Originally posted by spinner
Just a little tip from someone who has worked in customer service/sales at Gateway. Be nice...if you are nice, understanding, and patient people will try a lot harder to help you out. Believe me there is no shortage of *******s and you are definitely not the first one to "tell em how it is". Honestly, the more someone yelled or called me names etc. (not sure how I was personally responsible for countless disasters) the less likely I was to help and the more likely I was to purposely transfer you to a department that I knew wouldn't help at all.
Name the top 5 mac retailers you know of and you probably would say the company i worked at.. i don't want to name names but seriously.. over the 5 years i worked there, i know how i reacted to customers that had fire under their @sses. Knowing that.. i feel that i was more than courtious to the reps over at apple.. i think it was about the 25th time i called in where i started getting annoyed.. or was it the 26th.. i lost count after 20's.. but anyway.. yeah, the thing that bothered me was that i felt misled about the whole situation... here is kind of timeline..
1. bought computer
2. had problems called in
3. troubleshooted, reformated, reinstalled, reformated, reinstalled
4. called back again... didn't fix problem (several times)
5. fast forward like 15 calls, talked to rep... said if i brought the computer in and they couldn't fix the computer, they would replace it
6. brought computer in
7. got back, still froze on me, called back.. said they couldn't replace because it was past 10 days.... (this is where i started getting frustrated)
8. said for me to bring computer back in... no chance of return (btw i was within 30 days at this point)
9. took computer in.. recieved back on the 30th day
10. kept freezing, called back.. rep told me that i was pass the 30 day mark to return (ooooh that made me pissed)... i was like.. what!?!?! you have to be kidding me... anyway..
long story short... i felt misled and handled poorly. Seriously.. when i worked at the mac retailer.. i saw many things.. and to be honest.. angry customers were the worst... so i take alot of those things in consideration when speaking to anyone on the phone because i sympathise with them... trust me, i know all the threats in the book first hand.. i never thought i would be one of those angry customers and the thing that even frustrated me the more was that i knew how they were reacting to my situation.. it was like that rolling eyes, put me on mute, put the phone away for 4 seconds to give me a taste of what i have coming to me.. please... whatever.. i just wanted my comp to work... i have heard other horror stories about the g5 lately too and i guess i'm not the only one... but as a first time mac user... long time mac advocate (oh.. i used to give presentation on mac's also saying how great they were and how superior their machines were to the pc) this computer was not acceptable.. funny thing is, i used to tell all my friends and good customers, do not get the computer as soon as it comes out... let the bugs work its way out and then jump in... i guess i felt like kid in candy store with the 64bit processor and shiny case and took the bait...
i regret that purchase and i do have to pay 10% restocking but i'm working something out with the apple store to possibly help me out with my next purchase (and yes.. i am forced to make another apple purchase if i want my money back). I'm willing though.. i really think that the g5's are too new and the techs just DON'T KNOW what some of the problems are yet.... he's my recommendation... DON'T ACT LIKE YOU KNOW WHEN YOU DON'T! it will save both parties a lot of head ache and trouble.. its called trust the customer and give him what he wants and if that means a replacement then do it... at least that what it should be if they stand by their product... tell you the truth.. after i got my power supply replaced on the g5 the first week.. that alone killed my purchase experince... did i tell you guys i have a degree in marketing as well? yeah.. well, apple really messed up on this one and just look at this board... over 2000 views... that can't hold up well with them and if it does.. shame on apple.. seriously... i really feel that apple is moving fast and they are making a great comeback but at the cost of success comes lack of attention to those who made them who they are today... i'm just sad that i had to experience this but i'm hoping my next MAC will be ok... i've been reallly debating if i should even go back to mac now... having dealt with all this but i dunno.. to be honest some of the people in this thread really changed my views about macs and the following (good and bad) but for the most part, i know macs are good computers and well built... just the people that are representing them are idiots... this could have been solved weeks ago but didn't work out that way... anyway.. PC's have always given me a headache but the good thing about the pc is that there are hundreds of people to ask how to troubleshoot and even i know how to trouble shoot a pc now... macs, hmmmm i think i know one.. and he was working with me back then as a tech support agent... and the funny thing is.. i knew more then him about alot of things... all in all, macs are great but are slowly becoming a apple monopoly... i'm telling you... sometimes having one is great but power does not lay in your hands anymore... just look at the pricing.. its funny because apple is screwing even the retail shops.. anyone reading this... just to let you know... please don't harrass your sales reps from apple retailers about pricing... i'm not kidding you when i say they have to take almost a loss on the machines to even sell them and compete with the other companies.... last time i remember i was selling the imac flat panels for 2% above cost.. that barely covers overhead.. its rediculous.. sometimes i wonder if Mr. Gates himself is puppeteering our good friend Jobs... anyway... mac rumors right? ahha good day.. wish me luck on my next comp.. I think i've decided on the 15 inch powerbook 1ghz.. i have a couple friends that have this and my partner has the 12 inch and it runs great except that he has this (T) issue.. when he presses (T) on the keyboard it goes ttttttttt... so when he types i goes like tttttthis... anyway... if you have any thoughts on this new pb... let me know before i get it.. the 20in imac looks cool too but dunno... i'm still scared though after this G5 incedent though.. i'm crossing my fingers..
dankim