Now that's good PR

Many years ago, I had about 15 seconds of fame because Steve Jobs called me at home after I raised a fuss about defects in the fabulous, and fabulously expensive, Mac Edsel ... er, I mean, G4 Cube ... that I'd recently bought. (Actually, all kidding aside, I loved that computer...) At the time, I remarked that while I was annoyed by the problems I was having, I was impressed by Jobs' call and didn't think Michael Dell was resolving too many customer issues personally. Yesterday, Apple dropped the price of the iPhone by $200. Good news, in general, but it pissed off a lot of people (including me) who had shelled out $599 for the device in the scant two months that it's been on the market. Today, Jobs announced a $100 rebate (details to be determined) for all early adopters of the iPhone. And I didn't even need to send him a nasty letter this time ... though it sounds like many other did. Sure, you could argue that Apple should have priced the iPhone more reasonably from the get go, but this is a masterful PR move that keeps the company's best customers happy. Just don't count on this becoming a trend among other technology companies...

Comments

[Kawika Holbrook]

Thoughts:

1) The $100 Apple store credit is almost a loss leader for the company.

2) The explanation was straightforward and the apology was plain-spoken without admiting any fiduciary responsibility for the credit. Nicely done, I thought.

3) The intensity of the backlash may have taken Apple by surprise, but Steve's response was quick, heartfelt and humble, helping ensure the issue doesn't sour the iPod news.