Gratitude

Several things have happened of late that really touched me...

History: Sometime mid-Fall, 14 yr. old son takes dog for a walk & listens to his iPod.  Son leaves iPod in sweatshirt pocket.  Washing machine.  Dryer.  Ugh.  I scour the internet for possible ways to save the iPod.  Dries iPod in rice bowl for a couple of weeks little while.  iPod plays music but backlight doesn't work, and it won't hold a charge. 

I finally took my son to the Apple store in town.  Actually, we tried to contact Apple service online, but when no one in the family could read the super tiny serial number, even with my reading glasses on(!), so we opted to search for a store in town.  Voila!  So we went to the store, in hopes of returning the iPod for repair, at son's expense.  Busy store.  Four kids.  Close to nap for 3 yr. old.  Two hour wait for service.  Hmmmm.  Made an appt. for the next morning!  Yeah!  Arrived a little early, and only had three kids.  Aside:  The 5 yr. old begged opted to accompany his Dad to doctor appointment to watch Dad get his cast removed.  Dad couldn't come up with a good reason not to take him agreed it'd be nice to have one-to-one time. 

Back at the Apple store, we were taken back to the repair/service area right away.  We explained the circumstances (our fault, just want to send in for repair, etc.), but the Apple store employee kindly explained it was physical damage, not covered under warranty, and it was irreparable.  14 yr. old and I were both crushed disappointed.  I was pretty sure he didn't want to cough up money for a new iPod, and I knew this was a difficult but valuable lesson for all involved.  The Apple store employee asked us to wait for a moment, so we obliged, still subdued.  I started to consider inquiring about used iPods.  The gentleman returned and reiterated the unit was irreparable, but that Apple wanted us to have a working unit for the holidays.  I was puzzled and wondering if there was going to be a sales pitch...next thing I know begins checking his inventory.  They have one in stock.  Same model.  Same color.  Same everything.  Then the kicker...they gave it to us at no charge.  Yep.  For FREE.  My eyes welled up.  And over.  Yes, tears dripped right past my eyelashes.  My 11 yr. old daughter caught my eyes.  Her eyes began to blur.  My 14 yr. old's son's face beamed and his eyes welled up, too, although there was no obvious leakage. :-) 

We felt so very blessed.  It colored our whole Christmas break with a spirit of gratitude, thanksgiving and generosity.  It may have been a drop-in-the-bucket for Apple to give us a 5th generation iPod Nano, but it was a significant gift to us.

When we received the customer survey we filled it out promptly and with glowing praise.  And while 'I'm a PC', I'm certainly excited to spread the word about the superior customer service we received from Apple.