I don't know if its the $20 billion in the bank or the service center here in Australia specifically but I've just gone through the best customer service I've ever experienced at ANY company.
My situation was complicated, I was moving from Vancouver to Sydney and needed a notebook over here. Since I was eventually moving back to Canada I wanted a N. American model since it will mostly be used in N.A. I ordered a BTO in August and still had 2 weeks to go before my flight so the ETA was all good for shipment.
First delay: for some reason Apple put a hold on my order and didn't contact me about it. I found out when calling to cancel my Incase sleeve as I decided to go w/ a BOOQ shoulder bag instead. They didn't know why it was on hold and pushed it through immediately. Second delay: my notebook has been shipped and is on the plane ready to start its journey to Alaska and so forth. Flight is canceled. wtf! So needless to say, I hopped on a plane to Australia and left w/o it.
I looked into having it shipped from Canada to Aus and w/ insurance it was just not cost effective so the solution I arrived at w/ Apple was I'd return it to them and then I could re-order it from here & they'd pay for the shipping. They'll pay for the shipping of it to be returned and then for it to be re-ordered but they won't pay to send it here instead. Fair enough. I am assured by Apple that I can order the N.A. model (at the same Canadian price) and have it shipped to Aus I just have to call and order it through the Canadian number. Turns out thats not the case, I was given misinformation. I go back & forth between several reps & customer service people and some managers...each with their own contradicting take on this. In the end you cannot do this and I have 2 choices. I can re-order it through Canada (at the CDN rate) and have a relative ship it here...so that would put me in the same boat I was in from the beginning. The Canadian person offers to give me $50 off to help reduce the shipping costs...or I can order the Australian version, pay more and receive it sooner.
Solution: Keep in mind I did *not* ask for any money from Apple at any time but wanted to know how they could rectify this complicated situation. A customer service rep called me & was great trying his best to work everything out. Due to the economy and the usual overpricing of Australian electronics I'm fine with having to pay a bit extra so I have placed my order. I've already got the education discount like before but Apple has gone over & above that to give me an additional discount which is normally not allowed. The additional discount basically bumps me up from the 2.4 to 2.53 for free under the ed pricing. On top of that they've already sent me an 800->400 FW cable for free which I was going to have to buy now that there's no 400 port. On top of it all, when I return to Canada they're going to send me the N. American plug for the power supply so it all works out.
I was always friendly w/ the Apple people and I understand my situation was unusual w/ the move but they were always helpful and clearly wanted this to work out so I was a happy customer. I've never had a bad experience w/ Apple and always have been treated well. The only down side to this is I've been w/o a computer for 2 months now but in the end I get a brand new more powerful machine for a little more than i paid for the original Penryn AND I'm very happy w/ how I was treated by Apple. Its not the money or the cable, thats besides the point.....like I said I'd rather have had my computer from the get-go at full price. Its how they treated me and went out of their way to make this work out so I was happy with the outcome. A far cry from some companies that are hard to reach and ignore customers hoping they'll just go away. I give Apple an A+ on customer service!
My situation was complicated, I was moving from Vancouver to Sydney and needed a notebook over here. Since I was eventually moving back to Canada I wanted a N. American model since it will mostly be used in N.A. I ordered a BTO in August and still had 2 weeks to go before my flight so the ETA was all good for shipment.
First delay: for some reason Apple put a hold on my order and didn't contact me about it. I found out when calling to cancel my Incase sleeve as I decided to go w/ a BOOQ shoulder bag instead. They didn't know why it was on hold and pushed it through immediately. Second delay: my notebook has been shipped and is on the plane ready to start its journey to Alaska and so forth. Flight is canceled. wtf! So needless to say, I hopped on a plane to Australia and left w/o it.
I looked into having it shipped from Canada to Aus and w/ insurance it was just not cost effective so the solution I arrived at w/ Apple was I'd return it to them and then I could re-order it from here & they'd pay for the shipping. They'll pay for the shipping of it to be returned and then for it to be re-ordered but they won't pay to send it here instead. Fair enough. I am assured by Apple that I can order the N.A. model (at the same Canadian price) and have it shipped to Aus I just have to call and order it through the Canadian number. Turns out thats not the case, I was given misinformation. I go back & forth between several reps & customer service people and some managers...each with their own contradicting take on this. In the end you cannot do this and I have 2 choices. I can re-order it through Canada (at the CDN rate) and have a relative ship it here...so that would put me in the same boat I was in from the beginning. The Canadian person offers to give me $50 off to help reduce the shipping costs...or I can order the Australian version, pay more and receive it sooner.
Solution: Keep in mind I did *not* ask for any money from Apple at any time but wanted to know how they could rectify this complicated situation. A customer service rep called me & was great trying his best to work everything out. Due to the economy and the usual overpricing of Australian electronics I'm fine with having to pay a bit extra so I have placed my order. I've already got the education discount like before but Apple has gone over & above that to give me an additional discount which is normally not allowed. The additional discount basically bumps me up from the 2.4 to 2.53 for free under the ed pricing. On top of that they've already sent me an 800->400 FW cable for free which I was going to have to buy now that there's no 400 port. On top of it all, when I return to Canada they're going to send me the N. American plug for the power supply so it all works out.
I was always friendly w/ the Apple people and I understand my situation was unusual w/ the move but they were always helpful and clearly wanted this to work out so I was a happy customer. I've never had a bad experience w/ Apple and always have been treated well. The only down side to this is I've been w/o a computer for 2 months now but in the end I get a brand new more powerful machine for a little more than i paid for the original Penryn AND I'm very happy w/ how I was treated by Apple. Its not the money or the cable, thats besides the point.....like I said I'd rather have had my computer from the get-go at full price. Its how they treated me and went out of their way to make this work out so I was happy with the outcome. A far cry from some companies that are hard to reach and ignore customers hoping they'll just go away. I give Apple an A+ on customer service!
sticker on my car!!!!!!
