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Apple to Charge Fees for Out-of-Warranty Chat Support
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Wow. I never thought I'd see Apple stoop so low, as to start making money off support. We pay a HUGE Apple Tax when we buy products, and for the longest time, I've told people yeah, but you're buying great support, great service. Now I can't say that any longer. Did support really hurt their bottom line? Is charging the most feeble users amongst us going to help the bottom line? Just dumb.
I'm paying $2k+ for my MacBook Pros. I'd hope that if I need some chat support +1 days out of the *additional* $349.00 I paid for two additional years of warranty, that they could see to not charging me yet again.
Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm paying $2k+ for my MacBook Pros. I'd hope that if I need some chat support +1 days out of the *additional* $349.00 I paid for two additional years of warranty, that they could see to not charging me yet again.
Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a huge mistake in my opinion. I like Apple and pay 'the premium' to not get nickel and dimed. The support of the products is the reason the premium is worth it.
A paywall feels like trying to get Windows support or something for $35 per incident.
A paywall feels like trying to get Windows support or something for $35 per incident.
Service was always Apple's point of difference. It's not like Apple is on skid row here. If anything, they should be expanding their offers of free support in other ways.
Seriously, from their billion dollars made each quarter can they not find a what would amount to a tiny tiny percentage to keep this going?
This new system will only buy them bad PR and come back to bite them in the a**.
Someone at Apple needs to challenge Tim Cook's bean-counting way of thining on this one.
It's not but anything perceived as "bad" gets page views and that's what's most important these days.
They aren't doing it to be a money grab, they are doing it to reduce the amount of time they waste on out-of-warranty customers. Furthermore, I'd imagine that a big portion of the out-of-warranty customers are there because the Apple Store declined them service.
They never promised you lifetime chat support in the old system either, they just never actively verified warranty until now.
I have some great news! The charges are only for out-of-warranty products! So with the money you just saved, you could invest in a reading tutor!
My CC just got hit for $6000 on a new Mac Pro, that I was told would be delivered by February numerous times. Yesterday, Apple phoned and said it would be 7-14 days. Maybe I should phone Chase and tell them to hold that charge "7-14" days, or until my order is shipped.
Perhaps I should cancel my order altogether if Apple continues the trend in charging more for services we, as 10+ years of Apple users - with AppleCare, currently receive.
Tim, those billions in cash reserve and annual bonuses, how about reinvesting back into your company? Oh, I forgot, "Trickle Down Economics" was a lie.
Perhaps I should cancel my order altogether if Apple continues the trend in charging more for services we, as 10+ years of Apple users - with AppleCare, currently receive.
Tim, those billions in cash reserve and annual bonuses, how about reinvesting back into your company? Oh, I forgot, "Trickle Down Economics" was a lie.
ah you got me - I mean to type 'out of warranty...' hence my point about the warranty being short.
But appreciate your sense of humor.....or being a total dick. Not sure which it was....
Good move. It will help make Apple more profitable which is all that matters.
Disclaimer: This post is intended to be sarcastic and humorous.
Disclaimer: This post is intended to be sarcastic and humorous.
need metrics
I agree that this does seem to have a bit of the misplaced Brewer-economics about it.
Apple service has long been a differentiator and it's not as though Apple needs the additional revenue. But is this for that reason [I think not] or to discourage abuse [maybe].
Another thought is that Apple products tend to be long-lived but it's only possible to get Applecare for three years. I provide family-service for about two dozen Macs and iOS devices and can field most "how does this work" and "can you help upgrade" issues. But there are some that require Applecare or a Genius appointment - and not everyone lives close to a GB/Apple Store. It would be good to have an option for extended-Applecare.
I agree that this does seem to have a bit of the misplaced Brewer-economics about it.
Apple service has long been a differentiator and it's not as though Apple needs the additional revenue. But is this for that reason [I think not] or to discourage abuse [maybe].
Another thought is that Apple products tend to be long-lived but it's only possible to get Applecare for three years. I provide family-service for about two dozen Macs and iOS devices and can field most "how does this work" and "can you help upgrade" issues. But there are some that require Applecare or a Genius appointment - and not everyone lives close to a GB/Apple Store. It would be good to have an option for extended-Applecare.
I'm just saying it seems a little ridiculous to be outraged about it when they have used a similar model for other types of support for some time. You pay your chat support employees the same as your phone support in most contact centers.
Being in the customer service industry (over the phone and chat), it is surprising to me that Apple charges for either type of support out of warranty. I have called and chatted with many, many companies over the years and have never once been asked to pay for support, warranty or no. THAT was surprising to me. That they're making their chat policies as asinine as their over the phone ones? Not so much.
So they're charging $20 for online chat AFTER the warranty has expired?
I don't see the problem. Normally they'd charge you $50 to speak with a person over the phone, and at least you can request an exception with this chat thing...
I don't see the problem. Normally they'd charge you $50 to speak with a person over the phone, and at least you can request an exception with this chat thing...
Bad Idea
Charging a fee for an ultra-low-cost support function like chat is a bad, bad idea. Just today I informed Cisco that I'll be buying competitor's products now because they refused to answer a simple email.
Some levels of support (i.e. on-site, phone, etc.) obviously can't be provided for free, but some support avenues like email and chat need to remain free or customers will become extremely unhappy.
Tech companies need to consider whether they want to have their "paid support policy" or have customers who buy products. Would I actually drop Apple for such behavior? Well, I'm dropping Cisco.
Charging a fee for an ultra-low-cost support function like chat is a bad, bad idea. Just today I informed Cisco that I'll be buying competitor's products now because they refused to answer a simple email.
Some levels of support (i.e. on-site, phone, etc.) obviously can't be provided for free, but some support avenues like email and chat need to remain free or customers will become extremely unhappy.
Tech companies need to consider whether they want to have their "paid support policy" or have customers who buy products. Would I actually drop Apple for such behavior? Well, I'm dropping Cisco.