Apple gave me back all my lost music, free of charge

Earlier today, when my iPod and my upgraded iTunes 7 got together and decided that my purchased music would really be happier living on a farm upstate with other m4p's, I did whatever I could to convince the music to come back.

I tried to reverse the polarity on my iPod, and I tried modify the navigational deflector on my Powerbook, without any success. It also turns out that the isolinear optical chips are only on MacBook Pros, but even if I had them here, Data was too busy laughing at me with his emotion chip to be of any use.

So I opened my hailing frequencies, and sent a subspace message to support at Apple.

Okay, I'm done with corny Star Trek metaphors . . . but admit it, wasn't that fun?

Though the company was unresponsive last time I contacted them about an iTunes Music Store purchase issue, they responded very quickly this time. A very kind woman named Kate called me, and told me that she'd read my blog about my problems with my purchased music.

Wait. She read my blog? Okay. That's weird and unexpected, and a stark reminder that, despite my impression that readership has fallen steadily in the last year, people still read my blog.

She said that Apple wants to keep their customers happy, and ensure that they'll be confident purchasing things from the iTunes Music Store, so she was going to push a Big Red Button that would allow me to have a do over, and download all of my purchased music again, free of charge. This seemed excessive to me, and way above what would be reasonably expected, but before I could tell her that, she told me that she'd read on my blog that I didn't expect Apple to treat me any differently than they'd treat any other customer. She assured me that this is Apple's corporate policy, and they'll do this for anyone who has a catastrophic loss of their iTunes Music Store purchases, regardless of the cause. I think that's really cool. Can you imagine walking into a record store and telling them, "Hey, guys, I lost all my CDs over the weekend. I know it's my fault, but . . . can I have some new ones?"

I think that's worth mentioning again, in hey-look-at-me bold text: If you make a purchase from the iTunes Music Store, and something horrible happens and you lose all your music, Apple will give you a one-time only do-over to replace all of your purchased music, free of charge. 

E-mail from Apple support was equally helpful. A woman named Sheila apologized for the inconvenience, and repeated the offer to give me a do-over on my downloads. She also included some polite advice on the importance of backing up music, and how iTunes 7 makes that easy with just a few clicks. (It is as easy as they say. I spanned 10 CDs of Lost episodes and purchased music.)

In retrospect, this was so quickly addressed and fixed by Apple, I'm a little embarrassed that this turned into such a huge thing, especially once it hit Digg, and became a "let's attack Apple because we can" thread. I'm a Digger, too, and I believe that when the wisdom of the masses becomes the tyranny of the mob, it reflects rather poorly on all of us. I'd also like to stop and admire all the schoolyard insults that were hurled my way over there. It's reassuring to know that there's still a place on the Intertubes where people can get in touch with their inner 6th grade bully. (Oh, it looks like this post hit Digg, too. Hello again.)

One thing that I want to clarify -- for myself as much as for anyone else who read my blog earlier -- I identified this as a DRM issue because the only files that disappeared were ones that had DRM on them. After a day's worth of reflection, however, it's more accurate to identify it as a backup issue -- which has sort of been addressed by the backup your whole library feature in the new version of iTunes. I'm still not crazy about DRM, and I don't like anything that restricts what I can do with what I purchase. However, I also believe that artists should profit from their works, and stealing stuff is bad, but I'm not sure if restrictive DRM is the best way to handle it. That's an argument that's been run into the ground forever, so on that subject, I'll just say "Abortions for some, tiny American flags for others!

In all seriousness, though, I want to thank Kate and Sheila from Apple for quickly responding to and addressing my problem. The way you treat a customer once they're out of the store is even more important than the way you treat them when they're in the store, and Apple has always taken good care of me, as a customer. Will I continue to buy things that are DRM-laden? If it's something that's hard to find and I absolutelymusthaveitrightnowbecauseineedit probably. But I think I'll be making physical purchases of CDs more frequently than not from now on. Also, don't forget that lots of CDs have incredible design in their packaging. Tool's 10,000 Days immediately comes to mind.

I also know that some people who are very much in touch with their inner 6th grader will say that this is just a publicity move, and I'm a stupid dupe for playing along. Well, it is good publicity to take care of your customers, and since it turns out that a lot more people than I can fit into my back yard read my blog, I'm happy to spread the word a little bit.

Comments

[James Casey]

I openly admit I like it when *anyone* drops in Star Trek references; but we're talking several levels of cool and manic grin-ness (like Guinness but less satisfying) higher when it's someone who's part of Star Trek.

I fired up iTunes last night and was prompted to install 7 - I immediately raised shields and (oh, wait, doesn't work for me, does it?) refused to make it so do so, recalling your post about it. Having read this entry though, I feel a little safer, so, thanks.

[Squiggle]

That really rocks.

And I still read your blog, but through Google Reader. So you'd rarely see me in your webstats. =)

Surely everyone else is doing the same?

[towers16]

I am another that is still reading your blog daily(When you do post daily). My perpetual fear of writing keeps my post few and far between. But I have to give you credit, very few people are willing to admit when they were wrong, or had misconceptions. Keep up the writing and I will keep up the reading.

[Laurens]

I don't thin this is promotional : I already read somewhere the Apple allowed this.
The catch is : it's a one-time only thing...

But I guess it does a lot of good : you'll remember taking backups once you loose your whole library.

I also read all blogs I follow through Google Reader.
I guess more and more people use aggregators, and this will probably show up as lower numers, both in trafic and in comments, because to comment, I have to leave my google-shell, come to your blog, log in, leave my comment,...

You could say that this gives the comments you get on your blog a much higher value.

[Kodmonkey]

Wow, a lot of points in your post Wil. First off, I must say that I do not have or use iTunes in any way (I'm a Linux man myself), but from my friends that use Macs they have nothing but raves for their customer support. Apple does do that better than most companies out there, I think, and that's where the extra bucks in Apple-related purchases truly go to.

Oh, and I still read your blog the old-fashioned way: I have your RSS feed subscribed in Firefox and click-through on the new posts that pop up. Call me a crotchety old fogey for it.

"Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos."

[bbock]

Great idea, pre-emptively calling people who take issue with something you say as being school children. Not too cool.

I have heard that Apple will let you have one redo. I had a problem in that I had piled up music into my shopping cart over time, using it as a wish list. Then I would purchase them individually over time. I accidentally purchased everything one day. And discovered to my horror that iTunes was going to download a LOT of stuff I couldn't afford. I stopped the download immediately and contacted Apple via their feedback form. Within a day they had acknowledged the problem, lectured me not to do that again, and reversed the purchase and the charge. Lesson learned.

So I do think Apple gives good customer service on iTunes.

But there is one big difference between my experience and yours. They CALLED you. That's weird. I've never heard of Apple initiating customer service by a phone call. I have no complaint with how they handled my case. But I think you are a bit deluded if you actually think Apple doesn't give you special treatment because of your blog. I'm only slightly jealous of it. :-P First a Powerbook for an iBook problem. Now personal phone calls for customer service?

They should have cast you in those PC and Mac commercials! Maybe you can be Linux :-P

[OliverJ]

Hi Wil,
are you sure that you are´nt trapped into a time-loop? What if this lost of iTune-Music happens again tomorrow? ;-))

[masukomi]

A while ago I had a realization. I, like most people, buy music for the long haul. I still listen to songs I bought ten years ago. But computers, aren't built for the long haul. They change and evolve on an incredibly short timespan. Think of the computers you've used throughout your life. Has there ever been a period where the computer you were currently using could use software from the one you were using (or would have been using) ten years prior?

DRM encoded music requires the software of today to free your music for listening. Do you really think you'll be using OS X and an iPod 10 years from now? If not then what happens to all that music and all the money that you spent on it?

My advice, use one of the illegal (thanks to DMCA) FairPlay cracks, free your songs from their DRM wrappers, and never buy another song that isn't in an open format. Open formats like mp3 and ogg are guaranteed to be convertable to the day's standard as time goes by.

[ThemePark]

Readership, I can't help myself for checking up on whatz new with Wil about every two days (if not everyday). Dude, you keep reminding me of things past. Some good, some not so good, but all worth remembering. Keep it up.
Cd's, actual physical Cd's.... I love 'em. I grew up in the old vinyl days and love to hold the liners notes in my hands as I first play the record/cd. I have a need to know what the lyrics are, who played on the record ( i'm a musician ), who wrote the songs, who the band wanted to thank, etc. I rarely buy protected songs because of the strange feeling I get that someone has a hand in my music library and can jerk me around someday. Yeah, I know that Cd's take up space and precious natural resources, but maybe they can start making them out of naturally grown corn or some other innocuous material. Plus, I have an unnatural need to alphabetize my music collection. Oh yeah, does iTunes7 fix the problem of importing music and having Jeff Beck come up under "B" instead of "J"? I hate having to go into "info" and change all my Cd's. Yeah, I know there is a script fix, but shouldn't Apple offer that as a feature?
Ramble, ramble, ramble...
See what your blog does to me.
Thanks Wil

[Grrr]

Hey Wil,
this might be off-topic, but I was wondering about Radio Free Burrito? Did you retire the show? I really enjoyed listening to them and thought they were really entertaining most of the time.
Hope you make some more!

Grrr

[Maimon Mons]

There is a certain assurance when you have a physical CD in your shelf that I personally don't have with downloads. I feel the same way about DVDs.

These all get ripped to the computer, but in a failure I have the physical CDs to go back to. Also, you can't (legally) lend someone your downloaded movie or music.

Also, fair use laws (I believe) allow me to borrow someone's legally bought CD and rip the songs and return the original.

[Kari]

I feel bad, now. I immediately emailed your original iTunes 7 blog to a friend, because I wanted him to know how shitty iTunes Music Store was. Boy, was I adding fuel to the mob-starting fire. Way to keep things in perspective, Wil.

[WaywardSailorGirl]

Wil,
Fear not that you readership is down...I'm a habitual visitor using an RSS feed to myYahoo to alert me to new entries. Hell, sometimes I even come directly "just in case" the feed isn't working properly, dropping in every few hours while working in hopes of new verbage. As I've followed your blog over the last couple of years, I've adopted other regular blogstops linked to by you. Whatever, Neil Gaiman's Journal, Questionable Content, jesus' favorite and Nickerblog just to name a few. I was also introduced to Geocaching via your blog! While I certainly make my own decisions about what I read regularly, you've introduced me to so many fun and fascinating sites I might never have stumbled across on my own. So don't feel alone out here...we're reading, we're laughing, we're crying, and we're learning right along with you.

[Gaylord Focker]

Wil,

What a coincidence she read your blog...*whistles the X-Files theme*

[Leenerella]

Don't forget places like Calabashmusic.com (World Music) and emusic.com (all sorts of crap!) who have affordable downloads with NO restrictions. And CalabashMusic.com keeps your purchases on record in your account, and you can download any of those files as many times as is needed, forever.

I installed iTunes on my PC in 2004 and when I foolishly allowed it to build a library out of my files, it indiscriminately wiped 7 gigs of music, so I never went back.

I'm very glad they came through for you.

[CMD]

Interesting. So your Flag Decal Won't Get You int Heaven Anymore, but your Starfleet Insignia . . .

But you can't fool me with your good customer service experience, mister. I've still totally broken up with Apple.

[Stephen J.]

Is this the same Wil who threw his Binary retarted Appletop across the room and blasted it with a phaser like it was a worm crawling from the chest of a trusted comrade????

Yep we all do Star Trek :)

After being an apple fan for years I gave up on them long ago and moved to PC's. HOWEVER my recent intro to Linux (2 years, recent BAH)and building GENTOO into a working, breathing operating system brought me to life.

So on Star Treks 40th I did something MAGIKAL!

I installed MAC OSX 10.4.7 on my PC.

Oh YEAH. It's time for Hackintosh.

Let's hope that Apple has their POO together

Did you hear about their new PDA? Geektastalistic!

[Mike Cohen]

I also subscribe to your feed in NetNewsWire & I usually click through to most posts.

[darthsnugglebunny]

Your Star Trek metaphors made me snort pop out my nose. Damn you.

[AbnmlGuru]

This is why I believe DRM is ultimatly doomed. It's forcing people to take an extra step in order to restrict themselves. As long as Non-DRM and free material is as easy or easier to obtain then DRM and payed for material, there is no motivation to use the DRM material, other then the desire to be a law abiding citizen, and if that were a good motivator, then we wouldn't need DRM in the first place.

[starshine_diva]

Star Trek metaphors are always fun... One should never appologize for Star Trek metaphors, for they are TEH BOMB!

[Hyzenthlay78]

Yep, I had the same good experience with Apple. My G5 desktop was stolen out of my Brooklyn apartment at New Years (not a great beginning to 2006). I emailed the iTunes people explaining and asking them to deactivate my account on that computer. I also casually inquired as to whether there was any way to get my lost music back (I had backed up very little). I didn't really expect anything but was AMAZED when they wrote back a couple days later saying that they were putting ALL my purchased music back into my "shopping cart."

This is just one of the many reasons why I've been a Mac user since 1984. So much love!

[da5id]

"The Intertube" That's funny.

[Bitt Faulk]

Okay, if it wasn't DRM that caused the problem, what was it? Did you accidentally delete all of your music? It doesn't sound like you had a hard drive go bad or anything like that. And surely you looked to see if those files were still there.

I'm inclined to say, without any additional information, that it probably was DRM related. I'd certainly be interested to know more details on what happened to your music files.

In addition, the one-time-only thing sounds pretty bogus. If my previous assumption is correct, then that means that they're willing to fix their screw ups once only. God forbid they screw up a second time.

And I take offense at the analogy of "Hey, guys, I lost all my CDs over the weekend. I know it's my fault, but . . . can I have some new ones?" This is the same faulty logic that causes backlash against MP3s. An easily reproducible piece of information is not a physical product. You would not be depriving any entity from any physical product or denying anyone access to that information. If you steal a CD, you're taking a physical product that the record store paid for. If you download an MP3 for free, it's not as if iTMS has to pay the record company up front for each file someone downloads and that file goes away each time a download happens. That doesn't mean I don't understand your point. Bandwidth is not free and it took them some administrative labor to authorize the download (which it shouldn't, but that goes back to DRM complaints), but equating MP3s and physical CDs is part of the problem, and you shouldn't reiterate it, even in a positive manner.

[mrfrodothefluffy]

I just found your blog....so not only are people still reading it, new people are becoming addicted. :-)