Well, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t get service from online companies. There might be a great deal of slackers out there, but PCConnection is not one of them! I gave them a call about the new news from Apple on the iPod line and the new price differences that are going on out there. I first called Apple retail, just to check to see if they had any avenues to go through. They were very polite and very sympathetic but there wasn’t anything they could do – this was expected.

When you buy a car from a dealership and the manufacturer releases a new one with more features and a lower MSRP, you don’t call the car company for help. Well, you can but you don’t expect anything to happen. Needless to say, Apple suggested I call PCConnection directly.

So I did. The CSR that I got via phone was also very sympathetic but admitted that there wasn’t much she could do; I could leave a message for her supervisors and they could review the order in question. I did that at about 7:30 PM last night and as the CSR told me that the managers wouldn’t get into work until about 9:00 AM, I didn’t really expect to hear from them for a while. Needless to say, as this is a Rave and not a Rant, they got in touch with me by 11:00 AM! Not only did they call quickly, but they had good news for me! According to PCConnection’s supplier, the new 20GB iPod is backordered for a couple of weeks – this is no surprise as it’s brand new. The “new” 10GB (with the extra hardware and new software) wouldn’t be available for a while, as most of the suppliers still have the “old” 10GB models in stock – same with the “new” 5GB. So even if Apple was selling the new models, there wasn’t any way for the resellers to have the new products so quickly. However, since only four business days had passed, they would gladly match the new price of the 10GB model immediately! Not only that, but it seems in my post-spending Geek Euphoria, I missed the free add on bundle when I placed the original order… so they’re going to send that out to me too, even though I left it off my original order! It’s a neat little bundle with a case and clip and stuffs, helping to round out the iPod package.

Sounds like a little something to you? Then you live in a hole and never order from people online. This is a huge and wonderful piece of customer service that is rare among online venders. Apple gets a nod for their professionalism and PCConnection just gained a loyal customer for their excellent response and service. I would have been thrilled that they got back to me with information at all; the fact that it was great information just made it that much better for me. As they also have “Next Day Service” for shipping products (and they will tell you if they can’t do it for a particular item – unlike some sites that offer “will ship in 24-72 hours [even if you paid for next day air!]” on their pages) which means you do get it the next day! Great process, that.

So… go buy stuff at PCConnection :)