Comments on: NPD: Apple tech service key to repeat customers

By: n900mixalot

n900mixalot — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 05:14:00 +0000

As gentle as a Silkwood scrub down. Sassy cat.

Most Apple stores I’ve been in have been nightmares. They just get too busy and don’t have good layouts for heavy foot traffic. Table edges at squeedlyspooch level that are hard to see, just waiting to jump out and disembowel anyone who gets pushed into them.

By: plunder

plunder — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:03:00 +0000

Service is an Issue. I don’t own one bit of Apple kit but got more help from them over a tiny extension to QuickTime, than I have from any Microsoft related supplier in the last 17 years!

HP could not even sell me a replacement power supply for a £400 printer, 14 months old. I was told to: “Try EBay, that’s what I always do mate.” By a member of the main UK service team. In the end I had to. It was EBay or scrap it.

Apple may not be perfect, but they really try hard.

By: Willy05

Willy05 — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 22:16:00 +0000

I agree 100%. Nearly every experience I’ve had over the years with Dell or Microsoft or Verizon has been very negative. HTC was fairly good. Apple is by far the best. If MS had decent service I’d still have a windows phone. Now I’m ready to upgrade to the “5″ and pass down the 4S.

By: hnlperbt

hnlperbt — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:50:00 +0000

Well I don’t believe I’m the only one to have a bad experience with Apple customer service either. I brought in my little brother’s 2-day old iPod touch that refused to open apps, to see if they could fix or replace it. They couldn’t fix the problem, and claimed I must have done something dumb to cause it.

After about an hour and a half (waiting in line, the “Genius” screwing around with the phone), they finally decided to just restore factory settings, which erased the music, apps, other personal data. It worked. But then 3 days later, apps stopped opening again. I came back and they told me I could just restore factory settings myself. Basically they told me I should take 20 minutes to erase all my data every few days! So much for helpful…

By: Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:50:00 +0000

Nifty article. Thank you.

A gentle word or two:

You say ” it would seem, is the large amount of users . . .”

Perhaps you daydreamed about software in your English classes. As a literate professional, you need to remember that “amount” refers to things in bulk and number refers to countable objects. Thus, “a large number of users; “a large amount of water.”

By: spacem00se

spacem00se — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:46:00 +0000

My wife has owned her Macbook for 6 years. Absolutely has no idea how to trouble shoot it and im tired of having to research when something doesnt work. I often suggest that she take it to the mac store, but since its clearly out of warranty and not covered, she refuses to go. The only problem is the battery. It never charges. If the power cord gets disconnected the whole Macbook just goes *poof*, which is not good. Bought a new battery, slapped it in and that charged once and never again. When this mac book gets replaced, it wont be with another Macbook, even if the battery problem is sorted out. She spent 1,400$ for what is essentially a web surfing machine.

By: jjmfe

jjmfe — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:39:00 +0000

Yes, it’s true. My Apple equipment is NOT bulletproof. I have a house and office full of the stuff, and I DO have problems. But apple service reps don’t just “blow it off” and say it’s not our problem, they work till they find a solution, and I frequently have gotten phone calls back (by the same service rep) a week later to ask me if everything worked properly. Also, when I’ve taken hardware (laptops, phones) in for repairs the techs have identified other defects and suggested replacement for those things. They always fulfill faster than promised, and pay shipment to me when appropriate. Yes customer service is at least as important as initial quality. I’ve bought from several other large tech companies and not had the same experience. There is another large computer maker (Starts with a “D”) that also gives very good customer service.