Steve Jobs In Email Pissing Match with College Journalism Student
Steve Jobs is known for replying to random emails sent to his personal Apple email address. Well, a college journalism student from Long Island emailed him about a problem she had with Apple's PR department. Jobs' response? "Leave us alone."
Long Island University senior Chelsea Kate Isaacs, 22, emailed Jobs Thursday with a complaint: Her journalism professor had assigned her a story on a new initiative at her college to buy iPads for all incoming students. She wanted to get a quote from Apple about the use of iPads in academic settings. But when she repeatedly called Apple's PR department, leaving six voice messages, they never got back to her.
Isaacs wasn't expecting a response. While Jobs has a history of replying to members of the public who email sjobs@apple.com (there's even a website which collects his replies), it's safe to say most are lost in his overflowing inbox. "My friend just jokingly suggested I email Steve Jobs," Isaacs told us over the phone. "I wrote him a long email not expecting that he would get back to me."
The lengthy email she sent yesterday was more of a symbolic vent: Isaacs explained her situation, expressing frustration that Apple, which markets itself heavily to college students, refused to help her in completing her assignment. She wrote:
Mr. Jobs, I humbly ask why Apple is so wonderfully attentive to the needs of students, whether it be with the latest, greatest invention or the company's helpful customer service line, and yet, ironically, the Media Relations Department fails to answer any of my questions which are, as I have repeatedly told them, essential to my academic performance."
But Jobs did get back to Isaacs. (Isaacs assures us these emails are "100% real, authentic and unchanged." A couple of technically-savvy people who looked over the email headers said they look legit.) About half an hour later he sent her this curt response:
Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry
Isaacs was pissed. "I was a little surprised; it's just so unprofessional," she told us. "I was like, Wow, Steve Jobs, I get it. You made Apple, you have a shit-load of money but you have no class."
So, Isaacs responded:
I never said that your goal should be to "help me get a good grade." Rather, I politely asked why your media relations team does not respond to emails, which consequently, decreases my chances of getting a good grade. But, forget about my individual situation; what about common courtesy, in general —- if you get a message from a client or customer, as an employee, isn't it your job to return the call? That's what I always thought. But I guess that's not one of your goals.
And Jobs responded minutes later:
Nope. We have over 300 million users and we can't respond to their requests unless they involve a problem of some kind. Sorry.
Isaac responded again:
You're absolutely right, and I do meet your criteria for being a customer who deserves a response:
1. I AM one of your 300 million users.
2. I DO have a problem; I need answers that only Apple Media Relations can answer.Now, can they kindly respond to my request (my polite and friendly voice can be heard in the first 5 or 10 messages in their inbox). Please, I am on deadline.
And at 6:27pm, Pacific Standard Time, Jobs delivered his coup de grace in a final one-line email:
Please leave us alone.
Isaac's email exchange with the 136th richest person in the world left her seething.
"Under no circumstances should a person who runs a company speak to a customer that way," she said. "I'm just enraged and I want people to know this was done."
As for Isaac's assignment, she never got through to Apple, and the deadline is today. "The article can go on, but it just won't be with the quote that I really needed. I probably won't get an A, maybe I'll get a B."
But Isaacs is going to be alright. A former hand model (she quit after getting sick of having to wear gloves to bed), she's certainly got the stubbornness needed for the career in journalism she aspires to. As for this Steve Jobs guy: What's his deal?
The entire thread between Chelsea Kate Isaacs and Steve Jobs
(Read from the bottom up)
From: Steve Jobs
To: XXXX@my.liu.edu
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:27:36 -0700
Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs - Student Journalist Concerned about Apple'sMediaRelations Dept.
Please leave us alone.
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 16, 2010, at 5:32 PM, XXXX@my.liu.edu wrote:
> You're absolutely right, and I do meet your criteria for being a customer who deserves a response:
>
> 1. I AM one of your 300 million users.
> 2. I DO have a problem; I need answers that only Apple Media Relations can answer.
>
> Now, can they kindly respond to my request (my polite and friendly voice can be heard in the first 5 or 10 messages in their inbox). Please, I am on deadline.
>
> I appreciate your help.
>
>
> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>
> ——-Original Message——-
> From: Steve Jobs
> Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:10:12
> To: XXXX@my.liu.edu
> Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs - Student Journalist Concerned about Apple's
> MediaRelations Dept.
>
> Nope. We have over 300 million users and we can't respond to their requests unless they involve a problem of some kind. Sorry.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Sep 16, 2010, at 4:37 PM, XXXX@my.liu.edu wrote:
>
>> Thank you for your reply. I never said that your goal should be to "help me get a good grade." Rather, I politely asked why your media relations team does not respond to emails, which consequently, decreases my chances of getting a good grade. But, forget about my individual situation; what about common courtesy, in general —- if you get a message from a client or customer, as an employee, isn't it your job to return the call? That's what I always thought. But I guess that's not one of your goals. Yes, you do have a creative approach, indeed.
>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>>
>> ——-Original Message——-
>> From: Steve Jobs
>> Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:19:13
>> To: XXXX@my.liu.edu
>> Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs - Student Journalist Concerned about Apple's Media
>> Relations Dept.
>>
>> Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Sep 16, 2010, at 3:22 PM, XXXX@my.liu.edu wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Mr. Jobs,
>>>
>>> As a college student, I can honestly say that Apple has treated me very well; my iPod is basically the lifeline that gets me through the day, and thanks to Apple's Final Cut Pro, I aced last semester's video editing project. I was planning to buy a new Apple computer to add to my list of Apple favorites.
>>>
>>> Because I have had such good experiences as a college student using Apple products, I was incredibly surprised to find Apple's Media Relations Department to be absolutely unresponsive to my questions, which (as I had repeatedly told them in voicemail after voicemail) are vital to my academic grade as a student journalist.
>>>
>>> For my journalism course, I am writing an article about the implementation of an iPad program at my school, the CW Post Campus of Long Island University.
>>>
>>> The completion of this article
>>> is crucial to my grade in the class, and it may potentially get published in our university's newspaper. I had 3 quick questions regarding iPads, and wanted to obtain answers from the most credible source: Apple's Media Relations Department.
>>>
>>> I have called countless times throughout the week, leaving short, but detailed, messages which included my contact information and the date of my deadline. Today, I left my 6th message, which stressed the increasingly more urgent nature of the situation. It is now the end of the business day, and I have not received a call back. My deadline is tomorrow.
>>>
>>> Mr. Jobs, I humbly ask why Apple is so wonderfully attentive to the needs of students, whether it be with the latest, greatest invention or the company's helpful customer service line, and yet, ironically, the Media Relations Department fails to answer any of my questions which are, as I have repeatedly told them, essential to my academic performance.
>>>
>>> For colleges nationwide, Apple is at the forefront of improving the way we function in the academic environment, increasing the efficiency of conducting academic research, as well as sharing and communicating with our college communities.
>>>
>>> With such an emphasis on advancing our education system, why, then, has Apple's Media Relations team ignored my needs as a student journalist who is just trying to get a good grade?
>>>
>>> In addition to the hypocrisy of ignoring student needs when they represent a company that does so much for our schools, the Media Relations reps are apparently, also failing to responsibly handle the inquiries of professional journalists on deadlines. Unfortunately, for a journalist in the professional world, lacking the answers they need on deadline day won't just cost them a grade; it could cost them their job.
>>>
>>> Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>>
>>> Chelsea Kate Isaacs
>>> Senior
>>> CW Post - Long Island University
>>>
>>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
