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Thread: Why Apple has so many fans

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    Default Why Apple has so many fans

    I'm a big supporter and user of Apple products, and have quite for personal use (PC's still for business). I like the way they run their company and take care of customers. Their customer service is as good as it gets.

    Example:

    Today I dropped my new iPad 2 on the concrete outside the store. Waist high. The glass shattered in the corner where it hit, the aluminum case dented, and fractured in three places across the screen. It still worked, but obviously with so many glass shards it was effectively unusable. The $ 829 model - trashed and I've only had it about 6 weeks.

    Searched the net', there is a place in Kansas City that will put in new glass for $ 203. Well, that's what I have to do then. I'll still have the dent in the case on the corner, but what the heck. As I'm getting ready to UPS it to them, I decided to try the local Apple Store which is about 12 miles away. I will take it to the genius bar and just see what my options are. Apple will always replace for a fee most all current models. .

    Apple guy looks at it, and says "This is not a warranty issue you realize?" I tell him yes, of course not, it was my clumsiness. Then he looks up the options and they will replace with a brand new unit for
    $ 419, roughly half the price. Ugh! I suppose its not totally awful, but that made the $ 203 look good in Kansas City. I mention that option I have to him and say that's what I'll probably do.

    He then says "We don't want you to do that - use an unauthorized Apple repair center for your iPad2, you often never get it working right again." He looks up something - not sure if its my buying record of Apple products or not - but 15 seconds later he says "Tell you what - today I'm going to give you a new unit at no charge as a courtesy." And with that he goes in the back and pulls one from stock and hands it to me new in the box. We delete all the info on my broken one and I thank him for doing that, and he tells me 'glad to do it, this is a one-time deal so you know. if you break it again, its $ 419".

    How cool is that? They were absolutely not responsible for this whatsoever and replaced it free of charge. Sure as heck aren't a lot of companies like that.

    Duane

    P.S.

    I also learned that at the end of the day you should clear all open apps from iPhones and iPads. DO NOT use the Menu/Power Button/Hold Down, that's hard on the units I was told. It 'shocks' them. Two ways to clear:
    1) Double Tap the Menu Button and your open apps will appear at the bottom, then close them.
    2) Hold the POWER button and slide the unit bar off. That clears all from memory.

    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    organic_smallhome Guest

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    Wow. Impressive! Put a smile in your day, I'm sure.

  3. #3
    bubbaonline Guest

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    That's awesome!

  4. #4
    Matthew Guest

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    Quote Originally Posted by drcollie View Post
    Their customer service is as good as it gets.
    As long as you don't get malware: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apple...?tag=mncol;txt

    Apple makes some great products, but in general the company is terribly anti-consumer.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
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    274

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    Okay... so a Microsoft fanboy is trying to fan up flames against Apple by suggesting that it's somehow unreasonable for them to give general information about how to remove malware from computers, rather than spending ten, fifteen, thirty minutes explaining how to remove an application that the customer installed? Even though AppleCare does not cover that type of support, and if customer care representatives spend that type of time on the phone for the significant number of "Mac Defender" calls would cause inordinate delays in the processing of calls from people who need support that's actually covered by AppleCare?

    If we were talking about a rare issue, I expect that Apple would walk people through the process; but as the article indicates "One AppleCare support agent told me last week that 50% of calls in the previous week were related to this issue". Every single one of whom downloaded and installed the malware, entering their name and password as part of the installation process. How would you expect Apple to provide front-to-back phone support for that volume of self-inflicted injury while still providing adequate support to people calling with issues covered by AppleCare? It's a bit like complaining that my car dealer won't replace my brakes for free, even though the car is still under a powertrain warranty.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    Quote Originally Posted by Matthew View Post
    Apple makes some great products, but in general the company is terribly anti-consumer.
    I disagree. I have purchased many of their products and they are top notch in the electronics field, better than any other company hardware or software, I've found. They have always exhibited superior customer service when I have dealt with them. Try taking a Dell Netbook back to Best Buy with a shattered glass screen and ask them what they will do for you, then watch the reaction....
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  7. #7
    Matthew Guest

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    Quote Originally Posted by drcollie View Post
    I disagree. I have purchased many of their products and they are top notch in the electronics field, better than any other company hardware or software, I've found. They have always exhibited superior customer service when I have dealt with them. Try taking a Dell Netbook back to Best Buy with a shattered glass screen and ask them what they will do for you, then watch the reaction....
    Try taking an Apple notebook back to Best Buy with a shattered glass screen and ask them what they will do for you (hint: they'll refer you to Apple). I did return a Dell monitor to Dell a few years ago (that I had cracked the base of and would no longer sit right) that they repaired/replaced it free of charge (minus shipping, which is a nice thing with the Apple stores).

    From a general consumer standpoint though, I agree that Apple is a good bet. My mom was recently looking to buy a laptop and I recommended a MacBook Air to her. She isn't particularly tech savvy, and the fact that Apple has an actual store she can go to when she has an issue is a definite plus on Apple's side for customer service. As someone who works in that industry though and has to deal with Apple's arrogance regularly, I have very few good things to say about the company.

    That said, I do own both an iPhone and an iPad. I don't deny that they make good products, I just don't like the company.

  8. #8
    AZJoe Guest

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    ^^
    That is just it. Apples are good if you want to just get something, take it out of the box, and use it. IMO

    My wife wanted a new phone, and for that reason I recommended she get an iphone. Less headache for me, as I don't have to root it, load different roms, etc.

    Me? I like to play with things. ANDROID is what I prefer. HTC just announced they will no longer be locking their bootloaders, which shows right there they have their finger on the pulse, and are listening to their customers.

    As a company though Apple is KILLING IT. They are an absolute powerhouse.

  9. #9
    Matthew Guest

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    Quote Originally Posted by aaron View Post
    Okay... so a Microsoft fanboy
    First, I never once mentioned Microsoft. As I stated, I own both an iPhone and an iPad (I'll happily post a picture of each with this webpage up if you doubt me and you'd like to continue labeling me without having any clue of who I am).

    Second, as to the malware issue, shouldn't Apple be somewhat at fault for lulling their users into a false sense of security by consistently telling their user-base that Apple products cannot get viruses or malware? 50% of their support calls were having this problem. For a company apparently without fault when it comes to customer service, wouldn't the customer friendly thing to do be to at least point the user towards a fix? In Duane's case, didn't they do just that (spend time resolving his self-inflicted injury)?

    I'll say again, I think Apple makes great products. However, the cult status they seem to have attained (where they can step on customers and call it a feature) never ceases to baffle me.

  10. #10
    Matthew Guest

    Default Re: Why Apple has so many fans

    This isn't anything negative towards Apple, but is a good example of what baffles me about some fans of Apple's products (I suppose it's to Apple's credit that they've been able to make their products this desirable):

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20...CmoreStories.0

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