A few weeks back I

A few weeks back I broke the “,<” key on my iBook keyboard. It still works. It just requires some massaging at times. Today I broke down and decided to see what it would take to fix it. Considering that I purchased it back in September and Apple has a 1 year warranty, heck it might even be covered.

I decide to call the Apple Store I bought it from. Little did a I realize this meant a walk through the corporate Apple voicemail system till I ended up in their support area.

“$49 please, or $249 or we don’t talk to you. I can tell you why the $249 is a great deal." “Uhm, sorta broke right now $49 sounds better. Also I don’t really have a support question. I just need to know how much a new keyboard for my iBook would cost or if it is covered under warranty." “$49 it is. We may waive that if it’s covered by warranty.” Of course I couldn’t tell him what it was before hand to see if it would be waived. A quick trade of my vital stats read: credit card number and we were on our way.

As Gale put it in Raising Arizona “We’re just about ready to start the robbery in progress.” I explain that the key broke when I was trying to clean some hair out from underneath. I really just need to know what a replacement keyboard is since this isn’t a problem you’ll fix over the phone. After putting me on hold and talking to his manager he cheerfully informs me that it isn’t covered by warranty and a new keyboard is $160 (including the $49 for the call).

I let him know to hold the ticket open and that I’ll call back to render my decision. I feel kinda ripped off. I paid $49 to find out the price for the replacement part I called about. It’s half the cost of a new keyboard fer crissake.

Man, I feel like a tourist in New York City. You know, part of that vacation experience is about being the rube and being taken. Apple’s bucking for that Big Apple status I guess.