Apple Support no longer helpful...

[res6jya6]

In 2004 I owned an iBook G3 Dual USB which was obviously three years old.
I dropped it one day. It wouldn't turn on.
I called Apple Support... I told them the problem, and they said to take it to an authorized repair location and it will be fixed. No stupid questions were asked. They didn't even want to know my name.
It was fixed. For free.

Same with the faulty logic board a few months later. Called up Apple and it was taken care of in just a few days.

In 2006 I was given a friend's old iPod (Classic) 3G w/ the touch controls.
The battery life was dismal. It was out of warranty.
Call up Apple. Complain. Fixed for free.

It was these very experiences that made me switch entirely to Apple. I found their support to be beyond helpful. They were great about honoring warranties and extended warranties. I could easily talk with the support staff on the phone. They seemed to understand my issue and wouldn't ask me stupid questions or put me through stupid steps if I've already specified that I've done troubleshooting. They had a general knowledge of Apple products - laptops, desktops, iPods, etc.

That is no longer the case. Apple Support is USELESS. They obviously don't know a THING about Apple products and must be - what - following a list of procedures that they pull up based on serial number? You can't just call and have a general conversation about a product... you have to provide your name phone number email address device serial number date of birth blood sample stool sample saliva hair skin soul... just to get a simple answer!!!

To anyone that has to deal with these people on a regular basis: may the lord have mercy on your soul.

 

[pmiles]

Welcome to the decade of automated messaging systems... expect that aspect to get worse not better. Heh, I remember calling the local store only to be passed to an automated system that directed me to a clearing house location that called on my behalf, the store that I originally tried to call directly. I was not allowed to speak directly with anyone at the store, only to the person at the clearing house.

If you want to talk to a real person, you have to take your ass in to the store and ask them directly, otherwise you get the runaround... until, you guessed it... take your ass in to the store and ask them directly.

As long as your system isn't EOL'd, they'll give you the red carpet treatment (if in person). If not, it's a crap shoot. So if your system is old, your best friend is now forums like MacRumors, not the Apple Store.

 

[mrsmith1]

Well on the few occasions I’ve used it, I’ve found Apple support to be excellent. Very patient and very helpful.

 

[res6jya6]

I literally made specific information available right off the bat when speaking with them. “The loudspeaker in the FaceID module is blown.” I merely inquired if this is something covered by apples limited warranty or if I’d have to utilize my AppleCare. First they wanted a device serial number. No… I just want to know if this is covered under warranty. They then asked if it was the top loudspeaker. I replied “I don’t think there’s a FaceID module in the bottom of the phone.” To which I was asked “so your FaceID isn’t working?” -facepalm-

I ended up calling. I asked the same question with the same specifications. He wanted to go through the whole serial number and name crap as well. No. I just have a question about the damn warranty!
I called Apple Corporate and was directed to a “senior specialist”… she finally got me on the right track but we were disconnected. Sigh. I pull open my email and see the repair ticket. I open it. The address is wrong.
I chat with apple. Give them my repair Id.
“so you’re having problems with FaceID?” NO!!! You just need to re open that ticket and change the address to xxxxxx… “so you’re…” NO! Just update the address!!!
Worst experience ever

 

[HDFan]

That is no longer the case. Apple Support is USELESS.

Not my experience. Have used them for (a lot) of years and have seen no change. Call them 1-2 times a week and have had no general problems. Some of my issues have been quite obtuse and complex. Sure you sometimes get an analyst who isn't that great, and once (in many years) I got one that was downright terrible. But you either ask for a Senior Advisor, or call in again and my problems have been resolved - at least to the extent that support can solve them. They always eventually resolve the issue, if support can do that, or it is left in the hands of development.

 

[edtee]

My take is that apple generally has good support but like any company sometimes gets things wrong.

What disturbs me though is how hard it is to get things fixed when apple goes rogue. They have enough savvy to swamp out criticisms pretty effectively on the web. I had a bad experience and so I googled and researched for a good few hours to find the most effective way of getting redress and couldn't find any.

In the end I bought the domain applesupportfails, created a supporting github repo and tried to rally some interest around this twitter hashtag:

#AppleSupportFails - Twitter Search / Twitter

See Tweets about #AppleSupportFails on Twitter. See what people are saying and join the conversation.

twitter.com

Can't say I've been very successful but I see this as a long game and over the next few years I'm going to dedicate a few hours every month to fixing the apple reality distortion field.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

They run off a script and have steps to follow; if you aren't willing to follow the steps and try to skip them, you're going to have a poor experience. I have my own script I follow to get MagSafes replaced under warranty and it works every time. I had similar experiences to you in the days of my iBook G4 and iPod mini, but Apple was smaller then than they are now.

 

[Eric Idle]

I have always found Apple support to be completely fantastic. Every time, every issue is solved to my satisfaction.

 

[Bluetoot-]

I’ve had many experiences with Apple support; even used to work for them in AppleCare.

It is abysmal now. I have an iPhone 12 that has always had the green tint issue. Took me two trips to two different Apple Stores (“but the iPad says everything is fine!!”) before they decided to send it off for evaluation, not even a guarantee they would fix the issue.

I’m not sure how they are training people these days, but my manager would be up my ass if I treated my customers that way or displayed such incompetence. Every time I deal with Support, it’s like I have to prove my case and defend myself. That’s bull; I want someone to help me.

 

[svenmany]

My experience is very different. It's a mix of the fantastic and abysmal.

I have Apple Care. I request support at Apple's website. I provide my details and the nature of the problem. They offer a callback within a couple of minutes. I get the callback and am talking to someone soon after. So, from reporting the problem to talking to someone is usually under a couple of minutes.

They are friendly and supportive. But, invariably they are incompetent. I almost always get the problem escalated to a senior support person. They send me their email address so that I can communicate with them as we resolve the problem.

I always make sure that anyone I talk to has my callback number. I've been disconnected in the past and they always return the call. Making sure someone I'm talking to has my callback number is something I do when contacting any company's support.

BUT, they never seem to solve the problem. I usually end up solving it by myself or learning to live with it. Apple is a very loving, smelly friend.

 

[jz0309]

My recent experience with Apple support has been excellent. Yes, the first line support is following scripts, but I was quickly connected with a senior advisor and it was excellent…
Apple is one of the few companies who actually provide support beyond the first level… my experience above was for my 4 year old iMac, no AC+, and it was related to Big Sur… if I had had that kind of issue with Windows …
I think they’re doing a fantastic job given the user base…

 

[svenmany]

I think they’re doing a fantastic job given the user base…

I think that's a fair point. The problems I've had have been more complex, ones that a typical user might not encounter. Here's an example; I'll let you draw your own conclusion whether a typical user might encounter this.

My Time Machine backups where taking forever. It was escalated, they required me to install the latest OS (breaking my 32-bit programs), and they kept me lingering for a month without an answer from engineering. Eventually they stopped responding. I decided to give up. You would think that typical users might have encountered this problem. However...

I discovered later, on my own, that the backup delays occurred whenever I started up a VMware Fusion virtual machine. I did set the backups to ignore the VMs, so I thought there would be no problem. In the end, I believe this was a bug support was unable to address and was ultimately resolved in some OS update.

It's fair to say that the typical user doesn't use virtual machines.

 

[PhillyGuy72]

Right now, I am on with them....again. (On hold as this person "checks on this for me" - going on 1 hr. No idea.

But NO help in the past 4 interactions with them since Feb. 2021, even with higher tiers, supervisors. iPhone 12 ProMax battery I (and many others) have severe battery issues...horrific drain, health now in the 80% for me and others. Just template answers - "Battery, phone is normal - follow this link how to maintain battery health"

It's been useless and a total waste of my time, but this "chat" has been BEYOND frustrating.