Talk to important people? - Page 3

lilbandit · #17 July 24th, 2005, 10:22 AM

We don't tip in Ireland we pay a service charge, so an apology is just that, an apology. Bad service is bad service, simple as that. You pay for goods/service and you don't get what you were promised. In my opinion thats grounds for a quick apology and action to rectify the situation. No fuss no muss. I don't care if it's Apple or a highstreet shop. If you bought a car with a fault, a book missing a couple of pages, football boots that ripped etc. etc., you would get some sort of apology and then prompt repairs. This is no different than Apple selling you a unit with a fault.

ElDiabloConCaca · #18 July 24th, 2005, 11:29 AM

I bought a car with a fault. The passenger-side door wasn't aligned properly -- I noticed this about 2 days after purchasing the car. The service shop fixed it. No one said they were sorry. None of the people who serviced the car were at fault for the faulty door hinges. I didn't get an apology, nor did I expect one.

I have a subscription to Newsweek magazine. On more than one occasion, I've received an issue that was mangled in the mail, making more than one page unreadable. I called Newsweek and they promptly mailed me another copy of the issue. I didn't get an apology because it wasn't Newsweek's fault -- they have no control over the USPS. I got my new copy of the issue and all was well. Wasn't expecting an apology.

One time I also purchased some size 10 1/2 shoes, and when I got home, the shoes in the box were size 10. Took 'em back, got 'em replaced. No apology offered, no apology expected. Even if the employee handling my case said, "I'm sorry," I would have said, "No apology needed -- these things happen" or "Don't worry about it, I undertstand." If he hadn't said any of these things, hey, cool, I would have gotten my replacement shoes a few seconds faster and been happier than had he offered me an apology.

Now, none of the examples you've talked about constitute "bad service." The fault with the car is probably a manufacturing mistake -- no one gave you "bad service." A book missing a couple pages was probably an error at the printing plant -- that's not "bad service." Shoes that aren't perfect probably occurred at the manufacturing plant as well -- again, no "bad service" there, either.

"Bad service" would be me taking my faulty boots back to the shoe store, informing the employees/customer service people that the shoes are faulty and explain my want of a new pair of shoes, and the emloyee giving me attitude or being rude in some way. That's bad service, and an apology from the manager and/or employee would be in short order, I'm sure.

Getting a defective unit is not bad service -- it's an unavoidable reality because no manufacturing process is perfect. It sounds like some people are confusing a fact of life with "bad service" when the two are completely different. Apologies are needed when someone blatantly screws up, or when they're rude for no good reason, or when they unintentionally or intentionally hurt you. Getting a computer that is faulty doesn't fit into any of those categories.

Now, when it comes time to get your computer replaced because of the defect, the process should go smoothly and the people you deal with should be courteous (but not ass-kissing, please don't expect that either) and prompt. If they're rude, or tell you your feet stink, or make jokes about your mother, then an apology would be warranted. But until then, the apology is implied in the process of making what was wrong right.

cfleck · #19 July 25th, 2005, 11:12 AM

ElDiabloConCaca - thank you

ElDiabloConCaca · #20 July 25th, 2005, 03:14 PM

No prob -- you and I disagree some of the time, but on something like this, I just don't see how someone thinks that they're entitled to anything other than swift and courteous repair/replacement -- especially an apology, when the person actually saying, "I'm sorry," really isn't sorry at all (after all, they're just doing their job -- they didn't cause you the distress)... what meaning does that apology have then?

**fryke** · #21 July 28th, 2005, 06:43 AM

I guess most people don't want or need an apology. Good service is the only answer to a problem. If they want to _really_ polish their image, they're going to throw something in. Give you a rebate on your next purchase or something like that... Worth more than a muttered "M'sorry" from a person that probably wasn't at fault, anyway.

philbert · #22 August 3rd, 2005, 08:08 PM

You guys are hilarious. :-) No kidding, if Apple and other big corps can waste your time and money (same thing, eh?) without having to utter one sentence of apology, can I do it too?

Why do you accept, no, ardently defend, rude behavior from a corporation, but not accept it from the people around you?

No offense, but some of you seem to have been thoroughly brainwashed by the corporate PR machine. It's only a few more steps before you are down on your knees thanking them for wasting your time and money. :-)

It's a sentence. It takes like 5 seconds to push the words out of your mouth or keyboard. You do it to show respect. Apple doesn't say it because they don't respect you. That's all there is to it.

But I agree, none of this is a problem if you don't mind giving your money to people who don't respect you.

aicul · #23 August 4th, 2005, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksv

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Are you serious about this advice. Since when has input to Apple's feed-back form quickly helped the interested party?

This feedback form is offensive. Users take time to detail their issues and a standard automated response is immediately given.

If Apple really wanted to manage feed-back they would assign a ticket number to each feed-back form and allow users to have some info on if something would be done.

Viro · #24 August 5th, 2005, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philbert

It's a sentence. It takes like 5 seconds to push the words out of your mouth or keyboard. You do it to show respect. Apple doesn't say it because they don't respect you. That's all there is to it.

But I agree, none of this is a problem if you don't mind giving your money to people who don't respect you.

So you'd rather have an empty gesture from some employee in order to make you feel respected?

I'd rather have the phrase "I'm sorry" to have meaning, and for the person saying it to actually mean it. As it is, you don't really care whether they mean it or not, just so long as they say it. So seriously, what's the point?