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Refurbished 27" iMac and the AppleCare Experience

B

bjmach

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 10, 2008
317
0
Well I received my refurbished 27" i5 about two weeks ago. Since taking it out of the box it has consistently rebooted itself and sometimes even shuts down where I can't power it back up unless I remove the cord from the machine and reinsert it. I tried everything to troubleshoot, zapped PRAM, Reset SMC Controller, logged times after removing USB components, ran multiple quick and full hardware tests. Finally I gave one last attempt and wiped my drive clean and reinstalled snow leopard...Not a single one of these measures worked.

So today I finally called applecare for the first time ever. THey were extremely helpful, didn't try to walk me through troubleshooting steps since they understood that I already tried them all. They instead stated that since Im at around 28 days since ordering (may 14) that I can have it repaired or they can claim the one I got as DOA and ship me a brand new one. Once I receive the new one I ship the old one back. They also bumped up my delivery to overnight since I have been putting up with the reboots and trying to troubleshoot myself. WOW!!! First time using applecare and I was impressed....just thought I would share.

Hopefully I don't get another bad refurbished machine, this is the first time going refurbished route.
 
Thats the one thing about Apple products, Applecare is fantastic.

I've had Dell, Acer or Asus products.. And yes, they do sort the problem.. But it never feels as smooth and easy as Apple do it, they just sort it out.. You don't feel like they're reading from a script.. You also don't end up talking to a call centre in the middle of india.

I've got extended Applecare on my imac 27" - it's like a warm blanket :)
 
Btom said:
Yes,

Tom B.
Click to expand...

If the overwhelming majority of call centers in India are severely lacking in quality, then people will form an opinion about it. It has nothing to do with the country itself. I don't think he said anything wrong.
 
santaliqueur said:
If the overwhelming majority of call centers in India are severely lacking in quality, then people will form an opinion about it. It has nothing to do with the country itself. I don't think he said anything wrong.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. If you are ringing up from an English speaking country and getting someone with such a strong accent that you are unable to understand them then there is little point in having the service to begin with.
 
The quality depends on the company. If the company doesn't authorize it's employees to provide good solutions then they won't no matter where they are and what accent they have.

Many companies just provide bad service and the countries hosting the reps catch the flak.

I do agree that some people have very thick accents at are hard to understand, but again that's the companies fault for hiring those people. There are plenty of people around the world (and in India) who speak comprehensible English (just as there are many people in the USA who speak terrible English).
 
AppleCare is the first customer service based computer tech support that I have dealt with that doesn't sound as if they are reading off a que card. I mean when I explained my issue I went down all the steps I took to try to troubleshoot myself. Apple didn't waste my time by trying to frustrate me and have me do it all again while they are on the phone. If you call Dell, HP etc...most of those places will ignore everything you tell them and keep reading that que card to make you run the steps all over again, even though you know you've already done it and it doesn't work.
 
Btom said:
It is never about location, what matters is quality.

Tom B.
Click to expand...

I’m not slating India – would be ludicrous to think i was.

I live in England, funnily enough i speak English. When i buy a product in England, a product in which i have an issue with which is covered under warrant – i expect the person on the other end of the line to speak English fluently and clearly. Unfortunately it’s not always the case.

With Barclays for example - the first tier support for my current account is routed to somewhere like India, aside from checking my account or reissuing a pin number. That’s all the power they have, with anything else forwarded to a U.K based call centre. Everything they say feels scripted and impersonal; it’s not a very pleasant experience at all.

Another example is Asus / Acer, both times i’ve had laptops develop issues from them.. Nothing serious, but required resolving none the less. On all occasions my calls have been routed to a land far far away, taking me a good 30 minutes – 1 hour to get my issue across and get the required action.

My personal opinion is that these call centres in places such as India are purely setup to deal with first line support, in order to cut costs.. Well, i guess it’s not my opinion.. It’s painfully obvious.. That way the high percent of calls which do not require much beyond (as an example with Barclays) checking your bank balance, can be dealt with cheaply. Regardless of the drop in service that results in, i have yet to receive a quality service from a call centre located in those type of regions..

I like the fact with Apple AppleCare i’m either put through to a call centre in the United Kingdom or America – not to mention the obvious benefits that brings on a language basis. It’s a premium service, where people actually talk to you and listen to your issue, rather than trying to quickly categorize what you’re saying in order to follow the designated script. You get the impression they’re well trained, that they’re there to help you rather than being there to field calls so they can ‘appear’ to help you.

I’m not being racist, nor am i attempting to slander an entire country. I just expect a company who sells me a product in England, to give me a quality of service which provides me with what i need. I don’t see anything wrong with that. In a similar way, i’d expect anyone who buys a product in India, to be routed to somebody who could appropriately deal with their call also. I’d imagine they’d be just as frustrated if they were forwarded to a call centre in the U.K.

There is a pretty clear reason why companies who use calls centres in areas such as India for customer service, oddly always have their sales lines located in the country of origin.. Why? because it appears some companies feels once they've got you within their grips, it's then ok to offer you a lower quality of service.

I also think everyone else could see what i was referring to, apart from you.
 
Well I called Applecare at Noon CST Saturday. My replacement iMac was delivered this morning at 830am CST. Awesome!!!
 
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