Flutterby™! : Apple woes 2007-11-27 21:49:14.226247+00

Apple woes

2007-11-27 21:49:14.226247+00 by Dan Lyke 6 comments

Edit: The Corte Madera Apple store called me and told me how to do it better next time by dealing directly with them rather than going through Apple's web site. I'm impressed!

All hardware sucks, so in making this observation I don't mean to praise any particular vendor: I'm going to physically drag the next person who makes great proclamations about Apple's design abilities down to the Apple store 20 minutes before opening, where all of the people are lined up with their malfunctioning hardware hoping to be one of the first lucky few to beat their way to the in-store kiosks to schedule an appointment for the day because the online appointment system hasn't been working correctly.

I want them to experience the nashing of teeth when the customers discover that it'll be another day or three before they can get someone to take in their malfunctioning laptop or display for warranty service because the "genius bar" booked up before they could get there.

I was merely dealing with a noisy fan (which should have been replaced last time I took the laptop in, a few weeks ago), and knew to get there a half an hour early to make sure I could get an appointment and to have my computer warmed up so that the problem exhibited itself (a problem when I was standing out in the cold in front of the store for thirty minutes, but a better system for dealing with hardware failures would serve Apple well.

#Comment Re: Apple Woes made: 2007-11-28 18:55:36.695295+00 by: Jim Sheppard

Funny, I've never had to wait more than two hours when I've arrived at the store at opening time. This is at Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga, California. My experiences with Compaq and Dell in-home overnight service makes this the computer equivalent to Heaven. I am sorry that you have had a less than wonderful experience and hope that it improves in the future, but as for me and my family, give me Apple any day!

Jim, I think I'd prefer it if I could just drop a computer at a FedEx pickup and get it back later. A drive over to the mall and two hours in line is really annoying when compared to jumping over the hill and dropping a package off in town.

I've had AppleCare warranty work done on laptops where Apple send DHL with a box, I packed it up, called DHL, and they picked it up. I always get AppleCare for laptops since I use them a lot, and travel with them. I skip it for desktops and monitors. Stuff will either break in the first year, or after 3.

If it's out of service-plan, then you're stuck hauling and waiting :-( . There's an independent Mac dealer in my area with a traditional service desk you can just go up to, state your complaint, and they take your machine for service.

MarkD, sounds like that's the plan next time, I have to figure out the right people to tweak, but dealing with DHL is way better than waiting at the Apple store.

Aha! As I've edited the top of the entry to say, the Apple store saw my online feedback, called me up and told me that next time I should just call the store directly rather than trying to use the online forms, and gave me a few other tips for how to use their system better.