Apple has the worst customer service ever

would like to share a little story about apple support.

a few years back, apple published something regarding time capsules suddenly "dying" or it could possibly die on you.

according to my time capsule's serial number, i am eligible for replacement.

apple support said, as long as mine is running, it cannot be replaced. i told them, that i got my backups on it... and i don't plan to lose my data.

they didn't want to replace it.

Having sat through what passes for customer support at Compaq I can assure you Apple are far from the worst.

But, of course, you are correct and all the industry experts who`ve said Apple`s service is amongst the best in the industry are obviously wrong.

To be honest, I've dealt with apple support for many years being a long time apple owner and I've always come away pleased with the level of service. I also have dealt with HP, Dell, Oracle over the years and to be honest apple is much better.

I heard you're the worst user ever,
and probably a trouble maker person

My computer was out of warranty by over a year and they replaced the logic board in mine for free, which would have been several hundred dollars, I would say they have some of the best customer service.

My son once worked an exorbitant amount of hours a week for a contracting company and rarely had time to sleep, let alone even eat at the dinner table. He was speaking to an Apple representative while driving home on the thruway one afternoon and was on hold for so long he started to lose focus on driving. Fidgeting with his phone, he lost sight of the road entirely and crashed. The reports said the entire ordeal was an accident, but I think the Apple representative deliberately kept him on hold for a very long time after hearing my son's car's engine to increase the chances of him losing his life in a car-related injury. Apple is up to no good.

[sarcasm removed]

When I owned a Sony I paid for the warranty, only to find out I had only paid for the rare and exotic privilege of being able to spend $30 per call to talk to an Indian-accented and barely understandable tech guy treat me like an idiot and tell me I was using it wrong, and, silly me, the fix for the problem was to simply restart my computer (and the guy wouldn't do ANYTHING until I restarted my computer, during which time he tells me to "call back when I'm done"... and pay another wad of money). Or Dell, they sell me a brand-new computer which arrives with an already used Windows license number, and when I call them they transfer me to Microsoft, who transfers me to Dell who then try to transfer me back to Microsoft. In the end, they pointed fingers at each other and nothing was done about it.

A several hundred dollar repair needed doing on my MacBook Pro and even though my AppleCare expired they paid it's shipping out and back and completely fixed it.

It's unfortunate you had a bad experience, but if you think Apple's bad try another PC maker.

Really!?

*LTD* said:

What??

Apple in fact leads the industry in customer service and satisfaction.

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I will have to disagree with this statement. Firstly, let me just say that I love my Mac and the system (Snow Leopard). BUT Here are some of the incidents I have experienced (I am sorry for the length, I tried to keep it short):
>I tried to inform them about Educational online shop facility not working properly (blank screen after choosing my institution via my workplace network). I've made 3 phone calls (I've actually made an effort to call them 3 times), nobody could say something along the lines "thank you for noticing this I will report this to our technical team". All they did was trying to sell me mac and all of them said they do not have a technical team nor they can do anything about the problem. One of them said there have been a few similar reports by different people. It took them a week to sort this out.
>refund for unused Applecare (my old laptop was stolen - damn burglars). ongoing issue. Dear Lord! You would think that it's a straightforward process. Apply the refund for the unused service (on a time basis) and credit the card used at the time of purchase. No! it's not for Apple. I've spend 3 hours so far on the phone. I've been transferred numerous times to different people, spoke to 2 "senior" people - about the refund(!). Waiting times until someone picks up the phone are around 5-10min plus waiting during the call while they type or process whatever they type/process. So, during the initial 2h call, I was being transferred 3 times I ended up with a "senior" person. It took her 1h to process the refund. After 2 weeks, no money on my account. Called them and they said they don't refund Mastercards(!). They didn't even call me to verify this. They never said that before. They had my phone number. When I mentioned the waiting time (until someone picks up the phone) to their customer services person, she said they are busy, I acknowledged and said maybe more resources need to be deployed. She said they have enough resources(!), I said that if they did, the waiting time would be shorter. I might not be an expert but a good customer services person would at least say something along the lines "we apologise sir for your inconvenience, I will pass your comments to my supervisor", instead she was very argumentative and ignorant. Eventually she passed me to customer relations person - who appeared to be her manager in "technical" issues not a complaints department. By the way, try to find complaints email/link on their website. Good luck. I don't believe they are lucky enough to have all customers joyful and 100% satisfied. Two emails I send complaining about their services ended up unanswered.
>when I called them regarding my stolen laptop, the person I spoke to although very sympathetic never advised me I can claim a refund for my unused Applecare.
>OS X Lion replacement programme. I am eligible to get the new system for free since I purchased my mac recently. hah it took them 10 days to come up with the code. Their website did not work properly for a day or two so I called them. Customer services unhelpful. And the whole process is ancient i.e. you have to submit your invoice in .jpg not the format they provide you .pdf. WHY!? where is the user friendliness, and simplicity that Apple praise itself. Later I regretted getting OS X Lion - I personally think it's a step backwards from SL.
These are just a few examples that happened in the last 4 months (!) Of course, along the way I was amazed by their lack of competence, ignorance and being unapologetic. Not really pleasant experience.
Anyway, to sum up. Hardware - top notch. I recently converted from PC and will never look back. Amazing. But I just hope that I will never have to deal with their Customer Service again. It's definitely not what you would expect from the company that sells itself as premium or top of the range. I've dealt with all sort of Customer Service people but Apple is the worse I am afraid.

Apple's so awesome, they once replaced an out of warranty iPod of mine for free. I also had very little trouble getting an in-warranty iPhone 3G replaced on the day I brought it into the store.

I'm very happy with their customer service, and most other customers of theirs are too, especially since they're the only company who swap products out at all - others make you wait weeks for a repair to be complete.

I've even seen people who hate Apple products praise the level of customer service they offer. It's excellent.

*LTD* said:

What??


Apple in fact leads the industry in customer service and satisfaction.

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besides...who is the "industry". Corporate big wigs willing to say whatever you want as long as you "cream" their wallets!? I am sorry but this "ranking" has no credibility to me at all.
What I do care about is what people say on forums or my friends' experience. Certainly, there are a few unhappy people out there.

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0dev said:

Apple's so awesome, they once replaced an out of warranty iPod of mine for free. I also had very little trouble getting an in-warranty iPhone 3G replaced on the day I brought it into the store.

I'm very happy with their customer service, and most other customers of theirs are too, especially since they're the only company who swap products out at all - others make you wait weeks for a repair to be complete.

I've even seen people who hate Apple products praise the level of customer service they offer. It's excellent.

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Lucky you.
Yes, I actually noticed they do that. They replaced my friends Iphone. They simply gave him a new one. Although, this is not a consistent approach, it's a lottery whether you get a new one or not.
I personally would prefer consistently good customer service, where you know what to expect instead of hoping for the best...

Melrose said:

When I owned a Sony I paid for the warranty, only to find out I had only paid for the rare and exotic privilege of being able to spend $30 per call to talk to an Indian-accented and barely understandable tech guy treat me like an idiot and tell me I was using it wrong, and, silly me, the fix for the problem was to simply restart my computer (and the guy wouldn't do ANYTHING until I restarted my computer, during which time he tells me to "call back when I'm done"... and pay another wad of money). Or Dell, they sell me a brand-new computer which arrives with an already used Windows license number, and when I call them they transfer me to Microsoft, who transfers me to Dell who then try to transfer me back to Microsoft. In the end, they pointed fingers at each other and nothing was done about it.

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Apple…a costly brand with very bad services in India

Yess...I am yet another poor customer who has screwed royally by Apple India Customer service support.
Bought an iPhone 4s on 31st march after saving real good money (accordingly to me) for 3 months with all excitement and fun. used the phone for abt 8 moths now. And accidently dropped it down three weeks ago and got itslef a small dent in the left corner edge of the phone.
I reported to app customer team and they asked me to connect with app store chennai..and i did the same. And then they contacted the apple team and got back and said the physical damages can’t be covered in warranty..
the worst thing is i was directed by apple team if the damage is less than 4mm that can still be covered under warranty...and then only i contacted the app store...
after i got disappointed from them that they cant do this...i got my phone back...

after 2 weeks exactly after i got my phone...another problem starts...that was my phone got heated up unusually..
I was agan directed to do three internal processes and the guided to go to app store for verification..
they did the verification and initiated the dialogue with apple team for the same...

U know wat happend?!!! they immediately combined both my issue (both case id's) and said ...it is only becuase of the physical damages...due to which the hardware is heating up...agan this cant cover this as part of warranty....
and the worst part is my warranty has become void now....even before i actual have about 145 days of warranty pending.....
with all frustration i called up the team and got disappointed of some reply’s saying that they can’t do anything about it...
Now what I got to with my phone? What is the solution for the heating up problem?
SHOULD I HAVE THIS PHONE OR THROOW THIS?
Yess definitely there is lot of difference in handling the US customers and in India
For Indians like me buying a phone for 50k is really a big deal!!
I doono if they are going to…but I am not going to stop fighting for something what I demand!!!
Let me see what I can do about it as an individual…I will keep doing it….
It is a major threat to all of us who are buying apple products by spending much…with no proper support and after sale services!!

Now You know wat....I dont even want to reach out to customer support as i complteley know thier tricks and the ability of servicing their customers...

ECUpirate44 said:

Apple has been consistently ranked number one in customer service in the industry. Furthermore, it is common practice in the tech industry for telephone service to expire with the warrantee. Bet you wish you bought Apple Care now

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Haha, yeah, i'm almost out of warranty on my iMac and i've been really contemplating buying Apple Care. If I go to the Apple Store and they refuse to help me without paying i'm gonna be super mad. In my opinion, it's ALWAYS worth it.

I've already had this current iMac replaced twice and fixed twice. So when it was replaced, my 1 year warranty started over.

With that said.. I am not a huge fan of Apple customer service as of late, but I certainly wouldn't put them anywhere in the ballpark of "worst ever".

FooArk said:

lol pay money just to have some Apple Robot to tell you that you would have to pay to fix your item.

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Ever heard of a diagnostic fee? Most service related companies do charge these. They have to take time to look into your car/device/unit to see what is wrong with it then they give you an estimate on how much it will cost.

In the 'Site and Forum Feedback' section of this forum, there are, at present, a number of threads where active discussions are taking place on matters such as moderation, and how decisions re moderation are reached, and equally pressing questions such as what constitutes trolling.

Here, now, this particular thread title screams not so much trolling, as a sort of excessive howled response to an unfortunate experience.

I think I get it. This is a forum dedicated to discussion of matters Apple, with a membership, that, by and large, admire (if not on occasion, adore) Apple products, and if it falls short of the levels of service so often described, the result can be fury, and impotent rage.

Apple is a tech company (branching out into other areas) that exists to make profits. Traditionally, it has achieved this by manufacturing beautifully designed devices that offer excellent - sometimes radically cutting edge - performance, at pretty high prices. And more often than not, it has also given good customer service.

I'll echo the posts of many others, and while I admire and like many of the products produced and sold by Apple, I am not a blinkered groupie.

However, my experience of Apple Customer Service was extremely good. At different times over the past six years, I have had two iPod classics die (HDD failure) and both were replaced without any fuss whatsoever as they were still under warranty, and I had the sales receipt. This calm lack of fuss, and refusal to seek refuge in contractual small print, impressed me, and was one of a number of reasons (the others being excellent design, and the immunity to viruses afforded by OS) I switched to Apple computers four years ago.

Since then, my MBP also had problems (dealt with under Applecare), and the keyboard and Magsafe were both replaced on my MBA, all without a problem.

Nevertheless, while I readily concede that Apple does not always live up to the standards it sets for itself (and any company that avails of forced labour in China - shareholder greed notwithstanding - is not especially covered in glory), I will argue that its customer service is actually one of the better ones I have encountered this past decade.

Scepticalscribe said:

Here, now, this particular thread title screams not so much trolling, as a sort of excessive howled response to an unfortunate experience.

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I agree with you. It's unfortunate that people don't spend the same amount of time reviewing their thread title names that they spend on their comments. Rather then an absolute, this thread should be titled "In my opinion, Apple has the worst tech support". It's less confrontational and much more accurate.

The initial post in this thread (from 2011) seems troll like... First of all, his premise is false. Whether under warranty or not, you can always see a Genius in the Apple Store for free.

FooArk said:

Seriously, if you dont have warranty you cant even talk to a representative. That is terrible.

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This is how it is every single place ever. Sony, Dell, HP, Acer, etc. They all do it.

Purchasing warranties funds the people behind the scenes of this extra service.

FooArk said:

Seriously, if you dont have warranty you cant even talk to a representative. That is terrible.

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Apple has worst customer support. When i called customer support for a query, I was given wrong answer. But when i posted that incident on apple discussions forum, my post was removed and my account was unauthorized to further respond on the thread. the time they spent to remove/wipe out our threads, they can spend the same time to improve customer support and respect customers who pay for their products.

apple is not worried about its customers, rather saving money on customer support for very costly devices on the planet.

it is best time to consider alternate apple devices such as android & windows devices. i wont recommend apple devices to anyone hereafter. i am going to return to 2 devices i bought last week for this reason.

G4gps said:

Apple has worst customer support. When i called customer support for a query, I was given wrong answer. But when i posted that incident on apple discussions forum, my post was removed and my account was unauthorized to further respond on the thread. the time they spent to remove/wipe out our threads, they can spend the same time to improve customer support and respect customers who pay for their products.

apple is not worried about its customers, rather saving money on customer support for very costly devices on the planet.

it is best time to consider alternate apple devices such as android & windows devices. i wont recommend apple devices to anyone hereafter. i am going to return to 2 devices i bought last week for this reason.

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I beg to differ.

While I am not by any means a 'fanboy' of Apple - and harbour deep misgivings about The Cult Of The Founder, I have to say that, in my experience, Apple tends to have excellent customer service.

Anytime I have had issues with laptop computers (MBAs, and a MBP) - that were still under warranty - or with iPods, Apple responded swiftly and professionally.

In fact, the excellent customer service I received when two of my iPods died (both while still under warranty) in fairly quick succession was one of the main reasons I switched to Apple.

G4gps said:

Apple has worst customer support. When i called customer support for a query, I was given wrong answer. But when i posted that incident on apple discussions forum, my post was removed and my account was unauthorized to further respond on the thread. the time they spent to remove/wipe out our threads, they can spend the same time to improve customer support and respect customers who pay for their products.

apple is not worried about its customers, rather saving money on customer support for very costly devices on the planet.

it is best time to consider alternate apple devices such as android & windows devices. i wont recommend apple devices to anyone hereafter. i am going to return to 2 devices i bought last week for this reason.

Click to expand...

Please do return them and spare us replying to a 5 year old thread.