When I was in Vegas for the WPT Championship, my iBook completely crashed, and made me very unhappy. If you’d like, you can refer to the Audioblog or moblog entries, and relive all the excitement for yourself.
When I got back from Vegas, I had a few e-mails from people who worked in various capacities at Apple. They all suggested I talk to different people in Customer care, and they were all optimistic that my problems with my iBook would be resolved. I was still pretty pissed about losing my laptop when I needed it most, so I was less inclined to expect the best, but I figured it would at least be worth a call to see if they’d be interested in helping me get the damn thing fixed.
So here’s the deal with Apple Customer Care: before I could even call one of the numerous people I’d been referred to, one of them called me!
He never told me how he knew, and I didn’t think to ask, but he said that he understood that I was having problems with my iBook. He listened patiently as I recounted my woeful tale, and he apologized that I’d had such rotten luck with my two iBooks. We talked for a few minutes, and though I’m legally bound to keep the details of our conversation confidential, I don’t think Apple will mind if I reveal that the Apple rep who helped me was patient, understanding, and completely helpful.
And late last week, my faulty iBook was replaced with a shiny new Powerbook. And I mean shiny. It’s all silver and tough.
So looking at the scouting report:
iBook: 0 for 2.
Powerbook: 0 for 0, but it looked great in Spring Training.
Apple Customer Care: 3 for 3.
Put another way . . . Will definitely do business with again!!!11 TOP RATING!!! A+++++++++!!!!!!!
Har. Har. Har. Gods, I slay me with my funny.
If you’ve ever had a problem with a huge company, you’d probably agree that (in most cases) customer service has all but ceased to exist. I can’t speak for all their customers, but it’s supermegaawesome that Apple cares about this particular customer.
. . . afterthought: In comments, Starkman says:“. . . you cannot even talk about the experience because you received free stuff in return.” I want to be clear: I can’t talk about the details because I signed the same NDA everyone who replaces a product signs, and I didn’t get anything for free. I don’t expect, nor would I ever accept, something for nothing.
Apple is a HUGE corporation, and I’m sure the problems of one user aren’t going to make a dent in their Big Picture, but they’ve always made me feel like they care about me as a customer. I appreciate that, and I wanted to share that appreciation in a public forum.
. . . one more thought: If you’re so invested in cynically believing that this wasn’t just good customer service, nothing I can say will change your mind, so don’t waste our time reading the rest of this.
Quite a few people think that I got some sort of special treatment because, they say, I’m some sort of big celebrity or something. Newsflash: I’m not.
I’m sure experiences at the genius bar vary from store to store (I’ve always had a fantastic experience in Pasadena), but my experience, at the corporate level, is the same as I’ve heard from countless other Apple owners: if a problem can’t be solved at the store-level, and it’s properly escalated, Apple takes care of it. That’s awesome customer service. I got called because I was already in the system from my previous problem, and that’s just Apple CS protocol.
So why did I write about this? I didn’t have to say anything, but I wrote about it when things went wrong, so I thought it was only right to write about it when things got fixed.
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wbwither: I totally agree with you. Even though Wil says he didn’t get any special treatment for being a celebrity, let’s be honest here. Apple doesn’t have special transponders in their laptops that send out an SOS when one of them dies, resulting in an emergency call from AppleCare. If he didn’t have thousands upon thousands of people reading his blog, and then subsequently wrote about his iBook dying on him, he never would have received that call from Apple’s support and got him a fancy new PowerBook. Now, that’s not to say that he wouldn’t have gotten the same treatment if he called them up himself (from what I understand, Apple has some kickass support), but yeah, there was a bit of special treatment there.
Oh, and the TypeKey thing really irritates me too – what does that “Remember me?” radio button do? It certainly doesn’t remember me because I’ve had to sign in every single time I left a comment. Wil, switch to WordPress, and Spam Karma! It works! Join the dark side!
Thomas: “geeky fan-boys follow suit like the lemmings they’ve been raised to be” is one of the most insulting and offensive things I’ve ever read here. Keep it up and you can just go comment somewhere else.
Wil. Dude. Seriously.
I was referring to the “sheeple” factor that rears it’s ugly head when we’re presented with someone else’s opinions, and that person happens to be perceived as an authority or expert in his/her field. It’s how people have been raised as children, and perpetuated in classrooms everyday.
I would not, dare not nor will I ever suggest YOU are encouraging such cultish thinking. Quite the opposite. I was speculating, and I admit that I’ve made mistakes before, that the reason Apple was juxstapositioning their lips and your heinie was an effort to change your experience, and therefore the mindset of people that, like it or not, believe the sun rises and sets on said heinie.
And if you want me to stop commenting, I’ll respect your request.
Just to add my experience to this thread (admittedly to late).
I have a 22 inch Cinema Display that was well out of warranty when one of the backlights died. I took it in to my local Apple store (The Falls in Miami) and was told it would take a couple of days to check out. I was in the market for a second monitor anyway so I added a 20″ and went on my way. They called me 3 days later and told me the backlight needed repair and it would take another 2 to 3 days to arrive. When I got the call that it was back I took the trip to the store and was told that even though it was not under warranty they had replaced the light… oh and since the glass was not looking to good either they replaced that, as well as the internal electronics. So for the cost of $200 I got what was basically a brand new display.
I’ve always received the absolute best customer service from Apple. Not only are they helpful but they talk in everyday language.
Not like Microsoft. Recently I had to submit two ‘contact us’ emails to their help department. (Which, by the way cuts you off after a certain amount of characters typed) One about MSN messenger, and one about Hotmail (both, having to do with work. If it wasn’t for work I wouldn’t go near them). I received two very prompt replies (the next day). Both of which began by apologising for the delay in replying (??!!??!!) and stating that MS have received an unusually large number of messages recently. (Well, if it worked properly, perhaps they wouldn’t!!) One long winded reply basically says ‘we’re working on it’, the other one had a few suggestions for me to try none of which worked.
Give me Apple any day.
Dude, you got it because you’re a semi-celebrity. (Apple loves those people)
Wait a minute: THEY called YOU?
Do you think it’s possible that blogger with several thousand readers might be treated just a teensy bit better than the average schmuck? Or am I just being “cynical?”
I want to be clear: I can’t talk about the
details because I signed the same NDA everyone
who replaces a product signs
My Confuzzlement reigns supreme.
In all my years having products replaced — and, indeed, in dealing with customer service of any kind! — I have _never_ signed, nor been asked to sign, any form of NDA, nor would nor will I ever sign such a document.
Can you give us more information on these NDAs, and who makes who sign them?
I find it disheartening that so many people question the motive behind the care Apple has shown you. However, I found it refreshingly elegant how you explained your reasoning for posting the article. Not that you should have had too.