wow talk about a bad experience

[otispunkmeyer]

just over on macrumours and came across this thread

http://forums.macrumors.com/sh...ad.php?t=343603&page=1

in short

*guys sister buys macbook (made in week 32)
*it vibrates quite a bit
*they take it back, Genius declars it just fine
*offers his sister a deal - she can exchange it for another on the condition that she can no longer exchange no matter how much worse the new one is
*she accepts, he gives her a Week 17! and its even worse.
*lots of back an forth, apple phone support said it was defective, store were wrong to offer that deal
*in the end they get banned from the store and banned from buying a macbook..... but they can buy a mac book pro if they want.


On page 3 of the thread.... he replys after visiting the store with his sister. she was a mac newbie, this was her first mac and she knows little about computers. heh what a way to learn!

Ok, so I called Apple Customer Relations this morning, and they told me they were going to call the apple store where I purchased the macbook from and then get back to me. Because this may take a while before getting resolved, I guess I will just explain what took place, as perhaps some other users have suggestions as to how to further approach this.

(the following was edited because of pronoun problems) When my sister originally bought the macbook it was vibrating so I told her to take it back, and the genius told her that it wasn't really a problem because some macbooks vibrate and some don't. After arguing, he agreed to change it on the condition that she could no longer switch it again. This exchange deal was something she really had no choice but to agree to - it was either accept this ridiculous deal or be stuck with a broken computer. The genius actually told her she was playing a "lottery". He was also very upset that she got him to waive the restocking fee...

So that macbook comes home, even though my sister said it, too, was vibrating and that he genius said too bad you already accepted the deal. I am very angry about this so I decide to go into the apple store the next day with her. And that's where I left off.

First off, the genius who I spoke to was extremely rude and insulting. I was showing him the problem and he told me 'dont tell me how to do my job, I've seen way more macs than you have in my time'. Overall, he was very disrespectful and I couldn't believe it. I told him this: on that demo table, there are 5 macbooks. 1 of them vibrates, and the others don't. how is it possible that it's not defective? He told me I didn't know what I was talking about. He also completely dismissed giving me a week 17 when the original was a week 32. I get to speak to the genius supervisor, who is much nicer and calmer. He, too, doesn't want to assist me at all. I even told him that I was pretty sure it's illegal to offer customers "exchange deals" and he told me to prove it and bring him legal documents! I told him I Called apple (Apple tech said it was defective and she was outraged at what took place). He calls apple and then comes back to me. What did they tell you, I ask. He tells me they said they're sorry for giving you false information. (yeah, right).

What he told me now is why I have refrained from posting...I am a very calm person, as you can tell by my previous post. I was extremely civil and courteous the whole time, not raising my voice or being arrogant like they were. He tells me that they will give me a full refund but that now I was banned from buying macbooks at the apple store. He said that he would sell me a macbook pro, but not a macbook, and that I was banned from the store. I told him that it really wasn't right to be banning customers who have defective computers from the store. I got my refund, and left. Travelling back and forth a few times (30 min trip), hours of wasted time, and the result is nothing - I am now left without a computer, extremely dissatisfied that I can't buy from the Apple Store. The reason why I bought there was so that I could take advantage of their promos. I guess I'll have to order online, or see what the rep will say when (if) she calls me back.

wow, i guess customer service 101 was something none of them ever bothered with.

if i was incharge of running the retail stores at apple, id be sacking the whole store. i wouldnt want my people talking down their noses at customers and banning them from stores just because they tried to get what they paid for.... a defect free mac. (is there such a thing?)

 

[Chaotic42]

First of all I'd deal with Apple directly and threaten to take my business elsewhere. He might be able to get a discount that way. Customer service is definitely something that requires good training and I imagine that in the tech industry it's even harder to do.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

is it actually legal to say that if you exchange this now, you cannot exchange again even if the new one is also faulty?

i cant see how thats legal, i thought you could return an apple product to the store within 14days for a refund or exchange if there were any problems? i mean they took it back the very next day with the vibrating problem (which is probably related to the hard disk) and were given this "deal" if you can call it that.

then to ban them, a customer willing to give your store money, from buying a mac book....but saying they are allowed to buy a more expensive mac book pro.....eh? surely that is not legal. thats not even bait n switch, thats you will buy the more expensive model if you want a mac.

 

[mh47g]

I guess that's what you get for buying a mac

 

[Auggie]

Sounds like a horrendous PR blunder - but also that the centralized Apple support was aiding in resolving the situation.

"Banned from the store" - that's laughable. Just go tomorrow, or the day after. If the promo deals end, well, bummer - but if it was only worth getting at some kind of special price, it might not be worth getting at all.

 

[tfinch2]

I hate the douchebags that work at the apple store. They act like they hand crafted the machine themselves.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
I hate the douchebags that work at the apple store. They act like they hand crafted the machine themselves.

Very true.

I stopped buying Macs because of the piss-poor service from their store, plus I had so many issues with my Macbook, none of which could be fixed at their stores.

 

[PottedMeat]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
is it actually legal to say that if you exchange this now, you cannot exchange again even if the new one is also faulty?

This just seems like a great way to get fired. He probably figured the customer wouldn't call apple/put the story on the internet. Why the hell does apple call their service techs 'geniues' - it probably attracts all the assholes.

 

[ATLien247]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
is it actually legal to say that if you exchange this now, you cannot exchange again even if the new one is also faulty?

This just seems like a great way to get fired. He probably figured the customer wouldn't call apple/put the story on the internet. Why the hell does apple call their service techs 'geniues' - it probably attracts all the assholes.

No, the fact that it is Apple attracts all the assholes.

I kid, I kid...

 

[Saga]

Recognize that you're dealing with an establishment that labels their front-line low-level technical support as "geniuses". Then, once thats sunk in, come back and you'll realize everything you were missing to begin with.

 

[imported_Imp]

Somehow, this isn't really surprising to me. An Apple Store just opened last year at my "local" mall, and it looks like it's some elitest as*wipe's creation. Ya, so cool with their post-modern, hip store layout and sales reps to go with them. The "look" alone keeps me away.

 

[Gneisenau]

I think it relates to the coperate attitude that Apple computer are far superior to anything else. -How dare you question the reliability of an Apple. -You are a heritic [sp?] and must be burned at the stake at midnight.

It's one reason I stopped dealing with them...I feel so much better now...

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

If you can post on that forum post this for me.
"The Mac store has actually done you a favor. Now you can use that money you were going to spend on the Macbook and buy a real laptop and save $1000."

 

[Saga]

Do these retards seriously gauge the worth of their machines by the week they were created? Man, if anything, Apple sure does know how to breed a whole new world of stupid. At least they're smart enough to do it and make money at the same time compared to the hicks using their student loans for Dells.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Izusaga
Do these retards seriously gauge the worth of their machines by the week they were created? Man, if anything, Apple sure does know how to breed a whole new world of stupid. At least they're smart enough to do it and make money at the same time compared to the hicks using their student loans for Dells.

The difference is the specs.

They may be the same generation of mac books, but the ones released in the 17th week of the year are different from the ones released in the 32nd week of the year...

The price may be the same on the days they were released, but the processor speed is usually not the same and the previous models are now actually cheaper.

So if he bought one released in week 33 and it cost say... $1499 for a 1.8Ghz processor, then they were given one from week 17 with a 1.6Ghz processor... there is a huge reason to raise hell, especially considering a model with a 1.6Ghz processor probably retails for $100-200 less now (These aren't actually the specs/prices, just illustrating the point)

Originally posted by: ATLien247
No, the fact that it is Apple attracts all the assholes.

I kid, I kid...

You may be kidding, but it's pretty much the truth. In my experience about 75%+ of the regular Apple users I know will swear by Apple being the best (whether it be iPods or Macs) but don't know a damn thing about all those fancy numbers and specs that people tell them.

I've actually been in an argument where a girl was trying to convince me that it's worth $500 more to go from a 2.2Ghz processor to a 2.4Ghz processor on a macbook pro... because it's "so much faster and can do so much more." She couldn't tell the difference between the two when they were right next to each other.

Apple is trendy and it's for trendy people with the exception of people that know what they are doing. They buy in to it because somewhere they were convinced that it's the trendy thing to do to hate Windows... even though their best excuse for doing so is because "Bill Gates is the devil".

<-- Cross platform user. I have the right to criticize.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
is it actually legal to say that if you exchange this now, you cannot exchange again even if the new one is also faulty?

This just seems like a great way to get fired. He probably figured the customer wouldn't call apple/put the story on the internet. Why the hell does apple call their service techs 'geniues' - it probably attracts all the assholes.

Why does Subway call their people Sandwich Artists?

<--- Sandwich Artist for 2 years... and I made a fine looking sandwich.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: Izusaga
Do these retards seriously gauge the worth of their machines by the week they were created? Man, if anything, Apple sure does know how to breed a whole new world of stupid. At least they're smart enough to do it and make money at the same time compared to the hicks using their student loans for Dells.

If I'm not mistaken there is a difference as to when the machines were made. They continually make slight revisions that most people don't find out about (for instance there was an issue with the thermal compound on some, which was later fixed). It likely does not vary week to week, but thats almost a 4 month difference. Is it big enough to make a fuss over? In this case, I would say yes, but for most things it wouldn't be.

As for some of you blaming this on Apple in general, thats just stupid and not even really relevant here. This is a single employee at a single store. If you've ever dealt with a corporation (or people in general for that matter) you'll understand that there's just no way you can keep from having at least one a-hole working for you.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Sit in front of the store with a sign and tell people about it, gets companies to change their tune very quickly

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: Izusaga
Do these retards seriously gauge the worth of their machines by the week they were created? Man, if anything, Apple sure does know how to breed a whole new world of stupid. At least they're smart enough to do it and make money at the same time compared to the hicks using their student loans for Dells.

i think it was something to do with getting iLife 08 on the original machine then been exchanged to one just as broken, without the new software. iLife is a waste of space as far as i am concerned but i guess some like it