Apple Store hits another customer service home run

[MotionMan]

I recently bought from an AT member an Apple aluminum wired keyboard with a known issue with the right Control key.

I received the keyboard and spent some time with the key, trying to get it to behave, without success.

I made a Genius appointment at one of my local Apple Stores for today (Sunday) to see if they could help me. I figured there would to one of three possible outcomes; 1) There was nothing they could do, 2) They would be able to reattach the key so that it worked properly or 3) They would replace the keyboard with a refurbished one.

I went to my appointment, was honest with the Genius (as is always the best thing to do) and he took the keyboard in the back (presumably to look at it under a magnifying glass to look for broken parts). He came out with a plain brown keyboard-sized box and told me he was going to swap it out under warranty.

I thanked him profusely as we completed the "paperwork" on his iPad. I offhandedly asked if it was a refurb and he said, "No, it is a brand new keyboard packaged in plain boxes for the express purpose of exchanges."

So, though I had hoped to walk out with a fully-functional keyboard, I did not, for one second, expect to end up with a new one. :biggrin:

Apple customer service FTW (again)!!!

MotionMan

 

[Koing]

Nice. Always good to hear about good customer service.

I had an iPhone 4 that after nearly 2yrs the speaker stopped working. Backed up, went to the apple store. They checked it out, no water issues and they just swapped it out right there and then. Thanks!

Koing

 

[Rottie]

No wonder Apple Genius service is the best!

 

[BarkingGhostar]

No wonder Apple Genius service is the best!

Yes, fix the problem by replacing the hardware instead of fixing the hardware. How genius of them.

And yes, I could train a monkey to exactly that. Oh wait, Apple already did.

 

[saratoga172]

Their cs has been really good in my couple experiences. GF dropped her MBP that was maybe 6 months old. Felt bad since she saved for it for a while. Told her to make an appt at the Genius Bar to see of they could do anything before I cracked it open.

Her video was displaying colors across the screen that made some of it Not useable. She took it in and had them look at it. They popped it open and it turned out to be a loose video cable they reconnected. All for free. She had no AppleCare and they were supposed to charge but didn't. Kudos to them. They even offered to try and fix the small dent for free.

Other time was my iphone 4. Dropped it and cracked the screen (in a case no less) and they replaced it for free. No questions asked.

 

[Tweak155]

I went there for a power supply that just up and went out.

Took my MBA and the bad power supply, showed them it didn't charge. They didn't have a replacement available out of their service stock so they grabbed a retail box off the shelf, tore it open and handed it to me.

So far so good. It was annoying having to wait for so long but the iPhone 5s had just come out.

 

[TheStu]

I went there for a power supply that just up and went out.

Took my MBA and the bad power supply, showed them it didn't charge. They didn't have a replacement available out of their service stock so they grabbed a retail box off the shelf, tore it open and handed it to me.

So far so good. It was annoying having to wait for so long but the iPhone 5s had just come out.

The appts and waiting are fairly annoying, but it's worth it to me knowing that the problem is going to get taken care of one way or another.

 

[MotionMan]

The appts and waiting are fairly annoying, but it's worth it to me knowing that the problem is going to get taken care of one way or another.

I am lucky in that I have a choice of Apple Stores near me. If the one near my house does not have an available appointment the next day, the one 10 minutes further away usually does.

I also temper my expectations regarding the wait - I expect to have to sit on a stool for a little while waiting for an available Genius (and usually my son is happy to play with the display iPads while I wait - we don't have an iPad). I use that time to educate myself on how to solve other peoples tech problems by eavesdropping on the people being helped around me.

Sometimes your experience is all about expectations.

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

A few months ago, I bought an iPod Touch (5th Gen) for my son through Craigslist. This past Thursday, the home button started to stick. I made a Genius Bar appointment for this past Sunday, and they replaced it with no questions asked.

Yet another win for Apple.

MotionMan

 

[SamQuint]

Funny story, the son of a guy at our office dropped his cell phone in the water at the beach. He was mad at the son and knew the water damage wasn't covered and would have to buy a new phone at full price. He thought this would be a perfect learning lesson for the boy. He would take him down to the store, have him explain what happened, and see how much it would cost to replace. He would then make the boy work it off after he bought the replacement.

They go into the store, the boy explains that he dropped the phone in the water and it was all his fault. The guy behind the counter tells him that it was refreshing to hear someone actually tell them the truth about their phone being water damaged. The guy gives him a new iphone with no charge whatsoever.

The guy was pissed his son got off scott free. I think the reason they did it was because he had just purchased 2 iPads and 2 MacBook airs.

 

[MotionMan]

They guy was pissed his son got off scott free.

Apple's fabulous customer service is contributing to the downfall of our society.



MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

Apple rocks it again.

Brought in two old Apple keyboards (a wired extended and a wireless) with misbehaving keys. The Genius played around with them for a few minutes, confirmed their malfunctions and provided me with free replacements for both.

Awesome!

MotionMan

 

[HiroThreading]

Great news.

Honestly, it's Apple's customer service that makes it stand out from the other brands, and is something that Apple haters always tend to forget about when performing price/performance judgements.

 

[nerp]

Nice customer service. Too bad the parts keep breaking.

 

[MotionMan]

Nice customer service. Too bad the parts keep breaking.

The keyboards I brought in yesterday were from 2007 and 2009.

MotionMan

 

[geekyny]

They honestly have some of the best customer service in the entire game. I've gone in there with a phone that I felt was running hot and walked out with a brand new one. Minimal questions asked, nothing really showed on the diagnostic they ran.. but they did feel the heat the phone was generating and thought that warranted swapping it out. I was also in and out in about 20 minutes.

 

[slackerinabox]

Just adding that everytime I've had a problem Apple's gone above and beyond. I especially liked that problems that couldn't be replicated weren't dismissed - they always swapped the item out just in case. The best support I've ever had, consistently. HP has been horrible, Lenovo suspicious (did YOU drop the machine? Accusations to prevent them from having to do work on multiple occassions). Dell actually pretty fantastic - they sent a guy to my house to fix a $300 netbook... Took him like 8 combined hours and 2 trips, it would have been cheaper to give me a refurb instead, but still impressively convenient other than the dude sitting in my house for so long...

It's why, while I like samsung and my s7 edge I don't think I'll go back to samsung for anything but a tv or fridge. One of my 2 s7 edges doesn't work with wifi calling and It's so frustrating dealing with them: long hold times and the run around between phone reps reading scripts, and a carrier who's never heard of the problem In fact I've given up on resolving that issue and just deal with it. Apple would have just swapped out the phone right out of the gate.

 

[Artdeco]

It's why, while I like samsung and my s7 edge I don't think I'll go back to samsung for anything but a tv or fridge.

I like LG's appliances quite a bit

Apple lives by that axiom, "underpromise, and overdeliver". It's not rocket science, and I'm still amazed other phone manufacturers can't get it together to develop that kind of loyalty.

It does backfire occasionally, one of the tech journalists on cnet got very upset and wrote about it when Apple wouldn't replace an iPod that was years out of warranty. He got pissy and even threatened a genius with the article, pulling a "Do you know who I am?" I thought he was way out of line...

 

[Bubblehappy]

Samsung support absolutely sucks. I had a Gear S2 that would not receive text notifications from my phone. I chatted with three different reps in a far away nation who typed very broken english, and each ultimately told me I needed to exchange the unit. Well, I found the problem, it was my own fault, but I had the wrong txt app set to sync to the watch.

 

[slackerinabox]

Samsung support absolutely sucks. I had a Gear S2 that would not receive text notifications from my phone. I chatted with three different reps in a far away nation who typed very broken english, and each ultimately told me I needed to exchange the unit. Well, I found the problem, it was my own fault, but I had the wrong txt app set to sync to the watch.

Yes, they know absolutely nada and read a script. Which is why I roll my eyes whenever a samsung fan mockingly refers to apple support as faux-geniuses... They tend to be hella more aware of their own products than samsung employees. The run-around you experienced was exactly my same experience, but what was frustrating was that they erred on their side not mine "well, I haven't heard of that problem so it must not exist." And the hold times and constant transfers was almost like their plan is to tire out a customer instead of dealing with issues. Apple would never do that, though really the s7 edge is a great phone so I'll deal with it this generation.

 

[TheStu]

Yes, they know absolutely nada and read a script. Which is why I roll my eyes whenever a samsung fan mockingly refers to apple support as faux-geniuses... They tend to be hella more aware of their own products than samsung employees. The run-around you experienced was exactly my same experience, but what was frustrating was that they erred on their side not mine "well, I haven't heard of that problem so it must not exist." And the hold times and constant transfers was almost like their plan is to tire out a customer instead of dealing with issues. Apple would never do that, though really the s7 edge is a great phone so I'll deal with it this generation.

I mean, Genius Bar is kind of a... SUPER pretentious thing, you know? And apparently in some of the redesigned flagship stores, rather than the Genius Bar it will be the Genius GROVE... ooooh.

That said, I have rarely had to call upon Apple Support, but all my interactions with them have been positive. When my Dad changed emails on his AppleID, but didn't change it in enough places (which is a whole other issue with Apple), it may have taken 3 people to get it fixed 'Ok, this is more complicated than I thought, i'm going to transfer you up' was heard twice (warm-transfers both times, didn't have to re-hash the issue), the level 3 tech was able to get the situation sorted. One phone call, which was clear, and everyone spoke perfect English*.



* Listen, I don't care if the call center is in Central Ohio, Southern India, or the moon, please communicate with me in the language I speak, in a way that I can understand. i'm looking at you, work Help Desk

 

[slackerinabox]

I mean, Genius Bar is kind of a... SUPER pretentious thing, you know? And apparently in some of the redesigned flagship stores, rather than the Genius Bar it will be the Genius GROVE... ooooh.

That said, I have rarely had to call upon Apple Support, but all my interactions with them have been positive. When my Dad changed emails on his AppleID, but didn't change it in enough places (which is a whole other issue with Apple), it may have taken 3 people to get it fixed 'Ok, this is more complicated than I thought, i'm going to transfer you up' was heard twice (warm-transfers both times, didn't have to re-hash the issue), the level 3 tech was able to get the situation sorted. One phone call, which was clear, and everyone spoke perfect English*.



* Listen, I don't care if the call center is in Central Ohio, Southern India, or the moon, please communicate with me in the language I speak, in a way that I can understand. i'm looking at you, work Help Desk

Ok, I'm being pretentious here but the view that apple is pretentious, I feel, is a class war thing. Apple is often marketed to the rich and pretentious, yes, but it's obvious why - they has more monies than the walmart $200 laptop set who'd value a customer service center called "'puters and shit" instead of "genius bar." It's a model and marketing approach that has served them VERY well, but I suppose it could alienate the "common man" who views their approach snobby and pretentious. So it's kinda silly in my view to call them pretentious - that's like calling the new yorker magazine pretentious: why, yes it may be but that's there target, they're indifferent weather or not pickup truck drivers don't get the truffaut reference in their latest cartoon, because those people are poor.

But in the end they're pretentious but also provide industry leading support and product longevity (my dad's still rocking an iMac I bought 9 years ago), at a premium all of their users obviously don't mind paying.

 

[Artdeco]

Yep, there's definitely a class issue with a lot of the Apple trolling, you fly first class and see about a 90% mix of Apple VS Android, go back to coach, and the mix is much lower.

 

[slackerinabox]

Yep, there's definitely a class issue with a lot of the Apple trolling, you fly first class and see about a 90% mix of Apple VS Android, go back to coach, and the mix is much lower.

And people who can only afford coach (myself included) will justify their existence by insisting that everyone who flies 1st is a spoiled, indulgent idiot with more money than sense... When they're just kinda jealous. I don't think they're "jealous" in the typical sense, they just want to shit on what they can't have I guess. Just get an iPhone SE and a used mac instead of a chromebook, and sneak into the club No judgement, I rock an s7 edge but go back and forth because I like trying new things (and android 6.0 really isn't bad, it's the ecosystem and the apple premium experience that I miss).

 

[Commodus]

You know, I've never seen Apple Stores or the Genius Bar as pretentious. It's mainly because Apple's products are still generally accessible (especially now that the iPhone SE is out), and the very point of the Genius Bar is to ask all kinds of questions, even the basic "how do I do this?" variety.

Apple does put on airs at times, especially for higher-end devices, but it's not the same as, say, Rolex or Mercedes.