I would walk 500 miles...nearly 24 Aug 2006

Last Friday, macnn published an article about one man's attempt to shame Apple's customer service team into action:

"Following a week of waiting for Apple to arrange for the pickup of a malfunctioning iMac G5, a Dublin man says he has decided to prove that he can walk to Cork - the location of the nearest Apple repair center - faster than Apple can arrange for the pickup of his broken Mac."

That's no mean feat by the way, as Dublin and Cork are 156 miles apart. A fair old distance by anyone's standards - especially if you've got an iMac strapped to your back!

The chap in question, Karl Hayden, decided that such drastic action was necessary after his 10-month-old iMac broke down on the 14th July. Instead of replacing his machine outright, Apple sent him two replacement logic boards, a power supply unit, and a back casing (?!) - but none of these items fixed the problem.

Apple finally agreed to replace the computer on 14th August following a lengthy telephone conversation, but wouldn't ship a new iMac until they had collected the faulty one. However, when a week passed without the dodgy Mac being picked up, Hayden reached the end of his tether and announced his "Walk of Shame."

While a week doesn't seem too long to wait, it's worth noting that this wasn't the first time Hayden had battled with Apple. He had apparently also waited nine weeks for the company to repair another Mac. A Mac that was lost three times in Apple's service system before it was returned...with a bill attached.

But this story now has a happy ending...