Op-Ed: The customer is always wrong

What happened to the philosophy of the customer is always right? Apparently, that isn't true anymore, especially with how Apple responds to its consumer complaints.

Back in 2010, when the first iPhone got its upgrade, there was such a huge hype generated. Millions of happy consumers were soon faced with complaints, the biggest one being the iPhone 4's signal strength issue. Rather than admitting the flaw in the iPhone 4, Apple responded with the accusations that other phones have signal problems as well when held in a certain way. It was demonstrated that other phones dropped calls when held upside down or when both hands completely covered the phone. Even before then, the earlier Apple products also demonstrated the same philosophy that the product is perfect and if the consumers don't see it that way, then they are wrong. Need some examples? Just read Steve Jobs' biography. More importantly, the issue on hand shows that Apple's philosophy remains unchanged. Recent iPhone 5 owners reported a flare up on iPhone 5's camera. Purple streaks appear when a picture is taken begs the question whether the camera is flawed or not. Like always, Apple responded by saying that the flare up is due to the lighting position, and that this is also experienced on previous iPhone models. LA Times, however, showed that, under the same conditions, the iPhone 4 did not experience a flare up like the iPhone 5. Again, this begs the question why Apple chooses to ignore the problem rather than fixing it?