). And I'm not happy.

And people ask me why I don't have an iPhone. I give you Exhibit A.  I'm sure Exhibit B, C, D, E, etc. will be coming soon.

--Carla