The Apple iPad Mini with Retina Display of My Eye

New York City appears to be out of sync for me this morning. There's an unusual hush on the streets, as a result of the fresh snow. The few cars or trucks that pass are muted, as if driving on foam.

The schools are shut down, the temperature outside is at 20 degrees, the airports are closed and I'm nursing myself back to health, after a lousy holiday chest cold. Even though I did feel miserable for a few days, I do feel lucky because this episode wasn't complicated by the usual sinus infection. Although I haven't confirmed my cold recovery routines with the experts, what seems to work for me is staying away from the bike or trainer, staying on the couch for hours reading or eyes glazed over watching TV, keeping a window open while sleeping and taking in large quantities of food and liquids.

This time around, being locked up in the apartment got me thinking about 2013. I have to say the year had been an incredibly good one for customer service related stories.  The one that stands out is the extremely positive outcome I had with The Apple Store.

Throughout the years, I've owned a Mac desktop, MacBook, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, Apple TV, Apple AirPort Extreme, Apple iPhone 5 and most recently, I received the gift of an iPad Mini with retina display.  My wife owns an iPad with Retina Display and our three adult children own a MacBook, MacBook Pros, AirPort Extreme and iPhones 4S, 5 and 5S. My first Mac was a Mac LC and I truly loved the simplicity and inherent intuitiveness of the operating system and programs. This Mac was also a favorite of the kids, when they were growing up. Back then, however, the early days of owning a Mac was pretty much a leap of faith. Things often did go wrong and you didn't have the benefit of taking the machine to an Apple store. You were often left taking your albatross to an authorized retailer. If you were lucky, you and the kids were left without a computer for only weeks.

Fast forward to the future and along with Starbucks, the first sign that you live in a civilized society is that there's an Apple Store near you. These stores define what I can only describe as the ideal retail community experience. First, they are beautiful to look at, they are filled with staff who are knowledgeable, well trained and customer focussed. Besides offering their entire Apple line-up, they also feature a wide variety of  accessories, software and peripherals.

My most recent excellent adventure with the Apple Store began late November, when I decided to order my iPad Mini with retina display.  I had been holding out to replace my Kindle for about a year, sustaining myself on the hope and rumors that Apple was in fact introducing a mini with a high definition display. All of the Mac websites were predicting a release date, some time after Thanksgiving. Surprisingly, Apple quietly announced and made them available for on-line order and pick-up on November 12. Upon hearing the news, I immediately placed the order on-line and elected to pick up the mini at my local Apple Store at Ridge Hill. After receiving my confirmation, my wife and I headed to the store and in about half an hour, I was the very first person walking out with the latest iPad Mini. Of course, missing were the lines of staff and strangers applauding my great retail triumph but I was flying high, nonetheless.

For approximately two weeks, I played with my new toy and quickly became accustomed to the engineered beauty of the device and the seamless operating system. The new device, along with my iPhone 5, became my "go to" devices. I use my mini for: iMessaging, as a TV remote control, paying bills, surfing the web, banking, viewing photos, making purchases, retrieving email, reading the New York Times and reading books. I haven't opened any of the iWorks programs and I still use my MacBook for work and complex activities. My plans are to take a course or two at the Apple Store and possibly use it at work but for the moment, I'm in no rush. A few folks at the store pointed out that I would notice the crispness of the screen, when playing games. As is my custom,  I could only respond that I don't play games and as usual, I drew quizzical stares.

Within this time, my wife had forwarded an email to me from the Apple Store indicating they were crediting us $412.00, because we did not pick up the reserved iPad Mini. They further added that if we wanted to purchase the device, all we had to do was make another reservation and pick it up at the store, if they were in stock. My wife and I gave each other a few looks and I explained that perhaps, we had been mistakenly debited twice and they were crediting us for the error. Regardless, I advised she contact her credit card company, just to make sure. She did manage to call the credit card company and they confirmed that her card had been correctly debited once and then, Apple had credited her card for the same amount. She explained to them what had happened and they responded that at this point, we did not have to do anything. After hashing out the situation, neither of us felt comfortable not paying for the item. For better or for worse, we both felt a personal kinship with Apple and felt cozy within the warmth of our Apple environment. After all, we had been given years of pleasure and it just felt wrong; like stealing a wad of cash from your mother's purse. I also wanted to add AppleCare to my mini and I was wincing at the idea of getting arrested at the door because the item may have been reported stolen. Finally, we felt the pressures of an Apple Karma of sorts. In short, I imagined all of our wonderful products exploding simultaneously!

Armed with my iPad Mini, printed emails and receipts in hand, we dashed off to the Apple Store. Once there, we were greeted by several of the staff and led to the back of the store to meet with the manager. We then explained the entire situation to her and showed her the iPad, emails and the receipts. With eyes widened, her first response was that something like this had never happened before and additionally added that nobody had ever come into Apple claiming they had not been charged for an item. We assured her that neither of us felt comfortable knowing we were getting pleasure from something we had not paid for. She then directed us to a corner of the store and asked us to wait for a few minutes, while she research the situation. We noticed a flurry of activity, as a result of this errant iPad. Throughout the waiting process, a slew of employees stopped by to speak with us and ask questions. A number of them shook our hands or patted me on the back. Approximately, fifteen minutes later, the manager came over to say the store had made an error and we did NOT have to pay for the iPad. With both of our mouths open in awe, she explained that there had been a glitch in the system and as a result of the error, the iPad had been written off as missing.  As a result of the device being written off, our credit card could not be charged again. She then thanked us and shook both of our hands. We were both numb and finally, assured her that we would continue to spread the gospel, according to Apple!

In the midst of the confusion, I suddenly remembered I had wanted to purchase the AppleCare and as soon as I did, we left the store. Suddenly, my Apple iPad Mini, with retina display felt as new as when I had just pulled it out of the box, even though it had been in my hand all along. Man, did we feel good!