Money Matters, Simplified.
Apple winner hangs up on $10000 call, thought it was prank
by Jaspreet Virk - January 25, 2011 - comments
Gail was later informed by her daughters, 14 and 17, that they had downloaded the free PaperGlider app, a game that requires users to flick and fly paper plane, ensuring that it does not touches the ceiling and gets out of the window.
Imagine receiving a call from Apple regarding prize money, but you disconnect it thinking it to be a prank call? Well, the same happened with Gail Davis, a woman in Orpington, England, who politely hanged up $10,000 gift card call from Apple.
When Davis received a call from Apple executive, informing her that she is the winner of Apple’s 10 billionth app download sweepstakes, she disconnected the call politely saying, “Thank you very much, I’m not interested.”
Much to her dismay, Davis later discovered that the call was real, and that the record 10 billionth application was downloaded by her two daughter from the Apple store.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a genuine call,” she said. “The girls were getting quite tense. They never would have forgiven me. They would have held it against me for all eternity,” stated Gail.
Mistook call for prank
Gail was later informed by her daughters, 14 and 17, that they had downloaded the free PaperGlider app, a game that requires users to flick and fly paper plane, ensuring that it does not touches the ceiling and gets out of the window.
Davis' daughters had downloaded the record application at about 9.30AM UK time, or 1.30AM PST/4.30AM EST.
She said, “I thought it was a prank call” but her “girls came down and said it wasn’t a prank.”
Davis had hung up on Eddy Cue, Apple’s VP of iTunes.
"I had a moment of panic,” she added.
The mum of two was further disappointed when she called back Apple, but all in vain.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was a genuine call,” she said. “The girls were getting quite tense. They never would have forgiven me. They would have held it against me for all eternity,” stated Gail.
Apple calls back
But as the saying goes, 'all is well that ends well,' the family drama ended on a good note.
Fortunately an Apple executive called back a few hours later. This time the call was from Cue's colleague.
Thinking why Cue didn't call himself? Perhaps, he not got over the fact that a customer hung up on him.
“I was hugely relieved,” said Davis, adding “I was getting really worried.”
The daughters are now deciding which apps to download for their iPod touches. As Davis and her husband do not possess iPods that can have applications, they are “thinking of upgrading our nanos” to be part of the reward.
Hopefully, the incident has been a learning experience for Davis who will verify calls before disconnecting them abruptly.