Apple Apologizes —Again

Saying sorry doesn't mean you'll change. Less than a week after Apple apologized for problems with its recently launched online service MobileMe, more issues arose. This time, some users are experiencing inaccessibility to e-mail, while European free trial users were hit with an accidental credit/debit card charge of more than £100.

MobileMe's support web site displays a status message reading, "1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. We apologize for any inconvenience." However, one percent may be a generous estimate. A quick Twitter search reveals that several users are unable to access Mail; in an Apple support forum thread, some users have reported experiencing Mail downtime since July 18.

To add to that, Apple on Saturday issued a second apology to European MobileMe trial users for inadvertently placing a hold of 121 GBP ($241) to their credit or debit cards. In an e-mail, Apple explained that when a new user registers for an online service's free trial, the service typically places a small charge (e.g. $1) on a user's credit or debit card to verify its validity. In this case, however, Apple charged an incorrect amount.

"Be assured that this is not a charge, but only an authorization hold," Apple wrote in the e-mail. "The hold is released by the card-issuing bank after a predetermined period, usually between a week and a month. Where possible, Apple is working to have these holds removed earlier."

To make amends, Apple issued another free 30-day extension to MobileMe users affected by the erroneous charge.

These two incidents add to the pile of recent Apple snafus. In addition to the rocky MobileMe launch, Apple struggled with its iPhone 3G release, making many users wait hours before they could activate their much-anticipated handsets. And even after activating their iPhones, users reported issues with the iPhone 2.0 software.

In the tech community, Mac fanaticism is still rampant, but as the big Apple gets bigger, it's clearly getting more difficult to upkeep customer satisfaction. One Twitter user sums up the sentiment of those dissatisfied: "'1% of MobileMe members cannot access MobileMe Mail. We apologize for any inconvenience.' Nice guys.... Apple just works? My ass."

Support site [Apple]

Apple Sends Another MobileMe Apology E-mail and Extension [MacRumors]

by Brian X. Chen for Wired.com

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