Late 2007 I ordered the two license pack of Parallels with the $25 iTunes gift certificate offer. I ordered online from element5 in Germany. Instead of 6-8 weeks the card took 3 1/2 months to arrive. I got a $15 card instead of the promised $25. $10 is not worth the hassle of complaining so I just gave it to my daughter. She can't use it because it's only for the iTunes US store. Not sure why I got a US store card; I know the know I'm Canadian because they charged me extra and in Canadian dollars. I emailed customer support and got an interesting response: We extended the ITunes gift cards to all customers which purchased via Parallels online store. We apologize for the confusion this may have caused. You are able to contact the Apple Support Team if you would like. Mistakenly, our fulfillment house sent out the incorrect dollar amount gift card. We have notified them and they will be sending out the remaining amount once they receive the cards in house. This will take a few weeks. Wow. Contact Apple to correct their mistake? What use is the $10 US Store coupon going to be for me? I replied to the message as suggested in the email basically saying this was unacceptable. A few days later got a message saying: Because we have not received a response to our previous reply, we are going to consider the issue resolved and close your ticket. If you feel that the issue has not been resolved, please go to www.parallels.com/en/support/request to submit a new request. I submitted a request. No response. I just now tried to submit another request to reopen the issue. The link they gave in the email is no longer available. Wow. Well. Lesson learned I guess.
Well, a different lesson learned ... something about squeaky wheels I have received an email from Parallels customer support indicating that a VISA gift card is on it's way. I asked if they want the US iTunes card back and have not yet heard a reply; if they don't care I'll make sure it, or more likely an equivalent $15, gets to a worthy cause. Looking up! I'll be sure to let the list know when this all works out.
My faith in Technology Companies, and Parallels in particular, is restored. I got the $25 Visa gift card in the mail today. I've not heard back from them on what they want me to do with the iTunes gift cards but I have an American nephew I can give these to this summer if they don't want them back. I'll make a $30 donation to the Canadian Cancer Society "In Honour" of Parallels if I haven't heard back from them by next week.
