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 Innovative way to deal with ipod theft
Posted Tue June 16, 2009 11:13 pm, by David S. written to Apple Computer Inc
Write a Letter to this Company | Rate this Company
To whom it may concern,
In January of 2009 I purchased a 16GB blue iPod Nano. This was the first iPod I ever bought and really the first Apple product I ever bought. I have to say that Apple has it right with the ipod. You make a fantastic product. I returned a competing mp3 player to the store before deciding on your Nano.
Sadly, about 1 month after purchasing my new ipod, I was involved in a minor car accident. A driver talking on a cellphone wasn’t watching the road and hit me. My car was not driveable, so a tow truck was called in. I stupidly left my ipod in the glove box and long story short, when the car came back from the body shop, it had been stolen. The police and insurance couldn’t really do much because I had no idea who actually stole it. A lot of people handled the car from the time it was towed until the time it was returned to me repaired. End result I was out $200.
I called apple support and provided them my stolen ipod’s serial number: **********
The rep I spoke to asked me a few questions and then marked it as stolen in your system. I was curious so I asked what would happen the next time whoever stole it connected it to itunes. I was shocked to hear that the answer to this is nothing happens and they have full use of the stolen product with no restrictions. The rep further explained to me that the only thing apple will do at all is refuse warranty or phone support for the stolen ipod. I highly doubt whoever has my ipod would be stupid enough to try to call in for support or repair it under warranty.
I’m not saying apple is responsible in any way for me losing my ipod. I’m also not saying that apple should give me a new ipod for free. What I am saying is that apple should have a kill switch that deactivates and renders stolen ipods useless as soon as they are connected to itunes. Or if this isn’t possible, a password that the ipod asks for if it is connected to a different computer from the one it usually syncs with.
Think about it. Perhaps you have heard this before, but maybe not... If apple added either one of my suggestions above, news would circulate quickly among all the criminals out there and they would stop stealing your products from people like me who pay good money for them. Apple could single handedly stop ipod theft by rendering stolen ipods useless as soon as they are connected to itunes or have them ask for a password that can only be reset by an employee at an apple store if they attempt to sync it with a different computer.
I have since purchased an identical ipod and am once again happy, but it saddens me that a company as innovative as Apple Computer cant come up with a better way to deal with theft of their products. Yes, this isn’t necessarily Apples responsibility, Microsoft, Creative, Sony, and other competitors do not offer the features I mentioned above either, however maybe this is another opportunity for apple to lead the way.
I would like apples thoughts on this matter and my suggestions. I will really be looking forward to speakign to someone either by e-mail or on the phone.
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So I heard nothing. Kina suprised actually. Kina makes me mad I bought
another ipod. Oh well.
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I do that!
And every card is signed AND marked "See ID"
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by calm Posted Thu June 18, 2009 @ 1:58 PM
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n/t
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that all Apple is worried about is the chance they could get stuck
fixing an iPod that they didn't get paid for! WOW!
I hope they do consider the idea, but it's sad to think that because
this is all they are really concerned about that they likely won't
take any preventative measures to protect their customer's property.
That's going to definitely be in my mind the next time I consider
purchasing any Apple products.
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Great suggestion(s)! Also, I know someone who lost an mp3 player and
it had a PW on it, so someone who found/stole it can't use it. THat
seems like a no brainer to me!
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by PepperElf Posted Wed June 17, 2009 @ 2:46 AM
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considered going to apple.com to voice a suggestion?
http://tinyurl.com/applefeedback
That's Apple's official "Online Support Feedback" website.
"Use this form to tell us how we can improve our resources on
apple.com/support or report any problems you experienced finding
online support information or using our tools."
=)
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Apple
by PepperElf Wed June 17, 2009 @ 7:29 PM
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by Venice Posted Tue June 16, 2009 @ 11:45 PM
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As the mother of the victim of three stolen iPods, all I can say is...
That's a great idea! Your reasoning makes perfect sense. I mean,
Apple doesn't need to promote their wildly popular iPods, but this
would certainly be extremely customer oriented and above and beyond
the competition.
Please let us know if you hear from them.
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SHARED LETTERS 
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