Losing faith in Apple Support.

[Aperture]

Well, I've got to say, having been an avid Apple customer for just over 3 years now, I'm starting to slowly lose faith in the way Apple Support is treating its customers. Having paid for Apple Care, a service which is supposed to out rival competitors in terms of ease of use, clarity and helpfulness has left me with nothing but bitter disappointment.

Let me put it into perspective. I am now on my fourth iPhone 3G, and fifth Macbook Pro. In terms of my Macbook Pro, two out of five of them are upgrades. The rest have been faults which have resulted in direct replacements. I appreciate the argument that a direct replacement sounds like reasonable service, but I must stress this was under the statutory rights of under 14 days.

In terms of my iPhone, I am now on my fourth. The first had an LCD Burn in the middle of the screen, that was replaced with an iPhone that a couple of weeks later, refused to boot past the logo. The iPhone that proceeded to replace that, had an issue with the LCD Screen coming away from the Bezel. This, now my fourth, hopefully will be okay!

My Macbook Pro's issues ranged from over a dozen dead pixels, to the fan's losing their bearings and grinding against the body. I upgraded to the new Macbook Pro Unibody, which last night was running fine until a haunting grinding noise came from inside. I took a video recording just in case symptoms disappeared when I took it to an Apple Store. Lo-and-behold, they did.

Getting to the Apple Store in and of itself, was a nightmare. I rang Apple Care, and spoke to a foreign gentleman that uttered a very strong accent. He tried to persuade me to go through resetting the PMU, as if that was to fix the problem - and when he was satisfied it wouldn't, tried to get me an appointment. I say tried, I had to ask him, then repeat myself, then specify it was the Arndale Store that was nearest to me, then wait until he spoke again asking if I still wanted an appointment, then reaffirming this, and still getting no where. So I told him I'd do it myself, and ended the call.

I rang Apple Arndale - was told by a robot that it'd be five minutes or less before someone could handle my call. Fourty five minutes later, I gave up. Rang Apple Care back, asked to go straight to a supervisor or manager. The - again - foreign person, asked for my serial number and name, then put me on hold. For a further 20 minutes. Then I was, again, by another foreign person, asked for my serial number and name. She then said is my problem to do with a 'student rebate' for my iPod. No, I replied. Then I told her what I've had to go through for the past hour or so, just to book an appointment to get the problem fixed. She promptly sorted out an appointment for me, and so it was done.

I get there, and the problem disappears!

I think I've spent more in train fares getting to the store, than I have in actual Apple Products, christ.

So I've fired an e-mail off to Steve Jobs, hoping some high-level customer service person see's it, and logs it as yet another complaint about Apple's Service as of late.

Anywho, cue the replies of people who think I'm moaning over very little, bla bla bla.

edit: Losing faith, not loosing. If a mod could change?

[Brad.]

You have every right to moan, that customer support sounds horrendous.

Hope everything gets sorted out soon mac (Y)

[Mercellus]

Wow, that is a pretty horrific story. I'm surprised that you wound up speaking to customer service representatives with heavy accents, when I have called AppleCare it has always been someone who speaks very fluent English and is usually based in the same country.

Definitely hang in there with your battle and you will eventually walk away satisfied, Apple Corporate Executive Customer Relations have the power to do just about anything to ensure that you are satisfied at the end of the situation and they will do their best in resolving the issue for you as fast as possible.

[Aperture]

Wow, that is a pretty horrific story. I'm surprised that you wound up speaking to customer service representatives with heavy accents, when I have called AppleCare it has always been someone who speaks very fluent English and is usually based in the same country.

Definitely hang in there with your battle and you will eventually walk away satisfied, Apple Corporate Executive Customer Relations have the power to do just about anything to ensure that you are satisfied at the end of the situation and they will do their best in resolving the issue for you as fast as possible.

Right? A year ago, all the customer support people were either Irish, or British. Now they're either Indian, or, as far as I can gather, Polish? It's the worst thing, trying to speak in lament terms to people that can't understand me. It's frustrating to have to repeat myself once, and hair pulling when having to do it a fourth time.

[General Disarray]

I rang Apple Care, and spoke to a foreign gentleman that uttered a very strong accent.

The - again - foreign person, asked for my serial number and name, then put me on hold. For a further 20 minutes. Then I was, again, by another foreign person, asked for my serial number and name

xenophobe.

[Mercellus]

Right? A year ago, all the customer support people were either Irish, or British. Now they're either Indian, or, as far as I can gather, Polish? It's the worst thing, trying to speak in lament terms to people that can't understand me. It's frustrating to have to repeat myself once, and hair pulling when having to do it a fourth time.

Yes, this is exactly the reason why I can't stand contacting Dell customer service or any other department at Dell because it's all outsourced to India or the Philippines. I don't mind being patient and repeating myself if they didn't catch something (having worked in a contact centre up until yesterday evening, I can understand this), but having to repeat yourself four or five times just to get your point across can be extremely frustrating.

[Aperture]

xenophobe.

Oh, and here comes the stringent stream of predictability.

I am not a xenophobe. I am a very balanced, and unbiased human being. But when I pay extra for a service - I expect at the very least, to speak to someone whom can understand me, and whom I can understand in return. I specified they were foreign, as that was the case. Their accents are hard for me to understand, and it seemed likewise.

How else would you like me to explain it? Or is this just a case of me being an example of a disgusting xenophobic human being?

[General Disarray]

Oh, and here comes the stringent stream of predictability.

I am not a xenophobe. I am a very balanced, and unbiased human being. But when I pay extra for a service - I expect at the very least, to speak to someone whom can understand me, and whom I can understand in return. I specified they were foreign, as that was the case. Their accents are hard for me to understand, and it seemed likewise.

How else would you like me to explain it? Or is this just a case of me being an example of a disgusting xenophobic human being?

Yes, who wants to talk to all those foreign people from those foreign places in foreign land, I am on your side here.

Lets all remember, its their fault they have a strong accent and their fault apple moved to their country and hired them.

[Aperture]

Yes, who wants to talk to all those foreign people from those foreign places in foreign land, I am on your side here.

Lets all remember, its their fault they have a strong accent and their fault apple moved to their country and hired them.

Thanks for your input.

[Hurmoth]

xenophobe.

It has nothing to do with being afraid of someone who's different and everything to do with, if you're going to support English speaking people, LEARN ENGLISH!!! I wouldn't expect someone who speaks French to learn English if they're paying me, I'd learn their language.

[Aperture]

It has nothing to do with being afraid of someone who's different and everything to do with, if you're going to support English speaking people, LEARN ENGLISH!!! I wouldn't expect someone who speaks French to learn English if they're paying me, I'd learn their language.

In defense Hurmoth, their English was very good. My only problem, was their accents. It was very thick, very strong, and very hard to understand. As I'm sure I was hard to understand, as I speak with a strong, thick and fast accent myself. My problem was not really with those people on an individual basis, but more so on a communicative level.

[nmesisca]

sorry but i have to say all my former employees were foreigners and it was up to me as their future manager to hire the right person, with the right skills, linguistic skills as well, not up to the applicant to bring his/her english up to par.

Apple is, as more or less everyone else, going the cheap way.

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

[Aperture]

Here is the video of the issue I had this morning, which miraculously fixed itself. I still feel really uneasy that it hasn't been investigated further :(

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CNE5sME5amA

[Mercellus]

Here is the video of the issue I had this morning, which miraculously fixed itself. I still feel really uneasy that it hasn't been investigated further :(

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CNE5sME5amA

That sounds like something is stuck in the fan itself. Seeing as you can now remove the bottom plate to gain access to the RAM modules (and, subsequently, everything else including the fans) have you checked to see if there's any physical obstructions?

[Aperture]

That sounds like something is stuck in the fan itself. Seeing as you can now remove the bottom plate to gain access to the RAM modules (and, subsequently, everything else including the fans) have you checked to see if there's any physical obstructions?

It's quiet, now. Even when the fans kick in. I have no idea what it could've been. The Apple Genius guy couldn't do anything, as there was no reason to open it up. Quiet as a mouse. Sigh!

[LTD]

You've got bad Apple karma.

I suggest you make a pilgrimage to 1 Infinite Loop, in Cupertino, California. It's our most Holy of places. If you go with a willing heart and an open mind, you will be cleansed and this malaise shall quit your presence.

You WILL be tested. Make preparations forthwith by consuming Starbucks coffee and organic foods at least a fortnight before your departure.

Good luck!

[Guest]

My iPhone earphones recently packed in so I called Apple support and they sent me a new pair the next day.

I'm sorry to hear of your bad experiences, but I've had no issues with AppleCare.

[Art3x]

How can you talk badly about anything, when you can't spell losing?

[Aperture]

How can you talk badly about anything, when you can't spell losing?

Cute.

If you'd read my opening post, you'd realise I was already aware of the typo I'd made, and asked any mod reading to change it. Now quit trolling.

[Rudy]

You've got bad Apple karma.

I suggest you make a pilgrimage to 1 Infinite Loop, in Cupertino, California. It's our most Holy of places. If you go with a willing heart and an open mind, you will be cleansed and this malaise shall quit your presence.

You WILL be tested. Make preparations forthwith by consuming Starbucks coffee and organic foods at least a fortnight before your departure.

Good luck!

lol :rofl:

[Art3x]

Cute.

If you'd read my opening post, you'd realise I was already aware of the typo I'd made, and asked any mod reading to change it. Now quit trolling.

I read the post, I was just poking a little fun at you.

Seems as though everyone's customer service is going downhill.

Only good experience I've had recently was with Corsair. I called to RMA some ram, and got a very quick response from a knowledgeable person who got me set up in like 10 minutes.

[Aperture]

I read the post, I was just poking a little fun at you.

Ah, I see. Hope it fulfilled your day! :)

[Guest jgrodri]

unbelievable! Guys, how about actually helping? you know... since you came here and posted and all?

to OP: from my personal experience, sending an e-mail to steve usually gets you a good answer. I Just had my white macbook replaced for one of the new unibody mac's. Granted, the second unit does have some problems but i can live with it until it gets fixed (after which I'll have a great far more modern machine for free).

Here's what you can expect: two days from now you will get a call from apple executive support (I had a woman called Margaret L. deal with my case, let me know if you get her). They will hear your problem and suggest you take it to an apple store or authorized service provider (mention they are far away and that you have to pay to get to one, they'll probably arrange for courier pickup) you'll product will be tested for defects and if any are found they will be repaired (or replaced for new ones). If executive support determines you've been through enough already, they will offer free replacements or upgrades for you.

Executive support is the best, is like having your own personal support person. I have no doubt they will manage your case well.

Hang on, a solution is coming your way :)

[Art3x]

Ah, I see. Hope it fulfilled your day! :)

You'll have to excuse me, I'm a 4th grade teacher, so I have to find my humor where ever I can to keep from going insane.

[LTD]

Call Apple HQ, or their UK branch in Cork, Ireland.

If regular customer service channels don't help, then go higher.

E-mail Steve Jobs. You'll probably get a phone call from Apple Corporate Executive Customer Relations. This is what you want.

See the post here:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...#entry590023358