Suspicious response from Apple Tech Support

[lawclerk]

I called Apple Tech support about my cracked MB palmrest today.

This MB is well within the year warranty. Purchased it 9.22.06 and today is 7.30.07.

First guy told me that I was out of warranty, and I could either purchase one over the phone with him, or bring it in to the store. I told him that I was still within the year, and for him to explain how I wasn't within the year. I also told him I couldn't afford to buy an Applecare warranty because I'm a 3rd year law student... Then he cut me off and transferred me to Education support.

The lady I spoke to is sending a box to send it back tomorrow. I asked her about the warranty and she said I was within the year warranty. This is really worrisome to me. I told her about what the guy said, and she said that he must have typed in the wrong serial #, but he knew my name/address, so I know that he had it right...

Is there anything I should do about this? Or just let it go? I really think he was trying to induce me to buy a warranty for an obvious case defect.

 

[rdowns]

Step back from the ambulance.

Were the unit out of warranty, he could not offer you AppleCare. Sounds like an honest mistake.

 

[dacreativeguy]

There are good employees and bad employees at every company. If you don't hear what you want to hear, ask to speak to someone else. If that doesn't work, hang up and call back and try again with the next person who answers the phone. Sounds like you got a decent person on the second try and now your problem is solved. Not much more you can do.

 

[lawclerk]

Yeah... I want to believe that it was an honest mistake... He didn't speak English well, so maybe it was just a misunderstanding. Oh well.

 

[kuebby]

Yeah... I want to believe that it was an honest mistake... He didn't speak English well, so maybe it was just a misunderstanding. Oh well.

Really? Has Apple outsourced customer support too? Last time I called (I believe 2002) they hadn't. Please tell me they haven't.

 

[dastly75]

Really? Has Apple outsourced customer support too? Last time I called (I believe 2002) they hadn't. Please tell me they haven't.

1 of my 2 calls to tech support reached a outsourced person(who was hard to understand and spoke really quickly)

 

[kwood]

The person could have just misheard the serial number. If you do a lot of work over the telephone it can be hard to copy down letters especially on a bad connection. That is why police officers and military personnel us the phonetic alphabet. It is amazing how T, P, D, B, C, and may more all sound alike over the phone.

 

[Planner Dude]

1 of my 2 calls to tech support reached a outsourced person(who was hard to understand and spoke really quickly)

Just because someone can't speak that well doesn't mean Apple has outsourced. Christ, just look at engineering programs at US universities--they are loaded with foreign students (not a bad thing). They also get jobs at the local shops, does that mean my university Taco Hell has outsourced. NO.

In a nutshell, Apple computer may have hired some foreign grad students who want to make a buck while working on their computer science degree.

 

[MaddieBrad]

Really? Has Apple outsourced customer support too? Last time I called (I believe 2002) they hadn't. Please tell me they haven't.

There is a lot of people who don't speak english too well in america. Trust me... I live in spanish harlem.

 

[skye12]

He just made a mistake, realized it and passed the buck to cover
his embarrassment.

Don't read too much into it.

 

[L3X]

I called Apple Tech support about my cracked MB palmrest today.

This MB is well within the year warranty. Purchased it 9.22.06 and today is 7.30.07.

First guy told me that I was out of warranty, and I could either purchase one over the phone with him, or bring it in to the store. I told him that I was still within the year, and for him to explain how I wasn't within the year. I also told him I couldn't afford to buy an Applecare warranty because I'm a 3rd year law student... Then he cut me off and transferred me to Education support.

The lady I spoke to is sending a box to send it back tomorrow. I asked her about the warranty and she said I was within the year warranty. This is really worrisome to me. I told her about what the guy said, and she said that he must have typed in the wrong serial #, but he knew my name/address, so I know that he had it right...

Is there anything I should do about this? Or just let it go? I really think he was trying to induce me to buy a warranty for an obvious case defect.

You should get an email from Apple requesting you to fill out a survey about your Apple Customer Service experience...at least i've gotten one recently. Go through, answer honestly, and in the final comments, possibly note his name if you caught it, or briefly describe the situation. Then, forget about it from there.

 

[Igantius]

If you've outlined correctly what the first guy said, he was either having a bad day or isn't good at his job period.

rdowns is right - if your warranty has expired, you can't buy Applecare for the machine.

Just because someone can't speak that well doesn't mean Apple has outsourced.

Quite.

Last year (sometime in Spring) Apple announced that it was outsourcing its tech support to India and was going build a large support centre there - about three months laters, it cancelled the plans.

At the time, this was reported quite a bit (esp. in financial publications) - firstly, becuase Apple had given outsourcing the thumbs up and secondly, because the company went volte face, what implications this had for outsourcing. One of the main reasons Apple changed its mind what that the cost of outsourcing was a lot higher than it was expecting.

 

[iJawn108]

Be polite and if it is not working out for you ask for a level 2.

 

[termina3]

Really? Has Apple outsourced customer support too? Last time I called (I believe 2002) they hadn't. Please tell me they haven't.

Every time I call about my Mac Pro it's obviously someone based in the US... don't know if they differentiate b/c of my computer though (dell does for their XPS... or did)

 

[kuebby]

There is a lot of people who don't speak english too well in america. Trust me... I live in spanish harlem.

What I really meant is that last time I called even though I had a huge problem getting my iPod fixed I never had trouble understanding the people on the phone. Once I got a guy that had a CA surfer accent, I thought that was funny.

 

[Wolfpup]

You should get an email from Apple requesting you to fill out a survey about your Apple Customer Service experience...at least i've gotten one recently. Go through, answer honestly, and in the final comments, possibly note his name if you caught it, or briefly describe the situation. Then, forget about it from there.

Just make sure you explain it wasn't that second person you dealt with, that they took care of it. I'd be worried that the email would be tied to the second person, and if you complain, they'd think you were talking about the second person. I'd try to be VERY clear that you talked to two separate people, and the first one was the problem.

I'm really glad Apple quit their outsourcing experiment.

Honestly it's one strong reason I'm still considering an Apple notebook. They support us? Hell, I'll support them

 

[atszyman]

Are you sure you understood properly?

Without Apple care you only get 90 days of complementary phone support and one year of service. Are you sure he wasn't trying to tell you that your phone support had expired?

link

Just a thought...