Comments on: Apple - a customer support nightmare!

By: What Is Google Up to Now? | My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings

What Is Google Up to Now? | My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:28:08 +0000

[...] Amy found where the original comment came from. It is on this post and it is comment [...]

By: THE SMALL BUSINESS BLOG » Blog Archive » Apple - the customer support nightmare - Part II: The Criminal Investigation

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:52:39 +0000

[...] Emily Coltman Thanks Stefan. Small businesses I can imagine would embrace the four… www.askm.co.uk [...]

By: Emily Coltman

Emily Coltman — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:21:15 +0000

Thanks Stefan.

Small businesses I can imagine would embrace the four principles. But larger ones can think they have so many customers that it doesn’t matter if they upset a few… especially if they’ve got a monopoly in a certain area like a certain telephone company who shall also be nameless.

By: Phil Connolly

Phil Connolly — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:19:14 +0000

On the keyboard side, £100 to change it is a bit steep. Surely they can only cost a few quid to make. I’m assuming a german version hasn’t got extra keys on so will still map to the same points as an english one. All I need to do on my PC laptop is undo the keyboard screw underneath the laptop and it comes off in seconds. Can’t be more that 5 mins of a job to replace.

By: Stefan Töpfer

Stefan Töpfer — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:21:24 +0000

Dear Emily,

That is what I love about you - I could not have said it better - the nail on the head.

Thanks, Stefan

By: Emily Coltman

Emily Coltman — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 08:16:23 +0000

Hi Stefan,

Your point that you couldn’t find anyone to say “I will take responsibility for this and personally see that it’s sorted out” - struck a real chord.

In so many larger organisations (note I don’t say businesses because I’m also thinking of a certain government department which shall be nameless) you never get to speak to the same person twice, and nobody takes responsibility for seeing a customer’s problem is sorted out.

What makes customer service stink isn’t that suppliers make mistakes. Everybody does that - we are after all only human. It’s that they don’t sort the mistakes out.

These are the four principles of how to deal with making a mistake that I think should be rolled out to all organisations. If you make a mistake:

- Admit it straight away - don’t bluff, the customer will see straight through you
- Apologise to the customer
- Explain to the customer what will be done to put it right
- And do it, or see that it’s done - no excuses!!

By: Stefan Töpfer

Stefan Töpfer — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 08:06:59 +0000

Dave,

Thank you for your good advice, and indeed I had several back-ups. Only the data from that day was missing, which was recovered more or less.

Once again, this is not about the technical problem, it is about what happened afterward, that made me unhappy. Things do go wrong, it is what happens next that makes your company different from the next, and as I said I had better service before.

By: Allen Daves

Allen Daves — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:27:27 +0000

Hi,
I thought I was the only one having difficulty with Apple Customer Support. They took for ever before getting back to me. And was after I contacted them several times. I hope you will get your things resolved faster than I did. It took over a month before everything with my iMac was taken care of. I enjoy reading you blog. Keep it up.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:53:37 +0000

Two rules:
1. Never upgrade an OS without a backup that you INTEND to keep for a long, long time.
2. Never send your computer in for service without backing up first. (Did you try a Firewire boot?) If you cannot boot, don’t expect your data back… you do backup regularly, yes?

Break the rules at your own risk.

If you really want a lousy support experience then sign up for Clearwire as your ISP.

By: Stefan Töpfer

Stefan Töpfer — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 20:09:41 +0000

Guys,

I love Mac, I just think they should try and listen a bit better and not treat their customers like children.

They should not promise stuff if they don't live up to it. We all do that sometime granted, but for three days non-stop??!!

Maddison, I'm sorry to hear you had this bad experience - it must have been hell. I agree with you - I'm on my third Powerbook or MacBook - the service has been more humane in the past.

Maybe that is it, I'm missing the feel-good factor I used to get from Apple, that is what made them special to me.

Stefan