The Saga of the Ipod

As a self professed music snob, my iPod is the epitome of awesomeness in technology for me. I received my iPod from my family for my grad school graduation gift a few years ago, so in addition to being a vessel for all of my music snobbery, it was a symbol of all the hard work that went into my 3 years of graduate school.

You can imagine then how hard I took losing my iPod during my Texas travels a few weeks ago.

I waited to write about the iPod until I had more information to share. To spare you all the details, I had plane issues in Dallas (story of my life, I know), and we had to switch planes quickly because of a fuel leak. In my haste to get off the plane, I left my iPod in the seat pocket in front of me.

As soon as I got on the new plane, I realized what I had done, and was devastated. I alerted my Flight attendant, and she immediately radioed over to the old plane to see if they could find the iPod. It looked bleak for awhile, and then my flight attendant came over and told me they had found my iPod! I was given the information for Lost and Found, and was told to call them in the morning to claim my iPod.

I called Lost and Found first thing in the morning the next day, and was immediately put on hold for 10 minutes. Not a good sign, and it really pissed me off, so I hung up and called back. The woman I spoke to was entirely unhelpful, and barely let me finish what I was saying before interrupting to tell me they had found no iPod.

I was told to call back the next day to see if they had recovered my iPod. I reminded the woman that my iPod had been found by someone else working for the airlines, and I expected them to have it the next day. While I stood my ground, I was quickly beginning to lose faith that I would get my iPod back. Sure enough, I called back the next day on my way to work, and there was no iPod to be found.

Determined not to let this defeat me, I immediately filed a customer relations complaint with the airlines, and spent the remainder of the week fighting with the airlines over liability for my now lost iPod. The airlines maintained that I had been at fault for leaving my iPod on the original plane. I countered that someone employed by the airlines had reported the iPod as found, and then it was never seen again, and that constitutes theft. I was getting nowhere with the airlines, and was beginning to give up hope.

At this point, my dad suggested I file an insurance claim through my renters insurance. If I could prove theft, my iPod might be covered. Sure enough, my insurance company (who treated me like a human being the whole time I was working with them) covered my iPod! All I was out was my deductable. Considering the cost of a new iPod, that was a small price to pay.

This past weekend, I received my insurance money, and decided to upgrade to an iPod Touch. I've been playing around with it for a few days now, and I absolutely love it! I am so glad that I was able to turn a terrible situation into an opportunity to try something new.

As for the terrible service I received from the airlines, I am not giving up that fight. I am planning to write a letter to the head of their Customer Relations department about the deplorable way I was treated. All I wanted was for the airline to admit their fault in the disappearance of my iPod, and all I received was awful treatment. I won't stand for that from anyone.