Superior Service Still Exists!

[Head Roller]

I would like to take this opportunity to post a letter that I wrote to my local Apple Store, here in Tempe, Arizona. I hope that it is true that the folks at Apple frequent this forum, because I want to make sure my store and its Geniuses are properly recognized.

Here is my letter:

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To Whom It May Concern:

I just wanted to take the opportunity to commend the outstanding staff and support that I recently encountered at the Apple Store in the Chandler Fashion Center.

During early December 2005, I experienced unprecedented computer problems having both my main computers, a PowerBook G4 17” and my Power Mac G4 1.25 Dual go down. This was devastating to me on several levels, professionally because I am a graphic designer and run a very large instructional Members Only website, and personally because I spend a good deal of time PC bashing and had to admit that my 2 Mighty Macs fell to some unknown goblin.

The laptop was covered under the extended warranty, and once I completed the data recovery (because I had gotten a bit lazy on back up of late), the fix was quick, painless and uneventful. Thank you.

The G4 Dual, however, was another story. I dropped it off on Dec 11, received an initial diagnosis and quote for repair, and your Geniuses went to work on it, trying everything to get it back up. I received periodic updates over the following 3-4 weeks, and it started to sound hopeless as more and more components were installed to no avail. Finally, on Monday, January 3, 2006, I received a call from Chris who told me in no uncertain terms, they had “given up.” Immediately, of course, my heart sank realizing that the machine was older and no longer under warranty. To my surprise, Chris went on to say that since they could not fix it, the decision had been made to give me a new machine. A G5 Dual Core Power Mac. Wow. They even matched the 2GB of RAM that I had installed in the G4, and moved all my data.

I have been a Mac user since 1994, and have purchased at least 10 computers, 7 of which are still around at my office or in my house. These 2 computers are the first that I have ever had to have repaired, and I can honestly say that the resolution to the issues was not only stellar, but above and beyond. Everyone who I have told the story to, is shocked, and I have heard more than once, “that is reason enough to switch.” Great Job! It gives me hope for the future of Customer Service.

I would also like to give a special thanks to your Geniuses Tamea and Ben, both of whom were extremely helpful, understanding and appropriately concerned as I went through this past month.

Sincerely,


Diana Learn
Owner, Rolling Chrome, Inc
Home of Mike Learn Airbrush & Design
MikeLearn.com • LearnAirbrush.com

[fryke]

Very nice story. I guess not everyone would be this lucky, though... I don't think it's shop policy to replace "hopeless old Macs" with brand-new shiny PowerMacs...

[Thank The Cheese]

great story. That's incredibly generous of them!

I once had an external HDD die on me shortly after purchase. Not only did they replace it, but they upgraded the drive from 80gig to 160gig for free!

[Mobius Rex]

Well, here's my recent experience. My 17" 1.5GHz Powerbook's hard drive died after about a year and a half of daily use. I called AppleCare(I've got AppleCare's 3 year warranty) on a Tuesday, and they shipped a packing box to me on Wednesday.
I packed my PB and called Airborne-DHL at 11 AM. They picked up my PB at about 2:30PM and shipped it via overnight delivery to Apple's repair facility in Texas, where it arrived Thursday morning. Apple replaced the hard drive and shipped out my PB that evening. I received it back, in perfect working order, Friday morning.
That's only three days from the time that I called AppleCare, to getting my PB back fully repaired! And just after Christmas, too!
I'd say that's exemplary service.

[norrina]

See, if they can send an OVERNIGHT shipping label for a repair issue, why can't they send an overnight shipping label to the woman who calls less than an hour and half after receiving her computer to seek tech support for the Blue Screen of Death and finally be told by tech support, after several attempted fixes, that the video card most likely is dead, and send 'er on back?

Not to hijack. I started my own thread about that complaint. But, *sigh*, NOT a happy camper right now.

[powermac]

Great story. In the 19+ years I have used Apple products, I have found their customer service second to none. In essence is another reason I find myself continuing to buy there products. Although this excludes my iPod experience.