Apple will be revising their iPhone warranty and return policy in South Korea due to customers that were unhappy about their current return policy. If a customer receives a defective device they will be able to exchange it for a brand new device instead of a refurbished one within 1 month of the original purchase date.

Korean iPhone customers are not happy about Apple replacing defective devices with refurbished ones that have used parts in them when the actual warranty states they are entitled to a refund, new device, or free repair. When Apple spokesperson Steve Park was asked about the new warranty policy in South Korea he declined to comment.

I’ve personally never had any issues with refurbished iPhones from Apple. I’ve actually had better luck with them than brand new out of the box units. I’ve actually heard that refurbished units undergo a more rigorous testing cycle than brand new units. Not sure how much truth there is to that but I seldom have issues.

When Apple exchanges your products are you ok with receiving refurbished units? Have you had issues with them?

Bloomberg

In the post-it note duel of “Wife said no” and “Apple said yes”, any guesses as to which yellow sticky turned out on top? That’s right, Apple’s fantastic customer service strikes again. A man returned an iPad 2 because his wife disapproved of the purchase only to find one arrive at his door shortly after. The full story goes something like this:

Man buys iPad 2. Man’s wife frowns upon iPad 2. Man returns iPad 2 with a note on it that says “wife said no”. Apple finds note and thinks it’s funny. Two Apple VPs find out and also find it humorous, so Apple sends man an iPad 2 with a note that says “Apple said yes”. Man is happy to have iPad 2. Wife is happy that no money was spent. Apple is happy to make customer happy.

Very cute story. Very lucky man. Did any of you out there have to the pass the spousal gauntlet to get your iPad 2?

[MacRumors]

If Casey saw some bad experiences at the Apple Store, these poor people’s experience can only be described as horrendous. Short version? Lady gets defective iPhone 3G, brings it back to Apple, Apple drops it, Apple tries to give her a new one, AT&T says sorry, nope, no activation for you! Apple ends up eating the price difference (good on Apple, boo hiss to AT&T), AT&T pockets the ill-gotten gain.

And telco’s wonder why they routinely bottom out the customer satisfaction charts?

Check out the whole sad, crazy tale over at the Consumerist…