Laughable customer service

[Rafagon]

The following isn't my (or anyone's, I hope!) typical Apple customer service experience! But I guess I'll laugh it off rather than try to figure out a way to use the screen on my iMac as a portal to allow me to stick my arm through it, have it come out of "Jannah"'s screen, wring her neck, and allow me to cackle with insane glee as her face turns bluer and bluer...

I submitted the following through Apple's Express Lane web-based service:

I just finished buying an album that I only intended to preview. I wanted to click on the down arrow but I accidentally hit about one millimeter to the left and hit "Buy". It is now on my hard drive and I would be glad to delete it; please advise how to proceed. ███████@me.com 305-███-████ call anytime 8a-11pm EST or e-mail please... Thank you for your help.​

I received the following response:

Hi Rafael,

Thank you for contacting iTunes Store Support. My name is Jannah and I'll be here to address your issue.

I understand that you're missing some audiobooks and video. No worries, I know how eager you are to have it back on your account. I'll check and see what I can do to resolve this issue.

However, I could not locate the purchase based on the information you provided. Please respond and include your purchase's order number in your reply.

You can find your order numbers on your email receipts and in your Purchase History. If you need to review your Purchase History, follow the steps in this article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2727

Rafael, I look forward to receiving your reply. Once I get the necessary information I needed for my investigation, I'll be more than happy to help you resolve your issue. Have a nice day!


Sincerely,

Jannah

Missing audiobooks and video?! I'm eager to have it back on my account? What?! Read that again, "Jannah."

In all honesty to you guys, my query wasn't 100% truthful, but it wasn't an all-out lie either. I did simply want to hear a song, not buy it, but I did head straight to the buy button, forgetting that that button would buy the album without further warning. I thought there'd be a track listing or another screen before the album was automatically purchased. The only part I lied about was that I was intending to click on the arrow.

Guess I'll try this again...

 

[Bennyboy]

That's the kind of responses I get from my employees.

 

[Rafagon]

Yikes! Maybe you should try speaking Italian to them, man! Or get iPads for everyone, including yourself, and scribble pictures on it to one another... Having a good command of the Spanish langauge is about 75% of the reason I picked up Italian rather efficiently.

The English-Spanish barrier is a huge one for most people who don't learn both langauges simultaneously from a very young age. English grammar is amazingly simple compared to Spanish grammar. But I guess what proves challenging for Hispanics is that English spelling isn't very phonetic. Hispanics are used to one letter, one sound, with very few exceptions (at least when you pronounce it correctly and don't slur all your letters together!). At my former job, we had quite a few Hispanics whose English was half-baked. This made for plenty of frustrating (and some downright humorous) moments.

 

[Rafagon]

I submitted the following through Apple's Express Lane web-based service:

Since she said "look forward to receiving your reply," I replied to Jannah's e-mail the same night she reached out to me. No response yet (>24 hours later). Anyone know if the "iTunesStoreSupport@Apple.com" e-mail account is read by anyone there? It never stated "Do Not Reply" in the subject field. This is just for future reference, as I have already submitted a new query...

Even better, anyone know a direct 800 number to iTunes customer service?

 

[RoofMonkey]

Since she said "look forward to receiving your reply," I replied to Jannah's e-mail the same night she reached out to me. No response yet (>24 hours later). Anyone know if the "iTunesStoreSupport@Apple.com" e-mail account is read by anyone there? It never stated "Do Not Reply" in the subject field. This is just for future reference, as I have already submitted a new query...

Even better, anyone know a direct 800 number to iTunes customer service?

Take a look here and follow these steps, maybe this will work?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/chatterbox/2006/12/calling_iTunes_part_3.html

 

[Rafagon]

Take a look here and follow these steps, maybe this will work?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/chatterbox/2006/12/calling_iTunes_part_3.html

Thank you for that, Roof! I'm saving the phone number in that article under my entry for "Apple Inc." in my contacts for future use. Today, that same lady e-mailed me back and informed me I'll be receiving a full refund:

Hi Rafael,

Jannah here again. I apologize for my inappropriate reply, I got so many emails to reply.

I'm sorry also, but the iTunes Store normally doesn't provide assistance by telephone. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have via email about your account, billing issues, downloading items, or iTunes Store content, and I will do my best to resolve this issue for you.

Rafael, after reviewing and considering the circumstances of your case, I am happy to tell you that issuing you a refund for your unintentional purchase of the album "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things (Bonus Track Version)" is an appropriate exception to the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions, which state that all sales are final. In five to seven businesss days, a refund in the amount of $ 19.99 will be credited to the payment method(s) that were used to pay for the items.

Please be informed that the iTunes Store provides a warning message that asks if you are sure that you want to buy an item. This warning can be turned off. If you would like to make sure that this warning is on, you can reset the warnings in the iTunes Store by following the instructions in this article:

Resetting iTunes Store warnings
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1734

About deleting the purchased items on your devices, below article will help;

iTunes Store: How to delete songs from iCloud
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4915

I hope I was able to help you and everything goes well from here. If you'll have more questions, feel free to reply to this email, and we will provide you the assistance at our best. Have a great day, Rafael!


Sincerely,

Jannah
iTunes Store Customer Support

Please Note: I work M-F, 8-5PM CT

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you.

Based on her schedule that she provided, it looks like she worked overtime today, or was working from home on her own time to catch up.

I'm a happy camper.


Sent from my alphanumeric pager.