The police have my iPod

I received a call tody from an "investigator" with DHL. As you may recall, I sent my iPod to Apple for repairs weeks ago. Apple coulnd't fix the iPod, so they sent me a new one. It never arrived because a DHL employee apparently stole it en route to my house.

I've been waiting for more than a week for Apple and DHL to sort this out and send me a new iPod. It's not looking good.

Today the investigator with DHL told me that a local police department was building a case against a DHL employee they believe stole my iPod. They havne't formally filed charges yet, so I haven't been given the thief's name. I'm looking forward to getting his name.

Anyway, the investigator also gave me the unbelievable news that police had also recovered my stolen iPod. I never expected them to find it. I just assumed Apple would have to send me a new one. Since my stolen iPod has been recovered, Apple's default policy is to wait for that iPod to be returned to me.

Unfortunately, the police won't be releasing my iPod anytime soon. I was told the cops will hold onto it until the case against the thief resolved in the courts.

Now, as a reporter who covers cop news quite a bit, I know what this means. A simple felony larceny case can take up to 10 to 12 months to resolve in the district court system in Masschusetts. The investigator confirmed this for me when he said the police would hold my iPod from between one week and one year. One year? I have to go without my iPod for one year?

Well the investigator said he'd contact Apple, himself, and try to sort this out. He said he'd get Apple to send me a new iPod. Only problem is, who is he supposed to talk to at Apple? As I documented earlier, Apple does not have business process for dealing with this type of situation.

The DHL investigator asked me for the name of the person at Apple I've been dealing with. I had to break the news to him. There isn't a person I've been dealing with. All I have is an anonymous customer service email address that sent me an update last week. It told me I could reply to the email, but there was no human name attached to it. My reply has gone unanswered, so this investigator is likely to have very little success in getting anyone at Apple to talk to him.

Apple has deindvidualized customer service so masterfully that I may not have an iPod again for nearly a year. Apple chose to ship my iPod via DHL. You would think they'd take responsiblity when the shipper fails to deliver. Instead, they bury me in red tape.