Apple Service Success- Above and beyond

[dstoltz]

Let me start off by saying that I don't know if this is typical, but with this being my only experience with Apple service, I am utterly impressed.

I purchased my Macbook in August of '06. Just recently, my MagSafe Power Cord decided to begin the trek down the slippery slope of non-function. It began with having to jiggle the cord or turn it upside-down to charge the battery; then the connecting piece to the laptop started getting extremely hot to the touch-- finally the cord ceased to work. On the day before my English midterm paper was due. To add to the misery, I had traveled this weekend and my battery was completely without charge.

I hopped in my car and sped off to the nearest Apple store and as soon as I walked through the door, I became at ease. The nearest salesman asked about my problem, we discussed my options because the Genius Bar was booked for the next 2-3 hours. I didn't have my computer, the serial number, or the purchasing credit card. As I described my situation, being about 2 months out of warrenty and financially buying another power cord would be extremely draining at $79.00, the salesman told me that he would see what he would do. 15 minutes later he brought back a brand new power cord and wished me luck on my paper.


By all means, Apple could have told me that I was out of warrenty and just to buy a new power cord, but they chose not to. As soon as I made the switch to Mac I was certain I made the right decision; it's moves like this that solidify that choice and make me advocate for Apple and its products.

 

[queshy]

Nice to hear of some pleasant experiences at the apple stores!

While some people have had great experiences, others have had some pretty bad ones, too, but I guess in general we can say that apple service is better than any other computer company just because they actually have a store where you can go to get complete support for your stuff (Dell has sales kiosques but you can't just go and get your computer serviced right there, same for HP, Acer, etc...)

 

[dstoltz]

Yeah with a Gateway desktop I had, years ago they had a store about 5 miles from my house and it was pretty much worthless. I could pick up a catalog I got in the mail and accomplish about the same thing as going to their store. It was pathetic. No customer service, minimal displays, barely anything on site (almost everything had to be ordered).

I think Apple has done a smart thing by having the Genius Bar at all their stores, that's a big step forward in a manufacturer's actually offering on site customer service.