Homeschooling and Terrible service from Apple

[Macs4u]

Hi,

My wife home schools our children at home. She is educated to degree level in many subjects and educates our children well. We have done for a few years now. She called Apple Trafford Centre in Manchester to ask about a Mac Mini. She was advised by a young lady that as she home schools she would qualify for the education discount and also the £60 back to school voucher. She travelled to the store the following day and was told point blank that this isn't the case and she wouldn't get any discount at all. She isn't a confrontational person so came back empty handed and quite upset and being spoken to so bluntly after being told she would qualify.

I wasn't very happy so called 2 days later and asked to speak to a manager. I was told by a lad named Simon that one isn't available but he would get somebody to call me at 2:30pm. I waited and heard nothing. I tried calling back but was stuck in a queue for ages and ages so thought stuff it and travelled to the store again.

I asked why i hadn't had a call and another specialist went over to Simon and asked whats going on with it and i saw Simon throw his hands in the air and mutter "oh **** , sorry i forgot". The original specialist came back to me to explain he can sort me out the education discount but not the £60 voucher as i don't qualify. I explained what we were told and he just didn't seem to care. I bought the Mac Mini and a keyboard as i had made the trip then and asked him to get a manager to call me. "Of course i will , no problem" i was told. 6 days later and had no call or email. I emailed a complaint and finally got an email back and then a call explaining she had spoken to the girl who originally told my wife and has arranged further training for her. She also went on to explain that we don't qualify (which i believe is not true as i know of at least 3 families who have got education discount for being homeschoolers"). She also went on to say if we aren't happy that we can return it. We are out of pocket in fuel as its 90 miles round trip. We are also out of pocket by not having the £60 voucher , which we factored in when considering buying it.

Am i being silly for expecting them to honour what they said? I think i have had terrible service from Apple this time around.

Matt

 

[Tyler23]

Hi,

My wife home schools our children at home. She is educated to degree level in many subjects and educates our children well. We have done for a few years now. She called Apple Trafford Centre in Manchester to ask about a Mac Mini. She was advised by a young lady that as she home schools she would qualify for the education discount and also the £60 back to school voucher. She travelled to the store the following day and was told point blank that this isn't the case and she wouldn't get any discount at all. She isn't a confrontational person so came back empty handed and quite upset and being spoken to so bluntly after being told she would qualify.

I wasn't very happy so called 2 days later and asked to speak to a manager. I was told by a lad named Simon that one isn't available but he would get somebody to call me at 2:30pm. I waited and heard nothing. I tried calling back but was stuck in a queue for ages and ages so thought stuff it and travelled to the store again.

I asked why i hadn't had a call and another specialist went over to Simon and asked whats going on with it and i saw Simon throw his hands in the air and mutter "oh **** , sorry i forgot". The original specialist came back to me to explain he can sort me out the education discount but not the £60 voucher as i don't qualify. I explained what we were told and he just didn't seem to care. I bought the Mac Mini and a keyboard as i had made the trip then and asked him to get a manager to call me. "Of course i will , no problem" i was told. 6 days later and had no call or email. I emailed a complaint and finally got an email back and then a call explaining she had spoken to the girl who originally told my wife and has arranged further training for her. She also went on to explain that we don't qualify (which i believe is not true as i know of at least 3 families who have got education discount for being homeschoolers"). She also went on to say if we aren't happy that we can return it. We are out of pocket in fuel as its 90 miles round trip. We are also out of pocket by not having the £60 voucher , which we factored in when considering buying it.

Am i being silly for expecting them to honour what they said? I think i have had terrible service from Apple this time around.

Matt

Call Apple Customer service, not the store itself - I think that'll be a much better way to solve the issue, as it seems those working at that store are not quite competent.

 

[Macs4u]

Call Apple Customer service, not the store itself - I think that'll be a much better way to solve the issue, as it seems those working at that store are not quite competent.

I asked by email who i can escalate this complaint to and the manager wouldn't tell me. Instead she just rehashed what she had said to me on the phone. I think i will call the customer services in the morning. Thanks

 

[Macs4u]

Hi,

Ive called the customer services department and was told "We are 2 separate companies, you bought in store so we wouldn't have access to your order". I find that astonishing if that is true. The manager at the Trafford Centre doesn't want to know, has basically said "yes we got it wrong , I've arranged for more training for the girl who said you could have this and that, but we won't honour what we said, despite you travelling all them miles on the assumption the girl you were talking to had been trained properly and was a representative for Apple"

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

The back to school promotion does not include the Mac mini.

 

[Macs4u]

The back to school promotion does not include the Mac mini.

Really? Well thats something else the girl didn't know and also the manager doesn't know now as she said "there isn't a category your family fit into , if there was you would be entitled to the £60 voucher"

 

[960design]

I'm sorry you had a horrible experience. Next time, save the gas money, the driving time, the environment for that matter and go directly to Apple's Online Education Store.

http://store.apple.com/us-hed

I ordered a wireless router late Wednesday evening, normal shipping and delivery stated it would be at my house on Monday. It arrived Friday at noon, only 36 hours after I had ordered it.

PS. You may be directed to the online education store for your area of the world.

 

[thedeejay]

Really? Well thats something else the girl didn't know and also the manager doesn't know now as she said "there isn't a category your family fit into , if there was you would be entitled to the £60 voucher"

I don't think you're at fault. I think you're correct in your situation - as I would be upset as well. One thing I do think though is that she was incorrect in just "guessing". I've worked Retail in the past (which still in school as part time), and some people just 'guess' and don't realize the repercussions. She should've double checked and told you. I also don't think the manager was wrong though, as there is a lot of pressure at that level to rectify the situation. A lot of times when things are messed up it's hard to compensate except for apologies and even when managers are there they can't do much - their hands are tied; however that varies from situation to situation and I'm sure there have been situations where this doesn't apply.

 

[Macs4u]

Well...i emailed tim cook and had somebody from "executive relations" call me and advised that he will investigate this fully and report back. Despite 3 promises of "i will call you tomorrow" he finally called me today to advise "yes we got it wrong , the girl will have more training but thats it" No compensating me for wasted fuel, not getting the voucher as we were promised. He was very abrupt actually on the phone and when i mentioned that i might go to the small claims court he replied "ok i can give e you the address over the phone to send the summons to". I asked if he could email it me instead and he replied "no just over the phone". Very weird.

Really shocked and disappointed with the customer service.

I'm really thinking of taking the lot back and jumping ship.

Matt

 

[harrisonw1998]

Hi,

My wife home schools our children at home. She is educated to degree level in many subjects and educates our children well. We have done for a few years now. She called Apple Trafford Centre in Manchester to ask about a Mac Mini. She was advised by a young lady that as she home schools she would qualify for the education discount and also the £60 back to school voucher. She travelled to the store the following day and was told point blank that this isn't the case and she wouldn't get any discount at all. She isn't a confrontational person so came back empty handed and quite upset and being spoken to so bluntly after being told she would qualify.

I wasn't very happy so called 2 days later and asked to speak to a manager. I was told by a lad named Simon that one isn't available but he would get somebody to call me at 2:30pm. I waited and heard nothing. I tried calling back but was stuck in a queue for ages and ages so thought stuff it and travelled to the store again.

I asked why i hadn't had a call and another specialist went over to Simon and asked whats going on with it and i saw Simon throw his hands in the air and mutter "oh **** , sorry i forgot". The original specialist came back to me to explain he can sort me out the education discount but not the £60 voucher as i don't qualify. I explained what we were told and he just didn't seem to care. I bought the Mac Mini and a keyboard as i had made the trip then and asked him to get a manager to call me. "Of course i will , no problem" i was told. 6 days later and had no call or email. I emailed a complaint and finally got an email back and then a call explaining she had spoken to the girl who originally told my wife and has arranged further training for her. She also went on to explain that we don't qualify (which i believe is not true as i know of at least 3 families who have got education discount for being homeschoolers"). She also went on to say if we aren't happy that we can return it. We are out of pocket in fuel as its 90 miles round trip. We are also out of pocket by not having the £60 voucher , which we factored in when considering buying it.

Am i being silly for expecting them to honour what they said? I think i have had terrible service from Apple this time around.

Matt

Why didn't you just buy online if the store is so far away? You can get the discount there and its much easier.