Are Apple Tech Support all dumb?

[Neonguy]

I never use Apple Care Tech Support help because I hated the wait when calling. But today I have a problem with my Mac Pro being not start up so I give them a call. Wait almost 1 hours which is so ridiculous! Finally connect to one of the Apple Tech Support and here hows it go.


Apple Tech: What can I help you with?

Me: Yeah..My Mac Pro power up at all!

Apple Tech: Are you unable to power up at all or are you getting a blue screen?

(Man what an idiots, blue screen only happend on a PC not a Mac.)

Me: No, it doesn't powerup at all!

Apple Tech: Give me 5 - 10 minutes I need to go do some research on this issue.

(Look like he don't even know the answer, and have to look up the Apple Manual.)

Apple Tech: Okay lets do this...Unplug everything from the computer, wait 30 second and plug it back in.

Me: I already did that! It doesn't do anything. I even reset the PMU.

Apple Tech: Oh, ok. Let me transfer you to the Softwares Tech.


The Softwares Tech was better. Atleast he know what I'm talking about, and he seam to know his stuff. He still have to look up diagram though when I ask him where the PMU switch are located.

 

[MacFan782040]

Nah I called Apple a few days ago to get my iMac fixed.. it was overheating.

I waited maybe 5 mins on hold, and after telling him the problem he immidiately told me they will replace the logic board and hard drive temp. sensor, and that an on-site tech will come to me.

It all got fixed within a week or so. Apple rocks.

PS- However I did notice they treat you a tad nicer if you have Applecare

 

[Neonguy]

Yeah he keep asking me about Apple Care and why I should get it. I guess it like those Apple Genius, there are some that are genius and some are not.

 

[bartelby]

Apple Tech: Are you unable to power up at all or are you getting a blue screen?

(Man what an idiots, blue screen only happend on a PC not a Mac.)

Are you sure about that?
When I start up any of my Macs they go to a blue screen right before the white one with the grey Apple logo.

 

[Allotriophagy]

I found the phone help a bit lacking the one time I used it - eventually fixed the problem myself. Can't remember what it is now. I think they have a very set way of approaching stuff and get in trouble if they deviate from it.

Quite different in the Apple Store with the "Genius" Bar - my Rev A iMac had the PSU problem but they insisted it was the logic board and spent a week replacing it. Still didn't work. In the end I had to wait for Apple to offer the replacement PSU as a DIY fix on the site.

Now THAT was brilliant - they shipped it out the next day, it fixed my problem and then they sent a courier to collect my old PSU.

Apple's web help is generally very good, in my experience.

I think that in the stores, you should avoid the handsome or pretty "Geniuses"; the ugly guys definitely know marginally more, probably by way of compensation. The Apple Store near me is full of squiffy-haired red-cheeked young studs who look good in black tshirts and...that is about it.

Mmm, sorry for rambling on a bit. My 24" iMac arrives today and I have been away since 7am in case the courier does actually come.

 

[n8236]

Now now, lets not insult anyone's intelligence. If they are "dumb," what does that make you for calling them for help? jking.

Anyways, cut the the rep some slack. Maybe he/she is new and hasn't come across YOUR problem before. Plus, they have a set of procedural solutions to problems. They're here to help u Be nice to them.

 

[Markleshark]

So what your saying is that you expect the Apple techys to know a solution to every problem for every Apple Machine they have to provide support for, off the top of their head? You ALSO expect them to know the layout of each machine, where everything is, and what to do with it all. Or do you just expect them to know the solution to YOUR problem and the correct layout of YOUR machine?

That has to be one of the most ludricus (SP?) things ive possibly ever heard.

As for "You don't get blue screens" Maybe you should watch what happens when you switch a working Mac on. I'll leave that one to you.

The Apple techy has to ask questions to try figure out whats wrong. If you expect him/her to know a solution to your problem after you picked up the phone and went "Duhhhhh, My MacPro thingy wont turn on" then you have no right to insult anyones intelligence at all.

We get people like yourself all the time, I work at Game at weekends here in the UK, and you do your best to help people, but when they pick up a random PS2 title off the shelf and twine for half an hour because you haven't played that one it does your head in. There are 1000's of titles for the Xbox/360/PS1/PS2 etc, etc, etc. How are you supposed to play them all.

It really grinds my gears, the Apple techys are doing their best for you, thats what their paid to do. If your not happy with the questions your getting asked, fix it your f***ing self!

... and im done!

 

[topgun072003]

First of all, if you've been on here reading posts, you would have known that some Mac pros are having trouble starting up and other start up/restart issues. I would help you out, but I don't know what 1 HOURS is? Also, you said that your "Mac Pro power up at all!" Does that mean it's like powering up maybe like some cartoon character? Also you mentioned that blue screens only "happend on a PC not a Mac" and obviously your ON A MAC. Yeah those techs are sure idiots....

 

[MisterMe]

Yeah he keep asking me about Apple Care and why I should get it. I guess it like those Apple Genius, there are some that are genius and some are not.

An intelligent conversation has two sides. Whether or not you like the tech support guy's asking the question, he really was trying to help you. My experience with AppleCare is that it pays for itself with a single repair.

 

[Swarmlord]

I wouldn't purchase a Mac without Applecare and it's always turned out to be a bargain. I've had a couple minor problems with my iPod, but none with my G4 Powerbook. The cost is negligable and pays for itself in one incident.

Please cut the tech rep a little slack. You know how many people they get that call up whining that their computer doesn't work and it turns out that it's not plugged in or the battery is discharged? They are trained to get through a few basic questions so that they can begin to access the company's database of service requests and technical specs.

I fix Windows machines for a living (which is why I own Macs for my personal use) and if I had a dollar for every person that tried to tell me what was wrong with their computer rather than answering a couple simple questions so that I could diagnose what was really wrong, I'd be a rich man. The only assumption that I make is that the user probably knows where the On switch is and then I build on that.

 

[NATO]

I just find it much easier to communicate with the techs from the Irish call centre rather than the ones from India. Subconciously I end up dumbing down my request because of the slight language barrier when speaking to Indian techs rather than the Irish ones.

Last problem I had, between the Irish guy and myself we managed to track down the source and fix it within 10 minutes.

I think the problem is two way: If you're speaking to someone with a noticeably different accent to yourself, you dumb down your language and assume the other person doesn't know what you're talking about. Similarly, the other person has more difficulty figuring out how much you know about computers and thus assumes you're a basic user and starts from the basic stuff and works from there.