Anyone had any experience with Customer Relations Dept?

[mcmadhatter]

Hi

I have to call customer relations dept (UK) on monday to convince them to replace my ibook with a new comp ( shouldn't be to hard it has been in at the service center since may and so far has had 2 logic new boards, 3 new inverters , 1 new screen 2 new optical drive cables and it still needs aanother optical drive cable, a new optical drive and the battery replacing.) Applecare were impressed by how many new bits had been put on to try and fix it , and how good my patience has been so they said to call customer realtions on monday to sort out a new one.

My Question Is.. has anyone had any experience in getting new replacement stuff before, and were apple happy to give goodwill upgrades/bonuses for the length of time and incovience caused? finally any tips?

 

[XIII]

Hi

I have to call customer relations dept (UK) on monday to convince them to replace my ibook with a new comp ( shouldn't be to hard it has been in at the service center since may and so far has had 2 logic new boards, 3 new inverters , 1 new screen 2 new optical drive cables and it still needs aanother optical drive cable, a new optical drive and the battery replacing.) Applecare were impressed by how many new bits had been put on to try and fix it , and how good my patience has been so they said to call customer realtions on monday to sort out a new one.

My Question Is.. has anyone had any experience in getting new replacement stuff before, and were apple happy to give goodwill upgrades/bonuses for the length of time and incovience caused? finally any tips?

Tell them you've had more than 3 repairs, and you demand a full refund for the price you paid originally. Their policy is 3 repairs, and you can request a full refund, or a replacement. So I would ask for a full refund (whatever you paid when you bought it), and buy a MacBook or something.

Good luck.

 

[drlunanerd]

I recently dealt with Apple Customer Relations UK (they're based in Ireland).

I bought a new black MacBook in May, that turned out to have a couple of minor faults. Nowhere near as bad as your iBook though.

In summary, Apple pissed about for 2 months and I still didn't have a fault-free laptop.

I asked to deal with Customer Relations about a month into the ordeal. I was eventually sent a new MacBook, and after some pressing they offered a free Mighty Mouse as "compensation". I nearly laughed down the phone.

However, when the new MacBook turned out to be DOA, I politely asked for a refund. I was then offered another new MacBook of upgraded spec, which I refused on the grounds that I was no longer confident with the quality control of the product.

At that point I was offered a new MacBook Pro, which I accepted

Sounds like they've strung you along for far too long. Decide what you'd be willing to accept and stick to your guns.

 

[mcmadhatter]

I recently dealt with Apple Customer Relations UK (they're based in Ireland).

At that point I was offered a new MacBook Pro, which I accepted

Sounds like they've strung you along for far too long. Decide what you'd be willing to accept and stick to your guns.

I Can't decide whether to be cheeky and ask for a macbook pro (even a refurb one) or just ask for an upgraded mackbook (as my original was bto with more hdd and more ram)

 

[drlunanerd]

I Can't decide whether to be cheeky and ask for a macbook pro (even a refurb one) or just ask for an upgraded mackbook (as my original was bto with more hdd and more ram)

You may have to play along with them first - let them make the offers. I didn't ask for an upgrade, I just kept reiterating all the hassle they'd caused me and that I'd been more than patient. I then talked about the MacBook possibly not being up to Apple's usual quality, and mused about possibly buying an MBP after they'd refunded me. At that point they just offered me an MBP outright.

They can only say no if you do ask, so by all means don't undersell yourself. They're more likely to offer a new white MacBook, and if they do (and you get a fault-free one!) you'll be really happy with it - they're a real improvement on the iBooks.

Having said that, as I type this on my MBP with the Ambient Light Sensors doing their thang with the screen brightness as clouds blow across the sky outside, I'd be lying if I said I didn't prefer it... Only downside is the lack of easy DIY hard drive upgrades - the MacBook kicks butt in this respect.

 

[tjcampbell]

UK customer relations

see post below...

 

[tjcampbell]

UK customer relations

Hi, I'd posted in another section, but I'll reply my recent experience and add a bit based on a problem I once had with my 12" PB.
I bought my iPod Nano about two weeks ago. After the first charge I new I had a lemon on my hands. Battery only lasted four hours. Tried it out for a week, ran power down and up, reinstalled software etc... tried it without backlight, without skipping but it wouldn't last past four hours. Here's what I did. FIRST I called apple and told them the problem. They then gave me a case number and an appointment at the Regent Street apple store. Then I went to the apple store for my appointment and the genius (that always sounds so funny) was going to have me leave it with him for inspection (aaaahhhh) but I pointed out the case number and he said, "oh, you have a case number." And he handed me a new nano. That was that. So. A) Get a case number. B) Head to your apple store. C) Leave very happy. So all in all they were very happy to make me happy, but I don't think the call for the case number helps. The apple store geniuses must deal with so many clueless people on a daily basis that I wouldn't be surprised if they all developed drug problems! Anyhow, the other time I had a problem was when my 12" PB crashed. Woudln't turn on. Wouldn't be recognized as a drive via FireWire. It was right fuc*&$! I had two days (seriously) left on my warranty. I'd bought it in Canada and I took it to the Regent Street Apple store. I sat for a few minutes while the guy tried every trick in the PowerBook (bad pun), but each failed as expected as I had tried the same things at home. I left it with them for a week while they replaced the hardrive. Here's the cool thing and this is why apple is simply the best. When I picked up my PB the genius said, "The bad news is I couldn't recover all of your photos, docs etc.. I got some, but not all. The good news is we were out of your 40 Gig hard drives so I went ahead and put in a 60 gig. I hope that's okay." "I HOPE THAT'S OKAY!!" Hell yeah! I usually optically back up my important stuff anyhow, so the loss was just some pictures of ex-girlfriends and who needs that crap. I was sincerely impressed. He could have waited for the 40 gig, but he knew how important my PB was to me so he opted to get it done now and put in the bigger drive. Now that's customer relations. Very impressed to say the least. But a word to the wise... when dealing with any sort of relations department, BE NICE. Most people they deal with are bitter grumps and a friendly smile, a please and a thanks goes a long way in this world. Cheers, Tommy

 

[FFTT]

I missed out on the $100.00 education rebate by two days when I purchased my G5.

The rebate people being a separate entity would not honor the rebate because
of rules, so Apple Customer Relations gave me a $100.00 credit at the online
store.

So I ended up with a free M-Audio Keystation 49e

 

[mcmadhatter]

Well

Got put on hold for half an hour, the guy in the casll centre (incidentally uk customer relations dept has been shipped out to a call center in the usual place ) was un helpful said oh i'l have to investigate it, then said would it be ok to try and service it again? I said no it wouldn't he made some more phone calls and then said he would try and give me a mac book, I asked for upgraded ram as my old ibook had 1024mb (BTO) and he said no!! so i shall take the old ram ou the ibook ( the new ram out the macbook ) sell them both and get a pair of 512's for them........

and top it off the customer realtions guy was rude the whole way through.

 

[drlunanerd]

If they're definitely giving you a new MacBook I'd say that's a result, well done

They wouldn't upgrade the hard drive in my MBP, so don't feel too hard done by.

UK/Europe Customer Relations is based in Ireland as far as I know.

 

[mcmadhatter]

If they're definitely giving you a new MacBook I'd say that's a result, well done

They wouldn't upgrade the hard drive in my MBP, so don't feel too hard done by.

UK/Europe Customer Relations is based in Ireland as far as I know.

oh I got put through to global on e I think, or at least it was somewhere in asia