So they actually know you microwaved it? Okay, perhaps the PALATR is worth the wholesale price of the iPod Touch to them. Count me as one of those glass-house dwellers who’d be giving you the big :dubious: if you tried to scam them for a free one with an “it just stopped working on its own” line.
@Tristan: 
Well, as long as you were honest with the ACare rep, then I retract my original objection, it’s nice to deal with honest customers, people make mistakes, no big deal, but when they try to pass it off as a product defect, when it’s clearly something they did, it annoys me
I’ve seen Apple issue CS Codes (Customer Satisfaction Code) for some strange stuff that should have voided the warranty, your honesty about your little Touch mishap probably worked in your favor
so, in this case, I hope Apple does the right thing for you, after all, you were honest, and it was an accident 
I’m the first to own up to my own dumbassery. I find that if nothing else it’s good for a mutual laugh , even if you’re mentally kicking your own ass six ways from Hoboken. (Hence this post.) Besides, more often than not, you’re more likely to have a few rules bent if you begin your call with “Look, for the record, I’m a dumbass,” and go on about your follies than if you try and make like the universe is conspiring against you and it’s their product that sucks. I’ve been on the other side of the service counter a number of times in my life, so between the “I’m a goof” people and the “Your product blew up and killed my horse my cat and it sucks” people, I know who I’d much rather deal with. People make mistakes and do dumb things sometimes. That’s what you get when you come from gibbering monkey stock.
I’m quite impressed with AppleCare service so far. It’s probably the most personable customer service I’ve ever dealt with. If I ever get a Mac, at least I’ll feel better about it if something goes wrong, because I know I’ll have a friendly team that’s easy to work with backing up my purchase. That counts for a lot.
I’m currently on hold (again) for the hoop-jumping. We’ll see where it takes me. I just hope it takes me somewhere before my battery dies…
Why am I the only one who thought this would be about dead babies?
Mindfield, I am glad things turned out right.
Please accept my apologies for rushing to judge you without having all the facts.
I just spent too long on the receiving end of customer service (UPS) and heard too many people trying to pull some stupid stunts to get a free ride.
No worries. Having worked service for a number of years I am more than well aware that honesty doesn’t come across the counter very often. Working service jades you pretty quickly. 
Oh, I’m still on hold.
“We answer calls in the order in which they were received. Due to high call volume, estimated wait time for the next available representative is 15 minutes or greater.”
I think they need a new recording. I propose, “Due to high call volume, estimate wait time for the next available representative is go fix a sammich, watch a little TV, maybe there’s a good movie on.”
You mean a good silent movie on. Because they will keep interrupting the hold to tell you to keep waiting, just for the sake of making you jump thinking someone is actually answering.
Oh, it wasn’t the perodic “All of our representatives are still busy” notices this time. It was the just-slightly-too-quiet hold music where, if there’s a voiceover, it’s just quiet enough that you can’t make out anything other than it seemed to be a voice and it had the timbre and cadence of someone speaking, but then your hopes are dashed when you find out it isn’t someone you can have a meaningful conversation with.
So, I got through and jumped through the hoops. He couldn’t figure it out, so I got transferred to the Level 2 Technical Support Masters, to “see if they have any answers.” We didn’t really do any troubleshooting, just rehashed the whole Level 1 experience verbally, and then he set up an appointment at my nearest Apple Store to have my iPod “repaired” (which apparently, for the iPod and iPhone products, means replacement). Thank Og my stupidity won’t cost me another $400.
In the category of “Things You Should Microwave”, one little-known entry is Korean plum wine.
That makes me sad. It’s like watching someone put money in a shredder. Maybe someone would’ve liked that iPod who couldn’t afford it otherwise–I know I would.
I at least thought it was going to be about some comestible.
Yep, generally iPods are replaced, it’s far too labor-intensive to make repairing individual iPods worthwhile, after all…
<insider secret>
most iPods are held together with nothing more than friction clips and glue anyway, and contain small, delicate, easily damaged parts
</insider secret>
Yeah, I’ve seen the teardowns. It’s an elegant design; no external screws to mar the finish, and not easy to disassemble without the right tools. Just the thing to keep would-be DIYers from mucking about inside.
Worst incident I ever saw of microwave stupidity was when I was in HS. Three very drunk football players (one whose house it was) were laughing because they had caught a moth & were nuking it in the kitchen microwave. Now, moths can be pests and killing one by hand or with a bug-zapper is one thing. But this seemed a really cruel death, and one it didn’t deserve. When I objected they jeered and laughed at me.
“Fine”, I said as I walked away. “As long as your OK eating dinner with moth bits cooked into it for the forseeable future, who am I to complain?” The resulting symphony of “oh fucks” and “holy shits” was quite entertaining.
…getting caught? 
…d&r
That’s certainly true. I shelled out for a copy of MS Office Home earlier this year to install on a new computer, thinking Mrs M had “tidied away” the install discs for the copy we’d bought a couple of months earlier. As the computer was working away through the install I had an “oh, fuck” moment and went and checked the drawer where all our other discs were kept. It’s amazing how you can overlook something that isn’t quite the shape you were looking for. I crept upstairs, uninstalled, installed the other set (it came with a 3-computer licence) and, after serving myself a large slice of crow in Mrs M’s presence, went cap-in-hand to PC World and had a short conversation that began “Hi. I’m an idiot…”. :smack:
Normally, and justifiably, they don’t refund software after the package has been opened, but they very kindly made a goodwill gesture in my stupid case.
Or showering.
Two microwave stories:
I cleaned my toothbrush and thought, “Hey, I bet if I put it in the microwave, I wlll kill the bacteria!”
Well, the bacteria was probably killed, but I also got the cutest little toilet brush when it melted and swirled into a nice, round form.
Neighbor lady put a potato into the microwave and put it on three minutes. Doorbell rang and it was another neighbor…she went outside and chatted for about 45 minutes and then heard alarm in her house.
Seems she had pressed 3 HOURS, not 3 MINUTES on her little potato, and the fire had started. She lost half her kitchen by the time the fire department arrived.
How absolutely repellent. I hope to hell he ditched her 
Well, under normal circumstances, no, you can’t boil eggs in their shell in a microwave. But I have one of these . I’ve boiled a few dozen eggs with it now. Perfectly safe to use. No exploding eggs in the microwave yet. It boils 4 eggs in the shell in about 10 minutes.
Yeah, WTF? Was she 5? Had she never seen a microwave before? Did she blow up frogs with firecrackers as a kid?
“I read somewhere that an old lady killed her dog in the microwave… let’s see if I can do it with my bf’s mouse.” She was either not all there, entirely lacking in pathos, or malicious.
Well, I just got back from the Apple Store and have taken possession of a shiny new replacement. I haven’t even taken it out of the protective wrapper; I’m going to take it right out that and into the shield so it barely spends a minute or two without case protection. (Yeah, I’m determined to make this thing last its lifetime with nary a scratch on that shiny chrome back.
Yay! I love happy endings!