Apple's Reservation Fail and How They Made It Right

[cookies!]

I am part of the iPhone upgrade program, but I cracked my iPhone 6s's screen and noticeably chipped the aluminum on the edges as well. I fully expected to pay $99 when I came in to pick up my iPhone 7 Plus.

When I went to the Apple Store in Atlanta for my reservation on Friday, there were 100 people in line. They handed out granola bars and coffee to those who wished to wait the 2 hours in line, but I needed to go home and finish up a project (I left from work early to get there for the reservation)

I came back Sunday evening after confirming over the phone that there was no line, and I told the sales associate (nicely) that a) what happened Friday and that it sucked and b) that I paid for a roundtrip Lyft and that I left work early to come here.

He was awesome. He waived, without hesitation, the $99 fee I would have paid for turning in my damaged iPhone. That's a lot of profit that Apple was willing to forgo (given that it costs so little to prep a phone with intact insides for refurbished sale), and it was a good gesture to a loyal customer.

I'm not happy with how Apple handled the launch, and I'm really ticked that they have ignored the Mac line for years (I have since switched to Microsoft Surfaces and I am quite happy) But Apple showed why their customer service always surpasses Samsung's by light years, especially given the current Note recall.

 

[Dwalls90]

I don't understand how Apple initially failed. We all know there are lines on launch day, and creating a reservation doesn't mean no wait time. Either way, glad they waived the fee for you.

Also, Samsung wasn't required to recall all of their devices, they elected to. It's unfortunate it happened to Samsung, but could have equally happened to Apple. I think Samsung is handling it as gracefully as possible. And I don't like Samsung.

 

[cookies!]

Yeah, Apple's misstep is insane. I get how most corporations have major misfires internally, but this one really stands out. You can only push artificial supply constraints for marketing purposes so far.

I totally get it about Samsung (I have a family member who is a VP of sales), but having to wait that many weeks and not work directly with Samsung (working with carriers is never fun) wasn't great decision making. But to be fair, their distribution system wasn't designed for a direct customer-to-company recall, and you can't change that in a matter of months, much less so weeks.