Reza Ganjavi vs. Apple Computer: How I Crushed Apple Computer's Arrogant Attempt To Not Keep Its Promise - And I Won Despite Their High Powered Lawyers, And I Was ProSe (Self-Represented)

CASE AGAINST APPLE COMPUTER. RESULT: REZA GANJAVI WON by getting Apple to fulfill its promise, after banging heads against Apple Switzerland's obstinacy for a loooong time. They finally complied! Apple could have saved it a ton of time and energy and resource, and saved me the same, if they had the integrity to keep their promise and not try to bully their way out of it because they're big and have high powered lawyers (which did not help their case -- I still won the case and I had no lawyer).

• SUMMARY: Apple made a promise which it broke. I really tried hard to find a peaceful solution. They arrogantly maintained their position. I didn't give up. 170 emails later, and finally having had no choice but to take legal action against Apple, they agreed to keep their promise just before showing up to court.

• Lesson Learned for Apple should be: Keep your word; don't wait to get sued to do so.

• Related case [a few years later]: Lesson learned for me: Don't buy anything from Apple unless you absolutely have to. I had a case of a warranty claim on an accessories where I was told they would issue a refund since the item was not in stock to replace it, but this process took at least 2 hours of my time on the phone and getting transferred to 9 different people all of whom were sure the next person is the right department! I once gave up but pushed back again and finally they issued the refund. A typical customer should never have to go through so much effort to get Apple to abide by the law and address a warranty claim.

SYNOPSIS

Apple agreed to defer the swap of my system (which it couldn't fix and was obliged to) to the 2018 model, since I refused to take a 2017 model because of keyboard issues (which led to Apple changing the keyboard design in 2018). When the 2018 model came out Apple refused to honor its promise despite evidence I had. It played hardball for a long time, and being very un-litigious, I made numerous pleas (see below) for it to keep its promise, but it arrogantly refused to. I guess most people would give up after hearing so many NOs but I didn't because I expected Apple to keep its promise. I finally had no choice but to file a lawsuit. Once I did, Apple cooperated! It should not have taken that long, and it shouldn't have been necessary to file a lawsuit to get Apple to keep its promise. Apple's behavior contributes to the society becoming litigious, like it is in America, which is not good.

APPLE MADE A PROMISE WHICH LATER IT BROKE (until I sued)

In 2017 Apple did a "Quality Program" repair of my Macbook Pro laptop. Within the warranty period, a defect surfaced. Apple could not fix the repair and instead decided to swap my laptop. I got a new laptop and immediately realized the keyboard is a no-go because it was very loud.

Turns out the same keyboard led to multiple lawsuits against Apple. Numerous articles were published including headlines like:  "Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall With the Macbook Pro Keyboard"  ,  "Hey, Apple: Fix Your Crappy Keyboards or I'm Switching to Windows"  ,  "Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over 'Defective' Keyboards"

I proposed to Apple to hold off the swap until the 2018 model comes out. They scratched their head, um, that's an unusual request... but, back and forth, they finally agreed! (Swiss store told it's ok for them if it's ok with with EMEA, and put the job on my shoulder to get EMEA's approval, which I did).

They took the 2017 model back (which I hadn't used), and we agreed to wait till the 2018 model comes out, and to help get the agreement I said even if Apple doesn't change the 2018 model, I will take it (so the case will be closed in 2018 no matter what). 

Organizationally, Apple is very complex, and apparently unflexible. The internal communications in this case appeared to be a nightmare -- as was the way the case was handled that revealed a lot about Apple's attitude and culture, at least in Ireland.

The swap was facilitated by the EMEA headquarters in Cork, Ireland, with the Apple Store in Switzerland. Reasons for it are unknown to me, but apparently, any swap needs authorization of EMEA. My first point of contact was the Swiss store, and they're the ones who did the repair, but EMEA apparently pulls the strings.

2018 MODEL CAME OUT & APPLE DIDN'T KEEP ITS WORD

Months went by and the 2018 model was finally released (and good news: Apple changed the keyboard to a quieter one). I called my EMEA contact, Liz Boyland, and found out she had left the company. Too bad, because I found Liz to be an excellent customer relations representative. Another person, Pat Wilkinson, took over the case. He read to me, on a phone line which Apple records, notes from Liz, which clearly confirmed the agreement to swap my system and store's agreement.

I did not have a clear letter from Apple confirming the agreement. It was done on the phone. But verbal agreements are morally and legally binding. But after the call, I sent an email and confirmed the agreement -- but still, that was not as strong as Apple confirming it in writing.

Pat told me to go to the Swiss Apple Store and he will liaise with them, to make the swap happen.

Long story short, the Swiss shop, led by a nice lady, Sherry Trainor, said they will be happy to do the swap but they need EMEA approval! Pat (EMEA) had just told me to go to Swiss shop to get the swap, and Swiss shop tells me they need EMEA approval!

This round-robin, finger-pointing, and organizational nightmare went on for a while, where one part of EMEA said yes, another said no.

Swiss shop said, EMEA didn't authorize the swap because they said too much time has gone by!! Which clearly shows EMEA had not understood the facts of the case at all. Everyone involved in the agreement in 2017 understood swapping with a 2018 model meant waiting for it to be released, in 2018. And the swap was requested as soon as the 2018 model came out. So "too much time has gone by" is totally irrelevant.

Then the Swiss shop said they would try again -- so they tried 2 more time (they press a retry button). Meanwhile I was trying to get them to pass the important background which EMEA hadn't understood, before the next review.  It was nearly impossible.

I ESCALATED & TRIED HARD TO TO AVERT LITIGATION

Meanwhile, I was confident that if the right person understands the case, it will resolve to my favor. Who? Apple executives? The CEO? Swiss country manager? Head of EMEA? I wrote to them all. Meanwhile the Swiss shop told me to file another case with Apple Care -- forget it! I'm not starting from scratch.But that showed, still, that the Swiss shop did not hold a No position., and they were my main point of contact, and the responsible legal entity.

One of the calls I made ended up in the US and some obstinate rep there who had no idea about the case background said No, and he wrote No in the case file, which made it hard.

The escalations got nowhere. In Ireland, where my letter to the chief of Apple EMEA, Cathy Kearney, was sent to the "Executive Relations Liaison", Matilda Johansson. She was like a robot. Quickly she came back and said NO. Based on her statements, and how quickly she responded, gave me the impression that she probably had not done a thorough investigation. And no amount of rhyme and reason seemed to sink through an apparently arrogant attitude, which reflected Apple's arrogant attitude which to me seemed and sounded like "we're big and we have money, so we don't have to keep our promise".

Meanwhile, I was driven by the fact that Apple had made me a promise, and I am going to make them keep their promise!

I wasn't sure how to interpret Apple's obstinate stance. My gut feeling said they were probably being arrogant and having a bullying attitude that e.g., we're Apple, we're big and rich, and we have expensive lawyers, so we don't have to keep our word. If that were the case, I was confidence I can beat them. On the other hand, it occurred to me that they might have something -- something I don't know about. So I pled with them, to put it on the table and I'll go away. But after I filed a lawsuit, they folded their hand and I realized they had nothing!

The latter possibility would have had risks that I decided to take. As an arbitrator told me, these big companies sometimes drag things out because they have time and money, in order to exhaust the other party. Haha, she didn't know people have likened me to having the stamina of a racehorse (knock on wood). And Persians / Turks / Azari's would understand that part of that Azari gene / blood is incredible resilience and perseverance.

This was an area of law I didn't know much about -- so it was a good chance to study it. I learned a lot about contract law and related areas in the process :) More on-the-job legal training :)

I tried to find Liz Boyland. Found her contact info in Ireland. She was very nice and remembered me. I flew to Ireland to meet her (I figured it would cost me a couple of hundred dollars at most, but the laptop is worth over 3000 dollars. In Dublin airport, the car rental agency asked me what I'm there for. I told him the topic. He said he had heard from others, similar cases about Apple! I had a good meeting with Liz, and she confirmed in writing that indeed Apple had made this promise. Now I had it in writing, which meant if I have to sue Apple, it's an easy case to win.

Here's the text of her letter:

To Whom It May Concern   In 2017 I was working for Apple Distribution International (Ireland) as a Customer Relations (EMEA). Around mid-2017, I spoke with Mr. Reza Ganjavi regarding the swap of his system. The store wanted to swap his system for a 2017 model. He requested that we wait and do the swap when the 2018 model comes out, because of keyboard issues. I liaised with the store in Switzerland. As I notated the file, it was agreed that Mr. Ganjavi’s system will be swapped with a 2018 model in lieu of the swap with the 2017 model.  Kind Regards

I found the Authorized Officers of Apple Switzerland, including Michael Tries, who's a nice gentleman, and the company's lawyer. I had a good talk with Dr. Treis who understood I was on to something important. Then I sent him Liz's letter. He understood the case and he passed the case on to his client (Apple) "to take care of it".

I don't know what happened internally. My guess is, Apple's Country Manager, Adrian Schmucki, reports into Cathy Kearney, whose organization had told me no. Adrian's response was that it's the same thing that Apple had told me -- which probably meant the same as what Matilda had said: No.

I wrote several emails, asking questions like, do you disagree that Apple had made a promise? Can you tell me why you don't want to keep that promise? I am willing to go away if I understand that. But No Answer!

LAWSUIT WAS MY ONLY OPTION

I gave them plenty of warning because I am very non-litigious and would never sue anyone unless it's the absolute last option.

Unfortunately, I had no choice but to sue Apple. Meanwhile, all the research I did, including talking to several lawyers, indicated I had a case and would win.

Mr. Schmucki was summoned to appear for a hearing.

AFTER I SUED, APPLE DECIDED TO HONOR ITS PROMISE!

A few days after suing Apple, I got a call from guess who? Matilda Johansson! For a long time she had arrogantly told me No. No. No.  But now that I had sued, she had a different message! That they want to swap my laptop! Of course that heavily begs the question of WHY did it have to get there? Why do people have to sue to get another to keep one's word? This is a perfect example of how a big company like Apple which has LOTS of money, contributes to the society becomes litigious.

So we discussed the details of the settlement. Basically, Apple had no legal leverage on me. I was holding a winning card. So in the negotiations, I was saying, look, if you don't agree, we have the hearing scheduled, Mr. Schmucki can come there and we discuss in person.

Now, I had the impression from what Matilda said, that there's still internal division within Apple. She said Apple Switzerland is not the right defendant! Hello!! They absolutely are. Plus, if they want to fight that, it will cost them a lot of money, and they'll lose that argument, since the only reason I ended up at EMEA was because the Swiss store sent me there, and Swiss store did the repair that failed, and Apple Switzerland is the right defendant.

So my guess is probably Mr. Schmucki told them, hey EMEA, you guys liaised this -- it's your problem -- you settle it with him. 

Also in the course of the discussion Matilda admitted that they had made a promise. She said we want to keep our promise.

Great. So far she was saying a gazillion times NO, there's no promise (despite evidence I provided). Now she contradicted herself.

Another funny thing she said, and is written in the agreement, is that Apple is doing this out of good customer service attitude. Bullshxt! The only reason they settled the case was because I sued, and they knew they would lose the case. 

So I got the laptop, finally, after over a year of struggle to get Apple to keep its word, and finally, with using the power of law.

And Apple had to pay the court fee, and, had to pay an additional penalty to me, on top of providing the laptop they had promised, and this not only wasted a lot of my time, but wasted their time, their executives, country manager, high priced lawyer from Baker McKenzie. Apple shareholders had to ultimately bear the consequence, however small. Yes, in the giant world of Apple, this is a drop in the bucket, but the principle is significant:  Keep your word; don't wait to get sued and forced to keep your word.

Lastly, I wrote this to help Apple improve, because I love Apple's computers and operating system. It makes Windows look like a toy! And this is coming from someone who has a High Honors degree in Computer Science and a lot of experience in A-Z of IT. 

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Some of the emails I sent to Apple in this long painful process of getting it to keep it's word.

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I sent this after I took the 2017 laptop home and discovered the keyboard issue and called Customer Care (it was weekend).

Dear Felix

Here's an audio made with the macbook itself (attached).

Thanks for the talk. It was good talking with you and knowing that you understand the issue, and have escalated it to the EMEA customer relations department. I look forward to hearing from them. Meanwhile, as we discussed on the call, I'm going to go to the store first thing Monday morning, give them this laptop so this one is not used and is returned ASAP in mint condition. I'll get my partially defective mac back and put up with it and use my other system too meanwhile, until the new macbooks come out.

I will wait for the your EMEA CS rep to work it out with store management (unless they agree with my proposal tomorrow). And until that is done, this unit can remain in mint condition at the Apple store, waiting for the case to be resolved/finalized, hopefully in agreement with my proposal to put the swap on hold till the new model is out. You have my full agreement, that if the next model does not resolve this issue (which I've read a lot of people complain about), then I will bite the bullet and accept this problem. But I am sure somebody in Apple will realize this was a design flaw to make this keyboard incredibly loud which is very inconvenient for many many situations where you should type but not sound like you're cracking firecrackers.

Thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi

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This is when Elizabeth Boyland took over the case. It's a pity she left Apple -- she was top notch.

Hello Reza,

Thank you for contacting Apple. If you wish to discuss your issue, you can reply to this email or call me at 0080027752775 extension 5071490. My normal office hours are Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 9:00 to 17:30, Friday 9:00 to 16:30. If I’m not available when you call, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you by the next day I’m in the office.

Kind Regards,

Elizabeth Boyland

Customer Relations EMEA

Apple Distribution International

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Dear Micha:

Here's the contact detail for the Apple rep who said it will ok to postpone the swap until the new model comes out. She notated the file accordingly.

I had also send them a sound clip of the keyboard noise which a lot of people who work in quiet environments have a problem with.

Many thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Elizabeth:

Many thanks for the conversation yesterday. I forwarded your contact details to the store.

I went in yesterday and took a Timemachine backup of the new system, and successfully loaded it onto my old system.

I only used the new system for one day. The same evening I picked it up I realized that the keyboard is extremely loud since I work in quiet environments often professionally. I read online that many people are complaining about the keyboard being loud on these new Macbook Pros and some other pros are having the same complaint as me. I hope you take the feedback back to Apple. The old keyboard, you were able to type absolutely quietly. The new one, even if you press it very gently it makes clicking sound, and typing sentences sounds like a toy machine gun :)   I sent an mp3 file showing the problem. Others have done so online too.

The store is willing to postpone the replacement until the new model comes out, as long as I coordinated with customer relations and the case is notated, which you kindly did. If it turns out that the new model has the same keyboard, I'll bite the bullet and take it and live with it.

I got a comment email from Apple wanting me to rate your service, but the link is not working, but I want to send a complement for you, and for Micha at the Apple store who's been very helpful, and couple of other colleagues of his. You've all been very wonderful, and I really appreciated working with you.

I will just write a new mail to emea_cr_correspondence_en@apple.com

If that is not ok please let me know.

Many thanks again.

Kind Regards

Reza

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Dear Elizabeth

Hope all is well. I wrote the email below back in July to the EMEA address from which you had emailed me.

Today, I am writing to send you a new video someone posted about the exact same problem I encountered. It's attached (it's a small file).

I also sent an audio file before which was forwarded to you by customer care...

I am also copying Apple store, as I did before, to reiterate that they're on the same page with the agreement that the swapping of my system will be put on hold until the new MacbookPro comes out, and the swap will be done then, instead of last month.

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Email to Jony Ivy, Chief Design Officer (CDO) of Apple and Chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London

Hi Jony

PLEASE bring back the keyboard of macbook 2013 -- the 2017 macbookpro keyboard is like typing an old typewriter (so frikin loud). PLEASE have sympathy for those of us who have to work in quiet environments.

Will it change in 2018 model (I hope) ?

Thanks

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Davide

Are you still at Apple? Hope all is well with you.

I've followed up regularly with Apple on the 2018 models and hear they may be coming this quarter (most likely in June). Have you heard anything from your end?

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

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To new EMEA rep who took over the case

Many thanks Pat. Good talking with you. I'll keep my eye on the news of the 2018 release (experts expect it to be in the Fall).

Here's the legal case I told you about: (ouch - it looks like at least 3 lawsuits are filed against that keyboard:

https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+lawsuite+keyboard&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-ab

Funny I couldn't take the machine last year because the keyboard was soooo loud (impossible to type quietly on it, in quiet environments) so Apple agreed to wait on my swap till the 2018 model comes out -- but it turns out lots of people have a lot of problems with that keyboard. Really hoping the 2018 model will address it.

Best wishes

Reza

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Dear Pat

Some hints that the new Macbook Pro is coming soon hopefully. My gut feeling is October.

https://bgr.com/2018/07/04/macbook-pro-2018-release-date-close-benchmark-leaks-specs/

Kind Regards

Reza

Dear Pat

Looks like it's coming this Fall:

https://bgr.com/2018/07/11/macbook-pro-update-2018-new-macbook-air-apple-watch-rumors/

Kind Regards

Reza

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2018 model finally released

From: Apple <News@InsideApple.Apple.com>

Subject: The most powerful MacBook Pro is here.Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2018 19:17:48 +0000

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Pat

OMG, THANK YOU APPLE!!!!!!!!!

APPLE LISTENED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look what I just read Pat: "The MacBook Pro keyboard features a butterfly mechanism — providing four times more key stability than a traditional scissor mechanism, along with greater comfort. The 13- and 15‑inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar now feature a keyboard with a quieter typing experience. And the spacious Force Touch trackpad gives your fingers plenty of room to gesture and click."

It's here sooner than most people had thought:

https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/?cid=CDM-US-DM-P0018724-401290&cp=em-P0018724-401290&sr=em&mt=8

I don't want to rush you. I've been waiting for a long time for this, so don't mind waiting longer for you to find the time. But at your convenience, kindly arrange this with the apple store in Zurich Glattzentrum. https://www.apple.com/chde/retail/glattzentrum/

This is where they authorized the switch. I got the macbook pro but the keyboard was so damn loud that it was absolutely a no go. EMEA (Ireland) rep agreed that we wait till the 2018 model comes out and do the swap then (with stipulation that if the new keyboard is still noisy I bite the bullet and take it anyway -- but THANK GOD, and THANK APPLE, Apples solved this big problem.

The system they gave me last time (which I didn't take) was closest Apple offered to my current MacBookPro system (retina, ssd, etc.) -- serial number: C02KL624FFT1.  At that time the local store said I can pay the difference and get extra memory etc. -- but that I can sort out locally. If you arrange the base system swap with the 2018 model, we'll handle the rest locally. The case was handled by EMEA (American model in Europe, so US customer service got EMEA involved who took over the case). 

Many Thanks & Kind Regards

Reza

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Dear Pat

There are 2 specs of the new macbook pro.

Please see attached two screenshots, one from my existing system and one from the replacement one with closest spec (it say 16 but I'd like to get 32 GB RAM please -- I'll pay the difference if need be). 

It seems the only choose-able features are the color and keyboard.

• Color: Silver

• Keyboard: USA English

I can be reached at +1 ... (google voice and voice mail)  +41 ... (swiss mobile)

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Pat:

Many thanks for the talk the other day. Kindly let me know once you've talked to the Apple store. Did you talk to Micha (not sure if he's still there) or another person? Would be good if I have a name of a local person to deal with. Also, please let me know how I can send complements for you to management.

Many thanks and best regards

Reza

Dear Pat

Were you able to talk to someone in the shop?

Kind Regards

Reza

Dear Pat

I tried to call. Was on hold for a long time then it got cut off. Any news?

Best Regards

Reza

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Pat

This is very much an open case. I went to the shop and will discuss with the general manager and then escalate it from there -- Apple told me this will be done and I expect it to keep its word. Hang in there for me as I'll try a few things from this side before going to Executive office and other options.

Cheers

Reza

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Hi Pat

Please call me on +...

Yesterday I was in a shop when you called. I like to discuss a couple of things. Please call me back. Or tell me what time you will call. This morning is best.

Thanks

Reza

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Case number: 20000000037386

Dear Ms. Trainor, Mr. Gordon

Kindly approve the swap of my MacbookPro as explained below. Many thanks for your kind help in speedy resolution and closure of this long-standing case.

RECENT VISIT

I went to the shop on 7 August 2018 and met with Mr. Kesten. Based on his remarks, I don't believe he had a good understanding of the problem. He told me Ms. Trainor works the next day, 8 August and is in the shop.

I went to the shop again on 8 August to speak with Mr. Trainor. She was not there and I spoke with Mr. Gordon. I was hesitant at first since my aim was to brief the store general manager, but I was impressed by his presence and level of listening and caring. So I went through it again with him. I feel confident about him taking ownership of the case, which he said he will move forward.

I am sending a copy of this email to him at the email he provided.

CASE HISTORY

My system was purchased in the USA, which was my first point of contact. US forwarded it to EMEA Customer Relations, who liaised with the store. The store obtained approval to swap the system due to technical reasons (a part no longer being in the market).

Since the unit was not purchased at Glattzentrum ("AGZ"), AGZ had to obtain approval from a higher up authority to do the swap.

The shop's swap request was approved. A new system (MacbookPro 2017) was ordered for me by your very fine colleague, Mr. Davide Muellhaupt.

I picked up the unit and immediately noticed the keyboard was absolutely terrible. It was very noisy like the old typewriters, and keys didn't seem stable. It turns out that numerous lawsuits against Apple were filed in the succeeding months because of that keyboard.

I immediately called Apple and explained to them that this system is no go. They agreed that I return it, which I did immediately (in less than 24 hours, in 100% mint brand new unused condition).

I proposed that we wait on the swap till the 2018 model comes out, and if Apple doesn't change the keyboard, I will bite the bullet and take a 2017 model.

This proposal was agreed by Apple. I continued to follow up on the 2018 model, with Apple, and in news media, and finally recently Apple announced the new model. Among things I read in the description is that the new MacbookPro

"now feature a keyboard with a quieter typing experience."

The new keyboard further remedied the design glitch which had caused thousands of users to sue Apple in multiple class-actions over the same keyboard.

REQUEST

All I'm asking for is for Apple to keep its word. It promised me that the system will be swapped with the 2018 model. Now it's out. I've waited a long time for it based on Apple's promise. I hope Apple will do the swap so we can finally close this case in peace, and the love I have for Apple's amazing technology / products and services (I also purchased a Macbook for a Swiss friend last year).

DETAILS OF THE AGREEMENT

The proposal which Apple agreed to was:  "We postpone the swap till 2018 Macbook pro is released." Regardless of the keyboard, once that unit is released the swap is done and the case is closed. We agree to this so that we all have a definitive end date to this topic and in case the keyboard is not redesigned in 2018, we don't carry this agreement to 2019. So end date of this offer was agreed to be when 2018 Macbook pro becomes available and a swap is made accordingly.

The agreement was coordinated with an EMEA Customer Relations representative who took over the case from USA. A very fine lady by the name of Ms. Elizabeth Boyland. I was in touch with her over the course of this process, when she agreed to this proposal upon checking her internal contacts, I suppose, including the store.

One when I emailed her to find out if there's any updated on date of 2018 release, her email bounced. I found out she had left Apple.

I also talked about this proposal (before the final agreement was given to me by Ms. Boyland) with Mr. Micha , when I returned the 2017 model immediately as explained above. His response was, if it's ok with EMEA it's ok with him.

After the 2018 model was release, I contacted EMEA Customer Relations and Mr. Pat Wilkinson took ownership of the case. He looked into the case history and old me that he sees that Ms. Boyland has indicated agreement with the swap that would happen when 2018 model is released. He has apparently notated the case accordingly that the swap should be done.

However he told me, it's the store which has to make it happen. He then sent an internal note to the store, which rejected it, as apparently they didn't have the case history, or had not documented their agreements with EMEA, or didn't have the full background and details of the agreement.  I suspect this, because of the contents of the response, which was, that too much time has gone by -- and the store doesn't keep old cases in their system. But fact is, release of the 2018 model was a key milestone that was at the core of this agreement. And I was never told this must happen in 2017 or under any other time constraint, except, as explained above, the cap was placed as 2018 release when the case would get closed upon a swap and would not continue beyond 2018 no matter what.

In light of the above fact, kindly move the swap. 

PS -- during my recent visit an Apple employee (name available) told me she regrets buying a 2017 Macbook because of the keyboard being so loud, not to mention the other issues with the keyboard which were in the news.  So my reluctant in taking that swap was very much in good faith and for good reasons. PLEASE approve this swap as Apple told me they would. I really counted on Apple's word.

Thanks and very best regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Davide

Hope all is well. Your name came up today, so I send you the email below. It came up as I said last year Davide placed the order for the swap, and he was a very nice person. That's all :)

Email below to Gordon and Sherry.

Thanks for any help you can give me to get Apple to deliver on its promise.

I was told by EMEA last year which coordinated with the store that the swap will happen when 2018 model comes out as explained below.

Best wishes

Reza

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Dear Gordon

Any news?

I'm desperately waiting.

Thanks & Best Regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Sherry

It was a pleasure meeting you. Looking forward to hearing good news from Gordon.

The age should not be an issue since last year Apple decided to swap the system -- and they agreed to wait for the 2018 model to come out because of keyboard issues (which later became an item of big news and several lawsuits). This was the agreement that Apple EMEA made to me in coordination with the store (the store agreed).

In case they give you an unfavorable respond, please push back saying we made this promise. EMEA told me it's ok with them and the store should do it -- they got the agreement from the store last year -- this year, the store agreed to swap it and stand by the agreement they made last year. I don't see how yet another entity that EMEA and store, both of whom agree with the swap, could block it. I trust Gordon communicated the above facts to them, and Apple stands behind the agreement it entered last year, so we can close this topic for good.

Many Thanks and Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

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To: Ms. Angela Ahrendts, Senior Vice President, Retail – Apple Computer

1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014, USA

+1.408.996.1010, FAX: +1.888.696.4493

12 Sep 2019

Dear Ms. Ahrendts

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2017, EMEA Customer Relations in liaising with the Apple Store promised to defer the swap of my Macbook Pro (S/N C02KL624FFT1) with the 2017 model (due to technical issue under factory recall coverage) until the 2018 model comes out (due to keyboard issues with the 2017 model), and if the keyboard is not replaced in the 2018 model, I would take the 2018 model regardless.

The 2018 model came out, keyboard issues are solved, but the swap is stuck in a quagmire of noise, finger-pointing, and passing the buck between EMEA, the store, etc. I beg you to help resolve this and fulfill the promise that Apple made.  Both EMEA and the store have OK’d it, but it’s stuck in the bureaucracy which doesn’t understand the core issue (the promise I was made and the context).

BACKGROUND

I am a computer scientist among other things. When I discovered the MacBook Pro, I realized I wasted years working on Windows – macOS makes WIN look like a badly designed toy. Haven’t looked back since. I bought two MacBook Pros from Apple. My 15 inch had a problem last year. I called Applecare in the US (I was California based before moving to awitzerland). US sent me to EMEA in Ireland. Ireland liaised with the Apple store (Glattzentrum, Switzerland).

The defect was part of a manufacturer recall program of sorts so I was told by Apple that Apple would repair it for free. Then they said the parts were no longer available since this was an older model (2013) so they decided to swap it with a 2017 model. This was approved by the powers that be, in 2017.

Therefore, Apple gave me a Macbook Pro 2017 last year. I took it home and immediately realized the keyboard was a no-go because of the noise -- it was like an old typewriter. I work in quiet environments where this keyboard would be disruptive.  Later it was in the news that the same keyboard had led to multiple class action lawsuits.

APPLE’S PROMISE TO SWAP WITH 2018 MODEL

I immediately called the store and they said bring it back. Brand new, I took it back and talked to my contact at EMEA Customer Relations (Elizabeth Boyland – unfortunately no longer at Apple) who liaised with the store and between the two of them, they agreed with my following proposal:

That we wait and do the swap when the 2018 model is out with the hope of Apple changing the keyboard. If at that time the key board is not changed, I will bite the bullet and take it.

The store told me if it’s ok with EMEA it’s ok with them. Elizabeth assured me that this would be ok, and that the store had agreed to it.

2018 MODEL CAME OUT... APPLE’S NOT KEEPING ITS WORD

I checked over time again and again, and eventually, the 2018 model came out. I contacted EMEA – realized Elizabeth had left the company. Pat Wilkinson (Ireland) took ownership of the case. He told me that Elizabeth had left notes in the system and confirmed that this swap should happen and that the store had agreed to it. He then said he needs to liaise with the store to organize the swap.

He then told me the store has told him too much time has passed by – so they declined the swap. I was told the store hadn’t kept copies of the case history so they didn’t know all the details and their response was just generic. They did not know the details of the discussion last year and that waiting for the 2018 model was an essential part of the agreement – therefore the time-lapse was immaterial.

EMEA said contact the store. I contacted the store, and the store manager, Sherry and the supervisor Gordon, said it’s ok with them if they get the approval – and they will do everything they can to get the approval. Mind you, EMEA had said :

• In 2017 Apple store had agreed to the swap to the 2018 model when it comes out as documented in your systems by Elizabeth (as per Pat).

• In 2018, EMEA agreed with the Swap, referring to Elizabeth’s note. But wanted store’s approval.

• In 2018, the store agreed and tried to get approval from an unknown entity.

• In 2017 I was told by EMEA that store and EMEA were in agreement.

• Now EMEA and store are pointing fingers at each other, and the store, at some unknown entity. Classic case of passing the buck.

I do understand that this is an unusual case, and this is why in 2017 I wanted to make sure it was well documented – and Elizabeth told me it was – and Pat confirmed it this year. But it’s not working. The unknown entity the store is reaching out to for approval is probably confused by the noise and doesn’t even understand that I was made this promise – this was an agreement – and agreements carry obligations, morally, as well as legally.

Two weeks ago I went to the store to follow up. Sherry said they’ve sent in the request for approval. Gordon who’s handling the logistics of submitting the request said before that he will do whatever he can. They’re very nice people.

Today I went in the store. Gordon said the request was denied for the second time 2 days after I came to the store last time to talk to Sherry. That day Sherry didn’t tell me anything about that and just said keep waiting. Gordon said it’s automatic that they click re-submit. So he’s resubmitted it for a third time. I’m sure without additional info and facilitation the party reviewing this is lost in the noise of internal passing of the buck. 

This is apparent to me because of the kind of feedback: e.g., Gordon said they had said too much time has gone by. This means they don’t understand that a core part of this agreement was waiting for 2018 model! So they don’t have the critical info in a consumable, consolidated format.

So Gordon told me today that he’s hopeful that the third time will be a charm but I am not at all optimistic because nobody has taken any steps in clarifying the confusion.  Gordon also told me to call Apple Care and ask to talk to a shift leader, to have a channel to send in a clear statement of facts, which is essentially back to square one – rinse and repeat. Instead I decided to come to you in hope of your kind assistance in facilitating this. All I’m asking is for Apple to keep its word.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Pat

This is insane -- classic case of passing the buck and finger pointing where the core of the issue (Apple's promise to me) is getting lost in translation.

Elizabeth documented it that the store agreed.

Store is in agreement. They told me so -- but they need approval (round robin) from EMEA.

They submitted the case but EMEA has said no because they don't understand the case -- they're saying things like "too much time has lapsed" which shows they don't get it that we said all along in 2017 "2018 models". Apple store told me today they're trying again and again but EMEA hasn't approved it. They told me to get a shift manager in EMEA to look at this. PLEASE send the attached summary letter to your boss. This is insane.

Thanks a lot

Reza

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Dear Mr. Schmucki

I understand you're the Country Manager for Switzerland (and not Mark Allen who's also listed as country manager but is based in Cupertino).

I need your help please.

I was promised by Apple last year to defer the swap of my system till the 2018 MacbookPro comes out. This was agreed between EMEA and Apple Glattzentrum. I was promised this, which is an obligation. The basis for it was the keyboard of the 2017 system (which turned out to be a problem and led to several large scale lawsuits). So we agreed that when the 2018 model comes out Apple will swap my system, regardless of the keyboard.

The attached document (pleading) provides the background, including the fact that Apple swapped my system with a 2017 MacbookPro last year but because of a keyboard issue I proposed we wait till the next model comes out to see if the keyboard will improve (and it has), and Apple agreed.

Now that the 2018 model is out -- after I waited a year for this based on Apple's promise -- EMEA says it's documented in the case that Jessica wrote the store agreed. And she told me she agrees. They both agreed. Now EMEA says store has to deliver it -- but the store didn't know the background and they said "too much time has passed" (which is irrelevant since I was told we will do the swap when 2018 model comes out -- so nobody thought it'd be a matter of a few weeks back in 2017).

Then I explained it to Sherry and Gordon and they agree and want to help. They want to swap the system and said they'll do their best to get an approval. Mind you, EMEA said store has to approve -- and now store says EMEA has to approve. But it's not the same entity in EMEA as customer relations and I don't know who it is -- so it's caught in a round-robin. And it's obvious whomever the approved is doesn't have the full info and the obligation that Apple entered in, and the full context -- because their response was: too much time has passed! Gordon resubmitted the request two times (he said it's just a click) -- I explained it in the attached email.

Please be so kind as to find out who is the entity whom the store is waiting on , and please forward the attached letter to them so they understand -- right now they're caught in the noise of disparate information. Or if you can make this happen yourself, please do, and save us time and headache, so we can close this case. I love Apple and don't want to fight with it. I'm looking for a peaceful, quick solution, and am only asking Apple to deliver to its promise.

I would be happy to come meet you in person and explain the facts, if that makes it easier.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Teresa

Would it be possible to forward a letter to Cathy, if I email it to you?

Many thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Teresa

Thanks for the brief talk. Here's an email and a letter for Cathy. Kindly forward both it to her -- or perhaps better yet, please print both the email below, and the attached letter.  Kindly let me know if this email arrived. Many thanks.

Warm Regards

Reza Ganjavi

Dear Ms. Kearney:

I am reaching out to you as head of EMEA, seeking your kindness and consideration in facilitating to untangle a communication issue which is very easy to do by approving the swap of my system to a 2017 MacbookPro which is what Apple promised me to do in lieu of swapping it with a 2017 model last year.

I have agreements of:

• EMEA Customer Relations 2017 -- (Elizabeth Boyland who left the company but documented the file that Apple Store agreed with her to do the swap in 2018)

• EMEA Customer Relations 2018 -- (Pat Wilkinson who confirmed recently that he sees notes that Elizabeth wrote that the store agreed -- so he wants the store to do the swap -- but store disagreed because they didn't have the case file).

• Store management in 2018 (Sherry & Gordon -- who said they want to do the swap but need approval and sought approval from EMEA).

• Both EMEA and Store have agreed but the case is stuck in an infinite loop. Please help!!

I was promised by Apple EMEA last year to defer the swap of my system till the 2018 MacbookPro comes out (Apple Switzerland wanted to swap it for the 2017 -- please see attached letter for details). This was agreed between EMEA and Apple Glattzentrum (Zurich). I was promised this, which is an obligation. The basis for it was the keyboard of the 2017 system (which turned out to be a problem and led to several large scale lawsuits). So we agreed that when the 2018 model comes out Apple will swap my system, regardless of the keyboard.

The attached document (pleading) provides the background, including the fact that Apple swapped my system with a 2017 MacbookPro last year but because of a keyboard issue I proposed we wait till the next model comes out to see if the keyboard will improve (and it has), and Apple agreed.

Now that the 2018 model is out -- after I waited a year for this based on Apple's promise -- EMEA says it's documented in the case that Jessica wrote the store agreed. And she told me she agrees. They both agreed. Now EMEA says store has to deliver it -- but the store didn't know the background and they said "too much time has passed" (which is irrelevant since I was told we will do the swap when 2018 model comes out -- so nobody thought it'd be a matter of a few weeks back in 2017).

Then I explained it to Sherry and Gordon (store management) and they agree and want to help. They want to swap the system and said they'll do their best to get an approval.  Mind you, EMEA said store has to approve -- and now store says EMEA has to approve. But it's not the same entity in EMEA as customer relations and I don't know who it is -- so it's caught in a round-robin.  And it's obvious whomever the approved is doesn't have the full info and the obligation that Apple entered in, and the full context -- because their response was: too much time has passed!  Gordon resubmitted the request two times (he said it's just a click) -- I explained it in the attached email.

Please be so kind as to find out who is the entity whom the store is waiting on , and please forward the attached letter to them so they understand -- right now they're caught in the noise of disparate information. Or if you can make this happen yourself, please do, and save us time and headache, so we can close this case. I love Apple and don't want to fight with it. I'm looking for a peaceful, quick solution, and am only asking Apple to deliver to its promise.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Sherry

I stopped by last week and met Gordon. EMEA has already approved the swap -- it was an agreement with the store in 2017 and it's well documented. I don't understand why you still need an approval from EMEA since they already approved the swap to be done in 2018 -- and the store agreed to it as well last year (for it to be done in 2018). Gordon said you've received two rejections (with comments which clearly indicate whoever is reviewing this case doesn't have all the facts -- see attached document) and he pressed the resubmit button for the third time and is hoping third time is a charm. He said the second rejection came a few days after you and I met -- so when we met you already had the first rejection but didn't tell me anything about it. Without additional clarity provided to EMEA, it seems to be a mechanical resubmit/rejection loop -- I hope I'm wrong.

He further advised me to open a new case and talk to EMEA shift manager. That would be starting from scratch. I don't want to do that.

Please note, I already have approval from EMEA. This is documented in the file as per Pat (2018) regarding Elizabeth's note in 2017 which confirms what she told me. Pat said store needs to do the swap. Store declined since you didn't have the case history and assumed too much time has gone by (but 2018 was a core concept in the agreement -- nobody thought in 2017 the 2018 model would come in a matter of weeks). Then we spoke and you were very kind and understanding yet needed an approval from EMEA.

So EMEA says store and store needs EMEA approval.

This promise is subject to obligations rights under Swiss law. I have a very good friendly relationship with Apple. I love Apple, and do not want to talk or think law. But please understand this was a promised that was made and promises are binding.

The subject is caught in a round-robin.

I sent the attached letter to Mr. Schmucki yesterday via email (and registered post today). I really hope we can find a friendly quick resolution. All I'm asking for is for Apple to keep the promise it made.

Looking forward to hearing from someone from Apple with the good news that the swap is approved (it's already approved by EMEA and the store and well documented -- just needs to be released from this round-robin state by a decision maker like Adrian, Cathy, Angela, or Tim.

Many thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Then it took about 14 emails back and forth to finally talk to Matilda Johansson in person!!!

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Dear Matilda

To share an idea with you in the spirit of my good relationship with Apple, and being a very loyal, dedicated customer who REALLY appreciates Apple's systems. I'm a computer scientist and know a good system when I see it, and let's just say, Apple Rocks! You know that already :)

In that spirit of partnership and fondness, I must also say, that what Apple has done, according to Swiss law (Obligationenrecht) constitutes an obligation which is legally binding. I don't even want to think that and I am certainly not mentioning it as a threat (see paragraph 1 above about my friendly attitude towards Apple). But only so that you have all the facts.

I was given a promise last year that when the 2018 MacbookPro comes out my system will get swapped with that.

This year, the swap is caught in bureaucracy -- EMEA told me it's noted in the file that the store agreed with the swap. EMEA says store should do the swap. Store says they want to do the swap but they need EMEA approval. It needs a executive level intervention (yourself / Cathy) to break the impasse and make this happen.

I hope your investigation will lead you to do that. Please let me know how it goes and if you need any information from me -- the simple case has turned complicated -- I'll be happy to help answer any questions.

I look forward to your positive answer that the swap will be made. Many thanks for your help in facilitating this matter to a quick resolution.

Very best regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Dear Matilda:

I found this email that has a different case number which may help in your investigation

"Fwd: Re: Case 20000000037386"

Attached to it there was a video of the keyboard noise issue (I kept it when forwarding it to you). Mind you, bigger problems surfaced with the 2016,2017 keyboards which led to a number of class action lawsuits (I read this later in the news). Thank God and Thank Apple that the keyboard problems are fixed in the 2018 model.

You can also see more details about the dates and conversations with store and EMEA. Store said the swap with 2018 model is ok with them if it's ok with EMEA -- and EMEA (Elizabeth) told me it's ok with her and she notated the file that she talked to the store and the store said it's ok with them.

Kind Regards

Reza

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Dear Matilda

Here's the email I sent to the store with Elizabeth's contact details after she told me the swap would be ok with her.  I was not involved in the internal discussions so I don't know on what date the store and EMEA spoke but I was told in no uncertain terms that both the store and EMEA had agreed with the swap to be done in 2018 instead of in 2017. I also have a confirmation of the swap that was done in 2017 if you like that for your records (with system details) -- which I immediately cancelled in coordination with EMEA because of the keyboard issue and the agreement that we simply wait till the 2018 model comes out and the swap will take place then.

Kind Regards

Reza

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile more emails going back and forth with Apple Support, etc. --e.g.

Dear Kateryna -- I was just on the phone for 30 minutes with Apple trying to get the call transferred to you. The 800 number you gave me can NOT be reached from Switzerland so I had to try other ways and ended up in UK, Canada and US and they couldn't transfer the call.

PLEASE call me back -- +...

Thanks a lot.

Reza

Dear Kateryna

can you tell me if you'll be calling me back today? I'm by the phone waiting... and will wait as long as possible.

Thanks

Reza

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Matilda:

I received a call by a fine lady from EMEA by name of Kateryna (email below). She's responding the my letter (may have been via the apple rep who was handling the case before to whom I sent a copy of the letter but I'm not sure).

I told Kateryna that you're handling the case and asked her to contact you to coordinate it so there's no duplication of effort.

Kateryna was very understanding, like yourself, and understands the case well.

Just a heads-up, in case she reaches out to you. I told her you're the one who has the case background more and better than anyone.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Matilda said NO. I wrote to head of EMEA, Cathy Kearney, again:

Dear Cathy

I heard back from Matilda who took the letter I sent you. I am trying to exhaust all my options in trying to find peace before filing a lawsuit. Therefore, I am reaching out to you. Apple is being irrational and ignorant of certain material fact. Matilda did a so-called internal investigation which ignored certain key facts. At the heart of her investigation, and the reason for her negative answer was that Apple Store Switzerland purportedly told her that they can't swap the system. End of story? Not.

I have proof of certain material facts which Matilda is not willing to consider and has not looked into during her superficial investigation:

1) In 2018, Apple rep (Pat Wilkinson) told me that Elizabeth (EMEA Customer Relations who promised me to swap the system in 2018 and coordinated it with the store in 2017) who's now left Apple, notated the file that THE STORE AGREED TO DO THE SWAP WITH THE 2018 MODEL. These notes are in your system and are in call logs which you can pull because the calls, I was told, were recorded. If you can't locate this info tell me and I will help you.

2) Based on (1) Pat said in 2018 the store should do the swap.

3) POINTS (1) AND (2) ABOVE CLEARLY SHOW EMEA'S AGREEMENT TO DO THE SWAP WITH THE 2018 MODEL.

4) In 2018, Apple store told me they want to do the swap and they'll do everything in their power to make it happen but they need EMEA approval.

5) Another entity in EMEA which had already agreed -- then said no to the store, indicating too much time has gone by which means they don't understand the case because the whole agreement was made based on the promise of 2018 swap could not happen in 2017.

PLEASE get back to me with a yes or no answer. I do not want to file a lawsuit (under Swiss law, such obligations are legally binding) if there's any hope for a peaceful settlement.

Many thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi 

Attachment -- case background letter.

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To: teresa@apple.com (assistant to chief of EMEA)

Dear Teresa: Kindly forward this to Cathy.

Dear Cathy:

Further to the email sent to you on 3 October, please note that I am trying to avoid an unnecessary lawsuit. All I am asking for is for Apple to keep the promise it made. KINDLY ASSIGN THIS CASE TO AN INTERNAL LAWYER TO BE IN TOUCH WITH ME so s/he can look at my evidence and determine if we should fight in court or not – I am confident a lawyer from your side will want to look at what I have in terms of evidence and will help us avoid litigation.

This case is currently stuck between EMEA and Switzerland. EMEA says Switzerland, and Switzerland says EMEA. Fact is I was told in no uncertain terms that Apple will swap my system, instead of the 2017 model with the 2018 model when it comes out (details explained in the attached letter). The rep who made this promise has left the company but she has documented it in the notes in the case file. This was confirmed to me by the new rep who took over the case (Part Wilkinson) who told me on the phone (recorded line as per Apple) – that Elisabeth Boyland wrote in the case file that the store agreed to do the swap with the 2018 model.

When the system came out Pat told me the store should do the swap but the store said they need EMEA approval. So now it’s caught in this loop. The last thing on it is EMEA management called the store and the store said they don’t have the authorization to replace the system because EMEA didn’t give them the authorization. But EMEA did clear this with the store in 2017 and notated the file and told me everything is ok and the swap will be done in 2018.

I hate to have to initiate a litigation to deal with this silly communication breakdown, finger pointing and passing the buck. PLEASE, step in and make this swap happen. I wouldn’t waste my time on this case if I didn’t feel strongly that Apple should keep its promise.

Apple will have a hard time explaining to the court why the store is not going to do the swap when they agreed to do it in 2017 as it is notated in the file by Elisabeth Boyland. I can 100% prove this is the case. It will be a huge waste of time money and energy for us to fight this case in court. PLEASE help avoid a fight – our world doesn’t need a fight. I love Apple and want to maintain my good relationship with you. All I am asking for is for you to keep your word.

EMEA has acted dogmatically and shown no interest whatsoever in critical facts – instead, they’ve relied on feedback from the store. Store management told me they will do everything in their power to make the swap happen but they need EMEA approval – and EMEA already approved it and it’s notated in the file and that’s precisely why Pat told me in 2018 that the swap should happen, and Elisabeth told me in 2017 that the swap will happen. I have all this documented and can prove it. PLEASE assign this to an internal lawyer or someone who is patient enough to do due diligence and takes an interest in what I have that I can provide, instead of a cursory superficial email from the store which itself told me it’s ok with the swap.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

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Then I got a whole bunch of robotis replies from Matilda Johansson, e.g.

"Thank you for your additional emails to Apple. Please be advised, Apple’s response to your request remains the same. "

In other words, they were totally ignoring my arguments (things changed after I sued them)!

I wrote her back:

Hi. I didn't write to you. I wrote to Cathy. You failed in doing a diligent investigation. You asked the store and made your decision based on what they said as you told me which was they are not able to swap because they need authorization from emea which was done and documented. I have proof but are not interested. 

She wrote back:

...There is no further escalation point or anyone I can transfer you to that is going to provide a different answer at this time. Please be advised, Apple’s response remains unchanged. 

I wrote her back:

Dear Teresa, please forward this to Cathy.

Thanks

Reza

Ms. Johanssen

That's what YOU think.

I'm sure there are others in Apple who are able to understand and recognize a promise that Apple made to me -- or at least would be decent enough if they can't locate it to come to me and say where is it? You didn't even ask !!

I know you think you have powerful lawyers but I am not even considering going the legal option YET. I would never do that unless I absolutely had to.

Be careful about trying to cover up the truth. The fact is you NEVER asked to see my proof of the promise. I am done with you but not with Apple because I think there are more reasonable people within Apple.

Regards

R.Ganjavi

She wrote back:

... You have been provided several times with the same response by Apple and our response remains unchanged. 

[that's until I sued them!!]

I wrote back:

Ms. Johansson

Apple is not summarized as Matilda Johansson. Apple is much bigger. Don't give yourself too much credit. Your so called investigation was a joke based on the information you provided me which described your "research". There's someone at Apple who thinks bigger and knows what's a real investigation looks like, including being interested in what I have in terms of evidence that you didn't even have an interest in.

Regards

Ganjavi

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I wrote to Liz

Dear Liz

Hope you're well. Sorry to take your time. We spoke last year when you were at Apple.

Funny how in this hi tech world, we can do a few clicks and locate people I found you via Linkedin and some googling

I'm usually a kind of person who always try to help people. In this case, I need your help -- and would really appreciate it, though I'm a "stranger" and you have no obligation to help me.

You kindly notated the file and that's enough for the case (an EMEA rep read the note to me and it was perfect). But Apple is being difficult. The store told you they will do the swap when the 2018 model comes out, and you notated that in the file (perfect). I am kind of desperate now because Apple is not willing to keep its promise and they're telling me this conversation never happened (though it did and the rep told me your notes are there).  A little note from you would be incredibly helpful. Of course you carry no responsibility at all but if you just say you remember this conversation it will unblock this. I've hit a brick wall so I thought I'd reach out to you and I was lucky to find you on Facebook. Great page by the way. I was working in WTC a few months before 911 and my building went down too -- horrific crimes.

Please let me know if this message arrived.

Thanks so much and all the best.

Reza

(She wrote me back a nice note. We exchanged a number of emails to arrange a meeting).

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I wrote to Tim Cook -- Apple's CEO

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I wrote a number of pleas to the Swiss country manager

Dear Mr. Schmucki

Further to the letter I sent you by registered mail, I hereby inform you that I have just received an additional, credible, solid piece of evidence that again confirms that Apple promised to swap my system with a 2018 model when it comes out. This is a firm confirmation which shatters any doubt that Apple made this promise. Please let me know if you’re interested in seeing it, and I’ll forward it to you. I am looking for a friendly end to this subject. All I’m asking for is for Apple to keep the promise it made. I am sure you agree that obligations need to be kept. You’d expect that from your business partners and personal contacts. I’m just asking you to do what the Bible also says: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Luke 6:31).

It’s very reasonable to expect companies that do business in our great country (I’m Swiss citizen), should keep their promises. I hope Apple’s attitude is more socially responsible than making promises to get people off its back, and then not fulfill those promises because Apple is big and powerful. I don’t think that’s the image Apple wants to portray.

I have heard rumors that it's a modus operandi for Apple to make promises and not keep them. In this case, the promise impacted my life: I counted on it and planned around it – therefore, I intend to hold Apple to it.

From this point onward, I will only communicate with you as my single point of contact within Apple. People involved acted in their professional role, and spoke for Apple, therefore, the liability resulting from the broken promise lies with Apple Switzerland which my primary point of contact on this issue.

The solution is very simple: Apple should simply do what it promised me. I love your products, and want to have a friendly relationship with Apple. Please let’s get this case resolved peacefully. I pass by your office regularly. If you like, I can stop by and bring the evidence and we find a quick solution together and be done with this topic. Let me know when is a good day/time for you.

Please let me know by end of day of this week (CoB 30 Nov 2018) what you think.

Many Thanks for your consideration and cooperation.

Best wishes

Reza Ganjavi

Dear Sherry

Mr. Schmucki is away this week. Would you be able to deal with this since it's regarding a legal obligation that your store is in? Please give me a call at ...

Thanks and regards

Reza Ganjavi

---

Then Surprise! I get the same robotic answer from Matilda:

...Thank you for your additional emails to Apple.  Please be advised, at this stage Apple’s response remains the same...

... Should you wish to bring new facts to my attention, please do so...

Of course by that time I had no hope in Matilda and did not want to send the letter I got from Liz to Matilda. I was now thinking LAW, and wanted to deal with the appropriate responsible legal entity, i.e., Apple Switzerland.

So I wrote her back and copied Adrian:

Dear Ms. Johansson

I really do not like dealing with you because you did not seem diligent in your research (and seemed more interested in rushing to sweep the matter under the rug -- it's nice that you're trying to respond to everything within 24 hours but some things take more research and can't be rushed).

I also have no idea if you discussed this matter with Cathy Kearney since I addressed my letters to her. I wanted her to be aware of this because if unfortunately this ends up in litigation, the judgment is public (as per Swiss constitution) and media will have fun with it -- and I want to make sure this attitude of yours which comes across as: [we made a promise but to heck with you, get lost, we don't want to keep our promise, we're big and we can do that] is really supported by Cathy.

By the way, I did not consider your answer as a final answer because I have not yet exhausted my options within Apple, and given I'm not litigious, I would not initiate legal action until I am convinced that  a) Apple fully understands its obligations and pertinent laws  and  b) Despite all that it decides to shut the door in my face.

But since apparently Mr. Schmucki forwarded my mail to you, I am engaging with you, against my liking. I do not trust you and your approach, so I am not going to forward my evidence to you. You're not part of this legal relationship -- just a voice in Cork who probably didn't forward my mail to Cathy -- and just likes to say "NO" and disregard the evidence.

For the record, my single point of contact for legal purposes is Apple Switzerland and if unfortunately I would be forced to take legal action, it will be against Apple Switzerland because they were my initial point of contact, they do business in our great country, and they need to abide by its laws, including laws spelled out in Swiss Code of Obligations.

You have enough evidence in your files, that Apple made this promise. It's noted in your system, as read to me verbatim, by your colleague. I have that exact text and you also have it, but you either were too fast and didn't even see it -- or you've ignored it -- or you think somehow I would be unable to prove it's there (which is false).

What you have already is enough -- but you chose to ignore it. I have a new strong concrete piece of evidence confirming Apple's agreement that this swap will happen with a 2018 model. It can't get any clearer than this. I don't trust you with it because you're not a party to this case and I don't like the way you went about this case.  The only people I'm willing to show the evidence to are people who are parties to this case:

- Mr. Schmucki - Apple CH Country Manager

- Ms. Trainor - Apple Store Manager

- Their lawyers within Switzerland

- Swiss justice authorities

Apple can choose who my evidence will go to but it won't be you for the reasons stated above.

I will reach out to Mr. Schmucki when he's back from vacation next week to give him time to decide if he wants to see my evidence or not. I would highly recommend it. I can pop in the office as I pass by there all the time -- or alternatively, show it to Sherry at the store. I could do that on Thursday.

If Apple decides to ignore this overture, I will send Mr. Schmucki a formal legal warning ahead of initiating litigation. Based on feedback I've received, Apple will lose this case, will have to provide the laptop it promised, and will be responsible for all my legal costs. Mr. Schmucki and/or Ms. Trainor will have to appear at an initial arbitration session. The arbitrator will see the evidence and rule in my favor. If Apple objects, it will go in litigation. Then the judge will rule in my favor and the matter goes fully public. 

Don't bother Ms. Johansson to write to me and say "can't do". I know you're very good at that doing that and probably do it to many others like me who have issues with Apple. That's why I am not dealing with you -- you're not a part of this picture. I'm dealing with Apple Switzerland. You can sort things out internally, but my point of contact for legal purposes is Apple Switzerland and not Cork.

If this is not clear, feel free to call me to discuss. I can be reached on... . If no answer, please leave a brief message and I'll call you back.

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

Tragic comedy continues. I get the same robotic answer from Matilda :)

... Please be advised, Apple’s response remains the same. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Ms. Johansson

Please be advised that I didn't ask for your advice. In fact, I tried to say politely in my last email (but it didn't seem to sink in), that you don't count in this discussion which is now about potential unlawful conduct of Apple. I am dealing with Apple Switzerland which is a legal entity registered in Switzerland and therefore, governed by Swiss law, including the Swiss Code of Obligations (SR220). According to public filings, I see the following people listed as their authorized officers. You are not one of them. Please save your advice for the next customer you betray. It really helps Apple's reputation.

Board of directors: Peter Ronald Denwood, Michael Treis, Adrian Schmucki

Authorized signatories: Peter Ronald Denwood, Anja Schröder, Nicola Mathilde Rossmeier

@ Dear Mr. Schmucki. I hope you have a nice vacation. Apparently you passed on my email to Ms. Johansson, who is not part of Apple Switzerland. Please note, that I am unable to deal with her for the reason stated above.

Let's get in touch when you're back next week. I will be happy to show you the new evidence which is a firm confirmation of Apple's obligation. It would be stupid for us to engage in a legal fight if unlike Ms. Johansson, you take a few minutes and understand the case and look at the facts. I know you're very busy, but this will also save us both time in the long run. I am looking for peace, and just a few minutes of your time, or your authorized officer or attorney in Switzerland, to look at the new evidence. I don't want to rush and file a litigation -- most people would probably do that -- I want to give peace a chance.

Thanks & Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote to Apple Lawyers:

Dear Ms. Rossmeier

I am trying to avert litigation and like to bring a very simple case against Apple (backed by solid evidence) to your attention. May I send you a brief paragraph for your consideration?

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Denwood

I am trying to avert litigation and like to bring a very simple case against Apple (backed by solid evidence) to your attention. May I send you a brief paragraph for your consideration?

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

And to Apple Switzerland Lawyer

Dear Dr. Treis

FYI, my email to Mr. Schmucki who's on vacation.

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: URGENT: Additional Evidence of Apple's Promise To: schmucki.a@apple.com

Dear Mr. Schmucki

I understand you're on vacation this week. I will reach out to you next week, or please get back to me as soon as possible.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then I get another robotic answer from Matilda -- same message as last time:

...Please be advised, Apple’s response remains the same....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote her in the same language:

Dear Ms. Johansson

Please be advised that I didn't ask for your advice. In fact, I tried to say politely in my last email (but it didn't seem to sink in), that you don't count in this discussion which is now about potential unlawful conduct of Apple. I am dealing with Apple Switzerland which is a legal entity registered in Switzerland and therefore, governed by Swiss law, including the Swiss Code of Obligations (SR220). According to public filings, I see the following people listed as their authorized officers. You are not one of them. Please save your advice for the next customer you betray. It really helps Apple's reputation.

Board of directors

Peter Ronald Denwood, Michael Treis, Adrian Schmucki

Authorized signatories

Peter Ronald Denwood, Anja Schröder, Nicola Mathilde Rossmeier

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seemed that I found a voice of reason in Dr. Michael Treis. 

Dear Dr. Treis

Many thanks. I look forward to hearing from you with positive news. Your help is much appreciated in helping your client see through the clutter of a long period of "passing the buck" from one department to another, and nobody ever taking the time to understand the case. It's well documented that CH agreed to do the swap. EMEA said CH agreed and will do the swap. CH said they're happy to do it but need EMEA approval -- so it went to an entirely different department who absolutely didn't have the facts of the case (as evidence by their comment: too much time has passed -- whilst the agreement was to wait till the 2018 model comes out) -- and then some lady in Ireland getting involved who didn't take the time needed. She sent the case to CH, and CH gave the canned answer of what EMEA had said, so the lady told me, CH said no, so our answer is no, but CH's "no" only meant EMEA had said no (see above). So it went into a messy round-robin because of lack of understanding. That's why I thought I'd get this additional letter that nails the point home (what's on files before this letter was also sufficient to prove CH made the promise).

Please sir, it's almost Christmas -- I really don't want to get into a fight unless I have to -- let there be peace -- please help in closing this topic. It will cost your client peanuts to keep their promise.

God bless

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

Did you have a chance to talk to your client?

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

Dear Dr. Treis: Thanks for the feedback. The sooner the better please. Many thanks and best regards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Schmucki

Last week I had a good talk with your listed authorized officer / corporate lawyer, Dr. Treis, and subsequently sent him the latest piece of evidence that just adds to the already existing evidence -- that Apple promised to swap my system with a 2018 model when it comes out, and when it came out Apple denied it. I am trying to avert litigation, and am after a friendly peaceful ending to this enervating saga.

I hope the additional evidence I submitted to your attorney is sufficient to give you comfort that I am not making this up. All I'm asking for is for Apple to do what it said.

Dr. Treis said that he will speak with Apple. I look forward to hearing back from him with a positive answer. Please sir, we don't need more conflict in this world. In the spirit of Christmas, please let's end this case and have peace.

Many thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

I suppose you still don't have a decision by Apple, and when you do, you'd kindly tell me. I'm not doing anything till I hear from you (hopefully soon).

Happy Holidays

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

Hope you had a nice holiday period. Happy New Year.

Will you be discussing the case with Apple?

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

Good speaking with you yesterday. Kindly follow up at your convenience and let me know Apple's official position on this matter, which I hope is favorable. I've waited over a year, and am really looking forward to Apple keeping its word, and swift closure of this matter.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

I have waited over a year for Apple. I am desperate. I need the system that Apple promised me. Please, the sooner you can get me some feedback the better. A yes/no answer, hopefully yes (and if No I will have to start proceedings immediately to force Apple to keep its promise -- but that would be unfortunate -- as civilized members of a civil society we shouldn't need litigation to enforce small obligations like this).

Please.

Many Thanks & Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

Then Dr. Treis wrote and asked for my patience and that his client (Apple) will take care of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many thanks sir for the update and your kind mediation. Very good to hear that.

Best regards

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

I would appreciate if you drop a quick followup note to your colleagues to see if this case is moving forwards. I haven't heard anything in the last two weeks.

Many thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi

Dr. Treis wrote back and said he expects Apple will take care of it. Based on his wording, and our talks, I believe his recommendation to Apple had been to do the swap. He probably didn't know of the "No machine".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Schmucki

Dr. Treis informed me that he's spoken with Apple Switzerland about the case (getting me the new laptop which Apple promised), and that you will take care of it, and that I should be patient. That was two weeks ago and I have not heard anything from Apple Switzerland. I don't mind being patient longer if the case is in progress.

Please advise.

Kind Regards

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

Many thanks for your kind message. I fully understand, and really appreciate your help so far.

Despite reaching out to Mr. Schmucki, I haven't heard anything from him or anyone at Apple CH, since 18 days ago when you spoke with them. I just want to know if they're working on this, or they've decided to ignore it -- a Yes or No answer is all I need. It would be very kind of you, if I may humbly request, that you drop them a quick note like:

We spoke about this issues 18 days ago. Just curious if you're going to contact the customer. He's been waiting.

Many thanks and best regards

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then Adrian Schmucki wrote quoting Customer Care :) that they said no.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Sir:

I am dealing with Apple Switzerland and I have never had such a response from Apple Switzerland.

I now have it.

I will immediately initiate litigation. See you in court.

Regards

Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis

Unfortunately I have no choice but to initiate litigation against Apple. See below. 

Regards

R. Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS -- my lawyer fees and court costs will be more than the cost of the laptop. But I guess Apple is big and rich so it doesn't care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gentlemen:

What is your statement to court? If you tell me what you have in your defense, I will consider it, and perhaps we can find a peaceful solution. I'm taking steps towards litigation -- having a lawyer write to you a as last ditch effort to deter litigation, and preparing to file with mediation authority which is the first step. I am sure I'll get authorization to sue you because there's clear evidence that my system had an issue after a repair due to "quality program", and you agreed to replace it. You also agreed to defer the replacement till the 2018 model comes out.

Are you denying all this? Are you saying you are not willing to do anything to meet the obligation you entered to?

I know you said NO last week to replacing the unit with a 2018 model. Are you willing to do anything? Repair the unit (which you said it's not repairable after your qualityprogram warranty and so decided to replace it and did replace it and immediately agreed to defer it. There's PROOF for all this. Do you have anything in your defense? Do you have anything to offer than "got pound sand"? If so, tell me. I am a reasonable guy and we can try to settle this without litigation.

Please advise.

Kind Regards

Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS -- you will be required by law to personally attend at the mediation session. What are you going to say there? Deny what happened? Deny you did the qualityprogram repairs (including burning my SSD in one repair)? Are you going to deny that you game me a 2017 model? Are you going to deny that you took it back? Are you going to deny that you agreed (you meaning Apple Switzerland) to defer the swap to 2018? Do you think the court will care if you pass the buck to Ireland? You represent Apple here. How can you go against the evidence? Please tell me, what you will say there. If it's reasonable, I will work with you. Let's talk and avoid a fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote to A. Schmucki and M. Treis:

Gentlemen:

Are you willing to look at a timeline I've produced with a summary of facts, together with reference to evidence?

I'm sure seeing this, you will be convinced that Apple did make this promise, and will fully understand the circumstances that led to it, in a concise manner. I've prepared this for the lawyer and the court, but again, as a last ditch effort, I want to plea to your reasonableness to consider the facts.

There are at least two pieces of concrete evidence that Apple promised to swap my system with a 2018 mode instead of the 2017 model which happened (but we decided to reverse it and wait for 2018) because of a defect that followed a repair within the guarantee period of the repair that was done. These ar facts.

On 25 July 2018 Pat Wilkinson said on a recorded line (Apple stated in beginning of the call: “Calls are recorded for evaluation and training”) that he sees that Elizabeth Boyland left a note that Apple Glattzentrum agreed to replace the unit when the 2018 model comes out. Elizabeth Boyland further confirmed that in writing.

Even the store itself wanted to do the swap in 2018 but EMEA's response was "too much time has passed" (while another arm of EMEA said it needs to be done) but it was never meant to be done in 2017!  When the agreement is for a swap with 2018 model everyone understood this meant in 2018! Apple doesn't release 2018 model in 2017! This is another indication that the case got caught in internal disconnects.

Please, let's put an end to this nonsense. Please let me know by end of the day on Wednesday 6 March (updated since Dr. Treis is out of office till Tuesday) if you agree to work with me to end this saga. I'm trying desperately to avert litigation, not because of money, but because it's wrong to fight when it can be so easily be avoided if Apple just keeps its word! 

I am 100% sure when we go to "Peace Judge" in <>, he will tell Apple to live up to its promise, and if you disagree, the Bezirksgericht judge will say the same. It's a slam dunk case. Please, can we not end it now?!

Best Regards

Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote to A. Schmucki and M. Treis:

Gentlemen:

I was told today that the response period I gave you in the email below is too short, and needs to be 14-days. Therefore, please respond by CoB 18 March 2019.

• Additionally, please note that there are several laws and legal principles in Switzerland which are violated if Apple refuses to do as it's promised. In 2017 Apple performed a number of “Quality Program” repairs on my system, each of which carried a warranty period. Within the given warranty period a defect was realized. Apple was not able to fulfill the repair and instead agreed to swap my MacbookPro with a 2017 mode. I have proof that this swap took place. Immediately the system was returned as the keyboard had issues, and Apple agreed to defer the swap until a 2018 model comes out. I have two pieces of evidence that prove that Apple agreed to defer the swap including a signed letter from the Apple employee who liaised with Apple Switzerland to confirm the agreement.

• As soon as the 2018 model became available (and the keyboard design was changed, given the design used in the 2017 model had led to a number of lawsuits), I requested the swap. EMEA agreed, and saw in the notes that it was documented that Apple Switzerland had agreed to the swap. The Swiss store still agreed to do the swap but it was prohibited by EMEA in what appears to be an internal bureaucracy, communication issues, and lack of understanding the case (since EMEA said too much time had passed, yet the very agreement was about the 2018 model which came out only in 2018, as expected.

• As per a fundamental legal principles and Swiss law, Apple is required to act in good faith, and is obliged to keep the promise it made to defer the swap to a 2018 model when it becomes available. Also, the repair which was done under "quality program" carries a warranty period which is covered under Swiss warranty laws. Apple did not fulfill that by agreeing to take the 2017 model back and defer the swap till 2018. I further, counted on getting the 2018 model and planned around it, and did not purchase another system, because Apple made that promise. 

Kindly comply with your obligation and swap my system immediately. Otherwise, legal proceedings will mean:

• Apple will waste its time and resources fighting a case it knows it will lose -- this will not make Apple Shareholders and Board of Directors happy because it's a waste of corporate resources, and these practices hurt shareholder value. 

• Apple will be responsible for legal fees, court costs.

• The judgment will go in public domain.

I am only highlighting these risks to get you to please review the case diligently and not "pass the buck" to customer relations, Ireland, EMEA, etc. -- we would not be in this hole if Apple decision makers had understood the details. The last reply the Swiss store got from EMEA was: TOO MUCH TIME HAS PAST. Which shows they had NO IDEA what the case details is about. And the customer care, even worse -- they absolutely didn't have the details. So I got the run around, because of this internal chaos, and constant 'passing the buck' when it came to actually making the swap happen. For God's sake please do the swap which Apple Agreed To, and end this nonsense. Apple's mishandling of this case has cost me HUGE amounts of time and distress -- you get paid for your time but I don't. 

I look forward to your answer before 18 March.

Thanks and kind regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis,

FYI, I obtained info from both <> and Zurich Friedensrichter. I have a choice of where to file. The person at the <> office who heard the case already said Apple should do the swap. Of course they can't force you and it's likely you may want to drag it to a trial because you're not spending your own money (shareholders are footing the bill) and going into a legal fight knowing you will lose.

I will decide next week which location to file at (I have a choice) and will file next week. If you come to your senses this week and decide to stop being obstinate about this case ("just because someone said no, it's no") -- then let me know by this weekend and we can do the swap and end this saga. But I've seen in your history in Switzerland that you got engaged in other stupid fights and lost. Like a patent fight where you totally unreasonably sued a company whose logo wasn't even similar to yours, and you lost. Too bad you're bring that terrible aspect of the American culture (being extremely litigious to this society). I'm an American but can't stand that aspect of the culture.

At least you could have the decency to tell me WHY. Too much time has passed that I heard indirectly doesn't constitute a good reason when the whole basis of the agreement was that it will be done in 2018!!! And the request to make the swap happen by Switzerland was initiated as soon as the 2018 model came out.

I've waited this long -- I will go through the entire legal process, win the case, and tell the whole world how you've handled this case. Your board of directors and shareholders need to know.

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~

PS--

My lawyer wrote a letter to you but I will not send it and have more delay because everything in there, I have said to you before.

I want to have peace with you. I'm not stupid to fight for the heck of it. Please tell me WHY you do not want to swap the unit as promised? Do you have any other proposals? Do you have any suggestion on how to resolve this matter rather than saying NOTHING, no explanation whatsoever.

"our customer relations told you" is not an answer, and is not a reason. The most reliable thing I heard on a line Apple said was recorded, was EMEA confirming that Apple DID MAKE A PROMISE TO DO THE SWAP WITH A 2018 MODEL.

Please -- if we don't apply reason, we slip back in the dark ages! What you do as a major economic force impacts the society.

Kind Regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Treis:

As you've seen this case is going direction of litigation and I've close to filing.

I find it a real pity that I file a legal complaint against Apple, without Apple having every said WHY it's not willing to keep its promise. I can only interpret that as a bully attitude that "we're Apple, we're big and rich and we don't have to keep our word". I have heard this from several people who've dealt with Apple, but am now experiencing it first hand.

But I still want to give you the benefit of doubt.

In no communication from Apple EVER, Apple has indicated why.

The ONLY thing close to that that I heard was Apple saying too much time had gone by -- this was said by EMEA to the store who told me this while being very sympathetic and trying to get a YES answer -- the store told me they tried 3 times but EMEA said the same thing -- which means that entity did NOT understand the case because the essential part of this agreement was SWAP WITH 2018 MODEL and this was attempted by EMEA customer relations who confirmed the promise that was made in 2017, and the store fully understood it because it's something 3rd grader can also understand since 2018 models do not come out in 2017 -- so this reason "too much time has past" is completely irrelevant and inapplicable to the facts of the case.

All I'm asking you is to PLEASE TELL ME WHY you're not willing to do this swap.

If you give me a good reason, I'll go away.

So far you have not given me ANY reason. You will have to give the court a reason. Why not give it to me now and avoid litigation? Otherwise, you're contributing to a litigious attitude which is NOT what our society needs. That American attitude can stay in America.

Please advise immediately. I've waited for a very very long time and am going to file with the Friedensrichteramt <> very soon.

If you don't want to put it in writing, call me up -- LET'S TALK INSTEAD OF FIGHTING. Our world doesn't need another fight.

Kind Regards

R. Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote to Zurich arbitration authority

Dear Frau Hess

Many thanks indeed for your kindness in answering my questions about the case with Apple.

Very best regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote to Apple's Senior Legal Counsel Nicola Rossmeier and Katherine Adams, General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Legal and Global Security at Apple.

Subject: URGENT: LEGAL CASE LOOMING AGAINST APPLE

Dear Ms. Rossmeier

I have concrete written signed proof (presented to Michael Treis) that Apple promised to swap my system with a 2018 model instead of 2017 which had keyboard problems -- your manager in Switzerland, Adrian Schmucki is being extremely unreasonable about this and totally shirking responsibility of the obligation Apple entered in, not keeping the promise Apple made, and is forcing me to file a lawsuit WITHOUT even telling me why (I know why -- because he does NOT have a good reason). Please see the mails below.

I will file the lawsuit next week, but hope they come to their senses this week.

Please try to help. At least get them to tell me why. They're not because they want to fight it because they have money and time -- but losing this case which they'll lose will not help Apple's already bad reputation for betraying customers. Not counting on you caring but just maybe there's a bit of decency somewhere in Apple.

Thanks & Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally had no choice but to file a lawsuit. Then, wrote to A. Schmucki, M. Treis

Gentlemen

There's a hearing on 9 May at 8:45 in <>. 

Obviously the best option is to just acknowledge that Apple made this promise and do the swap and get this case over with.

There are at least two pieces of direct evidence:

1) Statement of the EMEA rep who liaised with CH and wrote in the CRM file that CH agreed to do the swap. This was read to me verbatim by the new EMEA rep on a line which Apple recorded.

2) Written, signed statement of the EMEA rep testifying to this fact.

And several other pieces of evidence, for example, the store requesting 3 times for the swap which clearly meant the store wanted to do the swap and they told me they really want to do it -- but it's caught in EMEA bureaucracy.

Please, let's put this nonsense behind us -- we all have better things to do. I look forward to your favorable answer. I'm willing to work with you in any way you want to stop this conflict peacefully. Call me up and let's discuss +....  Easiest and quickest solution is to approve the swap and Sherry and I will take care of the rest :)

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wrote to the "peace judge" / artibitration authority:

Dear Mr. <>

Apple called me today. The same woman who arrogantly kept telling me NO. She said they will replace my laptop. She wants me to withdraw the legal case.

I told her they have to pay the court costs (your costs + reimburse me for the 300 CHF).

How do we do this? You send them a bill for all the costs and then when you get the money you will pay me the 300 CHF back?

Please advise.

Many thanks for your good help.

Best wishes

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Informed Liz Boyland whose letter had helped me a lot:

Dear Liz

... I got a call from Apple today. For over a year I've been struggling with them to keep a promise they made. They were so arrogant the whole time, saying NO. I ended up taking them to court. They got a summons to show up :) -- Today I had a call and the same woman who kept telling me NO -- today she was sooo nice -- saying, we will replace your laptop. She said we analyzed your case and determined blah blah ..... why didn't she analyze it before? And now they agreed because I sued them. Bad for our society if people have to sue to get their rights...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Schmucki

Further to a call from Ms. Johansson this morning on your behalf, informing me that Apple will fulfill our agreement and swamp my system with a 2018 MacbookPro, and requesting that I retract the legal complaint, I went ahead and retracted the complaint.

She informed me that the official paperwork will be sent to me via email, tomorrow, 25 April 2019.

The nominal, customary legal fees will be billed to Apple directly by the legal authority.

I welcome your cooperation and closure of this case.

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wrote to A. Schmucki:

I had a call from your colleague who had repeatedly told me NO, as you know. And I believe, you just went by what she said, which is not surprising, given as a Country Manager, you need to rely on advice from lower level staff.  She told me yesterday: we researched your case and determined we will swap your system.

Of course, that begs the question, why she didn't do the research a year ago. When she first got the case she came back immediately saying NO. It was clear no substantial research could have possibly be done.  The cost of it was an extra year of distress on my part, on your part personally in having to deal with this nonsense, and Dr. Treis' part who was very gracious.  I should not have had to litigate.

With that preamble, I would like to ask, in consideration of the above, would you be willing to smoothen this terrible experience, by a show of goodwill as follows:

Allow the system I am getting to be upgraded -- I will pay for the upgrade.  If you prefer we can also cancel the bill that the Friedensrichteramt has sent you (I have the right to say that bill can be cancelled) and use it towards the balance of the upgrade. It would be very kind of you to authorize the following upgrades, and I will pay Apple the  1021 CHF of difference.

• 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Arbeitsspeicher + CHF 438.80

• Radeon Pro Vega 20 mit 4 GB HBM2 Grafikspeicher + CHF 383.95

• Logic Pro X + CHF 200.00

Would that be ok?

Many thanks and best regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matilda sent me proposed configuration of the new system

Thank you for taking my call. As discussed, you can find the agreement below. The like for like specifications are:

15 inch MacBook Pro Space Gray, 

2.9 GHz 6- core 8th Generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz

Retina Display with True Tone

Touch Bar and Touch ID 

Radeon Pro 560 X with 4GB of GDDR5 Memory

16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Memory

512 GB SSD Storage

4 Thunderbolt 3 ports

Keyboard American English

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Kind regards,

In reality these are not like for like specs. But close. At the end I ended getting the 32GB of RAM + Radeon RX Vega (top of the line). So the new Macbook Pro is absolutely top of the line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Adrian, Michael

FYI, I received the attached contract from Matilda. I have requested a call back from the person who authored it (which seems to be her boss) or a lawyer who wrote it, so we can discuss and close this case. One of the clauses needs to be discussed. And it's much easier done on the phone, so we can agree and close the discussion instead of back and forth emails that are prone to misunderstandings.

I want to work with you to close this case, but I think whomever wrote this contract might not have had all the pertinent facts.

@Matilda, FYI, I have withdrawn the case contingent upon us reaching an agreement. The case can be reinstated if we do not reach an agreement. But we're almost there. One small adjustment and we're done.

@Matilda, I reviewed the specification. Given the 1+ year run-around I got, it would be very nice if Apple shows some goodwill and upgrades the system for cost. For Adrian's info, you and I spoke and you said you will look into it and you'll need a credit card. I don't see why this should be a problem given it's additional revenue for Apple and no risk whatsoever.

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I emailed the arbitration judge:

Dear Mr. <> (copy: Apple Representatives)

Please note that Apple and I have not yet reached an agreement. Therefore, kindly keep our appointment for 9 May at 8:45 and I will inform you if and when an agreement is reached.

Many thanks and kind regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Matilda

Thanks for the call yesterday. To reiterate, it may be useful, pragmatic, and efficient, if I can speak directly to the decision-maker of the contract. Having an intermediary may not be as effective, as the messages could get destroyed and topics can be treated as black and white. Based on my extensive experience with contracts and law (including litigation though I don't have a law degree), contracts are all about negotiation and this is much easier directly.

I already have some new ideas around the topic, if you receive a negative response, because I want to make it work (don't interpret this as a weakness -- you know by now how determined I am). But I don't think Apple has much, if any, legal leverage here to make demands from me. But I'm willing to work with you to close this case quickly. This is best done in a dialogue where the parties understand each other and not a robotic mechanical black-and-white approach which is often the case when there's a person in between conveying messages. So if you receive a negative feedback, I strongly suggest we I speak with an Apple legal representative. I can be reached anytime on +...

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Matilda

Thanks for the call.

For the record we agreed on the following:

1) I will think about it over the weekend

2) You will check into the following:

a) Since you do not have legal leverage to make demands on me, I will agree to the additional clause if you throw in the following couple of upgrades:

• 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Arbeitsspeicher

• Radeon Pro Vega 20 mit 4 GB HBM2 Grafikspeicher

b) If succeed in agreeing with (a), a phrase needs to be added to the clause that clearly states it applies to any statements made from this point onwards, and not the past. I do not have the time or bandwidth to look back and ask, have I said something.

Additional remarks from our conversation:

1) You said it's a standards clause. A clause may appear in many agreements but just because it is standard it doesn't mean it applies to every case. Contract is a negotiated document.

2) You said that you have no record of the promise reflected anywhere in your system. Your colleague (PW) read to me on a call Apple recorded saying it was notated that this promise was made.  On top of other evidence that exists.

3) You said you want to keep that promise. That's good. But under normal circumstances, fulfilling such a promise doesn't carry this additional demand on the customer. So you're making an additional demand, which we can work with, if it's important to you, as per item (2)(a) above.

4) You say the claim is filed against the wrong entity. I disagree. We can fight about this. But given there's proof beyond reasonable doubt that Apple made this promise, Apple will be liable for all my attorney fees and court costs (and they're not cheap in Switzerland) to fight over whether Apple Switzerland is the right entity or not -- and then the substance of the case. That would not be a good use of Apple's shareholder assets (going into a fight you know you will lose), and at the end you won't get the confidentiality clause.

5) The consequences of the breaching of the agreement on me has been tremendous. Swiss courts take this into consideration in assigning punitive/compensatory damages on top of legal fees and court costs.

Furthermore, my first point of contact was Apple-CH. Any dealings with EMEA was secondary. Apple does business in Switzerland and that carries responsibilities.

So it's to your best advantage to close this topic now. I will sign the agreement, if:

a) you add the two upgrade above, cost of which for Apple is peanuts.

b) you add the phrase to the clause in question that clearly makes the clause apply to any statements made in the future.

If we don't find a solution here, Apple CH will still have to come to the hearing, and there, they can argue that they're not the right defendant, but since they are, it will follow with a lawsuit, and even if they can prove that they're not the right defendant, the right defendant will be sued and will bear the costs.

Just so we save time on the wording, here's an English translation of the clause in question:

GOOGLE TRANSLATE: <>

It's a terrible translation but I understand the original German phrase.  It just needs to be modified to say: <>

Please call on Monday and let me know your decision.

Thanks & Regards

R. Ganjavi

PS -- Since there seems to be lots of communication issues within Apple itself otherwise we wouldn't be here and wasted incredible amount of time,

in case you didn't know:

My dealings on this case started with Apple CH. Apple CH did the quality program repairs that failed and led to the swap, and the subsequent agreement to defer it to 2018. Any EMEA involvement was secondary. Therefore, I disagree with the idea that Apple CH is the wrong defendant, and so do my lawyers who've seen this case.

Regards

Reza

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sent to: Adrian Schmucki <schmucki.a@apple.com>, Treis, Michael <michael.treis@bakermckenzie.com>

Gents

I did not copy you on details of the discussions we're having with Matilda, to save you time.

But it's important that you note two things:

1) My dealings on this case started with Apple CH. Apple CH did the quality program repairs that failed and led to the swap, and the subsequent agreement to defer it to 2018. Any EMEA involvement was secondary. Therefore, I disagree with the idea that Apple CH is the wrong defendant, and so do lawyers who've seen this case. 

2) The statement that "there's nothing in our systems that show this promise was made" is simply false. Pat Wilkinson told me on a line that Apple recorded that he read notes in the file that said this promise was made. So it is in your system, in addition to other evidence.

Matilda and I discussed today and are trying to find an amicable solution. We're supposed to talk again on Monday.

Kind Regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sent to Apple (Matilda, Adrian, Michael)

Dear All

Here's the latest case status based on most recent communications.

On 26 April 2019:

1) Matilda Johansson said verbatim, “We're happy to honor the promise".  Great!!  Can't believe I finally heard this from Apple since this drama started. Apple had repeatedly denied such promise was made (despite the evidence).

2) Ms. Johansson said that Apple-CH is not the correct defendant in the case. I can only imagine this to be an internal communication breakdown or some other misunderstanding within Apple. There's concrete evidence that this saga started with Apple-CH doing a "Quality Program" repair which failed and led to the swap and the deferral of the swap. Apple-EMEA has always been a secondary entity that came into picture as second level of contact.

3) Ms. Johansson said that this settlement is due to Apple wanting to have good customer service... Let's be clear: for over a year, I've pleaded with you and all I got was a "NO". The door suddenly opened after I filed a lawsuit. I do hope that Apple cares and takes some responsibility that it should have investigated the case deeply last year (what it's purportedly done now, according to Ms. Johansson). The first NO I got was so fast that it seemed it was standard practice. Had there been a thorough investigation, this case would have resolved last year, saving us a lot of time (money), energy,  and distress.  So I am hoping Apple will handle this case with the care it deserves, to closure, considering the hardship I've been through.

4) Ms. Johansson said there's no record of the promise. Let's be clear: there are records of the promise, including in Apple's own systems. We have evidence of this. Moot point, since in the same conversation Ms. Johansson admitted there was a promise which Apple has decided to honor.

5) Apples has no legal leverage to demand anything from me in this case. However, Ms. Johansson and I are discussing the details of the settlement agreement (she's apparently liaising with a legal resource) to see if we can finally bring this enervating case to a close. I sincerely hope we can. But if we can't, what's another year? I'm already "bloody". We're scheduled to talk on Monday 29 April 2019.

Best Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth sent me a congratulations message

Dear Reza,

That is wonderful news, congratulations, you deserve it! In the words of James Taylor, "it's true what they say about the squeaky wheel always getting greased." Fair play for being patient and persistent :)  ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matlida sent me an updated agreement with word changes I required.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Matilda

I will review the updated contract with a lawyer. Meanwhile, just so you know, given I've gone through a year of pain and runaround and enormous wastage of time(money), energy and nerves, I don't feel good about Apple making demands on me without doing anything significant in return. I appreciate the paid-upgrade "goodwill" but keep in mind the tremendous "bad will" I've had to endure. 

I thought doing the two upgrades which cost Apple peanuts would be a good way of resolving this and also meeting your demand. Since you've turned that down, my inclination is to not accept. I will speak to a lawyer and get back to you with my final decision but at the moment I don't have the motivation needed to sign it. Meanwhile, you can consider the following and let me know if anything changes from your side:

I will meet you half way and instead of two, I will accept one addition:  just set the memory to 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 -- I'll pay for the graphic upgrade -- and I'll sign the contract immediately.

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Matilda

In my earlier email today about the upgrade, and lowering my proposal from two upgrades to just the memory upgrade, I said I would sign the contract as is but afterwards I had the latest contract looked into.  The new wording is too ambiguous. Ambiguity in contracts must be avoided. It takes a small adjustment to remove the ambiguity as suggested below.

In my last email about the wording, I proposed adding the following phrase: "This clause does not apply to any statements made in the past." The new version you sent has the following addition instead:  "You agree, from the date of signing full comparison of this settlement."

These two statements might sound similar but they have an entirely different meaning and scope. 

Perhaps you can set up a conference call for the three of us (me, you, your lawyer) -- so we can put this issue to bed and not lose time on indirect back and forths where meanings can easily get distorted.  It's important that he or she understands why I am asking for this change. If she had, she wouldn't have worded it as such.  I explained this once. Let me try to explain it again. If we can't communicate this effectively, I will meet Mr. Schmucki on 9 May at 08:45 as scheduled in the hearing, and we can discuss it there if necessary.

Here is the purpose again:   <>

The way the new change reads could be understood as meaning I would have the obligation to deal with past statements. So it does NOT achieve the intended result. A clear contract should not have ambiguities. We need to make it very clear.

Here are two new proposals for the wording of that phrase (keep in mind the blue text is google translated version of the original and i didn't change it)

1)<>

2) <>

3) <>

Again, it's important that your lawyer understands that:

1. Apple does not have the legal leverage to impose this clause

2. our original agreement does not impose any such duties on me

3. <>

This is not rocket science. We should be able to nail this with a clear, unambiguous wording (even if it means using more words).

Regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

To make this work, here's my last offer.

Ok forget about the upgrade -- you seem very determined about that -- and I can see how getting approval for hardware upgrade could be complicated. I'll pay for that. Throw in Logic. It's a software license. Zero cost for Apple. If you don't understand why I'm asking for this /why it's absolutely fair, call and I'll explain.

By the way, I just spoke to the legal authority who confirmed that the 9 May hearing is still in the calendar, and said if and when the contract is signed I can contact them to cancel the date, otherwise, we meet on 9 May.

Regards

R.Ganjavi

PS -- of course the alternative is to remove that clause entirely, and I'll sign the contract and we can forget about Logic.

Regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Matilda

To document the call we just had on May 1, 2019

Google Voice history log: 

Apple Ireland Executive Desk Matilda Johansson +353 21 428 4637

5/1/19 5:17 AM (PST) 12 minutes long 

You stated that Apple will not further change the wording of the Paragraph 3.IV of the contract dated 29.04.2019 because the contract "is including what you want". By this you referred to the change to the paragraph 3.IV which Apple did as result of my request to amend the wording of the same paragraph as it appeared on the first version of the contract, dated 25.04.2019. The purpose of my second request was to remove any potential ambiguities with regard to any statements that may have been made prior to the date of the execution of the contract. You stated today that Apple's position is that the current wording satisfies what I requested, i.e., the contract has no bearing on any statements made prior to its execution date -- which clearly means, it does not apply to any past statements, and therefore, there is no ambiguity. Since you confirmed that that is Apple's understanding, I am willing to sign the contract pending final verification by my lawyer, which cannot be done today since it's a Zurich holiday -- but I'll try to get it done tomorrow. You may want to internally attach this email to the contract. If I get the green light to sign, I will then write a letter to the court, officially withdrawing my complaint, and will include a copy for you.

The 25.04.2019 version of the settlement agreement read:

<>

The 29.04.2019 version modified by Apple due to my request, and reads (underlining of the new phrase is done by me):

<>

[etc...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally we agreed. I withdrew my complaint (contingent upon Apple keeping its word).

NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL

2 May 2019

Friedensrichteramt

Dear Mr. <>

Apple and I have agreed to settle the matter. They agreed to keep their promise and swap my laptop with a 2018 mode. Therefore, I hereby retract the case.

Kindly note, that the agreement is not fulfilled until I actually receive the new computer. If for an unforeseen reason Apple does not fulfil the agreement, I would have to re-open the case.

Many Thanks & Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I could have played hardball on the upgrade but decided not to. Honestly, I'm sick of Matilda's NOs after a year of hearing it. Plus, the fact that they're letting me do a paid upgrade is good. If we go to trial, where I will surely win, they probably won't allow for a paid upgrade, just to try to be nasty. I got what I wanted -- a new system that's better than my old one, and I put Apple's arrogant chin to the ground and didn't give up. It's really a shame that it would have to take SO much work to get Apple to keep its word.

I could play hardball. I could get anything I want because this is a slam-dunk losing case for Apple. If I were a nasty person I'd demand a lot - then play hardball - just to make Apple cough up the upgrades etc.,  and if they don't agree, go to trial  knowing I'll win - and Apple would be responsible for all court costs, and my lawyer fees, and compensatory damage. But that would take my time, and it'd be an open case. I want to close this case and move on. And I got what I wanted. It especially feels good that Matilda's arrogant NOs became YES, after I finally had to sue them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

Can you confirm that the following is ok:

After signing the agreement, you will include the following upgrades to my system, paid by me. Do you want the credit card information by email or on the phone?

1) Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB of HBM2 memory -- $350

2) 32GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory -- $400

Please note my original system which you're swapping is an American system and was purchased in the USA.

Once you confirm this, and confirm that the withdrawal letter I sent you earlier this morning is ok, I will sign the contract, and send the withdrawal letter to the court.

Regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I added the following to the contract prior to singing the 2 May 2019 version:

Footnotes (1), (2), (3), (4) and associated two attachments added by Reza Ganjavi prior to singing.

• (1) See attached email about this clause (attachment: "Subject: Settlement Agreement")

• (2) This agreement is not a release of Apple from paying the attached invoice by Swiss legal authority. Apple is still obliged to pay the invoice directly to the legal authority. (Attachment: invoice from Friedensrichteramt).

• (3) Apple has agreed that Mr. Ganjavi can pay for upgrades to memory and graphic card which will be incorporated in the delivered system.

• (4) Apple has agreed that the swap will take place at an Apple Store in Zurich.

Two more attachments added by Reza Ganjavi:

• Request to withdraw the case

• Confirmation of withdrawal of the legal case

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

I looked into it.

This is how it will be done:

You place the order and send me the confirmation.

I will get you a stamped confirmation of the cancellation of the case if you really need it.

You have enough evidence produced in goodwill, including an email from the court itself, to proceed in fulfilling your promise that's been hanging for over a year.

Sorry, there's no other option.

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then I revoked the draft agreement of May 2 since Apple had not yet agreed to it. Then I put together another agreement (modified version) and will sign and send it in today in a few minutes. The email below explains the changes I made before signing the agreement:

Dear Matilda

1) I hereby retract the agreement I signed on 2 May 2019. The agreement is not yet effective since you said on 3 May 2019 that Apple is still reviewing it. Therefore, it can be, and is hereby annulled. The new agreement won't go into effect until Apple confirms in writing that it agrees with it, or, it confirms that it's place the order for the laptop, which is an implicit, yet clear agreement with the terms and conditions of the contract. 

2) I hereby submit a new agreement to Apple for review. I signed it today. It goes into effect on the day that Apple confirms its agreement with it.

The difference between the 2 May and May 5 document is as follows:

• I REMOVED the following line:  "Die Parteien verzichten auf die Stellung von Kostenanträgen." This is ambiguous at best and contradicts with the clause added by me that clearly indicates Apple needs to comply with and pay the Swiss legal authority's bill. Apple is legally liable for paying that bill, and not doing so, initiates a legal process against Apple. The May 2 document I signed already has a clause clearly stating that Apple is responsible for paying the legal costs which were born our of its stubbornness in not keeping its promise which led me to have to file a lawsuit.

• I ADDED the following, since you were saying Apple Switzerland is the wrong defendant which I vehemently disagree, and if Apple wants to engage in a legal fight over this, go right ahead. I hope your legal people can cut through the nonsense, myths, and delusions that Apple has been feeding me, and themselves internally and realize that Apple Switzerland is very much the right party. I explained in detail why in past communications. I know Apple Switzerland likes to think it's not the right party but facts speak differently. Apple Switzerland did the Quality Program repair which failed -- and Apple Switzerland decided to swap the laptop, and it's recorded in your systems, that Apple Switzerland agreed to defer the swap to a 2018 model. This needs to be reflected in the contract because my issue is with Apple Switzerland. If Apple EMEA wants to settle this with me on behalf of Apple Switzerland, that is fine, but it needs to be properly documented that if any issues arise related to this subject, Swiss courts have the right jurisdiction. I have added this as the following sentence:

  • Any dispute, disagreement, controversy, etc., arising out of, relating to, or concerning any interpretation, construction, performance or breach of this agreement, shall be addressed in Switzerland in accordance with Swiss laws. 

New proposed agreement is attached in a separate email within the next few minutes, since I need to send this email to attach it to the contract as an Exhibit.

Regards

R. Ganjavi

PS -- I also added what we already talked about: "If Apple likes a sealed confirmation of withdrawal, it will be provided after Mr. Ganjavi receives the confirmation that the order for the new system has been placed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 May 2019 version contained these footnotes, etc.:

Footnotes (1), (2), (3), (4) (5) and associated two attachments added by Reza Ganjavi prior to singing.

(1) See attached email about this clause (attachment: "Subject: Settlement Agreement")

(2) This agreement is not a release of Apple from paying the attached invoice by Swiss legal

authority. Apple is still obliged to pay the invoice directly to the legal authority.

(Attachment: invoice from Friedensrichteramt).

(3) Apple has agreed that Mr. Ganjavi can pay for upgrades to memory and graphic card which

will be incorporated in the delivered system.

(4) Apple has agreed that the swap will take place at an Apple Store in Zurich.

(5) Any dispute, disagreement, controversy, etc., arising out of, relating to, or concerning any

interpretation, construction, performance or breach of this agreement, shall be addressed in

Switzerland in accordance with Swiss laws.

(6) The effective date of this agreement is the date when Apple sends Mr. Ganjavi an email

confirmation that the order for the new laptop has been placed. Placement of that order is a

confirmation that Apple agrees with the terms and conditions stated herein.

Three more attachments added by Reza Ganjavi:

- Request to withdraw the case

- Confirmation of withdrawal of the legal case. If Apple likes a

sealed confirmation of withdrawal, it will be provided after Mr.

Ganjavi receives confirmation that the order for the new system

has been placed.

- Annulment of draft agreement signed on 2 May 2019 which is

not final since Apple hasn't agreed yet as of 5 May 2019, and

explanation of changes as reflected in this, 5 May 2019 document.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gents

I have submitted a proposed agreement to Matilda today that remove a contradiction in the verbiage of the last proposed agreement, and clarifies some ambiguities.

Mainly, it clarifies that any disputes arising out of this agreement (hopefully there will be none), will be tried in Switzerland. The fact that Matilda is negotiating and wanting to settle this case on Apple's behalf does not mean that Apple Switzerland is not the correct defendant (an innuendo Matilda mentioned), for the reasons I outlined previously.

Furthermore, Apple Switzerland is liable for paying the Friedensrichteramt's bill which has already been sent, once the case is finally closed.

I have sent a formal request for Friedensrichteramt, withdrawing the case, pending we reach a final agreement. If we do not reach an agreement, we will  keep the 9 May hearing date. Apple has sufficient confirmation that the withdrawal request has been submitted by me and received by Friedensrichteramt. A sealed confirmation of withdrawal will be provided to Apple once I receive confirmation that the order for the new laptop has been submitted, and that confirmation serves as Apple's agreement, and is the effective date of the contract.

Best Regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am making further changes to the draft contract, to remove contradiction between the "implicit effective date" and "explicit effective date", so this email is going to Matilda. Hopefully 3rd time is a charm.

Hi Matilda

I am revoking the May 5 version of the proposed contract since it contains a contradiction and Apple has not yet confirmed it agrees with it.

I will submitting in some minutes a new "6 May 2019" version where I had to fix a contradiction regarding the effective date. As proposed in the last version, the Effective Date of the contract needs to be explicitly stated in this case and not "time of signing" since I have made some changes to the contract which you told me Apple is reviewing, so the agreement is not final until Apple reviews them. To have this clarity regarding the "Effective Date" clearly documents is a fair demand from my side since the more clear we are about everything the better, given the huge history of internal finger pointing and "passing the buck" within Apple which resulted from a huge wastage of of my time.

I think Apple should not have a problem agreeing that the Effective Date of the contract in this case is when both parties agree with the full wording of the contract, and Apple's confirmation of that agreement is when the order is placed.

Kind Regards

Reza

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

Please see attached. Please get back to me ASAP to get the order going. As soon as the order is placed this contract is effective and can no longer be changed without mutual consent of both parties.

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 6 May 2019 version contained the following footnotes etc. added by me:

Footnotes (1), (2), (3), (4) (5) (6) and associated two attachments added by Reza Ganjavi prior to singing.

(1) See attached email about this clause (attachment: "Subject: Settlement Agreement")

(2) This agreement is not a release of Apple from paying the attached invoice by Swiss legal

authority. Apple is still obliged to pay the invoice directly to the legal authority.

(Attachment: invoice from Friedensrichteramt).

(3) Apple has agreed that Mr. Ganjavi can pay for upgrades to memory and graphic card which

will be incorporated in the delivered system.

(4) Apple has agreed that the swap will take place at an Apple Store in Zurich.

(5) Any dispute, disagreement, controversy, etc., arising out of, relating to, or concerning any

interpretation, construction, performance or breach of this agreement, shall be addressed in

Switzerland in accordance with Swiss laws.

(6) The effective date of this agreement is the date when Apple sends Mr. Ganjavi an email

confirmation that the order for the new laptop has been placed. Placement of that order is a

confirmation that Apple agrees with the terms and conditions stated herein.

Three more attachments added by Reza Ganjavi:

- Request to withdraw the case

- Confirmation of withdrawal of the legal case. If Apple likes a

sealed confirmation of withdrawal, it will be provided after Mr.

Ganjavi receives confirmation that the order for the new system

has been placed.

- Annulment of draft agreement signed on 2, 5 May 2019 which

were not final since Apple hasn't agreed to the edits yet, and

explanation of changes as reflected in the 5, 6 May documents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

I am copying the gentlemen from Apple Switzerland because you're negotiating this case on behalf of Apple Switzerland.

I've explained this before but it sounded like from our talk that it wasn't totally clear to you. So here is the explanation I just told you verbally, in writing:

I have provided sufficient evidence that the case is withdrawn, assuming Apple fulfills its promise by placing the order.

That evidence includes:

- My request to the friedensrichteramt to withdraw the case.

- Friedensrichteramt's confirmation that they received my request.

I have spoken with the Friedensrichteramt, and they understand that if Apple does not fulfill its obligation, the case will be invoked and we keep the 9 May 2019 hearing date.

If you want a confirmation with a signature and seal of the Friedensrichteramt, that can only be obtained once Apple fulfills its obligation. So as soon as you place the order, I will make sure you quickly get the sealed confirmation for your records.

Apple carries no risk here. If they deliver the laptop, I would have no legal ground to make any claims against Apple. This is even documented in our agreement that is pending review by your legal team. As soon as you place the order and send me the confirmation, that agreement is effective and binding, and I would have no legal ground to make a claim since Apple would have proof that it fulfilled its obligation, and we would have a clearly written, effective agreement.

Regards

R. Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

Please note correction on one word I used in the email below.

"execution date" should be "effective date".

I changed just this one term in the attached document so everything is consistent and we only go with the concept of "effective date" since there's been various versions, and "execution date" becomes a vague concept since the version Orla O'Donoghue signed is different than the current version, and Apple has not yet reviewed the changes, and therefore, the contract is not "executed" by both parties.

Instead, we go with Effective Date which is clearly documented in the contract to be the date when Apple places the order and sends me the confirmation.

Please forward the attached PDF (marked as May6-b) for review. As I said only one phrase has changed in Attachment 1 (and inclusion of this email in the same attachment).

Kind Regards

Reza Ganjavi

--- The correction applies to the following email sent on 1 May 2019 ---

Dear Matilda

To document the call we just had on May 1, 2019

Google Voice history log: 

Apple Ireland Executive Desk Matilda Johansson +353 21 428 4637

5/1/19 5:17 AM (PST) 12 minutes long 

You stated that Apple will not further change the wording of the Paragraph 3.IV of the contract dated 29.04.2019 because the contract "is including what you want". By this you referred to the change to the paragraph 3.IV which Apple did as result of my request to amend the wording of the same paragraph as it appeared on the first version of the contract, dated 25.04.2019. The purpose of my second request was to remove any potential ambiguities with regard to any statements that may have been made prior to the effective date of the contract. You stated today that Apple's position is that the current wording satisfies what I requested, i.e., the contract has no bearing on any statements made prior to its effective date -- which clearly means, it does not apply to any past statements, and therefore, there is no ambiguity. Since you confirmed that that is Apple's understanding, I am willing to sign the contract pending final verification by my lawyer, which cannot be done today since it's a Zurich holiday -- but I'll try to get it done tomorrow. You may want to internally attach this email to the contract. If I get the green light to sign, I will then write a letter to the court, officially withdrawing my complaint, and will include a copy for you.

The 25.04.2019 version of the settlement agreement read:

<>

The 29.04.2019 version modified by Apple due to my request, and reads (underlining of the new phrase is done by me):

<>

[etc...]

--- 

And I submitted a new version of the contract -- fair game, since they had not counter-signed it yet and the contract had not been effective yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[To: Matilda, after she sent me a version which Apple produced that tried to incorporate my changes... ]

The correct address is on the version I sent you. The street number is wrong in your version. It should be <>... 

Also we need to add a line about dispute resolution. If God forbid, there's a dispute resulting out of this contract, I am not coming to Ireland. We  need to state that any dispute is addressed under the Swiss legal system.  I have a clear statement about this -- please ask your lawyer if they'll incorporate this.

Any dispute, disagreement, controversy, etc., arising out of, relating to, or concerning any interpretation, construction, performance or breach of this agreement, shall be addressed in Switzerland in accordance with Swiss laws.

Again, I think Apple is operating in a vacuum since you're repeating again that Apple CH is not the right defendant. If you just repeat something it doesn't become true. For months you kept telling me "Apple's response remains the same". Look at where we ended up. Apple needs to be more socially responsible. You don't need lawsuits to make you keep your word. Similarly, if we go to litigation because Apple's right hand is not talking to its left hand, that would be a pity.

I've written extensively why Apple CH is the right defendant. Have you passed that on to your legal team? Do they understand that Apple CH did the repair and Apple CH decided to do the swap? And Apple CH is my point of contact. And Apple CH does business in Switzerland?!?!

If your lawyer (not you) understands that then s/he should know that Apple CH is the wrong defendant.

Please understand this -- hopefully we will never have a problem. But in case we do, such disagreement is NOT going to be handled by Irish law.

I don't know the Swiss law around this topic. I believe if I sign the contract here it makes Switzerland, my state of residence, the right jurisdiction. I need to check this with a specialist lawyer. A lawyer I already talked to today said that the best thing is to put this in the contract.

So, I will sign the contract if this clause is added (as I suggested above or something similar. 

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mr. Schmucki

FYI, because Apple Switzerland is my counter party: Apple Distribution International (A.D.I-EMEA) wants to settle this case for you. Therefore, it expects me to enter into a settlement agreement with A.D.I-EMEA. I received a new copy of the contract today which has the corrections / amendments that I required. That is good. We're on the right track.

One pending point is jurisdiction. Ms. Johansson has just told me on the phone that because I am based in Switzerland, signing the contract in Switzerland subjects the parties to Swiss law. If that is the case, I'm fine with it. I just need to verify this with a lawyer before signing. If Apple is willing to put this in the contract then I will sign it immediately. Otherwise, I will verify, and if everything is ok, sign it tomorrow.

Kind Regards

R.Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

If I sign this, will you place the order (after you get my credit card for the memory, graphic card).

You will also send me the counter-signed copy which makes the agreement effective.

The sequence of events is not clear to me. Please clarify.

Thank you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Matilda

I am in receipt of your latest version of the settlement agreement. I am going to sign it and send it to you with this email. This email also serves to outline the conditions under which I'm signing the contract, in English, since the contract is in German and my German is mediocre, so I want to repeat a few things that I understand from the contract, and from our talks.

I included notes for clarifications in my last version of the contract. Your legal team have apparently incorporated some of these points. I assume they're relying on the rest of the items to be implicitly handled. I like explicit agreements where everything is spelled out, especially given the history of this case and how it's internally handled by Apple, yourself with the incessant NOs until I filed a lawsuit, and apparent internal finger pointing and passing the buck within Apple. 

You may want to attach this to the contract. Since you told me not to mark up the contract, I am attaching this set to my version because it's the basis of my signing of the contract, and you and I have discussed all these and all of them have been clearly documented.

1. Apple agrees that the new system will be swapped at an Apple Store in Kanton Zurich.

2. Apple agrees to upgrade the memory and graphic card, which I will pay for.

3. Apple agrees that in case there are disputes or issues in the future, regarding this contract, that it will be handled under Swiss law. This is what you told me on the phone today, and given you sent the contract in German, further indicates you're trying to use a Swiss official language.

4. I see that Apple changed the cost clause, and has now agreed to cover the legal costs. Good.

5. I see that Apple changed the "effective date" to make it clear that effective date would be when both parties sign the contract. Apple stated in the latest version that it would counter-sign and send me the counter-signed version. Therefore, the contract is effective from the date Apple counter-signs. Let's be clear that Orla O'Donoghue's signature is NOT the counter-signed signature, as per the contract you sent me today which specifically talks about a counter-signature after I sign it. Please make sure the counter-signature is dated.

6. From my perspective, the correct defendant is Apple's business in Switzerland -- how the legal entity is set up exactly, are details that are unknown to me at the moment -- but Apple does business in Switzerland, and Apple's store did the Quality Program repair which failed and they agreed to do the swap, and to defer the swap. So I have been dealing with Apple in Switzerland -- the shop reports into Mr. Schmuki as per the shop's management. EMEA(Ireland) was involved as second level. First level consumer contact has been Apple in Switzerland. Therefore, Swiss laws apply. You stepped in to settle the case for them. That's fine. But from my perspective, I am singing this contract pertaining to an issue against Apple's entity in Switzerland.  This is not a problem, since you clarified today that since I am here, Swiss law applies.

7. The confidentiality clause does not pertain to any statements made before the effective date.

8. Let us be clear that I am only dealing with "Apple Distribution International" because you contacted me in response to the lawsuit I filed against Apple in Switzerland and you want to settle the case for them. You tell me they're not the right entity and you won't tell me who the right entity is, and yet you want to settle it for the wrong defendant, which clearly shows y'all are Apple regardless of the legal entity breakdowns. From my perspective as a consumer, I'm dealing with Apple which does busines in Switzerland. So it's a bit strange for me to be signing an agreement with Apple based in Ireland. But I also understand Sherry (store manager)'s boss is Adrian (country manager) whose boss is your boss. So it's all one big family and I'm signing this agreement with you as a proxy of Apple whom I hold responsible, in Switzerland.

9. Based on the above, I sign the agreement, and I hope that finally I can put this enervating nightmare behind me -- it should have never taken this much effort to get anybody to keep their word. Life goes on.
   
   

Regards

Reza Ganjavi

~~~~~~~~~~

CASE CLOSED

Next step: Apple counter-sign the settlement agreement so it goes into effect. Apple place the order for a Macbook Pro 2018 15 inch Retina True Tone, Touch Bar with Touch ID, 8th Generation 2.9 GHz 6‑Core Intel Core i9 Turbo Boost to 4.8 GHz, 32 GG 2400 MHz DDR4 memory, Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4 GB HBM2 Graphic card, 512 GB SSD, 4 Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, English(US) Keyboard.

I am paying for the extra 16 GB RAM and Vega 20 upgrade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More details on sequence of events in 2017: How Apple entered into obligation to defer the swap of Reza Ganjavi’s laptop with a 2018 model

 In 2017, Mr. Ganjavi’s (“RG”) unit underwent a number of repairs under Apple’s “Qualitätsprogramm” and subsequent re-work due to resulting issues. Repair numbers and confirmations are all available. Finally on 26 June 2017, RG received an email from Apple

“Vielen Dank, dass du dein Apple Produkt zu Apple Glattzentrum gebracht hast.

Wir haben wichtige Informationen zu deinem Produkt. Ruf uns bitte unter 044 832 81 00 zurück, sobald dir das möglich ist.”

26 June 2017

RG called the store at 11:33 and spoke with a lady by the name of Arian. She informed RG that since the part could no longer be sourced, Apple has decided to replace the unit with a new model, if that is ok with RG. RG agreed, with the caveat that his USB adaptors are also replaced since the new model has connectors USB-C.

3 Jul 2017

RG discusses the configuration of the replacement system with Apple Switzerland via phone.

4 Jul 2017

Mr. Davide Muellhaupt “Genius Admin, Apple store Glattzentrum” presents the configuration of the replacement system with Mr. Ganjavi:

Subject:

Re: R239215340

Date:

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 10:47:51 +0200

From:

Koch Muellhaupt <dmuellhaupt@apple.com>

To:

R.GANJAVI

dear mr. ganjavi

yes its spell davide so you can call me with this name.

i check the specs. you send me, please confirm the configuration. 

Touch Bar und Touch ID

3,1 GHz Quad‑Core Intel Core i7 Prozessor der 7. Generation (Turbo Boost bis zu 4,1 GHz)

16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 Arbeitsspeicher

512 GB SSD Speicher

Radeon Pro 560 mit 4 GB Speicher

Vier Thunderbolt 3 Anschlüsse

Beleuchtete Tastatur – Englisch, USA

Zubehörkit

Force Touch Trackpad

the costs of this update will be 470.- for you.

lg 

Davide Muellhaupt

Genius Admin

Apple store Glattzentrum

dmuellhaupt@apple.com

4 Jul 2017

Apple confirms the configuration

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:

Re: R239215340

Date:

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 11:24:29 +0200

From:

Koch Muellhaupt <dmuellhaupt@apple.com>

To:

R.GANJAVI

thanks for you fast awnser 

so change the specs. but i cant delet the 4 thounderbolt 3 this is a standart.

Touch Bar und Touch ID

2,8 GHz Quad‑Core Intel Core i7 Prozessor der 7. Generation (Turbo Boost bis zu 3,8 GHz)

16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 Arbeitsspeicher

512 GB SSD Speicher

Radeon Pro 560 mit 4 GB Speicher

Vier Thunderbolt 3 Anschlüsse

Beleuchtete Tastatur – Englisch, USA

Zubehörkit

Force Touch Trackpad

kind regards 

Davide Muellhaupt

Genius Admin

Apple store Glattzentrum

6 Jul 2017

 Apple confirmed that the retail store is replacing the system. The case referenced here is a software issue (copy partially fails) which Apple was working on. Yet, the email shows that the representative can see that the unit is being replaced:

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:       Your Apple Case 100051100008

Date:   Thu, 6 Jul 2017 12:10:49 +0000 (GMT-00:00)

From: acsupportcase@apple.com

To:  reza

Case Number: 100051100008

Hello Reza,

Thank you for contacting Apple. I have not yet heard back from the Previous T2 you were working with I am going to push back the call until tomorrow at the same time. However it looks like the Apple Retail Store is replacing you computer do you still need assistance with this issue?

Kind Regards,

Josh

Apple

18 Jul 2017

Apple sends email that the replacement unit is ready to be picked up.

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:

Dein Produkt ist abholbereit.

Date:

Tue, 18 Jul 2017 09:19:56 +0000 (GMT)

From:

Apple Glattzentrum <donotreply@apple.com>

Reply-To:

donotreply@apple.com

To:

reza@

CC:

GR_R309@apple.com

Hallo reza ganjavi,

Vielen Dank, dass du dein Apple Produkt zu Apple Glattzentrum zur Reparatur gebracht hast.

Dein Produkt ist jetzt fertig. Du kannst es jederzeit bis zum Dienstag, 25. Juli 2017 abholen. Wenn du es bis dahin nicht schaffst, kontaktiere uns unter 044 832 81 00, damit wir etwas anderes vereinbaren können.

Wir freuen uns auf deinen Besuch. Und bitte bring deinen Ausweis mit.

Viele Grüße

Das Apple Store Team,

Apple Glattzentrum

19 Jul 2017

RG coordinates with Mr. Muellhaupt to pick up the unit on the 21st, and do a Timemachine restore while in the store.

Ref:

Message-ID: <ed62c481-452a-19c2-60dd-19ba301eb648@gmail.com>

Message-id: <758185B0-149D-4B43-8206-30B8850A7FDC@apple.com>

21 Jul 2017

RG goes to Apple store to get the replacement unit. The new machine stays in the shop overnight since Timemachine restore was taking a long time.

22-23 Jul 2017 (Saturday / Sunday)  

RG picks up the new computer from the shop in Glattzentrum. As soon as RG gets home (the shop is noisy), RG realizes the keyboard is no-go because it is too loud. RG immediately contacts Apple. Since the store was closed (it was night time), RG calls the central number, and Apple instructs him to take the unit back to the store to have it replaced. RG tells Apple, the problem is with all the 2017 keyboards, and others have complained about the same issue...

 (...and other issues with the same keyboard that led to multiple lawsuits against Apple; in June 2018, Apple started a "Keyboard Service Program" to replace the keyboard of models that had a problem including the 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro). Some links to articles and lawsuits about the 2017 keyboard :

https://www.crn.com/news/mobility/300103861/apple-faces-lawsuit-petition-for-recall-over-macbook-pro-keyboard.htm

http://fortune.com/2018/05/14/apple-macbook-pro-butterfly-keyboard-lawsuit/

https://theoutline.com/post/2402/the-new-macbook-keyboard-is-ruining-my-life

RG states to the rep that the 2018 model will be having a new keyboard, according to some publications. RG proposes that the swap is deferred till the 2018 model comes out. Case was escalated to a specialist by name of Felix who totally sympathized with RG, stating a noisy keyboard can be very problematic.

Felix stated, since the swap was done by the Apple store (Glattzentrum), he will liaise with them to defer the swap. Since Felix was in the US call center, he passed the case to International Customer Relations “EMEA”, to liaise with the Swiss store, for deferring the swap. Felix stated the case is viewable by all Apple entities.

RG and Felix agreed that RG will contact the store Monday morning, and Felix will forward the case to EMEA. 

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Subject:       Your Apple case 20000000037386

Date:   Sat, 22 Jul 2017 23:15:35 +0000 (GMT)

From: ac_customer_relations@apple.com

To:   

Case Number: 20000000037386

Hello Reza, 

Thank you for contacting Apple. If you wish to discuss your issue, you can reply to this email or call me at 877-416-4271 ext. 1134586. My normal office hours are Wednesday-Saturday, 8am-7pm CT. 

If I’m not available when you call, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you by the next day I’m in the office. 

Sincerely, 

Felix

Apple 

RG sends a sound file to Felix showing how loud and annoying the keyboard is (mp3 attachment). 

24 Jul 2017 

At 9:03 a.m., RG calls the business office of Apple Glattzentrum requesting to speak to a manager, stating the call is important. He’s directed to the store. Representative says there is one manager on the floor but he’s busy. RG explains the keyboard problem. Representative gets the repair number (R239215340). Rep tried to talk to technician, Mr. Mischa Weibel (Genius-Admin) who was not available but she sent him an email to call RG back. Mr. Muellhaupt who was RG’s main contact has gone on holiday. RG requests the Apple urgently puts a stop to sending his old system back until RG speaks to a manager, and requests to defer the swap till a 2018 model comes out, and asks for a call-back from a manager. 

RG does not receive a call back. 

25 Jul 2017 

RG receives a call and subsequent email from EMEA rep (Ms. Elizabeth Boyland). Ms. Boyland discusses the matter internally (with the store and management) and tells RG that deferring the swap until a 2018 model comes out would be ok – that the shop agreed – and that she would notate the case history accordingly. RG returns the 2017 laptop to the shop and speaks to Mr. Mischa Weibel who states that since the deferring of the swap with a 2018 model is ok with EMEA, it’s ok with the shop. Not knowing what has happened behind the scenes, internally at Apple, RG forwards the name of the rep to Micha. Elizabeth documents the agreement internally. This was later re-confirmed in 2018 (see below) by the person who replaced Liz – he read the file to RG and it clearly stated that the Swiss store had agreed to defer the swap with a 2018 model]. 

This is the email which Elizabeth sent to RG so RG has her contact info and the case number.

Subject:       Case 20000000037386

Date:   Tue, 25 Jul 2017 09:32:07 +0100

From: Elizabeth Boyland <eboyland@apple.com>

To:   

Your Apple Case ID 20000000037386 

Hello Reza,

Thank you for contacting Apple. If you wish to discuss your issue, you can reply to this email or call me at 0080027752775 extension 5071490. My normal office hours are Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 9:00 to 17:30, Friday 9:00 to 16:30. If I’m not available when you call, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you by the next day I’m in the office.

Kind Regards,

Elizabeth Boyland

Customer Relations EMEA

Apple Distribution International 

26 Jul 2017 

RG sends the following email to Ms. Boyland 

Subject: Re: Case 20000000037386

Date:   Wed, 26 Jul 2017 08:38:08 +0200

From: R. Ganjavi

To:  emea_cr_correspondence_en@apple.com

Dear Elizabeth:

Many thanks for the conversation yesterday. I forwarded your contact details to the store.

I went in yesterday and took a Timemachine backup of the new system, and successfully loaded it onto my old system.

I only used the new system for one day. The same evening I picked it up I realized that the keyboard is extremely loud since I work in quiet environments often professionally. I read online that many people are complaining about the keyboard being loud on these new Macbookpros and some other pros are having the same complaint as me. I hope you take the feedback back to Apple. The old keyboard, you were able to type absolutely quietly. The new one, even if you press it very gently it makes clicking sound, and typing sentences sounds like a toy machine gun :)   I sent an mp3 file showing the problem. Others have done so online too.

The store is willing to postpone the replacement until the new model comes out, as long as I coordinated with customer relations and the case is notated, which you kindly did. If it turns out that the new model has the same keyboard, I'll bite the bullet and take it and live with it.

I got a comment email from Apple wanting me to rate your service, but the link is not working, but I want to send a complement for you, and for Micha at the Apple store who's been very helpful, and couple of other colleagues of his. You've all been very wonderful, and I really appreciated working with you.

I will just write a new mail to emea_cr_correspondence_en@apple.com

If that is not ok please let me know.

Many thanks again.

Kind Regards

Reza