WAY TO GO APPLE, LET'S GO FOR THE #1 SPOT !!!!! I have USAA and they are definatly worthy to be in the top 3 !!!! 
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Apple Ranks Third in BusinessWeek Customer Service Rankings
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Cough.
One man's 'fanboy' is another man's 'satisfied customer'
Seems more likely that you're just a non-representative malcontent
Well, just visit the Apple sponsored iPhone DEVELOPERS forum and see how much OTHERS are complaining about dealing with Apple. Not to mentions almost every single Vendor that deals with them, from NBC to Adobe, etc.
i would say the people that check out the macforums are certainly not the general opinion of apple consumers. generally the people who check these forums are a little more particular and a little more demanding for continued product and service excellence. IMO the general public doesn't have macrumors.com as their homepage, nor has even heard of macrumors.com. most of my friends who have an apple product have no idea when a mac product announcement will happen unless its hyped by cnn/nytimes/etc.
all that being said, most of the time i've been happy with their service. sometimes i get a bad 'apple' at the genius bar, but on a general level, its been consistently strong.
all that being said, most of the time i've been happy with their service. sometimes i get a bad 'apple' at the genius bar, but on a general level, its been consistently strong.
Congratulations to Apple. This is a big accomplishment for them and I am sure they are going to do everything in their power to maintain their status. They will not want to fall back in the rankings next year.
In the tech industry, Apple has been tops for years. And now, they're highly ranked *overall.* I should have made that point clear, anyway.
Not legit
To me Apple ranking 3rd mean really means something like 12th, or 33rd, heck maybe even 99th. It will never be a legitimate number because of the amount of Apple fanboys that Apple has.
To me Apple ranking 3rd mean really means something like 12th, or 33rd, heck maybe even 99th. It will never be a legitimate number because of the amount of Apple fanboys that Apple has.
So if a company has a strong base of satisfied customers, that invalidates a customer service ranking?
Huh?
and if what your saying is true why hasn't Microsoft topped out then, i\m pretty sure there are more Micro$oft fanboy's than Apple ones
After thinking about this a bit more, no way Apple deserves any top spot. First, they only offer a paltry 90 days of phone support for a new product, unless your buy AppleCare. News flash, not everyone lives near an Apple store.
The fact that you have to make an appt. to speak to a 'genius' if you have a defective product is also ridiculous.
While they may provide excellent support to their customers, they make getting it difficult. I'd like to see that weighted into these polls
The fact that you have to make an appt. to speak to a 'genius' if you have a defective product is also ridiculous.
While they may provide excellent support to their customers, they make getting it difficult. I'd like to see that weighted into these polls
Dell even ranks on a "best customer service" list? That's outrageous. While I agree with the Apple ranking, it calls the whole study into question.
Perhaps i mean my old school had nothing but trouble with dell's service. They ordered 25 22'' dell monitors for my Media design class and 50% of them where unusable flickering crack sections and scratches. They sent them back and go some 20'' Apple displays instead and they were all perfect
It doesn't mean that they have a strong base of satisfied customers. It just means that they make that base THINK that through a dazzling marketing campaign. Heck, I even get suck into it at times
before shaking my head to realize that they actually are fairly poor if you actually look at what they offer in terms of warranty, qualty of product and what it takes to get service and how much it costs. And if you actually ever have to deal with them trying to sell product (developer, music label, other media companies), it's even worse. This has been in the NEWS people - pay attention!They are certainly not the WORST company by any means, just comparable to most other tech companies, but certainly don't deserv to be THIRD overall.
Tony
Apple's really low on the horror stories, but I still find their support frustrating, and would never place it near the top of my support experiences. The complete lack of email support, combined with having to make appointments on *their* time, which they may not even be able to fulfill, is really frustrating. It can also mean going weeks without support, where similar warranty plans from other companies mean you send off an email at lunch and you've got someone at your door the next day (not exaggerating, I've done it).
Their actual staff are often better trained, so after waiting an hour in line, at least you'll usually get good help, and I appreciate that, but the idea that apple's support time is more important than my life and job is part of the atmosphere I really dislike about the apple community. If I have to leave a dead computer at home for a week or two until there is an open appointment at the bar I can make (and god help you if it dies around the time of a product release - you may not be able to fit through the door), that's not good service to me.
Overall they have good support, particularly for a tech company, but for that reason alone I don't think they deserve to be marked the best. I can't think of an example from the larger computer makers, but this is about all businesses, and there are several other companies out there that will provide both quality service, and work around your schedule.
Also, if you've ever tried to run macs in a corporate world, Apple's concept of corporate/healthcare/government support is way, way out of skew with the industry. They don't have the right dedicated people or plans to provide the support these area really need in a timely manner. Maybe they just favor some companies over others, but my experience is that they place business relationships well down on the totem pole compared to other big PC makers, which makes this result from "BusinessWeek" of all places rather odd in my mind.
Their actual staff are often better trained, so after waiting an hour in line, at least you'll usually get good help, and I appreciate that, but the idea that apple's support time is more important than my life and job is part of the atmosphere I really dislike about the apple community. If I have to leave a dead computer at home for a week or two until there is an open appointment at the bar I can make (and god help you if it dies around the time of a product release - you may not be able to fit through the door), that's not good service to me.
Overall they have good support, particularly for a tech company, but for that reason alone I don't think they deserve to be marked the best. I can't think of an example from the larger computer makers, but this is about all businesses, and there are several other companies out there that will provide both quality service, and work around your schedule.
Also, if you've ever tried to run macs in a corporate world, Apple's concept of corporate/healthcare/government support is way, way out of skew with the industry. They don't have the right dedicated people or plans to provide the support these area really need in a timely manner. Maybe they just favor some companies over others, but my experience is that they place business relationships well down on the totem pole compared to other big PC makers, which makes this result from "BusinessWeek" of all places rather odd in my mind.
You don't have to make a reservation to meet with a Genius, it is just recommended... sort of like making reservations at a restaurant.
I have seen many walk-ups served at the Genius Bar, and others put on the list for an opening
Personally, I like having the ability to make an appointment and know that I will be seen in a reasonable frame of time (yes, they can run late because they are taking extra time with another customer). I don't want the "hit or miss" of showing up hoping it won't be crowded.
I have seen many walk-ups served at the Genius Bar, and others put on the list for an opening
Personally, I like having the ability to make an appointment and know that I will be seen in a reasonable frame of time (yes, they can run late because they are taking extra time with another customer). I don't want the "hit or miss" of showing up hoping it won't be crowded.
In pretty much every issue of Consumer Reports that compares the tech support of different companies, Apple has the highest satisfaction. Yay!
However, something I'd like to know is how does Apple compare in regards to how many of their computers need repair and how often? I think I remember one Consumer Reports (I forget which one, sorry) that says Apple needed the most repairs. Boo!
However, something I'd like to know is how does Apple compare in regards to how many of their computers need repair and how often? I think I remember one Consumer Reports (I forget which one, sorry) that says Apple needed the most repairs. Boo!
Having dealt with all three companies on the consumer level, I'd say it's a distant third, but third nonetheless. LLBean and USAA's customer service departments are total pushovers compared to Apple
Every time I've been in my local apple store, they've been mostly turning people away. I think it's better outside of city centers, but some stores are really too busy not to schedule. So it's more of a YMMV thing.
And of course the less busy times are usually when most people are working, so it depends on your own schedule too
It doesn't mean that they have a strong base of satisfied customers. It just means that they make that base THINK that through a dazzling marketing campaign. Heck, I even get suck into it at times
They are certainly not the WORST company by any means, just comparable to most other tech companies, but certainly don't deserv to be THIRD overall.
Tony
So they don't give good customer service, they just make everyone THINK they do because they have been hypnotized by the hype... I see
So I guess the good customer service I have always been given was really just a mirage and I was foolish enough to fall for it
When it comes down to it, Apple does have crazy good customer support. I mean how many companies allow their customers exchange a $200-500 device (iPhone) basically because of cosmetic blemishes?
Apple did tighten down a bit on that though more recently, which is good.
Apple did tighten down a bit on that though more recently, which is good.