Karl writes:

My girlfriend is a college student. She purchased a brand new iMac on Apple’s website on August 7, the day the new iMacs came out, and got the free iPod Nano (after rebate) along with the deal. The rebate required both the UPC codes — which you would need to have received the products, right?

Well, she had the Nano in time — but the computer didn’t ship until September 14th. We actually got it in our grubby paws on the 22nd of September.

The catch? Apple customer service told her that since it was more than 30 days since she had made the purchase, she was ineligible to receive the rebate.

So let’s get this straight — she would’ve had to have had the UPC code of the computer we received on September 22nd by September 7th in order to get the rebate.

Thanks, Apple! Guess you really have gone to the dark side.

Taking a momentary break from our usual droning mantra about how rebates are designed to produce this exact result…. That’s rude as hell.

We suggest you escalate this to Apple’s Executive Customer Service team by way of sjobs@apple.com. If that fails you can always return the laptop. computer (that does not sit on laps.) We hear they’re doing lovely things with Linux these days.

(Photo:sunilgarg)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.