I've heard the claim that Apple's customer service and quality control has been drastically getting worse as of late. I was just curious if this is something people think as really true or just the effect of asking this question on a forum for computer problems/issues?
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Apple customer service and quality control?
- Thread starter karohan
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I've never had a problem with customer service either by phone or in a retail store. The wait in the retail store can be a problem during certain times of the day, however.
Apple quality control/support in the last year or two has definitely gone WAY downhill. The volume of products they produce has gone through the roof and as they have grown customer support/service has had to be handled by a whole new wave of staff worldwide. I have gone through 4 different machines this year in order to get a working one. My experience when dealing with Apple staff has been 95% bad they really are rude arrogant dismissive and just like most PC manufacturers once they have your money they don't give a crap.
I was sick of dealing with 3 consecutively faulty iMacs, I asked if I could just pay the difference and buy a different model Apple machine... They said NO you will take another iMac its a "like 4 like" replacement or nothing. Here Apple staff were dictating to me how I would spend MY money, amazing here I was being bullied by the company I have long supported. In the end I had to sell the last iMac privately and lost money as a result.
It is so very unfortunate that such great software is tethered to hardware that is designed for form over function.
Give me a machine that works.
Give me customer support/service that is capable and fair.
Give me a balance between form and function.
Give me an Apple Store that has knowlegable staff, not just a montage of every stereotypical cool kid **** you've ever seen in a blue shirt with an Apple logo......
My current MacBook will be my last Mac I purchase unless alotta things change with the new Big Blue.....
+1
I never had a service issue, so quality control seems good to me. And the sales people and staff at the store seem nice enough.
To put it in a nutshell, it feels like the focus as of late for Apple has been shifted away from building computers and more towards higher margin products like iPhone, i.e. share prices. I know this is a very macro look at things, but I know that it filters down into the end-user experience.
I can remember last summer playing with the Snow Leopard beta and thinking "wow, this is great, they really have made it lighter. Now I just can't wait for them to fix the kinks, and the final release is going to be really great." After installing it, it felt like nothing had been changed at all, and I still experienced extreme issues with networking, iChat, etc...
I still love Apple computers, but it definitely feels as if going from the underdog to having a large market share has changed the vision of the company. Some would argue that this is inevitable, however I just don't agree.
-Danno
I can remember last summer playing with the Snow Leopard beta and thinking "wow, this is great, they really have made it lighter. Now I just can't wait for them to fix the kinks, and the final release is going to be really great." After installing it, it felt like nothing had been changed at all, and I still experienced extreme issues with networking, iChat, etc...
I still love Apple computers, but it definitely feels as if going from the underdog to having a large market share has changed the vision of the company. Some would argue that this is inevitable, however I just don't agree.
-Danno
i have had 1 issue in my entire life of owning my mac (almost 4 years) i installed snow leopard forma friend for free and it solved it but when i called apple they were farely helpful.
As far as the mac reps i would agree they can be stuck up and do not know much about the products, i was at bestbuy and almost had 2 people sold on a mac??? i do not nore have ever worked at an electronics store... that amc guy there once i got to talk to him just had no ideas what i was saying and i was just asking for opinions on the current graphics cards??? i could not udnerstand wtf was up. And when i bought my macbook from best buy many years ago the only eprson that knew anything about it said "ohhh me?? ohhh yeah a friend of mine bought one recently and it was cool" so i was flying blind >_< haha so glad i educated myself since =D
As far as the mac reps i would agree they can be stuck up and do not know much about the products, i was at bestbuy and almost had 2 people sold on a mac??? i do not nore have ever worked at an electronics store... that amc guy there once i got to talk to him just had no ideas what i was saying and i was just asking for opinions on the current graphics cards??? i could not udnerstand wtf was up. And when i bought my macbook from best buy many years ago the only eprson that knew anything about it said "ohhh me?? ohhh yeah a friend of mine bought one recently and it was cool" so i was flying blind >_< haha so glad i educated myself since =D
Apple is still fandabidosie. You have to remember, 90% of posts here are of people who're complaining about problems, meanwhile there are millions of happy customers out there.
Well there are two distinct types of Apple customer service.
In the Apple store:
I'm not a big fan of going here when I need help, but sometimes it's a necessary evil. The sales staff is usually overworked. I HATE how I have to "check in" if I know what I want, especially with a big ticket purchase. I also hate how I have to hunt down an employee with a portable register (good in theory, not in practice) if I want to make a smaller purchase. ONE register open? Ridiculous! Also, I've noticed that if you approach an employee who's busy with a customer, they don't even acknowledge you (no eye contact, nada). I've worked in (computer) retail and it can be a pain to deal with customers, but we were always trained to at least acknowledge the customer's presence. Sometimes when I'm in the store, I'll look around and see a number of frustrated customers who need help. Many don't have patience, understandably, when it comes to giving a company their money.
As for the genius bar, it's really a mixed bag. I understand the need for reservations, but most stores are incapable of handling walk-in customers. Some genius bar employees are pretty happy to help out, but there are many who are a PITA to deal with.
Over the phone:
Every Apple employee I have dealt with over the phone has been very polite and courteous, and the vast majority of them have been knowledgable and able to help me out with my problems.
In the Apple store:
I'm not a big fan of going here when I need help, but sometimes it's a necessary evil. The sales staff is usually overworked. I HATE how I have to "check in" if I know what I want, especially with a big ticket purchase. I also hate how I have to hunt down an employee with a portable register (good in theory, not in practice) if I want to make a smaller purchase. ONE register open? Ridiculous! Also, I've noticed that if you approach an employee who's busy with a customer, they don't even acknowledge you (no eye contact, nada). I've worked in (computer) retail and it can be a pain to deal with customers, but we were always trained to at least acknowledge the customer's presence. Sometimes when I'm in the store, I'll look around and see a number of frustrated customers who need help. Many don't have patience, understandably, when it comes to giving a company their money.
As for the genius bar, it's really a mixed bag. I understand the need for reservations, but most stores are incapable of handling walk-in customers. Some genius bar employees are pretty happy to help out, but there are many who are a PITA to deal with.
Over the phone:
Every Apple employee I have dealt with over the phone has been very polite and courteous, and the vast majority of them have been knowledgable and able to help me out with my problems.
This is about my same experience with their support.
Phone support has been stellar for me, as with the Apple Store visits on weekends have been nothing but a long wait.
When I did have a repair completed at the store they were very professional and polite through the whole process, albeit a bit slow.
exactly... so i guess the more machines that are sold, the greater the chance of unsatisfied users. it isn't a bad thing, that's just murphy's law.
Quality went downhill, no doubt about it.
Here's another UNhappy customer. This is what happened to me:
- my alu unibody macbook, purchased begin 2009: after 13 months/120 cycles, the battery failed, Apple didn't cover this and I had to pay up. Just one month ago the superdrive broke down, I used it maybe 10 times.
- my wife's macbook pro, purchased july 2009: after 3 months the trackpad was not working properly. They replaced the entire top case but fortunately it was under warranty.
- my LED cinema display, purchased september 2009: somehow it sucks up dust which gets stuck on the inside of the screen. Brought in in twice for cleaning, second time they were grumbling about cleaning it under warranty. It stands in a very normal office that gets cleaned every day, btw. So far I've been spared from the flickering that seems to plague any of these.
My conclusion: the rock-solid quality that Apple used to be known for is no longer. They improved their margins and started cutting corners and compromising on quality. I would never, ever buy their hardware again without also taking out AppleCare.
Problem is, if you add the cost of that to the cost of the material and take a hard look at quality and specs then you have to declare yourself insane for buying Apple.
What I do like very much about their products are the design and the OS/seamless integration between mac/iPhone/MobileMe. But price/quality/performance wise they're a crappy deal, no question about it. I honestly don't know if my next laptop will be an Apple and whenever someone asks me if I can recommend Apple I tell them the above.
Here's another UNhappy customer. This is what happened to me:
- my alu unibody macbook, purchased begin 2009: after 13 months/120 cycles, the battery failed, Apple didn't cover this and I had to pay up. Just one month ago the superdrive broke down, I used it maybe 10 times.
- my wife's macbook pro, purchased july 2009: after 3 months the trackpad was not working properly. They replaced the entire top case but fortunately it was under warranty.
- my LED cinema display, purchased september 2009: somehow it sucks up dust which gets stuck on the inside of the screen. Brought in in twice for cleaning, second time they were grumbling about cleaning it under warranty. It stands in a very normal office that gets cleaned every day, btw. So far I've been spared from the flickering that seems to plague any of these.
My conclusion: the rock-solid quality that Apple used to be known for is no longer. They improved their margins and started cutting corners and compromising on quality. I would never, ever buy their hardware again without also taking out AppleCare.
Problem is, if you add the cost of that to the cost of the material and take a hard look at quality and specs then you have to declare yourself insane for buying Apple.
What I do like very much about their products are the design and the OS/seamless integration between mac/iPhone/MobileMe. But price/quality/performance wise they're a crappy deal, no question about it. I honestly don't know if my next laptop will be an Apple and whenever someone asks me if I can recommend Apple I tell them the above.
to add to my previous comments, today they are sending me a replacement battery for my MBP which has about 8 months of AppleCare left.
I thought for sure I was going to have to buy a new one.
I thought for sure I was going to have to buy a new one.