All Better!

I am so very pleased to announce that my debacle with the Apple Store has been resolved, very amicably, and I am now the oh-so-proud owner of my very own iPhone 4.

((insert outrageously smiley grin here))

The Apple Store manager called me earlier today -- we'll call him Jack. I thought about using real names now since the people I'm referring to now have actually done a GREAT job of taking care of the situation, but I figure honestly, if the right people are reading this, they'll know exactly who I'm talking about. Anywho, Jack the manager called me this morning and told me he was had a 16 GB iPhone 4 with my name on it.

Whaa??!

I couldn't believe it! I was so confused! I had just been told not an hour earlier by Karen that the shipment they received this morning didn't have ANY 16 GB iPhone 4s in it. Crazy! But whatever. They've got a phone for me. That's all that matters. While I was on the phone with Jack, he asked when I wanted to come in. I said 5:30pm, and he booked a "personal shopping" appointment for me so they'd know to expect me. Since he himself was going to be in a meeting from 5-6pm, he booked my appointment with, we'll say, "Ray," and told me he would make sure Ray was completely debriefed on the situation. Jack definitely was making it worth my while to come back to the store and replace my iPhone -- that's all I'll say about that!

I showed up at 5:30pm and saw several blue shirts standing near the entrance to the store, some of whom were speaking with what appeared to be customers. As I walked in, one of the employees immediately greeted me and welcomed me to the store. I told him I was there for a 5:30pm personal shopping appointment. He then says my name. MY name. Yes, I say! That's me! I ask if he's Ray. He says yep, and tells me he's there to help me!

Yesssssss! This is just what I was hoping for! You know, the first time. Yesterday.

So Ray takes me to one of their little "activation stations" to go ahead and set up my new iPhone. He was very courteous and friendly, and he displayed genuine empathy for the situation I experienced during my first visit to the store yesterday. I honestly feel he felt compelled to ensure I had the BEST experience in that store today. Whether or not "corporate" was telling him to treat me like royalty, he played the part and made me feel like the most important customer in the store. I imagine that's how they usually make all of their customers feel. I guess it just so happened to be my luck that I came in on a very "off" day for several of their staff members.

So we got my new phone activated, including an Apple Care protection plan, and I was ready to head out the door in -- get this -- less than 20 minutes! It was ahhhhhmazing! I couldn't have been happier. They really went out of their way to give me the experience that I missed out on yesterday. And like I mentioned, they really made it worth my while to remain loyal to Apple, both with how they treated me at the store, and a very generous offer when it came time to the check-out process. Needless to say, I am now a very satisfied customer.

Of course I do not rescind a single word of my post detailing yesterday's experience, because what happened happened, and I don't think I exaggerated the details a bit. But I am elated to share how wonderfully Apple righted the many wrongs I experienced and restored my faith in their organization. I'm obviously ecstatic to be up and running again with a functional device, but even more so I'm happy that I was finally able to get a REAL Apple customer experience.

Long story short, I have a functional iPhone. A new-and-improved, upgraded version of what I had previously. And with one quick sync to my MacBook, my iPhone is now exactly how I left it -- before accidentally introducing it to the ocean -- from emails to contacts, text messages to apps. I can think happy thoughts again when I think of Apple. I truly believe they went above and beyond what anyone -- including myself -- would have expected.

LO was sure to tell me she loved my new phone as soon as I came home. I took a test photo of her using the lovely built-in flash. Just imagine me smiling with the same priceless, genuine grin seen here:

Thank you, Apple.