Be There For Your Customers

Chris I hear ya man. Just be glad you don't have to bring your "Dell" to the Dell Store.

I'm guessing this isn't one of those "sponsored" blog posts. ;-)

Hah! No, not really. Wishing you the best. Was talking about you the other day. : )

AWESOME!!!!

I'm always a fan of a good rant...well done :-)

Dude. I used to feel the same way. Until I befriended a Mac Genius. I'll tell you what, being friends with someone who works at the genius bar is beneficial beyond belief. Next time you go in, make friends. Then life doesn't suck so bad when your computer freaks out.

I concur. Befriend a Mac Genius or someone who knows Macs inside and out. While I don't have a Mac myself, if I did and I had issues, I have a go-to guy who will be happy to help me with it.

Understood, Chris.

I had some strange problem getting a booking on-line. I finally talked to a human & got in that way.

I hope your problem is solved very soon.

At least Apple has good software interface - I assume that is why you might want to stick with them, if this experience hasn't killed them for you.

I'm a recent convert (switched from PC to MacBook a year ago and BB to IPhone 6 months ago), so I'm probably still in the blissful honeymoon stage. I've had nothing but great service from our store in the Lehigh Valley. They carry heavy stuff to my car. They never make me feel stupid (and, when it comes to technology, I AM stupid). The only time I was ever annoyed was when I asked a salesman if he knew whether Apple was developing its version of a Kindle and he said with a lot of snot factor, "We already have and it's called the Kindle app." I forgave him later when I downloaded it and realized he'd saved me $200. One other time I complained and gave them really low marks on one of those surveys (long story about why). The store manager called me to apologize and asked if there was anything he could do to make me happy. Seriously. It was better than sex.

I think you should complain to the store manager or just fill out the web form if you are online. They seem to take complaints seriously. I'm sure someone from Apple has already seen your blog and is trying to figure out how to placate you.

wow better then sex.... I think that you may still be in the honeymoon stage. If that continues they have pills that might help. :)

you can just go to the store!
I have many times without an appointment & have received incredible service!
good luck!

But see? That's a 1950s...hell, that's a 2000BC method of handling this. There are means to reach people. My big gripe is that the web is ONLY ONE way.

Hmm. Grrr. Anyhow. : )

Hey Chris,

Love your stuff,

My Mac Book Pro recently bit the bullet so I walked into the apple store and asked to see a Genus.... They were all booked but the customer service person in the apple t-shirt scheduled the appointment for me latter that day. When I came back the tech guy was cool. tested my laptop, Logic board went bad. I paid their flat rate fee $320 or so and had the computer back the next week. I thought that it was pretty good service. It is a pain that they wouldn't help you over the phone though.

I do think that in general Apple does a better job than most huge companies at customer service. I'm not a "disciple" and I don't work for them. Have you ever tried to get Dell to fix something??? WOW not that's crappy customer service.

By the way I think that I'm going to sell my MBP if you're interested? It's got a new logic board!

Phil

Phil, how much?

We're really at the mercy of the large corporation, aren't we.

Actually Phil, it's pretty easy to get Dell to fix something as long as you paid for the extra warranty. My Inspiron's RAM slots fragged on me a year or so ago. I called Dell's customer support and after being on hold for a little while (yeah it sucked but they've got millions of customers so I'm willing to give them some slack) and being run through the standard talking points (yes I turned the computer off, yes I reset the RAM cards) they had me schedule an appointment with a technician.

The tech came to my office the next day and worked on my laptop while I kept plugging away on work-related stuff. I didn't have to take my computer to the Apple Store, the dude came to me, had my laptop in fighting shape within 90 minutes and the cost to me was zilch. I'd say that qualifies as pretty good service to me, especially for business travelers who need a fast turnaround.

I'll go back to lurking over in the corner now.

you're so ballsy , but I'm still getting an iMAC. still, fun rant.

I had a similar telephone experience with CheapTickets.com that told me I had to go online to update my account before they could help me - while I was stranded without a laptop frantically trying to rebook a flight home because the airline I booked with had gone out of business. First I had to escalate to a manager, then I had to argue with her before she eventually caved and updated my account for me - by which time the price of the ticket I was buying had gone up almost 50%. Thanks CheapTickets. I'm still amazed no one immediately got that I was calling BECAUSE I didn't have access to the Internet.

Wow! As my philosophy professor used to say, "that was full of value tinged words"!

Sorry you are having problems dude! I am not very happy to be around either, when my 'puter isn't workin'.

Thankfully, I have had no problems with my Mac, except when I loaded Office for Mac. Then things got real crazy. I don't use it [Office for Mac] any more than I have to.

I hope this gets resolved for you real soon. Maybe a backup laptop is in order, for a guy such as you.

Appreciate all you do!

I needed this! My first Mac crashed and I lost data. They replaced the hard drive but it is still slow. It is supposed to be the fastest, most maintenance free laptop ever. I'm striving to be a Mac lover like I'm supposed to be.

Sorry you don't get the phone support you want. I _hate_ relying on the phone. This past Sunday, I booked an appt. with an Apple Genius while packing the canoe up from a little paddle. The iPhone was able to navigate their site without any headaches.

Access challenges are a small price to pay so that we can enjoy their extreme ability to make customers happy when we _really_ tell them what the issues are.


.

While I agree that there should be more than one way to make an appointment, Apple is often a victim of its own success. Many people have multiple ways of getting on the web–neighbors, libraries, schools, friends, additional machines, etc. So it's hard to fault them for making everyone use the web to make an appointment.

For example, there should be an iPhone application that allows you to make a Genius appointment. Huh--I think we just identified what Apple would call a "third party opportunity."

But I get how inconvenient web-only can be when you're in a jam.

And this isn't just about Apple. I'm using them as an example. You have to be where your customers are.

Your rants might be the result of frustration, but they actually help the rest of us w/o as much reach, so thank you for saying what's on your mind. You are pushing these guys to improve - RANT ON!

I have one of these rants on a weekly basis.

For example, when my ISP goes down, guess what their first suggestion is to me on the phone? Yep.

"Check our knowledge base online at www...."

It's just part of the recording while I wait for a human, but it still rankles me when I hear it.

I think the thing that gets me (and maybe you) is the feeling of not being listened to or understood. We feel like we're smart people, so can't we skip the robotic circular levels of hell and just have someone help us right now?

I am right there with you. As an [almost] lifelong Apple customer, I am in awe of how much of a customer-ninja I have to be in order to get anything to work in my favor. Amazing.

I hope you get your Mac taken care of soon...definitely been there before : (.

How funny. I was just talking about this exact same issue today. I've probably bought 15 iphones, ipods, itouches, macbooks, etc. Maybe more. And it burns me up that their customer service is so bad. And ironically, I was just writing a blog post about comcast and how fabulous they are on twitter!

so the perfect guy would be the guy who is where you are - and in a very perfect world, that guy would be an employee of Apple.

so as always, where else in our life is this kind of thing happening? And am I the one making it happen?

When I complain about something or someone else, I gotta take a look and see if I'm doing the same thing to someone else!

You know the old saying, you get what you give!

Loved the rant though, bet it made you feel a little better.

Chris - tell us how you really feel...

This is so comical to me for some reason I have never understood why companies do what is convenient for them. Just like doctors ... when your sick you go to them, wait forever so they can make a chunk of change for the time you spend repeating your symptoms over and over again ... to the receptionist (for the appointment) to the nurse (who for some reason never relays the info to the doc, why do they even ask?) and then to the doctor ... who then treats your symptoms, but usually never the issue ... You say GFY Apple? I say GFY to the American Health Care with no bedside manner!

CONSUMERS spend the money COMPANIES receive it is so backwards and you are so correct definitely be there for your customers!!!

I was going to drop my imac off for service while we're on vacay, but I guess i have to go through the web first? Sorry to hear about your problem Chris, but at least your pain helps me (and others) so that I didn't schlep over to the apple store the day before we leave only to be told what you were told.

Chris,
I hear you. I was at the Apple store in Natick (25 miles away each way) to ask them to replace my new Mighty mouse that stopped working while under warranty. They refused to talk to me since I did not have a Genius appointment. I documented my experience at http://budurl.com/applecustomerservice.

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my MacBook Pro. I finally took it a part dusted everything off and it's been working fine for two months. Apple's service is not where customers are today. To replace a CD Drive or Hard Drive, you are without your laptop for two-three days. It is cheaper for me to buy a new part and have it put in then to loose that many days of business with out a computer.

I couldn't have said it better myself 8 mo old iMac is spinning the SBOD and after the genius took an hour with it (I had to spend five hrs restoring everything also) guess what is visiting again? Yep, the SBOD! Not a big fan of Apple right now either...

I totally identify Chris, I've had a problem with the speed of my MacBook (about 10 to15% of the time it idles as the "spinning beach ball of death" does its thing) I'm frustrated (almost to the point of throwing my laptop).

I shouldn't have to pay for Apple Care because your product has holes...or at least thats how Apple used to see things back in the day--and thats what most companies do.

That's why the Genius Bar is so awesome. They will help you solve problems, short of disassembling your computer, for any machine no matter how old, for free.

And if your problem has been going on long enough for you to be out of warranty, why didn't you get it fixed while it was still in warranty? That's not a "hole" everyone has, so they should be able to narrow it down and fix it. (In fact, you should be able to do it yourself fairly easily, granted you have the smarts and patience for troubleshooting.)

You make total sense. Asking someone to go online to make an appointment to fix a computer problem (something you need to GET online in the first place) is like telling someone to walk to the gas station to get gas for their car. It's inconvenient and definitely does not have the customer's ease of use in mind.

I recently had an Apple Store experience where I was looking for a new battery and additional memory for my iBook. Yes, it's not the latest model, but it works awesomely for what I need. You should have seen the look on the Geniuses at the Genius Bar. It was as if I had brought in a Commodore64 into the store.

As flashy as the Apple store is, with their in-store tutorials, fancy Genius Bar and uber-friendly customer service reps who are only loyal to the latest Apple product and not ALL Apple products...it's things like this that make me feel like it's just a facade.

The shame of it is, the Apple Retail stores sold iBooks when they were new. I can understand gawking at pre-2000 hardware, but the iBook shouldn't be anything a Genius hasn't seen before.

Chris, here's a tip for next time you need to book a Genius Bar appointment:

They have computers at the Apple Store. They're hooked to the Internet.

I totally got this the first time I faced it: they do it that way because it frees up the Geniuses to help the people they need to help, rather than wasting time being interrupted to help the people they will later be helping.

I guess it is an assumption that people are net-savvy enough to do things this way, but Apple has a history of making these kind of assumptions (e.g., first to remove floppy drives).

Once more, you've told me: 'drive to the store, go to a counter, check in, and see if they'll service you.' Did we have the AT&T commercials in the 1980s?

Chris-
While Apple products may in some cases be better quality I have routinely heard horror stories of their customer service. But you shouldn't be that surprised: look at how Apple wrangles every penny out of you with each xG of the iPhone and iPod. Look at the way Apple goes after 'rumor' sites and other legit 'news reporting' sites. Look at the way Apple has been treating developers and apps in their App Store. Look at the way Apple says you have to use only their products with their software or get support at their stores Look at the way Apple behaves in general and you can't really be that surprised how they are treating their customers.

Most recently I know someone who called the Apple store (30 minute drive) to confirm they had someone on site to swap the loaner they were given with the original LT- making it clear they could not be w/o a LT for any time- it was their only machine. Upon arriving at the store they were told they would need to leave the LT and come back and get it- in a day or two. It was literally the swapping of the HD, but now no techs were available. Needless to say they left and only returned when they were guaranteed a tech was there. 5 mins after arriving this time they left- however because of distance wasted almost 2 hours driving back and forth.

I am pretty sure if any other company pulled half the crap that Apple gets a pass on, there would be a mighty uproar.

LOL!

Mac. I had a mac once. It became obsolete 5 mins after I bought it. It was a sad time, full of pain, but now it sits in storage. Happy storage Mac.

Do not squander these precious days of happiness you have with your Mac, they will not last.

Hi Chris - Sorry to hear.

If you can't get online, then the only option is to take it into a Apple store, of which i'm reliably informed there is one in pretty much every town in America.

Or post it to them - sometimes, you log a service and get sent postage stickers / courier to collect etc.

My Macbook Pro Power supply went bang (literally) this week (12 month warranty ran out last week) and I had a nail-biting wait for the first of two Mac stores in Derby to open at 9 and see if they had one in otherwise it would have been a working day lasting as long as my battery.

Well they did and i wasn't inconvenienced - the other store didn't open until 10 so they lost out didn't they?

Yes it is annoying and frustrating when technology we depend quits on us without warning but that's modern life. I'm sure it will happen again.

As you've said in previous posts - people are more ready to complain than praise.

Jonathan

I understand your complaint but feel that it is unnecessary. Try owning an HP, Acer, or any PC and you won't even be able to sit down with anyone. Surely being the guru that you are you have some other means of acessing the internet, I know you do be because you stated that you have an iPhone. Suck it up, quit complaining, and be happy that you bought from a company that actually cares instead of being stuck with a PC.

Of course he has other means of accessing the internet. He could taxi to a library for all that's worth. That isn't the point here. Our every man is pointing out a major problem and attitude that Apple has about its customers. Apple is supposed to be so customer focused, so cutting edge, but it's just another business. Most Mac users tried owning other computers and prefer this hell to that one. Nothing is perfect. I'm impressed with Chris for expressing these comments on behalf of so many frustrated Apple customers. Come on over to this less dark side. You too, can be a complaining Mac user. :)

I thought you could just walk into one of their stores and speak to a "genius"?

I've seen pretty girls in short skirts and helpless faces get an audience. Depends on how busy they are. I live in a major city and the bar is always swarming.

Got to say, I had exactly the opposite experience. My iPhone stopped charging for no reason. Walked into the Apple Store here in Toronto with no appointment on a busy day, explained that the phone was my business line, so important.

Got sliced into the appointment line 10 minutes later, walked out of the store 20 minutes later with a brand new iPhone.

hmmm why don't you tell us how you really feel? The Apple Techs have had my Mac since last Tuesday, said I would get it back Friday.... last Friday. I think they may not know what's wrong with it. So sad.

Thank you. Thank you. I converted just a few years ago, before Mac started sleeping with Intel. I had the honeymoon phase and was blissed out for a long time. They basically don't care, like every other business. Apple is worse because once you love a Mac, you have such limited choices. I, for example, don't like the new screens. Stuck I am. Anyway, why should a consumer, paying TOP dollar have to make friend with a genius to get service. What a great business plan that is. Hey, I'm not slamming the idea. I never thought of it, but it sucks that we'd have to do that. Besides, I'm old enough to be their mom. Speaking of the geniuses, some are geniuses with a little "g" and some with a capital "G." I don't walk up to that bar expecting miracles anymore. Yes, they save a book I was writing after I spent a week at the bar when two, TWO, hard drives crashed. It's not the safe haven it once was. Okay, I'm not adding anything here and my old iBook battery is about to give up the ghost. Thank you again, I loved your post. If they do you that way, what hope do any of us have. I wish there was another viable option, but I'll stay in Mac hell rather than go back.

So you might want to pass to Acer with Android, Chris! there's no Cust-Support at all from Acer (so you'll not miss it in the case of a need LOL), and Android "just works fine" since it's from Google!

P.S. Seriously- I'm truly sorry about this your sad personal experience man!

You tell Apple what's up! Reading your blog is such a treat because not only do you right incredibly insightful and useful stuff for the digital marketing crowd, but once in a while you'll you'll post something that make me think, "I know right!!!"

Apple, get your shit together with online Apple Genius booking.

Be there for your customers should go a step further and say be *where* your customers are. If your customers are calling on the phone, it's okay to mention the website to the 0.3% who haven't heard of the Internet. For everyone else, there is probably a good reason they are calling on the phone.

I had a similar situation with AT&T DSL. My modem died and when I called the support line, the recording said that I could get faster service if I reported the outage online. WTH? Did that really make sense to the CSM that wrote the script? It also took over 4 minutes just to get through their phone tree to reach a live person. I feel your pain, Chris!

People - you optimize your website. Now take it a step further and look at the top reasons customers are calling your support line. Pick up the phone and pretend you're one of those customers and navigate your own phone tree. See how much pain it causes you and fix it.

Chris,
My apple died while I was on the road. i used it everyday to upload videologues live from the road. I went to a shop in Belfast and he said the logic board was gone.
Short story-I called apple. I never buy the warranty on any product I buy. My belief is that a product should work, and if it doesn't.....the company should replace it.
I was told it was six months out of warranty, and since I did not have applecare that there was nothing they could do.
I'm a musician.....with videos on CMT, GAC, VH1 Country.......Top of the Pops 2, and was on a tour doing press everywhere. I explained that I needed my laptop that I paid for...........to help me do my work, and that I "loved" Apple, and wanted to "continue saying nice things about Apple in the press"...........
Basically, I went through three different levels of people at Apple, and finally was told that they would not fix my computer for free.
I asked the lady to repeat that she could not and would not be able to help me, and then i hung up the phone on her.
I got a call back in 15 minutes from "Fred" at Apple that said he had heard the whole story, and wanted to see if they could "work something out with me"...............which they did. A few days later I took it into the Apple store in Nashville and they fixed it for free.
Moral-be the squeeky wheel. With your social media influence......you should be able to get it done quickly. Remember though......the key is to be nice, and positive about the company while letting them know that you are unhappy and have a bugle to spread the word to the masses.
Good luck,
Kevin

Chris,
Oh, the next story that comes to mind is my power chord for my Macbook Pro melted near the "brains" of the adapter...........I called them and they said there was a six week wait on the chord.
Again, I explained that was not acceptable, and very nicely said it almost burned my house down.
i got my chord the next day in the mail.
Apple can be cracked.
Kevin

I'm surprised that Apple hasn't commented on this post yet to quell the negative comments. Your blog is a pretty big one to ignore. Even a “progressive” company like Apple still doesn’t really get the power of social media.

If you want great customer service get a Dell. I had a problem with my computer and they sent a person to my office to fix it. They were in and out within an hour and my computer has run perfectly ever since.

I'm an advocate of great customer service as I had been in the industry for quite sometime though not with Apple but pushing a loyal customer over the phone to go online and file an appointment is a lame excuse of doing what they are supposed to do. No wonder why some companies fail due to poor customer service especially on the front line end. They should have a back-end system to file the concern without you (the customer) requiring to do it online yourself or at least they should have done it for you instead with you over the phone discussing your problem. If it should have been done that way, then there would be no time wasted. Everybody's happy, they keep your business.

Microsoft Windows is much worse. My Windows machines get slow after a year of use, and the warranty has long run out, so I would now have to pay for someone to tell me to reboot, clear the cache, and they don't know what the problem is (with an Indian accent).

Try a Windows PC for a couple of years, and you'll be begging for your Apple.

Well, the monitor on my iMac turned green (for the second time) several months ago. I called, got a person right away, and he suggested I bring it in. I explained I live in NYC (no car) and schlepping the iMac to the store (and down the stairs) would be very difficult.

He said, oh, that's OK, WE"LL SEND SOMEONE! I nearly fell over.

And they did!!! I didn't even have to go to the store. They sent a tech to fix it. FOR FREE. And, he came back twice (didn't have the right part the first time), installed a new cable (which was the problem) and gave me a new screen. The service was fantastic!

I've had the same experience with Apple being not great on the phone, but an entirely different story once you "do it their way" and make the appointment, or show up with your computer in person when they're not busy. This has been true both on east and west coasts. Recently, my "logitech board" died which is why I could not boot up. I brought it into the store, (Palo Alto), they shipped my laptop to their factory in Tennessee, and fixed it good as new in about a week. Since it took longer then the written estimate, the service manager didn't even charge me, and he called me twice to advise me of the status. That was impressive, and says to me they are consciously working on customer service, but I agree, it's a concept in progress.

Find an authorized reseller. They usually have staff qualified to do warranty repairs and they're a lot easier to deal with than Apple.

On a side note, the Genius Bar is an amazing piece of cruelty. Look! there are three people just a couple of feet away who can solve your problems, but you've got to go home and make an appointment if you want to talk to one of them.

Did you know all Apple Store staff are issued iTaser attachments for their iPhones just to prevent unauthorized contact with a genius?

I felt this same way today trying to get a real human being to talk to me at two airlines. The number of hoops on the phone tree was ridiculous. I was swearing at recorded messages by the time I was almost to the real people. How's that going for the customer service employees they do have??? Sometimes, when I'm teaching, I ask my students to cut me slack. I ask because I believe that most of the rest of the time I'm delivering extremely high quality stuff for them as a teacher. So they cut me the slack I ask for. I don't ask very often. But I'm human, for goodness sakes. What they are doing at the airlines however isn't asking for my patience, it's inviting my inner Medusa to go ballistic on them. I try really hard not to swear at people in person or online (and Chris, I think your GFY is a tad over the top) but, who knows, any day now, I might slip. :)

Well that would make me nuts too. If your computer is dead then how can you get support online? Which makes absolutely no sense!

Hi Chris, I live in a country where most of the company don't care about their customers and when the customers started to complain, they don't know how to handle the complain.

Just recently we got a case where a former patient in an International hospital here got arrested because of an e-mail that she wrote due to the poor serviced that she experienced from this hospital. How foolish was that! That's not how you handle complaint... I bet if Apple sees this article from you, they would try to fix their services and maybe creating a smarter robot :P

Funny you posted this...The only way I can get my Mac out of sleep mode is to shut it off the bad way :(

I'm afraid I am going to have to give in to the "must book an appointment online"
Hope your issue is resolved & someone from apple sees this & finds a better solution than this online appointment nonsense (fingers crossed..on both hands*)

Hello boy,
I got a similar problem last year and went straight to an Apple store in Orlando... Problem fixed 30 minutes later... Why bother with customer service online or on the phone since you'll have to go and show your Mac to a store anyway... ??? And no need to "befriend" a Mac Genius;)

I'm sorry I don't work there any more. YOu could have called my cell.....

jjajjaj, hilarious Chris! , specially the "GFY" part. I'm pretty sure that a couple of Apple people are going to go nuts after they find this post, LOL!

REALLY? Book appts. ONLINE? You know, I want a Mac, really bad. I have an iPod but I didn't buy it, it was a gift.
And now you have scared me a bit. Why would I spend 1500.00 on the laptop I want if , when it won't work, I have to go to the library to get online to book an appt? If I spend that kind of money on something NEW I want a 1 800 number to call and I want someone to pick up the phone PRONTO. Maybe I'll stick with HP

Oh...and... the Mac store is way across town, in another town actually, and it's in this town center that you have to park a half mile away and walk. Seriously. I think I'll stick with my HP

I now share with you the horrendous treatment of me, by Apple when purchasing my iPhone--had THREE DUDS in a row.

http://is.gd/QQJ0

Couldn't believe an employee yelled at me, in store, in front of my kid.

Want to be clear that I don't work for Apple. However I have owned one or two (or in case of iPhones and iPods four) of everything they make (also going back to '84) and have never had trouble with service, even when I didn't have the paid insurance thing. So I hope your experience is the exception. But since you have so much influence wanted to put in a plug for the brand. Besides the Mac Genius, their 99.00 dollar a year once a week private lessons are perhaps the greatest service a brand has ever created for its customers. Good for customer and smart for brand in building loyalty. Got my 78 year old Mom to become a Mac lover. A little off message here, and agree that service is more important than ever (especially in the age Twitter and blogs where anyone with a Mac, or even a PC for that matter, can influence perceptions about a brand) but there are culprits out there far worse than Apple.

I understand your frustration but I just had a really good experience with Apple.

Trackpad and keyboard had a short. Went on apple.com supplied my serial number. Setup a troubleshooting call, couldn't fix it over the phone and we don't have a Apple store in my area so they overnighted a box to me and they paid to have it sent next day to their Apple center in Houston. They got my laptop the next day, had it fixed and shipped back out the same day.

Who only has access to ONE internet-capable computer? Talk about an artifact from the 1950s.

Hells bells, man. I'm a poor law student, yet I have my macbook, my old PC desktop, my girlfriend's macbook, and my blackberry available for net use on demand. Additionally, I have no fewer than five friends that would make their computer(s) available with a bit of notice. And let's not forget the homeless man's alternative: the public library.

Telephone operators belong in black-and-white movies, not in modern discussions of customer service. Don't be too hard on Apple. They can't be expected to appease every rotary-dialing Luddite out there. a-wink.

Good post, but a bit brief. Should break it into parts and go into more details. That is what i feel. Any i like your post very much. Thanks for sharing and wishing you all the best. Keep blogging.