Thanks Apple! (10% off)

[Ferris23]

I called Apple last night to change my 3GS order from a 16GB to a 32GB. I told the automated operator that I wanted to change my order, to which he replied

"Sure thing, I will transfer you to someone who can change your order"

Great, thanks robot man!

So I waited, and waited....and waited...and waited some more. I waited 1 hour and 45 minutes to be exact.

Finally someone answered and I kindly said, "Hi human, I'd like to change my order for my 3GS from a 16GB to a 32GB"

The human replied, "Oh, sorry sir, I can't do that, that office is closed"

(hmm, that's not what robot man said)

Needless to say my ear was f-in hot and I was pissed, long story short he offered me 10% off my order, so I ended up saving 50 bucks off my new order for a 32GB 3GS.

Just wanted to highlight some good customer service since we are all very quick to bitch when things go wrong.



(In theory, since the automated system obviously doesn't know it's head from it's ass, this scenario could likely be repeated since hold times are close to 2 hours for Iphone sales support......just sayin')

[Dezlboy]

That's the sign of a good customer service representative, offering to make up for you being so inconvenienced. My mom spent 4 hours at the auto dealers for their 1 hour maintenance. She politely complained, and got a coupon for a free oil change. The dealer still comes out ahead...so it's a win-win.

[gloss]

Good customer service is undervalued by so many companies. There's a chain of moderately-expensive restaurants in the Northern Virginia area that has seen almost no downturn in business in recent months, by and large because, though the food is very good, more importantly, their customer service aims to please. I was there with my mum a couple of months ago and she ordered a particular roast chicken dish. A few minutes later, the manager came over and apologized, saying that they had run out and were just now putting new chickens on the spit, and that it would take 20 minutes. He asked her to pick out a new entree, and said that she would receive the chicken dish for free as a take-home.

I've also been given, without prompting, free dessert coupons (no small thing when you have some of the most delicious desserts in the known universe) for tiny things like steaks cooked the wrong way. Good service builds customer loyalty, even at the cost of some profit on any single service.