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Mac OS X: Apple neglecting Mac customers
Apple neglecting Mac customers
by onemoremile - 7/4/07 12:00 PMI switched to Macintosh a little over three years ago when I bought a PowerBook. I liked that so much that I bought one of my kids a PowerBook for college. More recently, I bought the other kid a MacBook. I also, just bought an iMac for my home, primarily to work with photos and videos. Now, let me tell you why I am reconsidering doing any more business with Apple.
The iMac never quite worked right; random application crashes, freezes, etc. I worked with Apple Care (their toll-free support line) and ended up reformatting the hard drive, after other attempted fixes failed. After I reinstalled the operating system and all of my applications, the Mac worked well for less than two weeks. Eventually it got to the point that the machine would not boot to the hard drive or to the installation disk. On June 22 I took it to the "Genius Bar" at the nearest Apple Store. After spending about 30 minutes on diagnosis, the "Genius" prescribed the installation of a new Hard Drive. He informed me that this repair would be done in the store and that it would take 5-7 days. The "Genius Bar Work Order" also listed an estimated repair time of 5-7 days. The "Genius" promised that I would get a call when the repair was finished.
After seven days had passed, I took it upon myself to call the Apple Store. Of course, this was June 29: iPhone launch day. I called before they closed at 2:00 p.m. to prepare for the launch and got no answer. I called the Apple Care 800 number and that tech tried calling the store, also prior to the 2:00 p.m. close, and she also got no answer. The tech promised to call me back on Saturday June 30 with more information. She did call back, just as promised, and informed me that the Apple Store had received the replacement hard drive and that my iMac was third in line to be repaired. She told me that, since I was so unhappy with the delay, she had asked that the store move my machine to the top of the queue. I called on Monday, July 2 at 2:40 p.m. to find out how they were doing with my "top of the queue" iMac. I was told that they had just started looking at it and would call me. More than 24 hours later, at 5:30 p.m. on July 3, I called the store again. I was put on hold permanently. When I finally reached a "Genius" just before 6:00 p.m., he told me that my iMac was "on the bench." He offered to call me later that evening with an update. It is the next day and I am still awaiting my call.
My impression is that the Apple Store is devoting all of its resources to iPhone customers and ignoring warrantly work on Macs. Our photo and video editing summer projects are not getting done, and Apple has missed every deadline that it set for itself. It is a good thing that Apple took the word "computer" out of its name, because the company seems to be doing everything it can to drive away computer customers.
Time for a letter.
by R. Proffitt
- 7/4/07 12:10 PM
In reply to: Apple neglecting Mac customers by onemoremile
Send a letter to Steve Jobs via (old-fashioned) mail way. Remember that personalization makes letters more effective. For instance, if you have a broken iMac or know people who do, tell him that.
--- Cut here ---
Steve Jobs, CEO
Apple Computer, Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Dear Steve Jobs,
I know you're a busy man, so I'll keep this short. As an iMac user, I'm concerned about the care I'm getting at (store name).
(Short story)
(Name names, times, dates.)
Sincerely,
Your name here
--- Cut here ---
You'll need to edit this letter, print it out and mail it yourself.
If you don't then you may have lost a chance to get some attention to your issue.
Bob
Great idea
by onemoremile - 7/4/07 5:31 PM In reply to: Time for a letter. by R. Proffitt
Bob:
Thanks for the idea and the address. I had tried to find a place to send an e-mail through the Apple web site and had come up empty. The snail mail letter is on the way.
I took the word "Computer" out of the company name, though!
Dave
(NT) Ooops. Forgot that name change...
by R. Proffitt - 7/4/07 6:12 PM
In reply to: Great idea by onemoremile
Mac Repairs
by mrmacfixit - 7/4/07 2:56 PM
In reply to: Apple neglecting Mac customers by onemoremile
Sorry to hear about your problems with getting a HD replaced.
Your Apple store was almost certainly devoting all of its resources to iPhone customers on June 29th and on the days preceding the iPhone launch, but that is not very surprising.
Don't misunderstand me, this is not a apology for the bad service you received. Bad service from any organization should not be tolerated.
Someone in the "Tech" department either dropped the ball or was pulled from doing their real job to prepare for the iPhone launch.
As I have mentioned before, Apple ships replacement parts overnight so had your drive been ordered on the day you took it in, June 22, or even June 25 because of the weekend, your part should have been in store by June 26th at the latest; installed and out the door shortly thereafter.
I'm sure you are not particularly happy, to say the least, with Apple right now but your problem is really with one local store and unless customers who are unhappy with the service they receive from that store, pass the information along to Corporate, they will never be aware of any problems. To say that Apple (the company) is doing everything it can to drive away computer customers based on one service experience is an understandable, but unsubstantiated, comment.
I hope your store finally gets their act together and does the work to your satisfaction and that you get a reaction from Cupertino with your mail.
P
The outcome
by onemoremile - 7/8/07 6:13 AM In reply to: Mac Repairs by mrmacfixit
I just wanted to post the final outcome of my Mac warranty struggle. On July 5, I received a call from the tech at my local Apple Store informing me that he had replaced the hard drive and that he had now diagnosed a problem with the logic board. He replaced the logic board (fortunately, they had one in stock) and got my Mac back to me the next day.
My concern is not that a new computer had a faulty component; my concern is that my compter sat there for 13 days before anyone looked at it. The "genius" who returned my machine agreed that this delay was unacceptable and he apologized profusely. I am interested to see the response to my letter.
By the way, I did have the hard drive backed up.
I'm please you are back in business
by mrmacfixit - 7/8/07 6:47 AM
In reply to: The outcome by onemoremile
and that the cause of the HD failures has been found and rectified.
You are preaching to the choir when it comes to the delay in getting your machine on to the bench. 13 days is totally unacceptable by anyone's standards.
I could understand the delay, almost, had the required part been out of stock/back ordered which does not happen very often but even then, I would have expected a phone call informing you of that fact as soon as they knew it.
Nice to hear you had the drive backed up, the number of people who do not even give that a thought, is frightening.
P
re: Apple neglects Mac owners
by unknownart - 7/7/07 12:07 AM In reply to: Apple neglecting Mac customers by onemoremileHey, I have experienced a similar problem with a Macintosh PowerPC 8100 a few years ago... okay it was over ten years ago... it wasn't my computer, but a coworker's. The guy was using PhotoShop to create very intricate comicbook pages and his computer was crashing about 10 times a day. then, after about a week of this, his computer just up and died. His hard drive was fried. And the poor guy just cried (sorry, I couldn't resist the rhyme).
The problem was not the hard drive but BAD RAM.
The boss had to send the hard drive to a company to resurrect the data. We found out later that it was the bad RAM.
-just another thought....
And about your main problem, the lack of service... I think you should write a letter to the manager of the Apple store, as well as a letter to Apple, Inc. It seems your impression is correct, the attention gets focused on the flashy new moneymakers... iPhone and iPods.
That's a recurring story (about backup.)
by R. Proffitt - 7/7/07 4:30 AM
In reply to: re: Apple neglects Mac owners by unknownart
How can we teach about backup?
After more than a few decades in this industry I've come to the conclusion it can't be taught except by the student losing something near and dear.
Bob
Lesson learned way too many times
by MzSabina - 7/7/07 7:59 AM In reply to: That's a recurring story (about backup.) by R. Proffitt
I can't aggree with you more. When it comes to computers, people seem to think they should be infalibible. But that just isn't true. And the bigger the hard drives get, the less likely people are to back up. I have learned that lesson myself a few times. I have ALWAYS backed up documents that were part of finished projects, it's the ones in progress that are killers. But now I always keep a duplicate of any work in progress on an external drive. If your on a network, it is so simple to just drag it over every day. If you keep the same name, it will replace it so no problems figuring out which is the latest by having to look at directories or info. Hopefully with Leopard this issue will become a non issue. I am just wondering how much of a space hog Time Machine is going to be.
Back up and duplicate files
by grimgraphix - 7/7/07 8:37 AM In reply to: Lesson learned way too many times by MzSabinaI back stuff up.
I back up by saving as I work.
I back up by making copies to external hard drives.
I back up by burning to disc - both DVD and CD.
You know what I'm often left with? A lot of duplicate files of which I'm never quite sure which is the most up to date or the FINAL job_comprehensive.jpg
Yeah, I'm not the most organized person in the house. I switched from using a file cabinet to putting in a wall full of shelves where I find it easier to stack piles of work. What I need is an easy way to sync files from drive to drive (thumb drive, to external hd to internal hd... from PC to mac and vise versa).
Just a short rant from a slightly disorganized graphic designer. 
Re: Bad RAM
by grimgraphix - 7/7/07 11:17 AM In reply to: re: Apple neglects Mac owners by unknownartThis was in the June issue of macworld.
A handy, free utility for testing RAM
Kelley Computing - REMBER
Here is another free utility for keeping track of HD health...
A. Julian Meyer's Smart Reporter. You will find this link at the bottom of the page.
grim
Mac the knife (in the back-up!}
by orthotox - 7/7/07 12:02 PM In reply to: Apple neglecting Mac customers by onemoremileHow absurd to read someone advising the buyer to write the wizard of Jobs a letter! Why not just follow the yellow brick road to the land of talking trees and cardiac challenged tinmen? Just leave Toto at home, however, since this wizard hides behind an impenetrable curtain of gold. Be advised of the law of virtual inverse access: the bigger a computer/IT company becomes the more inaccessible/indifferent its own web site personnel become.
Now tell us what you would do.
by R. Proffitt - 7/7/07 12:26 PM
In reply to: Mac the knife (in the back-up!} by orthotox
I read your other posts and didn't find much of use to the owners. You've taken the time to sling a few arrows but let's see if you'll take the time to offer some help.
Bob
Sending letters to the President absolutely works
by grtgrfx - 7/7/07 11:57 PM In reply to: Mac the knife (in the back-up!} by orthotoxYou're mistaken if you think complaints to CEOs don't get read. In fact all mail delivered to corporate leaders gets treated very seriously, especially service complaints. After I sent a letter to then-President Gil Amelio complaining about persistent repair problems with a G3 Mac, a senior staff member assigned to that office arranged to replace my problem machine with a brand new equivalent Mac, and this was two years into ownership. I received the new computer within days of the promise.
Also, it's not common for the stores to do in-house warranty work on laptops; for many issues (I had a defective motherboard issue last year with my iBook G4) you take the Mac to a store for first-round testing and if necessary, the staff send the Mac to Apple's repair depot. I was on vacation in Florida and gave the Mac to a Genius in Miami Beach. They sent it overnight to California and repaired it in two days, sending it again overnight to my home in California. The fixed iBook arrived at my home several days before I did (received by my neighbor from FedEx).
So while YMMV, complaints to senior management are considered and often action is taken. And I don't thing having a messianic CEO in the top office would change that.
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