Apple requested I remove any posts made about this from the internet, so that's exactly what I'm doing.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why does Apple treat their customers so badly?!
- Thread starter vickalamode
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
i would be similarly frustrated in your position. your computer has a fault, you do some helpful research on the problem, and you are called a liar. no wonder you became so frustrated you spoke to the other customers.
i hope you get are able to get it fixed without your having to pay.
i hope you get are able to get it fixed without your having to pay.
I would do exactly what you did. I would show everybody in the store, I would record everything happened in the store, and I would put the video on youtube.
sorry for the case, I think the only solution for your MB is to call applecare. since local store is so fos. its only two month old, they should fix it for you for free.
sorry for the case, I think the only solution for your MB is to call applecare. since local store is so fos. its only two month old, they should fix it for you for free.
Find out who the district manager is for the region and have your Mom inform him of how you two were treated and that the manager pushed you.
FWIW, one of these days, the manager is going to put his hands on the wrong person and get a beat down in his store...
FWIW, one of these days, the manager is going to put his hands on the wrong person and get a beat down in his store...
I have no sympathy for you. A computer is a very expensive piece of equipment. It is also complicated. Sometimes freakish things happen; most times they don't. People running a business have seen it all. If you are the victim of a freakish event, then you have to act like you are the victim of a freakish event. You can't storm into a business blaming them for something no one has ever reported before. Educate the employees about what happened. Acknowledge that the incident is weird and involve them in trying to figure out how it could have possibly happened. But, no you carry-on like a little kid. Has it helped?
Yeah, sorry, I was with the OP for a while, until he got to the part where he got in-your-face with potential customers and started telling them to buy a PC instead. That is harrassment and in my opinion IS grounds for being ejected from the store. Add a little bit of descriptive bias in the OP's post, read between the lines a little ("I made some nasty comments to him") and we start to see a truer picture of what probably transpired.
Acting out in anger in a public place is almost never going to get you the effect you think you want.
agreed. you deserved to be kicked out of the store (although i think it was wrong that the manager laid hands on you) and security should have been called, because you were being loud, violent, and disruptive. tantrums never solve anything.
however, i hope you're getting the situation resolved with Apple phone support. i know it sucks for such an odd thing to happen and for no one to believe you, but be patient and persistent and please don't lose your temper.
good luck, and let this be a lesson on dealing with the genius folks, or customer service people in general.
this is the (a) problem with the world today...people aren't 'allowed' to be angry anymore
boo who..so he made a scene...if anyone's life is worse off for it (apart from the store manager) they're childish
boo who..so he made a scene...if anyone's life is worse off for it (apart from the store manager) they're childish
No, the problem is that people think they are entitled to act like complete baffoons in public without consideration for others.
Since your computer is only ~60 days old, if you used a credit card to purchase it, see if they offer purchase protection. Many will cover loss/theft and damage during the first 90 days after a purchase.
IMO, there's a difference between making a scene and being "allowed' to be angry. I love seeing "angry" scenes in older (50s/60s) movies. People had tact and dignity then. They were still quite angry, but yet managed to express their point. More people now should relearn that lost art.Genghis Khan said:
To the OP, I feel your pain. Both with respect to your frustration and the lack of support you're seeing here.
The point you have to remember is that the people in the Apple store aren't really there to help you if you have a big problem with a computer. They're neither trained nor empowered to do anything more than sell you stuff or fix easily repairable issues. For everything else, you really should go through corporate customer service or an Apple-authorized repair company that can honor your warranty.
I won't jump on the bandwagon of people criticizing you for how your behavior contributed to the problem, other than to say forums such as this one are not the ideal place to look for sympathy. In the time I've been a member and in the time I've been reading the forums, I've usually seen such posts greeted with the reaction you've received.
Recently, the chickens came home to roost with Apple's decision to drop the price of the iPhone by $200 just two months after the launch. I saw a large number of people whining about how unfair they thought the decision was and how mad they were at Apple. What made me laugh was that many of the most virulent posts were from the same people who readily rush to the company's defense whenever someone else griped about a similar problem with the folks in Cupertino.
Good luck with getting your computer fixed.
The point you have to remember is that the people in the Apple store aren't really there to help you if you have a big problem with a computer. They're neither trained nor empowered to do anything more than sell you stuff or fix easily repairable issues. For everything else, you really should go through corporate customer service or an Apple-authorized repair company that can honor your warranty.
I won't jump on the bandwagon of people criticizing you for how your behavior contributed to the problem, other than to say forums such as this one are not the ideal place to look for sympathy. In the time I've been a member and in the time I've been reading the forums, I've usually seen such posts greeted with the reaction you've received.
Recently, the chickens came home to roost with Apple's decision to drop the price of the iPhone by $200 just two months after the launch. I saw a large number of people whining about how unfair they thought the decision was and how mad they were at Apple. What made me laugh was that many of the most virulent posts were from the same people who readily rush to the company's defense whenever someone else griped about a similar problem with the folks in Cupertino.
Good luck with getting your computer fixed.
For the record, I don't think their behaviour (or expectations) were appropriate, either. And I laugh at everyone mad at Apple for iPhone firmware 1.1.1 wrecking their unlocks and hacks.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no Apple apologist. I've had my fair share of problems with them too (refurb iPod DOA, new 20" iMac with what appears to be LCD backlight flicker issues, tried to apply for a programming job with Apple and even with a contact on the inside helping me out, never got so much as an acknowledgement, blah blah blah). But as a previous poster said, people have this strange sense of entitlement nowadays.
I have no sympathy for someone who makes a scene in public expecting things to go their way, but instead gets kicked out and "embarrassed".
I have no sympathy for someone who agrees to pay a particular price (eagerly does so, even lines up to do so, flaunts in people's faces that they did so) for a product and then reacts in anger/jealousy a few months later when the price is dropped.
I have no sympathy for someone who does unsupported things to their products, despite the manufacturer's warnings that "Hey, we don't think that's a good idea... you could ruin it and it won't be our fault!" and then subsequently complains when exactly that happens.
Likewise I have no sympathy for the multitudes of frivolous lawsuits I keep reading about, the archetypical one being the lady who sued McDonald's because her coffee was too hot. Yeah, I understand that McDonald's was partly to blame, but the correct response was not litigation.
It is NOT all about you.
To the OP:
Thing generaly dont brake unless something happen to them. I am not saying that you broke it, just that if someone told me that story, I wouldnt believe him simply because there is no reason for the person to tell the truth since it would void the warranty.
I have seen some many time people telling me that they didnt do that, or didnt touch something to later have the proof that they did and just "forgot". So if I was the manager, I would have acted the same way.
About him being rude to you, it is possible. But at the same time we only have one part of the story: yours. Reading about your beaviour I find it hard to believe that you are telling things as they happend simply because you were too emotional about the situation.
Now doing bad publicity right in the store is simply stupid because you are just alianate every employee and even worst you can get sued. Dont forget you are in USuedA.
The first thing you should do is document the problem, find more people with the same problem (as you did) and then call AppleCare(as you did). If it is a real problem, others will have it too and it will be fixed. If you are the only person on earth in that situation it might simply be that your mom/brother/cat/dog broke it and doesnt want to tell you...
Again, I am not saying that you caused this. I dont know. If it is a real problem, I hope it get fixed but you really acted in an unproductive way at that store. Also, your title is also very misleading since it seems like Apple (applecare) is helping you. The problem is with your relation at the AppleStore.
In my history with Apple, I can honestly say that they went way beyong the call of duty to help me (at AppleStore and hotline) so I am very satisfied with them.
Please, check the fact. This (stupid) law suit is one of the most deformed urban legend. In fact, the coffe was at 80 degree with is the "perfect" temperature for that type cofee. I think they got a settlement that was very low.
Thing generaly dont brake unless something happen to them. I am not saying that you broke it, just that if someone told me that story, I wouldnt believe him simply because there is no reason for the person to tell the truth since it would void the warranty.
I have seen some many time people telling me that they didnt do that, or didnt touch something to later have the proof that they did and just "forgot". So if I was the manager, I would have acted the same way.
About him being rude to you, it is possible. But at the same time we only have one part of the story: yours. Reading about your beaviour I find it hard to believe that you are telling things as they happend simply because you were too emotional about the situation.
Now doing bad publicity right in the store is simply stupid because you are just alianate every employee and even worst you can get sued. Dont forget you are in USuedA.
The first thing you should do is document the problem, find more people with the same problem (as you did) and then call AppleCare(as you did). If it is a real problem, others will have it too and it will be fixed. If you are the only person on earth in that situation it might simply be that your mom/brother/cat/dog broke it and doesnt want to tell you...
Again, I am not saying that you caused this. I dont know. If it is a real problem, I hope it get fixed but you really acted in an unproductive way at that store. Also, your title is also very misleading since it seems like Apple (applecare) is helping you. The problem is with your relation at the AppleStore.
In my history with Apple, I can honestly say that they went way beyong the call of duty to help me (at AppleStore and hotline) so I am very satisfied with them.
Please, check the fact. This (stupid) law suit is one of the most deformed urban legend. In fact, the coffe was at 80 degree with is the "perfect" temperature for that type cofee. I think they got a settlement that was very low.
I did check, I do understand the settlement was certainly not the millions of dollars the legend amounts it to be (edit: wikipedia says $640,000), but I read the coffee was indeed served hotter than expected. (After doing some research it appears the question to ask is "what is expected?") I'm looking up facts now to make sure I'm not mistaken. I assume your quoted 80 degrees is Celsius, which is 176 F, and I thought I remembered reading that the coffee was actually closer to 185-190 F.
Edit: references:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_coffee_case
http://www.overlawyered.com/2005/10/urban_legends_and_stella_liebe.html
Facts on this particular case notwithstanding (and I apologize if I have propagated any errors), the point I'm trying to make remains -- that people need to take responsibility for their own actions.
In my experience the best thing to do when something breaks or comes broken is to email the company. Phone and face-to-face support doesn't always work out all that well, especially when your problem is not well documented or hard to believe.
Here are my good experiences...
Early this year my Wii broke down and was saying that the system memory was corrupt or something like that. So I ring Nintendo and after explaining the problem I was told a new Wii would be shipped to me and I would just have to send the old one back. All postage paid for.
Last year when I bought my iPod nano I found a very small hair-line crack in the plastic of the cable's connector. After a few months he crack grew rapidly until it could have broken apart. Called Apple and they said nothing could be done. Emailed Apple and they said the same thing as Nintendo; we'll send out a new one and you just send back the old one. Again, all postage paid for.
And just a few months ago my MBP's battery just died and I learned it came under a voluntary recall. Now I had just come back from work experience at Next Byte (practically Australia's version of the Apple Store) so I knew some people there. Just handed it in and a week later received a brand new battery. Of course I know the voluntary recall did not come from Next Byte (they just process everything) but it was great anyway.
Now the bad experience...
I shudder whenever I think of the woman. So my Wiimote broke. The motion sensing was on the fritz but the pointing still worked. Having had an already pleasant experience with Nintendo I felt confident when I rang. I explained my problem to her knowing full well the problem probably couldn't be fixed by myself. I mean, we're talking about electronics that can survive being thrown against walls without damaging the sensors. Her solution? Re-sync it. I had already tried to re-sync it at least 3 times and it hadn't done anything. I told her this but she wouldn't listen. I hung up.
Ring again. Same woman. Painfully I do the re-syncing procedure she outlines. Basically all it did was de-sync the controller and re-sync it, except with a million extra steps. Still not fixed.
As it turns out, I was right. The motion sensors needed to be recalibrated. What annoys me about this whole thing was how stupid this woman was. She knew nothing about the hardware of the Wii. Why did she go for a customer service job in an IT company when she knows nothing? Yes they have procedures but so does Next Byte. Heck, if you're ever on the phone with a technician from the Glenunga store then there's a high chance they're pulling apart a computer at the same time.
Long story short; try to keep away from any technical support involving audial or physical contact.
Here are my good experiences...
Early this year my Wii broke down and was saying that the system memory was corrupt or something like that. So I ring Nintendo and after explaining the problem I was told a new Wii would be shipped to me and I would just have to send the old one back. All postage paid for.
Last year when I bought my iPod nano I found a very small hair-line crack in the plastic of the cable's connector. After a few months he crack grew rapidly until it could have broken apart. Called Apple and they said nothing could be done. Emailed Apple and they said the same thing as Nintendo; we'll send out a new one and you just send back the old one. Again, all postage paid for.
And just a few months ago my MBP's battery just died and I learned it came under a voluntary recall. Now I had just come back from work experience at Next Byte (practically Australia's version of the Apple Store) so I knew some people there. Just handed it in and a week later received a brand new battery. Of course I know the voluntary recall did not come from Next Byte (they just process everything) but it was great anyway.
Now the bad experience...
I shudder whenever I think of the woman. So my Wiimote broke. The motion sensing was on the fritz but the pointing still worked. Having had an already pleasant experience with Nintendo I felt confident when I rang. I explained my problem to her knowing full well the problem probably couldn't be fixed by myself. I mean, we're talking about electronics that can survive being thrown against walls without damaging the sensors. Her solution? Re-sync it. I had already tried to re-sync it at least 3 times and it hadn't done anything. I told her this but she wouldn't listen. I hung up.
Ring again. Same woman. Painfully I do the re-syncing procedure she outlines. Basically all it did was de-sync the controller and re-sync it, except with a million extra steps. Still not fixed.
As it turns out, I was right. The motion sensors needed to be recalibrated. What annoys me about this whole thing was how stupid this woman was. She knew nothing about the hardware of the Wii. Why did she go for a customer service job in an IT company when she knows nothing? Yes they have procedures but so does Next Byte. Heck, if you're ever on the phone with a technician from the Glenunga store then there's a high chance they're pulling apart a computer at the same time.
Long story short; try to keep away from any technical support involving audial or physical contact.
While it's a bit much that he pushed you, the way you were acting was pretty inexcusable also. It takes two to tango as they say.
You also mention going on a bit and saying a lot of "bad stuff" about Apple and their products without telling us what that was exactly. I am thinking you were probably loud, rude, and "in their face." Even after that, the manager let you stay in the store and mostly maintained his calm.
Walking around a store bad-mouthing the product to total strangers is not something you should have done.
It was only when you did this that he tried to get you to leave. I can tell you from years of working retail, that this is standard retail management policy in almost any store you care to name. They tell you at manager school that the angry customer that starts approaching other people in the store is a very dangerous sort of person and must be dealt with immediately. You might argue that you were not (dangerous) but most people who do this are, and he was well within his rights to try to get you out of there fast. These are the exact same type of customers that come back with a gun. Doing that was a sort of "trigger" that made the manager do what he did.
Where were your Mum and Dad during this last phase? It seems like they dropped out of the picture and at the end it's all you. This also makes me think it's really a "maturity" issue here, as in: you weren't being very (mature).
Also, your story would be a lot better if you had a picture of the damage or could reference those quotes you are talking about where lots of other people had the same problem. The fact that you don't, makes me think again that maybe the damage is not what you say it is.
The main determinant as to whether you are covered by warranty is whether or not you damaged it or it spontaneously damaged itself. If it's a crack on the screen, I would be on the same page as the Apple store manager and not give you a free new screen or computer as it's only common sense that Apple is not at fault. Glass screens don't spontaneously crack without pressure being applied, same goes for metal bezels and plastics. You may not remember doing this, or you may not have noticed that you did this, but chances are you still did it.
i fail to see why she should have to provide evidence to you before you take someone at her word. she has merely come to this forum to tell a story. and most of you are saying it couldn't possibly have happened in that way....you must have done something to it.... etc. either the computer is reasonably durable or not (or whatever the test is in your consumer law). if it isn't and is broken, she is entitled to a repair, replacement or her money back. she very sensibly did some research which showed that hers was not an isolated incident. i'm taking her at her word as there is no reason for me not to. however, she was accused of typing up her print outs herself. if i were called a liar in this way i would be very upset.
my own experience with a defect has been very positive. the lead from my ibook's power supply caught fire. i did some research and found this had happened to many people. my ibook was two years old and had no applecare. i called apple and suggested to them that the power supply lead was not reasonably durable and that under uk legislation i was entitled to a replacement. i pointed them to the other stories of burning. they did not call me a liar. they did not assume that i must have burnt it by some other means. they did not say that it was highly unlikely that a cord was spontaneously catch fire. they merely asked for a photo of the damage and the next day a new power supply arrived.
when defects occur one does not have an unreasonable sense of expectation to think that the fault will be remedied.
I feel bad for you, and I think you got a bad computer, but I can't defend what you did by yelling to others about your problem. Remember, you were in a public place, and you must conduct yourself accordingly.
Judging by your writing, which is quite juvenile and undeveloped, I'm guessing that you are between 14 and 17. You have to learn that you can't act out in public the way you did. Granted, the manager didn't need to touch you, but he did have every right to escort you out (though security should have done this).
Now, as for your situation, contact Apple via phone (as you have already done, but keep it up). They will be much more responsive to your needs. I also suggest staying away from that Apple Store for the next six months or so, as that manager probably remembers you. Chances are that in six months, he'll have moved onto another retail position.
Best of luck with your computer.
Agreed. Patience and some common courtesy go a long way.
"Chris" sounds like an idiot.
He jeopardized his job and put his company in a risky situation by physically placing his hands on you. Plus, no manager should ever start yelling "security!" in front of their store unless his/her employees or customers are in danger, otherwise it just creates a scene and reflects poorly upon the shop.
If he was a good manager he would have held a civil conversation with you (preventing you from addressing other customers in the first place).
He jeopardized his job and put his company in a risky situation by physically placing his hands on you. Plus, no manager should ever start yelling "security!" in front of their store unless his/her employees or customers are in danger, otherwise it just creates a scene and reflects poorly upon the shop.
If he was a good manager he would have held a civil conversation with you (preventing you from addressing other customers in the first place).
