When in doubt, CC the COO...

So, I went ahead and sent RIM a note with a link to my previous post, and this time CC'd the COO. Turns out, that got me a pretty quick response. (Surprised, aren't you? :-)

This morning someone at RIM's tech support called me back. Nice guy, super apologetic. Basically said, "Yeah... known issue. We've fixed it. We just haven't released the fix yet. It'll be out in a few weeks." This is good news, and I'm glad to hear it. Releasing software into the wild, in a carrier environment, takes lots of testing and bureaucracy, so I can't fault RIM for taking a while to deploy it. At least they're honest about the timelines/status.

But... RIM still cost me $ for their bug, and while the tech support folks have finally gotten back to me, the customer satisfaction team is still curiously silent.

I woke up this morning to see an open letter from Steve Jobs, apologizing to early iPhone purchasers for the recent price drop, and offering them store credit to make up for it. So, RIM ... how do you handle years-long loyal customers who evangelize your product? Steve just raised the bar.