[Ti] Apple Store Service blows

[Robert Nicholson]

I had a friend recently have a power supply go bad on him and Apple 
agreed to replace it under warranty. My friend drove all the way out to 
this Applestore and they told him that they didn't have that part in 
"service inventory." But they had the same part as retail inventory in 
stock. No amount of pleading with them would have them allow him to 
take that item. He was forced to drive to yet another Applestore some 
30 minutes away where they reluctantly replaced his part because he 
forgot to bring his receipt even though the part was clearly released 
to the market less than 12 months ago. ie. new power supply.

If you ask me Apple Store employees and the people who instruct them 
don't care all that much about their customers.

All of that said I've had terrific service for the most part from Apple 
when dealing with my warranty repairs with my Tibook but since most of 
the work was performed in Asia mostly as walk-in repairs I was spoilt 
in this regard and simply do not expect this kind of service when 
dealing with similar problems in the US or the Europe.

On Monday, April 7, 2003, at 09:37  PM, XXL wrote:

>> Just wanted to vent a little...
>>
>> Yesterday I purchase a new iMac from the Apple Store at Kenwood Towne
>> Center in Cincinnati, got it home and found that there was a a pixel
>> stuck on BRIGHT red near the center of my screen.  I researched 
>> Apple's
>> website and found that it was within spec and Apple gave instructions
> There was a program I remember from year ago that solved this 
> conundrum. It
> would make enough pixels go "bad" (actually it just made them appear 
> bad) to
> meet  Apples requirements for an exchange.  They you got a trade.
>
> The downside of all this is that replacement LCD's are, apparently, 
> far more
> likely to have pixel defects than those installed in production. So you
> might be better off with the  one bad pixel you have rather than take a
> chance on a screen that has a few more.  (massage often will work even 
> if it
> takes a long time.)
>
> Call the Apple district  manager and plead your case. The guys at the 
> Apple
> Store really are not in a position to do what you ask.  So please do 
> not
> lean on them too much, as they are doing what they are told to do. 
> However
> if you have a relationship with any of the guys at the Apple store it 
> would
> seem to me that they would try to talk their supervisors into taking 
> care of
> it since you are a good customer.
>
> Be reasonable but persistent and I think someone will fix you up. I 
> have
> seen a few get all new PowerBooks from Apple at times, so it is not 
> unheard
> of.  Bottom line is Apple knows their greatest asset is their customer 
> base
> and that should work in your favor.
> Good Luck!
> -Joel
>
>> on how to massage the screen in hopes that it would unstick.  I tried
>> all of that, but to no avail.  Having just purchased it yesterday, I
>> thought I would be able to go in and explain my dissatisfaction and
>> exchange it--especially since I'm a very regular customer, having
>> purchased a PowerBook, iBook, iPod, Palm Tungsten | T, Microsoft
>> Office, digital camera, and various other software and peripherals.
>>
>> Well...much to my dismay and disgust, they basically said "tough 
>> shit."
>> Technically I understand that they were correct, but having purchased
>> so many things there and having waited for them to get stock in when
>> Microcenter had what I needed in stock, just so that I could purchase
>> it from Apple and give them the business, I feel like my patronage is
>> completely unappreciated.  Even after telling them that they didn't
>> care.  I told them that if I walk out of there unsatisfied, they would
>> be losing a lot of future business as I would never buy from them
>> again.  They said it was my call.  So I walked out of there with a
>> refund (less a 10% restocking fee), a bad taste in my mouth, and then
>> went to Microcenter to buy my iMac (which is free of dead or stuck
>> pixels).  The Apple Store will NOT get any of my business ever again.
>> If I ran my business with their disregard for customer loyalty and
>> patronage, I wouldn't HAVE a business.  I'm not going to switch to PCs
>> over this, but I do not support any business that doesn't treat me as
>> I've treated them.
>
>
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