Noon
10-09-2007, 01:38 PM
Click (http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/10/08/rocks-found-in-place-of-girls-brand-new-ipod-twice)
Nearly every teenager either has an iPod or wants one. There are a few exceptions, but the vast majority of teens sport (or pretend to sport (http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/09/12/is-that-an-ipod-in-your-pocket-or-are-you-just-using-knockoff-earbuds)) Apple's wildly-popular digital audio player. So imagine yourself, for a moment, as a 14-year-old girl in your first year of the exciting, terrifying, and unforgiving world that is high school. It's your birthday and all you really wanted was a brand new iPod. You unwrap your gifts fervidly and you hit pay dirt. The iPod you wanted—no, you needed! You open the packaging with great anticipation, only to discover that there is no iPod. Only rocks. Not even good rocks, or iRocks, just rocks. This scenario unfolded recently (http://www.star-telegram.com/news/columnists/dave_lieber//story/260075.html) in the life of a 14-year-old in Texas. It turns out that the parents weren't merely mean, and to our knowledge the kid didn't have it coming. And we must say, rocks are a much better prize than, say, rotten meat (http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2005/12/29/2243).
It turns out that this iPod was replaced with rocks somewhere before the sale. Like any consumer would, the family went to the Target store where the "iPod" was purchased in order to replace the non-music-playing rocks. Apparently, Target's return policy for customers using their Target cards is to issue store credit only—despite the family asking for their money back, it was rocks or store credit, period. Unfortunately, the store in Fort Worth had no other iPods. The employees did, however, call around to other area Target stores and found one that had the product in Grand Prairie, 20 miles away.
The Grand Prairie store's employees, perhaps unforgivingly after hearing the sob story, insisted that the new iPod had to be purchased before opening it. The family finally agreed, purchased the iPod, and opened in in front of Target employees. Again, the box that should have contained an iPod contained rocks. The woman once again asked for her money back, but again was denied. She then, according to the article, had her daughter pick out other items in order to use the store credit.
So far, Target hasn't been apologetic—its employees were following store policy and the company is "looking" into the matter. It seems likely that both stores get their merchandise from the same distribution warehouse, and that is most likely where the problem lies. Bets on whether or not Apple intervenes before this gets resolved?
:ninja:
Nearly every teenager either has an iPod or wants one. There are a few exceptions, but the vast majority of teens sport (or pretend to sport (http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/09/12/is-that-an-ipod-in-your-pocket-or-are-you-just-using-knockoff-earbuds)) Apple's wildly-popular digital audio player. So imagine yourself, for a moment, as a 14-year-old girl in your first year of the exciting, terrifying, and unforgiving world that is high school. It's your birthday and all you really wanted was a brand new iPod. You unwrap your gifts fervidly and you hit pay dirt. The iPod you wanted—no, you needed! You open the packaging with great anticipation, only to discover that there is no iPod. Only rocks. Not even good rocks, or iRocks, just rocks. This scenario unfolded recently (http://www.star-telegram.com/news/columnists/dave_lieber//story/260075.html) in the life of a 14-year-old in Texas. It turns out that the parents weren't merely mean, and to our knowledge the kid didn't have it coming. And we must say, rocks are a much better prize than, say, rotten meat (http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2005/12/29/2243).
It turns out that this iPod was replaced with rocks somewhere before the sale. Like any consumer would, the family went to the Target store where the "iPod" was purchased in order to replace the non-music-playing rocks. Apparently, Target's return policy for customers using their Target cards is to issue store credit only—despite the family asking for their money back, it was rocks or store credit, period. Unfortunately, the store in Fort Worth had no other iPods. The employees did, however, call around to other area Target stores and found one that had the product in Grand Prairie, 20 miles away.
The Grand Prairie store's employees, perhaps unforgivingly after hearing the sob story, insisted that the new iPod had to be purchased before opening it. The family finally agreed, purchased the iPod, and opened in in front of Target employees. Again, the box that should have contained an iPod contained rocks. The woman once again asked for her money back, but again was denied. She then, according to the article, had her daughter pick out other items in order to use the store credit.
So far, Target hasn't been apologetic—its employees were following store policy and the company is "looking" into the matter. It seems likely that both stores get their merchandise from the same distribution warehouse, and that is most likely where the problem lies. Bets on whether or not Apple intervenes before this gets resolved?
:ninja: