I’m a field tech who has to deal with HP and Lenovo ‘support.’ Even on a bad day Apple beats them hands down.
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Anyone else feel like the “great customer service” at Apple is almost mythical?
- Thread starter DaveCPA
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It’s a bygone era of Apple.
You find some employees that are from that time, and others who aren’t. It’s very store by store now; and getting thinner fast.
An example of old service experience: apples older diagnostics suite could repeat tests for as many times or hours a technician specified. This helped reproduce failures that only occur on warmup or ram that’s failing but not failed - etc, and warranty replace parts needed (or offer paid repairs).
Current diagnostics can not be looped (back to back repeat), and they run in 15 minutes vs hours. It is discouraged from running tests multiple times. Basically, Apple runs in, says looks ok, and runs out. Product may be limping along for a long time until the test fails - costing the customer time and money, but not Apple. Better still — if the customer isn’t savvy enough to request a part ordered during the warranty period, it won’t be covered once out of warranty.
The priority is to remind you, you can trade in your “working” device for a brand new one with additional money paid to Apple, so it’s a “win for everyone”*
*except the customers wallet.
It is very country-dependent. I have heard about these horror stories in US but I guess it is different in other countries. In Netherlands my girlfriend replaced dead iPhone 11 battery (paid replacement, no AC+ or anything) and not only they finished the job in less than few hours but also put actually working and original battery inside so it does no more shutdown on itself and overheat
Compared to other vendors, I always had good experiences with Apple. Not perfect depending on the issue, but it’s good to know I can go to a store, call, or get online. I travel a lot, and usually there is an Apple Store nearby just in case(US). When I had bad experiences, Apple compensated me in different ways. I don’t usually care about an employee but more focussed on resolution.
I had the worst service experience with my Mac Mini 2009, the so called Steve Jobs/Apple Store Ron Johnson golden era. For me it’s mostly about the issue, than anything else.
It was fast and easy when I picked up my old 6s back in the day, my MBA M1 and my 15 Plus.
The staff were very helpful, plus I feel grateful to have a store within walking distance.
The staff were very helpful, plus I feel grateful to have a store within walking distance.
I have never been to an Apple Store - the nearest to me is hundreds of miles away and a very contorted drive to get there. Likewise, I've never called Customer Care because I have never had any reason to.
There was a time when Apple scored top in every customer care survey over years, but I have no idea if this is still the case. However, for any individual, the quality of care is only as good as their least-good experience of it, so for some who don't get what they want out of it, the Zero-out-of-Ten score they'd give is totally valid and reasonable.
Another person who gets a positive result, might score Ten. I suspect much depends on the specifics of the case, and the individual user and support worker on that day. I'd be shocked if sometimes they don't get that badly wrong and leave the user very unhappy. And the fact is that even when (if I recall from maybe 2022) they score an 80%+ positive, that still leaves a 10%+ set of far less happy people.
There was a time when Apple scored top in every customer care survey over years, but I have no idea if this is still the case. However, for any individual, the quality of care is only as good as their least-good experience of it, so for some who don't get what they want out of it, the Zero-out-of-Ten score they'd give is totally valid and reasonable.
Another person who gets a positive result, might score Ten. I suspect much depends on the specifics of the case, and the individual user and support worker on that day. I'd be shocked if sometimes they don't get that badly wrong and leave the user very unhappy. And the fact is that even when (if I recall from maybe 2022) they score an 80%+ positive, that still leaves a 10%+ set of far less happy people.
I've always had good luck at the Apple Store. I can't vouch for anything of theirs over the phone.
Now if you want some BAD customer service, try calling Amazon to get back into a locked account. There is a higher chance of snow in Miami in August than getting your account unlocked from them.
Now if you want some BAD customer service, try calling Amazon to get back into a locked account. There is a higher chance of snow in Miami in August than getting your account unlocked from them.
Depending on the item, if it’s something simple including some serialized products you can do self checkout in the Apple Store app. It’s kinda surreal cause you can scan it, pay for it, and then walk out the store without talking to anyone; you’ll feel like you’re stealing it.
If you need help or support, you will be helped. However, it will take 10 or more minutes of waiting on the phone or chat. Customer service? Employees are nice.
The shopping experience at Apple Store is terrible, however. I avoid it like the plague and shop online. If I have to go in-person, I use self-checkout or pickup. (Even pickup takes 30+ minutes at my local store.)
The shopping experience at Apple Store is terrible, however. I avoid it like the plague and shop online. If I have to go in-person, I use self-checkout or pickup. (Even pickup takes 30+ minutes at my local store.)
The stores - everyone that works there is generally proud to work where they do and wants to do a good job, at least in the US. Everyone has bad days and unfortunately one bad interaction can derail one's entire perception of the company or the situation. The bigger problem in the stores is that the genius team is pushed very hard to meet certain metrics at the expense of actually being able to drill down on an issue. Less stuff gets fixed at the expense of more people being talked into purchasing new again.
I have noticed that online chat support seems to be increasingly outsourced to other parts of the world or being given to part-timers, usually college kids. I've also had perplexing denials of service when it comes to warranty extensions. At some point they stopped doing express replacement for the gen 1 AirPods Pro issues (still covered at the time) and wanted me to either send my pair in and be without headphones for a week, or drive four hours to either of the closest stores. I just ended up buying new ones, so I guess the strategy works.
I have noticed that online chat support seems to be increasingly outsourced to other parts of the world or being given to part-timers, usually college kids. I've also had perplexing denials of service when it comes to warranty extensions. At some point they stopped doing express replacement for the gen 1 AirPods Pro issues (still covered at the time) and wanted me to either send my pair in and be without headphones for a week, or drive four hours to either of the closest stores. I just ended up buying new ones, so I guess the strategy works.
I generally have pleasant experiences with Apple, both in store and over the phone.
I live about a 15-30 minute drive to all 5 Apple Store’s in my province (4 at the moment while a mall is being rebuilt), and I’ve purchased and had repairs done at each. Only issue is that there’s always groups of employees talking to each other and never anyone to help unless you’re waiting for an appointment.
Apple Support has always been exceptional, maybe because I spent many years in customer service when I first started working and so I know how to word things to get more.
A loophole I’ve found is that if I call into AppleCare to have them add it over the phone, they always quote me the USD price of AppleCare, and then when they put me on hold to set it up or do whatever, they realize I’m in Canada and so the price is higher, but they give me 20% off or will match the USD price dollar for dollar 😁
I live about a 15-30 minute drive to all 5 Apple Store’s in my province (4 at the moment while a mall is being rebuilt), and I’ve purchased and had repairs done at each. Only issue is that there’s always groups of employees talking to each other and never anyone to help unless you’re waiting for an appointment.
Apple Support has always been exceptional, maybe because I spent many years in customer service when I first started working and so I know how to word things to get more.
A loophole I’ve found is that if I call into AppleCare to have them add it over the phone, they always quote me the USD price of AppleCare, and then when they put me on hold to set it up or do whatever, they realize I’m in Canada and so the price is higher, but they give me 20% off or will match the USD price dollar for dollar 😁
Back in the day when ya had real apple geniuses it was amazing. Now it’s a joke. Most of them don’t even know common problems with products.
I've had two relatively recent interactions with Apple customer service (at a Genius Bar, not over the phone) in two different stores in two different cities for two different problems. The process was great in both instances. Easily the best customer service experiences I've had in recent memory.
One was hardware-related and one was software. In the hardware instance (bloated battery), the repair was done in-store, faster than they said it would be and they repaired/replaced much more than just the battery at no extra charge.
As for the software issue I was having, the Genius was patient and took care of my OS-related issue over a period of more than an hour between diagnosis and resolution, taking care of me and several other customers in a busy store. Entirely free of charge.
I don't have AC+. It's a 2015 MBP. Yay for Apple customer service.
One was hardware-related and one was software. In the hardware instance (bloated battery), the repair was done in-store, faster than they said it would be and they repaired/replaced much more than just the battery at no extra charge.
As for the software issue I was having, the Genius was patient and took care of my OS-related issue over a period of more than an hour between diagnosis and resolution, taking care of me and several other customers in a busy store. Entirely free of charge.
I don't have AC+. It's a 2015 MBP. Yay for Apple customer service.
really only positive experience for me:
. last week got iPhone 13PM replaced under AC+, faceid stopped working and I spent ~ 20 min with the agent
. last year one of my Ultra bands "ripped" after 6 months, they replaced it
. when I contact support, they are always friendly and do their best, escalate when/if needed.
Au contraire, Verizon just plain sucks, tried to change my plan in the past 2 weeks and being a customer of 17+ years the 1st agent told me about a "loyalty discount", ~ 3-4hrs later and talking to 4 different agents incl "managers", I'm switching to T-Mobile ...
. last week got iPhone 13PM replaced under AC+, faceid stopped working and I spent ~ 20 min with the agent
. last year one of my Ultra bands "ripped" after 6 months, they replaced it
. when I contact support, they are always friendly and do their best, escalate when/if needed.
Au contraire, Verizon just plain sucks, tried to change my plan in the past 2 weeks and being a customer of 17+ years the 1st agent told me about a "loyalty discount", ~ 3-4hrs later and talking to 4 different agents incl "managers", I'm switching to T-Mobile ...
Best customer service I've had has been at Apple. 1 springs to mind, a few years back my cat knocked my ipad off the table and cracked the screen straight across.
I took it to the apple store to get a quote to fix, they took it out back to have a look and 10 mins later they came out and handed me a new ipad free of charge.
I took it to the apple store to get a quote to fix, they took it out back to have a look and 10 mins later they came out and handed me a new ipad free of charge.
I've had excellent support and interaction at stores in Scottsdale Az., the northern suburbs of Chicago Il. and Grand Rapids Mi. I've only had to use support over the phone a few times and all but one time went satisfactorily. The one time it didn't was due to mistakes made by Costco and Apple and it took awhile to sort it all out.. Costco actually has outstanding customer support in store and over the phone
It depends on the store. But in general, it’s all about sales now. They try to sell new iPhones to someone with the latest iPhone. They sell AppleCare+ and if you didn’t buy it and have a problem plan to spend more than the computer is worth to fix it. So the service is completely gone.
Testing the AVP the day I picked mine up was a joke. The employees know basically nothing. The company is a shell of its former self. Cook raided all of the great service to increase revenues and decrease costs. It’s great for the short term bonuses Cook and the executive team gets and good for investors right now.
But I believe for the long term, Apple has taken the wrong approach. Tim is afraid to cannibalize any sales with new products. Everything is about adding to the ecosystem. The future will be about using one product to do everything not carrying around 50 products that all work within an ecosystem.
I would want to own AAPL stock now, but if the R&D doesn’t create something new and amazing that allows Apple to compete fairly, Apple as we know it will be gone in 30-50 years.
Really need an innovation-minded CEO. The supply chain should be handled by other executives not the CEO. The fear of allowing the iPad Pro to cannibalize the MacBook is the prime difference between Jobs and Cook. Jobs would have said it’s more like a motorcycle now does what you want referring to the car and truck example he made. Steve was always certain he could and would create another amazing product. And he did. Cook just wants to add to the ecosystem which isn’t what leads to success long term as we all want tech that just works, and one device will do it all. Why do I need six devices with M-series SoCs!!! I should be able to use one that confirms biometric data like a ring or watch but has all our data and processing power we need and goes to any screen we have nearby for uses like tablet, computer, desktop and etc.
Apple right now is a monopolistic bully. As an investor it has been a great investment but I think its best days are behind it. Eventually, Apple will be torn apart for the way they chose to do business. And then we will all realize how badly we acted like sheep.
Testing the AVP the day I picked mine up was a joke. The employees know basically nothing. The company is a shell of its former self. Cook raided all of the great service to increase revenues and decrease costs. It’s great for the short term bonuses Cook and the executive team gets and good for investors right now.
But I believe for the long term, Apple has taken the wrong approach. Tim is afraid to cannibalize any sales with new products. Everything is about adding to the ecosystem. The future will be about using one product to do everything not carrying around 50 products that all work within an ecosystem.
I would want to own AAPL stock now, but if the R&D doesn’t create something new and amazing that allows Apple to compete fairly, Apple as we know it will be gone in 30-50 years.
Really need an innovation-minded CEO. The supply chain should be handled by other executives not the CEO. The fear of allowing the iPad Pro to cannibalize the MacBook is the prime difference between Jobs and Cook. Jobs would have said it’s more like a motorcycle now does what you want referring to the car and truck example he made. Steve was always certain he could and would create another amazing product. And he did. Cook just wants to add to the ecosystem which isn’t what leads to success long term as we all want tech that just works, and one device will do it all. Why do I need six devices with M-series SoCs!!! I should be able to use one that confirms biometric data like a ring or watch but has all our data and processing power we need and goes to any screen we have nearby for uses like tablet, computer, desktop and etc.
Apple right now is a monopolistic bully. As an investor it has been a great investment but I think its best days are behind it. Eventually, Apple will be torn apart for the way they chose to do business. And then we will all realize how badly we acted like sheep.
I agree, I have had a Mac since 1985 when they were introduced and have had incredible service. one engineer gave me his home number in case I still had other questions. I got a free top of the line ATV box. You name it and anyone at Apple has gone way over the line to help me with almost any thing I ever had a problem with.
There is always the temptation to extrapolate one’s own experiences too much.
I once walked into an NYC Apple Store with a Canada bought iPad because it had dead pixels within the 1Y warranty period. Was replaced on the spot, no questions asked…
Before complaining, I would check whether e.g. power cords/bricks are covered by the AC+ contract (it is a contract with conditions after all). Similarly, replacement of a device often implies you send back the current device before getting the replacement, which is understandable.