Apple Support

[rant]
I'm curious what others experiences have been with phone support. My experiences have been very mixed. Unfortunately, over the past few years I've had to call a number of times with serious problems, mostly related to iTunes. I have a very large library which I believe to be the problem.

Anyway, I now only speak to senior advisors. While the regular tech is sometimes more helpful than a senior advisor, I find the lack of knowledge with some of them to be astounding. I'll say the same for senior advisors, but to a lesser degree.

As a matter of policy, I believe they are supposed to send an email with contact info and a case number. They always say to contact them if the problem continues. More than half the time though, the techs do not return phone calls or emails. So, that's a waste.

Yesterday, a senior advisor had me rename and move my music library and said she'd call back in a short time because it had to recopy and she didn't want to wait. She never called. And this was the wrong approach as I later found out from the next tech, the polar opposite of the first tech, i.e., dedicated and conscientious. It took about 6 hours with the second tech to correct the first tech's mistakes, both senior advisors. The first tech never sent me contact info and I never got her name. One of my 2 days off from work was killed because of this blunder.

If this were an isolated incident, I wouldn't be so bothered, but although it's extreme, it's not atypical. Will contacting the Cupertino number, 408-996-1010, listed on the Apple contact page, be the place to call to file a complaint?

The good part is I'm getting a free 3TB external drive because of the problems. [My Time Machine backups were all lost in the process.]

Another issue. In purchasing the iPad Air, my card was authorized 3 times or over $3000. The first time was my fault... I ordered online to have it shipped. I changed my mind to pick it up. Customer support canceled the first order and authorized my card again for the pickup. After receiving an email that the iPad was ready for pickup, I was told at the store that it wasn't ready even though they must have hundreds if not thousands of them. [this is the flagship store in Manhattan on 5th Ave.] But they agreed to cancel the order and sell me another one. The problem was they couldn't cancel the order at the store and I was told to call customer service. I went ahead and bought the iPad, causing a 3rd transaction on my card. When I called customer service, they couldn't find my transaction, the one that they were supposed to cancel that was designated for pickup, in the system. This was a senior rep. He said he'd call back. He never did call, but the tech I talked to yesterday found out they couldn't cancel the transaction because my iPad was in shipment to the store!!! How ridiculous. So, now I have to call my bank to dispute the charge. The last 2 authorizations will turn into charges.

I don't so much fault the store; it was a madhouse. And they gave me a leather smart case for nothing, $100 value. Plus there were about a dozen other people (that I saw) in the same boat as me. But what is it with getting help on the phone?
[/rant]