Who knows the countless number of times that you've gone into a service-related business or bought a product from a store when the service was substandard or the product didn't operate as expected, company employees simply through their hands up in the air and left you pretty much on your own.

A countless number of news organizations and blogs have been overstuffed with stories about the Apple nano and the report of how the screens easily scratch and some have cracked with no effort. A lawsuit was filed on Wednesday (10/25/2005) against Apple in the Northern District of California's U.S. District Court on behalf of Jason Tomczak and as a direct result of the quality issues.

According to AppleInsider, Apple has asked its channel partners to "to replace fifth-generation iPod products that exhibit any type of hardware failure, including those that would normally be classified as abuse." One can only assume that this action was taken to somewhat thwart the effects of the lawsuit by showing good faith.

It's probably not good news for the company's shareholders as the company will likely bare the cost of replacing or repairing this hot media player and while new owners of the device are somewhat irritated over the extra effort, they should realize that not all companies in the world would be willing to instantly exchange products without questions asked. (Well, maybe Wal-Mart would.)

Kudos to you Apple. You're taking a step in the right direction and showing good company spirit and customer support.