Hey Master,
Yup, well sorta… It will take a lot more than a letter. If you can imagine there are hundreds of letters that pile into Apple’s Customer Service center every month. Everyone has a request, Free computers for this class, Free printers for the senior center, Free iPods for the homeless…. you get my drift. Since yours is an “alleged” for profit venture, they will want your lawyers to contact their lawyers to review a licensing agreement. (since you are a start-up, they won’t have any background information regarding you.) In lieu of a licensing agreement, they will want you to let them see your website and provide information on how may hits you get in a month or so.
That being said, once they determine that you are legitimate, they will have no problem LOANING you equipment for your review and will request a copy of your review for future P/R stuff.
You could probably save yourself some money and send them a letter that says; “Hey. my name is Jack. After working hard, I bought an iPod with extra money I made during the summer. It was stolen and I am not able to buy another one. Is there a chance that you may have one that was returned, scratched or unsellable that you could send to me?
I would be eternally grateful!
Love, Jack.”
There is a very good chance that they will send you a new iPod or at least send you a certificate for one from a local store. Be forewarned, if you are 35 and they think that they are sending this to a 17 year old kid, you may end-up with egg on your face.
Good Luck,
James in San Diego