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Apple treats customers like "an enemy"

updated 04:45 pm EDT, Wed October 18, 2006

Apple, customer treatment

Apple is treating its customers like an enemy, according to an InfoWorld blog. Dave Rosenberg outlines his troublesome encounters with Apple's retail store in Palo Alto, CA, as he sought out repairs for his faulty keyboard. After pointing out his squeaky spacebar to an Apple Store "Genius," Rosenberg was reportedly greeted with unknowing responses from the representative appointed to address his issues such as "I've never heard of such a thing," and "everything seems common when you are looking for it." Rosenberg says he recently encountered a series of problems while dealing with Apple, from a faulty returned MacBook to a "very disappointing" MacBook Pro -- which he also returned. The blogger didn't bother with AppleCare due to a colleague's "laughable" experience, and states that open-source companies "don't have the luxury of treating long-time users like they are our enemies."

by MacNN Staff

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Spacemoose
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Joined: Feb 2004

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10/18, 04:52pm | report spam | close Reply |
Give me a f****** break

Truly interesting article about a miserly crank.

'a "very disappointing" MacBook Pro' (The guy doesn't like the MBP)

"I've never heard of such a thing" (my gods man the genius hadn't heard of a squeaky keyboard, Apple's violating the Geneva f****** Convention!)

'The blogger didn't bother with AppleCare due to a colleague's "laughable" experience' (what the h*** is this even doing here? Like I said, this is a shite article on a slow news day)

Horsepoo!!!
Banned

Joined: Jun 2003

0

10/18, 05:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
spacemoose,

Everyone's trying to piggyback off Apple's success. Some use the excuse that they're being treated like s*** to get their name out there on the intarwebs.

Kinda sad really.

jarod
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Joined: Apr 2005

0

10/18, 05:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Whatever

There is nothing to worry about. Infoworld is a garbage site, sort of like a tabloid site. Just seeking attention by publishing trash by your common idiot. Whoever wrote this article is clearly seeking attention. Ignore this fool and this site..major waste of bandwidth.

e2Sync
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2005

0

10/18, 05:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
Pfff....

Can't wait for you two to have some problems! Apple's after-sales support is KNOWN to truly be the very worst part of Apple, and as the PC user switches from companies that send advanced replacements sometimes even SAME DAY, Apple had better pick up their act or they will soon be wondering why they are not growing beyond a certain point.

I have had NUMEROUS problems over the years, and my friend here just went through 4 weeks of lies and c*** from the Dallas Apple Store over his 17" MBP which they eventually just replaced. I have got to the point where I'll just sell my problem laptop to someone else and let them deal with Apple while I just buy a new machine. It's just easier. That's just how BAD it is.

Don't for one second think that people are just out to get Apple, we don't live in that world anymore in case you hadn't noticed.

johnsonua
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Joined: Aug 2003

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10/18, 05:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
Riiiigggghhht!

"Can't wait for you two to have some problems! Apple's after-sales support is KNOWN to truly be the very worst part of Apple"

That's why Apple consistently wins top marks in customer satisfaction surveys, because those Mac Cultists at JD Powers and Consumer Reports are just lying for the mothership.

Steve Wilkinson
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Joined: Dec 2001

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10/18, 05:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
it's not that bad...

I personally have purchased 3 Apple computers in the last couple years, and at work we buy a lot of them. From this experience, I'd say there have been a few more issues in the last couple years than in the past. However, most of them have been more of the 'annoyance' category... a squeaky space bar, a noisy fan, etc.

I'm guessing this may be due to Apple trying to cost-compete with the PC makers. However, I have hardly ever had any issue with getting these things fixed. Apple has been very good about it. The biggest problem I ever had was a couple years ago with a dying hard drive. And, I have to admit, it was a hard issue to diagnose.... but after a couple trips in with it, they were able to see it, and quickly fixed it (with a new drive).

Now, while I love the lower prices of Apple gear (I mean, at this point some of Apple's gear is a better value than home building, let alone other PC makers), I'm not willing to give up traditional Apple quality. So, I'm glad people hold Apple's feet to the fire... make sure they fix your stuff. But, I want things to be fair at the same time. Obviously, these folks doing the complaining have never owned (or at least are being honest about) other manufacturer PCs. They probably also are not taking into account that of the few hundred (or even thousand) people complaining, there might 500k to 1M folks who are quite happy for whatever timeframe.

-Steve

jeph4e
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Joined: Dec 2005

0

10/18, 05:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
Not Here

The Old Orchard Store in Chicago has been amazing and very, very helpful. Way beyond what would be required. The phone support has been great to when I had the early (and later) MBP multiple issues...

I could not be happier with the support I got.

lkrupp
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2001

0

10/18, 05:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
The disconnect...

"Apple's after-sales support is KNOWN to truly be the very worst part of Apple,"

Baloney. Just this week apple was once again feted in consumer surveys for being at the very top for customer service and hardware reliability. The internet allows the concentration of outraged users who are extremely vocal in their victimhood. Not saying you imagined your bad experiences, just that you are wrong when you think its pandemic.

pfff... to the whole premise of your post.

Steve Wilkinson
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Joined: Dec 2001

0

10/18, 05:47pm | report spam | close Reply |
in more headlines...

hehe... I just didn't read down the daily headlines far enough. :o)

Lenovo, Apple lead reliability report

http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/10/17/lenovo.apple.reliability/

-Steve

doctor9
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

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10/18, 05:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
You're right, spacemoose

With all those "issues", he sounds like a chronic whiner. The old "Mommy didn't hug me as a baby" syndrome!

irow82
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Joined: Jun 2004

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10/18, 06:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple has changed...

...and not for the better.

I have had several Apple Care experiences over the past decade. The most recent began with my iBook about a month ago. Right now, I am still trying to sort out some issues with them.

Short story: Logic board failed (second time in 11 months). I sent it in to get replaced. My iBook came back with a broken keyboard (not mine), a case that had a property ID sticker from some school, and missing any additional RAM.

The first two problems were fixed, only after about 14 days of "waiting for a response from the repair center." I am still waiting for my RAM. They sent me a memory module, but it was the wrong size. I returned it about 2 weeks ago, and after talking with apple again today, they still haven't shipped it. I was told "The order was placed a while ago, but I don't know why it hasn't shipped. I will see what I can do and call you back."

While no one at Apple has ever been rude, or even unconcerned, they simply have not been able to follow through with support.

Chris_Hough
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Joined: Oct 2006

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10/18, 06:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple reliability

First time to post a comment here, but I had to give my 2 cents. I have had nothing but superior service from Apple. both with their Apple Care support and without. Powerbook G4 17" under Apple Care had the screen die (nothing but snow). They mailed me a box, it went out and came back NEXT DAY(!) fully repaired. They even replaced the magnetic latch that was starting to not catch. Had a similar experience with a powerbook 3400 that fried the motherboard, and was out of warranty. 2 days later and less than $200 had it fixed and back at my home working like new. Can't say enough good things about Apple standing behind their products.

richdean
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Joined: Sep 2002

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10/18, 06:09pm | report spam | close Reply |
Apple Care/Store Help

This is a classic case of generalizing from a specific instance: a cop beats a suspect, therefore all cops are bad. 7th grade logic.

I've had excellent experiences with AppleCare and Apple's store employees -- they've gladly replaced everything, often right on the spot.

My experience doesn't mean Apple gets it right 100% of the time (what company does) -- and the columnist's experience is equally as meaningless.

The surveys say it all.

horvatic
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Joined: Apr 2002

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10/18, 06:36pm | report spam | close Reply |
Seems like an axious user

Seems like this customer was just out to complain. Apple has the best service as pointed out by Consumer reports. So this seems to be an attitude problem not Apple's problem.

chadpengar
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Joined: Oct 2001

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10/18, 06:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
AppleCare

I had not troubles with AppleCare when my G5 started acting up a year ago. Called in, got excellent help, and it turned out to be something system sw related which we were able to fix (though it looked like a HW problem). My experience with AppleCare has not been "laughable". Maybe the blogger's friend was rude or something and had a bad experience that he started? Or maybe the AppleCare rep was having a bad day and the guy should have just called in and gotten someone else.

ptkdude
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Joined: Feb 2006

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10/18, 06:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
"laughable"?

So you didn't bother with AppleCare because of a buddy's "laughable" experience. Well, here's my last experience with AppleCare. My PowerBook had been out of warranty for over a year and I didn't have the extended warranty. The applecare tech advise he couldn't walk me through anything but "you may want to search for these keywords in our discussions: reset pvram"

Hmmm... I didn't have the extended warranty, and yet he told me exactly how to fix the problem. Those b*******! Apple doesn't take care of their customers at all! In response to the level of support I received, when it was time to buy a new laptop I went out and bought a new MacBook Pro... just to show them!

jamiec
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Joined: Aug 2006

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10/18, 07:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Also excellent service

I too have had nothing but excellent experiences with Apple support. Knowledgeable, friendly people, and speedy resolution of every problem.

It's upsetting to hear about the bad experiences and delays that people have been having lately. I'd be willing to bet that these are the result of growing pains for Apple -- it's quicker to ramp up production of computers than it is to expand the support ranks with good people and train them.

mikelawson
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Joined: Oct 2006

0

10/18, 07:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
AppleCare

I have rarely had anything but wonderful experiences with AppleCare. So pfff's comments are just kind of off mark in my experience. I had problems with the power supply in my G5, and AppleCare sent a service tech to my home, which was way outside of their normal range for in-home service, and they fixed it. Same goes with them replacing an LCD on a G4 iMac that was still under warranty. This MacBook I am typing on now came to me free, with generous upgrades, because my PowerBook had more than three repairs. I am guessing somebody was pissy with Apple to begin with, which might have impacted how the person they worked with was responding. I wasn't there, maybe that wasn't the case, but if you are nice to people, even when being adimant, it goes a long way.

climacs
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Joined: Sep 2001

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10/18, 09:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
i wish i had a column

so I could publicly complain whenever i get bad service.

I have had really, really, amazingly good service from AppleCare. They have fixed for free, a broken machine that was obviously the result of my damaging the computer. Name for me ANY other company which will do a warranty repair when it's unquestionably the customer's fault!

I've also had an experience where I had to keep sending the iBook back to them because every time they sent it back, something different was wrong.

No one is perfect especially when you are talking about customer service issues, one never knows truly how much is the customer's issues and how much is the company's issues. There is such a thing as S***** service, and also customers have been known to lie about why their computer (or car or whatever) doesn't work.

On the whole I would say Apple provides superior after-sales service, and in their stores too. I have NEVER known a "Genius" to be anything other than friendly, helpful and amazingly patient, especially when dealing with members of the public who are not computer-savvy.

climacs
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Joined: Sep 2001

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10/18, 09:47pm | report spam | close Reply |
being an a** doesn't help

as mikelawson pointed out, an easy way to get S***** service is to have a bad attitude with CSRs or retail people. They will take a lot of abuse, but they are only human and if you're an a**, they can choose not to be very helpful. On the other hand, if you are gracious and patient and positive, they can and will go way beyond the call of duty for you.

jodyr3
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Joined: Aug 2003

0

10/18, 10:00pm | report spam | close Reply |
been there

From not offering an upgrade path for Apple Remote Desktop to not offering replacements for defective computers in the first 90 days for Applecare customers, Apple has definitely abandoned the little guy.

That said, they gave me a free iSkin Duo for my new Nano, so I can't say they're all bad.

ClevelandAdv
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Joined: Jul 2004

0

10/18, 10:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
Applecare

I have personally owned or purchased for work over 50 Macs and had very few issues with Applecare (and few issues with the systems). My one bad experience came with my Powerbook 5300, which may have been the worst designed Powerbook ever. Which ended up at Apple 7 times in the first 6 months I owned it, but they did eventually fix everything.

coastsj
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2006

0

10/19, 12:16am | report spam | close Reply |
I love my mac but

This is not a whine, out of concern for retail integerity, the genius bar may need a look at

I have been to the genius bar on for seperate issues reasons and all responses and solutions were less than exceptable

1. My Ipod got the sad face, Genius Bar told me that I had somehow crushed it, but I was lucky because he was in a good mood today and gave me reburished one. crushed it? yeah even if you put in your pocket. The best part is that my reburished one did the exact same thing a year later and guess what. read online that connection to harddrive gets loose. I opened it up and yes the hadrive connection was loose, has worked perfect, CRUSHED, Yeah Right

2. ibook, was told was harddrive was totally shot and nothing could be done to save it. took it to another computer repair center and within 10 minutes got the hardrive working,

3 was told that my computer cd/dvd player was faulty becuase it wouldnt play DVDR(played everr other format) Genius guy kept telling me to buy another computer, after three times I told him I didnt want to buy another computer, what about an external dvd burner/player. He rudely repsoned" i cant talk about anything nonmac and cant guarantee it would work with your system. the funny thins Apple Store sells a LaCIe Dvd burner. hmm why would your strore sell something that is not mac friendly

I know customer service, friendly iformative and not condescending.

I've been a mac user for 20 years 4 computer 2 ipod still love the product.

zerroeffect
Forum Regular

Joined: Jul 2006

0

10/19, 12:32am | report spam | close Reply |
Genius...

Yeah, right. Depends on what Apple Store you go to.

Also, my refurbed MBP came with many small problems and a corrupted hard disk, which I fixed with disk utility, luckily. That said, the Apple Store at Bridgeport Village near my house, has been very accommodating and understanding, even going out of their way to replace the top case twice because of scratched paint under the left Apple key (not a unique case, I understand).

I'm put off owning a MBP because of recurring problems, but the care is fine.

sixcolors
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2001

0

10/19, 05:53am | report spam | close Reply |
Silicone Spray

The squeaky spacebar is due to a lac of lube... One quick shot of silicone spray lube to the hinges and the problem is fixed... Surprising that Apple stores don't have a can handy.

lamewing
Forum Regular

Joined: Aug 2004

0

10/19, 08:10am | report spam | close Reply |
language please?

Is it possible for any intelligent adult to make a point these days without relying on (a crutch) vulgar language? It seems that if a person cannot come up with a responable retort, they instead just start "cussin". I guess if you cannot rely on intelligence, then anything goes.

KnotGullible
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Joined: Oct 2006

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10/19, 09:25am | report spam | close Reply |
Another Crotchety Ol f***

If I were paranoid, I'd say Microsoft hires these guys to post drivel like this. I've had a new (refurb) PowerBook replaced and my experienced with the Apple Geniuses (Genii?) have shown them to be consistently knowledgeable and helpful.

--Knotty

dpicardi
Forum Regular

Joined: Sep 2006

0

10/19, 10:37am | report spam | close Reply |
Sorry....but

I've been into a few Mac Stores and have been way less than impressed with their customer service and knowledge.

In fact I'd be willing to bet that the average Apple user with more than 5 years of mac experience is more knowledgeable than just about everyone in the Apple Store. Including those behind the so called Genius bar.

Many employees seem to be pulled right off the street and are clueless on some of the most basic questions and features of many of the latest products.

I love Apple and Macs...but the majority of Apple Store employees aren't the Mac Experts we would expect them to be.

I'm not surprised by this person's Apple Store experience one bit.

wmiro
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 2003

0

10/24, 05:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
major support for me

My experience has been excellent. When I bought my first G3, Apple flew a guy out to Poughkeepsie to replace a defective ZIP drive- not even their fault. The guy called me from the airport to apologize he'd be late because of the ICE STORM we were having. He replaced it in-home. Apple also just replaced an out-of-warranty motherboard this month. So much for being the VERY WORST part of apple.

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Apple treats customers like "an enemy"

updated 04:45 pm EDT, Wed October 18, 2006

Apple, customer treatment

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Give me a f****** break

spacemoose,

Whatever

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Riiiigggghhht!

it's not that bad...

Not Here

The disconnect...

in more headlines...

You're right, spacemoose

Apple has changed...

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Apple Care/Store Help

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AppleCare

"laughable"?

Also excellent service

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i wish i had a column

being an a** doesn't help

been there

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Silicone Spray

language please?

Another Crotchety Ol f***

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