Rotten Apple

I am angry with Apple.
Way back in ancient times, when I bought my first iPod, it came complete with a charger, cable, plus a USB Cable so that I could manage my music library between my PC and my iPod.

The battery on my iPod was among those that were faulty, so bought a second charger to keep it operational at all times.
The charger came with a convenient connecting cable.

My Bride decided she wanted an iPod, too, so I bought her one. Thought it would be a good idea to get a second charger, too…only this time, the chargers, which cost north of $30, did not come with a connector cable.
Oh, no—those were another $30 as a separate purchase.
Sort of like buying a car with no tires.

Well, I got peeved at Apple, and put the cordless charger on a shelf, and after a time forgot about the company and my beef with them.

In preparing to take a trip recently, I thought it would be a good idea to have that extra charger, so I took the Apple unit to the retailer and asked to swap it for a similarly priced, non-Apple charger whose manufacturer had had the good sense to sell their charger equipped with a connection cord.

No soap—the retailer refused to make the exchange because I’d waited too long after the original purchase date. Well, it took me that long to stop being mad at Apple.
Sort of.

To spite Apple, I chose to buy the off-brand charger kid instead of making the more sensible (?) purchase of a $30 connector cord for the Apple chargers.

Retailers and manufacturers note: When you tork off a customer, the pain lasts a long time. It is very unlikely I will ever buy another Apple product.

Apple’s iPod has been phenomenally successful.
Unfortunately, their sense of customer service and value have degraded with that success. So it’s no surprise they have some worthy competitors in the MP3 player realm getting ready for a run at the 800-pound gorilla this Christmas. Might even replace my Apple iPod with someone else's product.

Yes, I have an unused iPod charger in the trunk of my car.
It does not have a connector cable.
You wanna buy it?