New York Senator Charles Schumer writes open letter to Steve Jobs

[bluenoise]

If it's not as big of an issue as the "few" who are experiencing the issue. Why a press conference? And why, as reported, does it appear that there will be a potential fix/recall. If nothing is wrong with the phone and only a small group of people have been affected - then surely that's overkill, no?

It's a PR mess. No doubt about it

We're assuming (with good reason, of course) that the conference is about the antenna issue. I think they have to address the angry mob of villagers armed with their torches and pitchforks, even if that mob is a relatively-small percentage of their customers. Angry mobs don't always represent any kind of majority, of course, but they are loud enough to need attention.

From a PR point of view, it shouldn't have come to this. However, I don't think the percentage of people adversely affected by this is all that significant compared to those who are quietly happy with their purchase.

 

[bluenoise]

I sure do - my Xbox 360. But MS stepped up before Schumer got involved and extended the warranty to 3 years. Took a $1B loss. Not only did they admit fault, they fixed it with the customer. Perfect PR move.

Apple could learn from them.

Exactly. That was a good move by MS. Apple didn't handle this correctly. However, I disagree that the government needs to be involved in either case.

 

[rmitchell248]

If this letter were to get every iphone owner a free bumper that would be 2 million bumpers at retail 30.00 each. I do not venture to say that this letter alone will do the trick but the idea that some senators may be leaning on Apple could do a lot for the consumers. If one letter brought to the attention of Apple that people far bigger than their company were looking down on them netted the American public 60 million dollars worth of cases or gift cards to Apple ect I would say it was a good use of the 2 hours that it took his intern to type this thing up.


The funny thing here is that if in fact Apple were to release compensation in order to appease government officials every SWINGER in this thread would jump on the chance to get theirs......

I am not a fan of government fishing around in private business but Apple does get involved in politics come election time and carries a very heavy hand in other political areas such as gay rights ect. If you want your company to be private keep it that way stay out of the government and maybe they will stay out of yours.

Apple gets 650 per phone sold 200 per customer and an additional 450 through ATT. They then posted a blatant lie about what the issue is with the phone to 2 million people while continuing to sell the faulty product. It is rather unfortunate when a company gets to the point in which lying to customers to protect their image is more important than taking care of the people who's money helped to create that image.

I love Apple products but I have been very turned off by their big product release hype and the direction the are going it really is sad.

 

[Rhonen]

Exactly. That was a good move by MS. Apple didn't handle this correctly. However, I disagree that the government needs to be involved in either case.

Technically, the gov. isn't involved yet. It's just Schumer, citizen. he didnt' sign it Senator, there was no advisement that action by the goverment would be taken. It was a letter by a customer who wants Apple to fix it - a customer who just happens to be able to do something about it.

 

[s8film40]

I sure do - my Xbox 360. But MS stepped up before Schumer got involved and extended the warranty to 3 years. Took a $1B loss. Not only did they admit fault, they fixed it with the customer. Perfect PR move.

Apple could learn from them.

And how long did it take for MS to come to this decision did they do it in the first few weeks? I can tell you why the senator didn't write a letter, it wasn't in the news. If it wasn't for being able to attach himself to the publicity in this situation he would have never even though about writing a letter to Apple.

 

[Peanut207]

Charles Schumer is the man! He has just as much a right to write Apple a letter as anyone of us do. Maybe he has an iPhone 4 and is frustrated like alot of us. Hopefully Apple will get off their asses and actually fix the problem. I love my iPhone 4 but Apple needs to step up and admit the problem and remedy it.

 

[Rhonen]

And how long did it take for MS to come to this decision did they do it in the first few weeks? I can tell you why the senator didn't write a letter, it wasn't in the news. If it wasn't for being able to attach himself to the publicity in this situation he would have never even though about writing a letter to Apple.

The RROD wasn't in the news? Are you kidding me?

 

[MNkid]

snip... I do not venture to say that this letter alone will do the trick but the idea that some senators may be leaning on Apple could do a lot for the consumers. If one letter brought to the attention of Apple that people far bigger than their company were looking down on them netted the American public 60 million dollars worth of cases or gift cards to Apple ect I would say it was a good use of the 2 hours that it took his intern to type this thing up. ... snip

Why is it ever OK for a senator to lean on any area of the private sector. So you think its great that this leaning got everyone free bumpers. Well who are they going to lean on next? What if it is the company that you work for? What if it is my company? Bit by bit they take from us and we just smile and say, "Its ok I got a free bumper"

 

[ChiliBlue]

That is why I started this thread DUH...I think that most of us here in this forum just want Apple to step up to the plate and admit that they goofed up!

So, in reality for you, it has nothing to do with your phone not working. You need validation that your were right? Instead of returning the phone, you keep it and throw a tantrum until Daddy Apple says sorry we f'ed up.

I think if people had actually returned the phone and made Apple and AT&T take notice that just as many iPhones were coming back in the door as are going out we would have seen a very different reaction from Apple. Money always has and always will speak louder than words. But we have become a nation of entitlement and whiners...

 

[topmounter]

Wow, can Schumer write Google an "open letter" about a couple of issues I am having with Android?



And the only reason the *freebumpertards* want Apple to give out free bumpers is so they can freak-out about how Apple is trying to placate their customers with a $1 piece of rubber.

 

[s8film40]

The RROD wasn't in the news? Are you kidding me?

I don't know I never heard about it, to be honest I really don't even know what issue concerning the XBox is being discussed. I would assume they didn't even come close to selling 2 million Xbox's in a few days, so fewer people knew of this issue, and so there was less news coverage.

 

[Jack Dangers]

Yes.. clearly Apple doesn't care about the incredible amount of bad press they've gotten. Clearly this press conference is because of lack of sales or returns.

Are you reading what you're writing? The logic is fuzzy at best.

I told you - I asserted my "vote" for accountability by making sure Apple and the public new about the issue I had experienced and the response Apple gave me. Sorry if you don't see how that was advocating my rights as a consumer. Actually - I'm not sorry that would be not genuine. If you don't see how that was taking a stand, then you're very shortsighted and lack the big picture.

Ok if your idea of taking a stand is giving a corporation your money for flawed product and not taking advantage of their return policy, then good luck. It's all numbers to them, thats the bigger picture which you fail to see.

oh and the press conference is to squash all these stories that are spreading like wildfire due to the slow news cycle. If this would of happened when school was in session or closer to the elections, this would of been confined to blogs and the tech section of the NY times. Furthermore, notice how all these stories are breaking on the financial sites this week? Its for a reason...look at the calendar. Nothing fuzzy about this logic.

 

[entatlrg]

why doesn't he write a letter to every other business that messed up. people are just going too far with this and its getting ridiculous.

dear general motors:

please stop making cheap cars that people don't buy and then asking us (the government) for money and still travel first class or in your private jet or not take a pay cut/bonus cut when you can simply call someone over the phone and take a pay cut to help save your company.

ps. we should of let your company fail for your stupid mistake.

love,
new york senator.

yea, no ***** eh.... it is too much, hungry vicious media and a Senator looking to make a name for himself ...

 

[BladesOfSteel]

The one difference between the XBOX and iPhone 4 comparison is that the iPhone has been on the market for less then a month.

The XBOX RROD stewed for 18 months or so before MS did anything, and in fact in the first few months after the release they towed the company line that the 360 failure rate was within the industry averages, even though other surveys found the rates to be in the high 20s to mid 30s.

So, microsoft does deserve a thumbs up, but they aren't the model company in handling PR either - at least in this case.

 

[cmChimera]

I sure do - my Xbox 360. But MS stepped up before Schumer got involved and extended the warranty to 3 years. Took a $1B loss. Not only did they admit fault, they fixed it with the customer. Perfect PR move.

Apple could learn from them.

This isn't quite true. It took a long time for them to extend the warranty. A year. And then on top of that, they will send you another defective unit. I'm on my sixth Xbox 360

 

[zizo79]

I must say that this discussion has gone a little too far. I posted this to let people know that someone took some of their time to say what we all wanted to say to Apple and maybe that will push them to stop being arrogant and admit they goofed

 

[Rhonen]

This isn't quite true. It took a long time for them to extend the warranty. A year. And then on top of that, they will send you another defective unit. I'm on my sixth Xbox 360

The questions was whether anyone just returned a product and got a refund, or complained until the company did something about it. In the 360’s case, people complained until MS did something about it. Admitted fault. You kept yours, didn’t you, on your 6th one?

 

[BladesOfSteel]

I must say that this discussion has gone a little too far. I posted this to let people know that someone took some of their time to say what we all wanted to say to Apple and maybe that will push them to stop being arrogant and admit they goofed

I highly doubt a letter from a Senator will push them to do anything.

Again, Schumer didn't do this for the people of New York. He is going after Apple for political gain. Plain and simple.

Oh, and "his time" is on our dime.

 

[mrcadman]

Does anyone remember the days when people expressed their dissatisfaction with companies and products by not buying them, instead of hoping Big Government passes more laws and regulations against private individuals and companies?

You mean the good old days before seatbelts, when baby cribs killed properly, milk and meat were a crap-shoot and WallStreet, insurance and pension funds were just black holes? Who doesn't reminisce about those old magic elixers, the healing powers of uranium cookware, and going blind from bad liquor? The skies are less dramatic solely due to the FAA as well.

 

[zizo79]

I highly doubt a letter from a Senator will push them to do anything.

Again, Schumer didn't do this for the people of New York. He is going after Apple for political gain. Plain and simple.

Oh, and "his time" is on our dime.

I might or might not but at least something has been said directly to Apple. It is like all of us wrote that letter to Jobs, that is how I feel about it at least.

 

[s8film40]

You mean the good old days before seatbelts, when baby cribs killed properly, milk and meat were a crap-shoot and WallStreet, insurance and pension funds were just black holes? Who doesn't reminisce about those old magic elixers, the healing powers of uranium cookware, and going blind from bad liquor? The skies are less dramatic solely due to the FAA as well.

Again these are all safety issues and legitimately require some consumer protection. No one has been able to identify how the iPhone reception is a consumer protection issue, I know I asked from the very beginning.

 

[bluenoise]

You mean the good old days before seatbelts, when baby cribs killed properly, milk and meat were a crap-shoot and WallStreet, insurance and pension funds were just black holes? Who doesn't reminisce about those old magic elixers, the healing powers of uranium cookware, and going blind from bad liquor? The skies are less dramatic solely due to the FAA as well.

So, how many people have died from a weak cell phone signal on their iPhone 4?

 

[BladesOfSteel]

I might or might not but at least something has been said directly to Apple. It is like all of us wrote that letter to Jobs, that is how I feel about it at least.

You want to say something directly to Apple?

Return your phone. I know that's a cliche sentence around here, but speak with your wallet. That's the power we have over companies. If we don't like something, we let the company know by not supporting it.

It does no good to buy a product, piss and moan about it, get something for free (likely a piece of rubber) and then grovel at the feet of Jobs again.

 

[rdowns]

Technically, the gov. isn't involved yet. It's just Schumer, citizen. he didnt' sign it Senator, there was no advisement that action by the goverment would be taken. It was a letter by a customer who wants Apple to fix it - a customer who just happens to be able to do something about it.

Since the media whore from NY has it on his website, I think it's not from Citizen Schummer.

http://schumer.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=326405&

 

[samcraig]

Ok if your idea of taking a stand is giving a corporation your money for flawed product and not taking advantage of their return policy, then good luck. It's all numbers to them, thats the bigger picture which you fail to see.

oh and the press conference is to squash all these stories that are spreading like wildfire due to the slow news cycle. If this would of happened when school was in session or closer to the elections, this would of been confined to blogs and the tech section of the NY times. Furthermore, notice how all these stories are breaking on the financial sites this week? Its for a reason...look at the calendar. Nothing fuzzy about this logic.

As a PR and Marketing professional for over 20 years I'm telling you - you are wrong if you think it is ONLY about numbers. I fail to see nothing. I am looking at the big picture. Brand Image is the big picture. Without the right image - the dollars will go to the waste side. THAT is why they are having a press conference. Because their IMAGE not their BANK ACCOUNT has been hurt.