Do you remember Millard? He was the angry customer who demanded that Woot send him black iPod headphones to match his black iPod, and claimed to have been misled by the company. Woot is selling black iPods today and wants to make it very clear—”in case your monitor can’t display pictures, or you’re black-white colorblind”—you will receive white earbuds with your iPod. Sorry, Millard, Woot is still refusing to cooperate by inventing a black version of the Apple product.
“Apple iPod 30GB Video” [Woot]
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Millard sucks. I wonder if he got his blackhead phones yet? Maybe he should take Apple and Woot to court. I’m sure the Consumerist has articles on how to do that. : )
Lol, I saw this on woot this morning and had to laugh. Willard, you should have left well enough alone.
@boomersix: Seconded.
@boomersix: Millard. As in Fillmore. Not the cheap tip calculator.
the w00t site made me giggle…he-he-he.
@boomersix:
It is very hilarious…put a smile on my sleepy face.
I don’t even know where anyone got the idea that the iPod headphones came in any other colors besides white. Do they? I was always under the impression that they only came in the one color when you bought your new iPod.
@aguacarbonica: The story goes the guys actually sent a letter to here about the fact that Woot refused to give him black iPod headphones, which Apple doesnt make.
He swore up and down left and right MULTIPLE times they do, even AFTER being told he was a moron by Woot, Consumerist, and just about every single commenter here.
Needless to say it was FUN times. I think this was back in the pre-consumer reports days when this was still a Gawker site.
@Jim Topoleski: I don’t think the guy sent the letter. I remember it as Woot sedning in a letter reaching out to Consumerist readers asking what they should do in that situation. I think we voted for them to just refund the guy and send him along his way.
@TinkishDelight: …After offering to hold him down in the alley behind Woot headquarters so their customer support reps could take turns beating him with a Stupid Stick.
@Trai_Dep: Seems like he was already quite familiar with the stupid stick prior to writing the original the letter.
@TinkishDelight:
Hell no, we voted for:
Tell her to email sjobs@apple.com 46% (14443 votes)
Though it’s too bad that “Tell her to call 1-800-WAMBULANCE” was not on the list of options.
@Jim Topoleski: @TinkishDelight: You guys can just click on the link which is the 4th word in the story, which will take you to the original story here on Consumerist which includes the emails.
@aguacarbonica: apple on makes one general universal color and it’s white, millard on the other hand assume it would be the same color as the ipod, but a idiot as he is in his child like demands should deserve nothing in the least since he is acting like a child.
@aguacarbonica: He made an assumption based on most other headphones and earbuds being black. Apparently, he only knew of the iPod through word of mouth because, IIRC, the ads for the iPod always show people using the white earbuds even with the different colored iPods. He just figured that they must make black ones because everyone else does.
@aguacarbonica:
where in the world is woot selling iPhones at today?
Glad I wasn’t the only one who thought that when they saw todays woot!, even before clicking through to the description.
So why isn’t Millard suing Apple?
Looooooool.
Millard told me that Woot invented white supremacy.
How dare you offer me an item at a ridiculously low price and refuse to capitulate to my subsequently outrageous demands!
P.S. Does anybody actually KNOW someone with the name M-Tard (I mean, Millard)?
@unobservant: I don’t, but my High School US hitory teacher’s first name was Fillmore.
True Story.
@tgrwillki: What was teach’s last name, Holtz?
That story should be in a Hall of Fame somewhere!
That thread was priceless.
And people wonder where those 650-word legal disclaimers that patiently explain “if you use your new power saw to trim your pubic hair, the company isn’t responsible” clauses come from…
@Trai_Dep: Or why the NJ State Drivers Manual explains if your car is on fire, “Do not grasp burning wires with your (bare)hands” and “If you are stuck on the tracks, and the train is approaching, do not stay in your car. Get out and run towards the train.”
@JartMaster_GitEmSteveDave:
I hope it mentioned get off the tracks first?
@hypochondriac: Hrmmm, I’m not sure. I think I see a large payout in my future!
@JartMaster_GitEmSteveDave:
Well, ummm, you did say NJ, right? Because I think the various smells do something do dull your driving sense over there, so maybe that advice is necessary.
*to dull*. Also, they took out the ability to bold?!
@SnaLanKoat_GitEmSteveDave: Run towards the train? I’d be inclined to scree fleaming in the other direction!
@rlee: And you would then be hit by the shower of ballast and/or pieces of your car as it is propelled forward and also perchance the gas that will more than likely catch on fire. So you head towards the train so all the debris goes away from you.
Watch how nothing of the car goes backwards towards the cop car in this video:
even better is this TopGear test. Note at about three minutes in, how you see the spray of ballast this train/car combo throws at high speed in front and beside it as it continues down the track. Were you running away from the train and 20 feet to the side, you’d be badly injured by those stones:
And now you know. And knowing is half the battle!
@SnaLanKoat_GitEmSteveDave: ok, i always got upset as a kid when Wile E. Coyote ran away from the train by running directly in front of and away from it. and the train moved faster and caught up with him and, predictably, flattened him.
to me the logical thing has always seemed to be get off the tracks and move PERPENDICULARLY away from the train.
[i could only tolerate the train sequences if they occurred on a tall railroad bridge and there was nowhere to go but down and he'd be risking a high impact water surface landing with unknown riverbed depth]
so thanks for explaining why running perpendicularly isn’t the best option. of course… Wile E. Coyote wasn’t running from a car left on the tracks…. but that’s for another day i guess
@Trai_Dep: I just spent 25 seconds imagining trying to do this..
I’ve decided its too dangerous.
@Trai_Dep: this sticker wouldn’t exist if it hadn’t happened….
[www.flickr.com]
ah that is so funny. you have acheived something when you get pointed out that hard.
Their sense of humor alone makes me want to shop there. Oh, and the sick deals. That too. That speaker retails at 100, but today you can get a 30g ipod AND the speaker for 125. Makes me want to start investing and reselling on ebay. ANyone else use woot for this? Any luck?
@tc4b: Have you ever worked with eBay as a selling platform any more than casually? It’s a nightmare that revolves around scams, I really don’t recommend it.
@Pink Puppet: Have you? I’ve sold probably 400 items on it and never once had a scam issue (outside of the USPS).
@tc4b: There was a guy who was trying to reach a goal reselling woot! products. I can’t find the website right now, but the main gist was he started with something like $1,000, and his goal was like $100,000.
@JartMaster_GitEmSteveDave: Wow, I’d be interested in reading that. I’m thinking of doing it myself and blogging it. Even if I break even, it might make some good stories.
@tc4b: Sadly, it doesn’t look like the guy kept at it for long. [woottoamillion.blogspot.com]
@tc4b: 140 for both — the speaker is 39.99.
@Shadowman615: Does the price change during the day? Coulda sworn it was 24 or 25 before, maybe I’m crazy. Probably I’m crazy.
I effing love Woot’s write-up on this item regarding Millard and the mysterious black headphones.
@Don’t take anything aaron8301 says seriously: I was thinking the same thing. I checked it out and there’s three whole paragraphs about Millard and the elusive black ipod headphones.
Maybe Millard needs some Vinyl Dye.
DOUCHE!
That is so funny. GREAT JOB WOOT! I actually looked this morning to see what was for sale, seen it was the iPod, and left. Glad this article was here so I would go back and read the description. Classic. Got to love Woot!
@coan_net: I did the same thing, thought “already have an ipod” and didn’t even think about that Millard thing. I too am glad this was posted, because Woot’s write-up is hilarious.
Woot doesn’t care about black headphones.
That is awesome, it even includes a link to the original article on consumerist.
You know, as much as I feel for Woot in the case of Millard, something like this can be construed by people like Millard as harrassment.
Love Woot. I may buy one of these, I have big hands so I like the bigger Ipods.
Eh, I don’t care so much for Woot! There isn’t usually anything on there I want….it’s kinda like the bargain bin at Dollar General.
@Gokuhouse: But unlike the bargain bin at the Dollar General, the deals on Woot are really good.
I honestly didn’t realize they only had white earphones.
I honestly would have expected black ones if I got a black iPod.
If I deemed to use those crappy ear buds I might have complained, if it mattered to me that much, but upon being told that they didn’t exist I would have dropped it.
But really, those headphones are POS, I throw them away whenever I buy anything that comes with them (they seem to come with everything nowadays, I buy a pack of cigarrettes they have earbuds in them)
@snowburnt: Really? That was part of Apple’s marketing. Seperate the “cool kids” Even though the mp3 players are safely tucked away you can walk onto a school bus or subway and instantly see who’s rocking an iPod by the white headphones. Before the iPod most if not all headphones were just some combination of black and gray. Other companies started making cheap mp3 players and headphones that were white specifically to market to those that wanted to look like they had an iPod but couldn’t afford it or whatever. Apple does brand recognition like nobody’s business.
Er, it’s not an iPhone on sale at Woot today, it’s an iPod Video 30Gb.
Woot! takes headphones very seriously.
Story summary says iPhone. But it is a 30 GB iPod.
Millard might get confused again.
My NEW back when I bought it black macbook came with a white power adapter. It’s just what apple does.
@TinkishDelight: Yeah, one of my ears is shaped kinda funny and can’t hold an earbud.
Apple’s marketing has never failed to offend me.
I’m a PC and I resist popular expensive trends involving fruit.
@snowburnt: You could have “normal” shaped ears and they wouldn’t fit. Every person I’ve ever asked cannot wear those damn earbuds, they fall out or they hurt.
Tell him to send me his earbuds and $20 and I’ll make ‘em black. I’ll even thrown in whatever paint is left over for no extra charge.
@aguacarbonica: They apparently mistook Apple for Ford. Common mistake, easy enough to make.
Somebody at Woot! should have taken Millard’s earphones back, covered them with black shoe-polish, and then sent them back to him. (Other options would have included coloring them with a black sharpie or wrapping them in black electrical tape.)
@Comrade ☠GrÑrÑrÑrÑrÑrÑrÑ reporting for duty!: i vote for the shoe polish – then you get the comical effect of little black rings around his ear holes. the sergeant schultz effect, only earbuds instead of binoculars
Why would a black iPod come with white headphones? It makes no sense.
@Tom_Servo: Why does DELL write their “E” all slanty-like? It makes no sense.
i wonder if he ever discovered the logitech noise-canceling earbuds. they go for like $25 or so, and you only need to set the volume on the machine and then in iTunes to like 10 or 15%. and i think those only come in black.
much love to woot for specifying. you know, just in case someone thought that a reseller had lots and lots of control over the items in the package for resale. unless you have a deal (as best buy sometimes does – extra DVD with a CD kind of thing, or an extra song or two), you get what is in the box as determined by the manufacturer.
beating up woot = fail.
Since the ipod Woot is over, the “perma” link is on
their blog.