As many of my friends and followers know, I have been on a quest to acquire the iPhone, the iPad, the iMac and any other Apple product I can get my hands on because I have really started focusing on the graphic design side of our business.

Our current phone plan recently expired for both hubby Chuck and I so he finally caved to my desire and we took a trip to the AT&T store in Brookfield, WI. We were very happy with our sales guy and our decision to purchase 2 iPhones, with a 2-year plan on AT&T, along with a Bluetooth headset, a couple of cases, a car charger and screen protectors – our bill was a bit over $600. I believe our sales guy threw in one of the cases for the nice purchase. So, out the door we went with our new toys, and with me being out of my mind delirious for finally being able to purchase this little goodie that I had drooled over since it came out.

Being thrilled like I was, naturally I got home and performed my sync with iTunes, added in my favorite apps, brought my contacts in from Outlook and set all my passwords to the various social networks. Heaven!! Only an iPad would have brought me closer to Nirvana. We both played around with our phones a bit and then the neighbor rang the bell and invited us to come for Memorial Day festivities at their house, including a good time in the pool and hot tub. We gladly accepted.

Now being the new iPhone owner, I had to bring it to show our friends (plus I am generally never without Tweeting abilities if I can help it). At one point, Chuck was in the hot tub being a goof so I, of course, wanted to snap his picture and I had the means to do it. I grabbed my iPhone, pulled up the camera app, and walked to the edge of the hot tub to snap the “Kodak moment”.

Anyone have any guesses for what came next? Yep – here it comes.

There was a step that I was not paying attention to, I tripped, and the iPhone did a proverbial swan dive right into the hot tub. It was like one of those slow motion “Ohhhhh nooooooo” moments. Chuck immediately grabbed it out of the water – but alas, too late. My long sought after prize was now in ruins. We did the suggested – took it home, dried it out, used a hair dryer, put it in rice.. all to no avail. Couldn’t find the SIM card and couldn’t restore. And I promptly pasted a huge “L” in the middle of my forehead.

OK, so that’s bad, and now I’m crushed. But what happened next was the salt in the wound.

I don’t know if those little sensor lights were working or not to show that the iPod had taken in water, but I have a lot of integrity. According to my wet iPhone research, if those little lights don’t show up, sometimes, lucky owners had been given a gratis that “it just wasn’t working” and they got a new phone. I always think honesty is the best policy so I did not want to try and fool anyone. I tucked my tail between my legs, walked in with my head hung low and sheepishly explained that I was a dolt and that I had dropped it into the hot tub. Our same sales guy happened to be working at the store again and promptly explained to us that umm, well… TOO BAD. According to Apple’s policy, he explains, we not only would have to pay again, but we would have to pay triple the initial cost of this phone. $$$TRIPLE$$$. Because now, you see, this NEW phone is not on our plan and when it’s not on a plan, you have to pay $600!

Now pardon me – I am fully aware that this was MY BAD. But, you know what? This kind of customer service by Apple and AT&T really sucks. Our sales guy even suggested that we might put the iPhone on EBay for a couple hundred bucks because some people will buy these water-worn devices and fix them. Hey, here’s a thought AT&T or Apple – why don’t YOU buy this iPhone back from ME for a couple hundred bucks and fix it? Or hey, what about splitting the difference? Or hey, what about just doing something that’s nice and the right thing to do because accidents happen and many don’t have an extra $600 laying around?

I’m not happy. I mean, I’m really not happy. I would have eaten the same cost of the phone, because I know it wasn’t their fault that I dropped it. But to gouge the consumer like that is just plain madness and not very friendly. After all, what’s a few hundred bucks to AT&T or Apple as opposed to the small business owner or the individual? Think about it – will these big companies suffer from doing a really nice thing because of a true accident? Ah, no. But it’s POLICY.

Well Apple & AT&T, I just might re-think that iPad and that iMac. And I hope you re-think your policy.