Thursday, April 16, 2009

Apple has Fabulous customer service!!! (Assuming, of course, that you don't actually have problems with any Apple products.........)

I. Am. So. ANGRY!!!!
Usually, I am not a 'cool gadget' type of gal. I am the type who waits several years to replace her cell phone because I'm not completely sure I'll be able to figure out how to work a new one! I made an exception, though, when I purchased an iPhone. When my iPod was stolen out of our car, and my cell phone went on the fritz, I decided to splurge. Warren agreed, and my iPhone with the pink case was my Christmas present. I have come to depend on that thing, and love it beyond any reason. It had cool games for the kids (and me!) when we were bored. It took cool pictures. It had amazing apps that could do almost anything. It played music. It had a GPS. And it kept me organized with it's calendar.

I babied my iPhone, always keeping it clean and charged and using a hard plastic case with a screen protector.

On Monday, the unthinkable happened. My iPhone was in my purse as I got out of the car. I bent down to pick something up off the garage floor and heard something fall. My iPhone had slipped out of the pocket of my purse and landed on the hard cement of the garage floor. It took a moment to register that the shattered black glass on the ground was my iPhone!!! I couldn't believe that a gadget meant to be used multiple times per day was so fragile that it would shatter from a 3 foot high fall!

Today I had to go back to Salt Lake for an appointment for Matt. I stopped at the Apple store, certain that they would listen to my sad story, see my *practically brand new* shattered phone, and do something about it! After all, Apple is famous for their amazing customer service. I couldn't have been more disappointed. There were lots of, "I'm sorry's" all around, but the best they would do for me was 'just' have me pay $199 for a new one - the exact same amount I paid for my current one less than 4 months ago. They acted like they were doing me a favor! I'm sorry, but I don't have $400 to pay for my phone every 4 months! I decided that I would go to AT&T. They are the ones who sold me the phone. I figured, at the very least, I would be able to purchase an inexpensive phone to use for now. Well, they were even less helpful. They were also unsympathetic to my cause and the only option they gave me was to either purchase a 'basic' phone without incentives (after all, I still have 20 months left on my contract) - the prices began at about $200, or I could add a line to my current phone, adding $20 per month to my bill and purchase a phone at the promotional price (these started at about $70). Any option, I choose, I am getting totally and completely screwed!

I was just starting to become an Apple fan. Our family owns 2 iPod shuffles, 2 different generations of Nano's, a 60 gig video ipod, a 120 gig classic ipod, an iPhone, and a MacBook Pro. I buy a lot of music and videos from iTunes and our family has spent MANY thousands of dollars on these various Apple products. I am furious that they would do nothing to help me the ONE time an Apple product of mine has needed replacement (or repair, I wouldn't have cared, either way).

As a classic Yuppie, I buy some higher end products. Each and every one of them is guaranteed to my full satisfaction. I have never had a 'splurge' product that wasn't offered with superior customer service. Too bad the iPhone didn't meet that expectation. Just an example, I have a set of glass mixing bowls from Williams-Sonoma. They are also made out of tempered glass (the same glass that shattered on my phone). I have owned this set of 12 bowls for 13 years. I have dropped them numerous times, as I use them daily. None of them has even a chip. None of them has shattered. If they did shatter, even after all this time, do you know what Williams-Sonoma would do? They would replace them - without blinking an eye! That is the sort of customer service I expect from high end products, and one of the reasons I purchase high quality products. The iPhone and customer service that came along with my purchase have been extremely disappointing.

8 comments:

ShEiLa said...

This story is a sad one.

I feel for you. I think AT&T has great customer service... as long as you never need them.

Also Direct TV... however after 9 years of being a [valued] customer when I was not getting the service I thought I deserved... telling them I was going to cancel my service got their attention and the exact service I asked for in the beginning. Should we really have to make threats to get the service that should come naturally?
Go figure.

ToOdLeS.ShEiLa

EmilyCC said...

Oh, that IS frusterating. You should hear Nate's story about making an appointment with the Apple Store "genius."

Tara Bergsjo said...

I am so sorry about your phone! I can't believe they wouldn't replace it or give you a really good deal on another one!!

Katie said...

Lame! Did you buy it with an AMEX? Sometimes they're helpful.

Tote, Debby, Sammy and Caleb Jimenez said...

i would copy that post and send it over to customer service at apple. that type of service stinks!!!

Jessie said...

Grrrr. I wonder if you'd have better luck calling the company - probably not. I also like to buy high end stuff when I can, because it lasts forever and SHOULD come with great customer service.

Yay for William Sonoma? I don't know what else to tell you. That's beyond annoying.

Anonymous said...

Hi there. I dropped over from your sig on TwinStuff.

Apple's customer care seems to be better if it's a defect with the phone, and not an accident. HOWEVER, in the meantime until you sort out what you're going to do, you can go to Target or wherever and just get a GoPhone for $20, with a SIM card in it. Pop yours and switch it into the GoPhone. You'll obviously be paying the outrageous iPhone line costs for what is a really really basic phone, but it'll work as a stop gap until you can schmooze Apple into replacing your phone. It'll also be YOUR phone number and all that jazz.

My husband's first gen "broke" when an area of the screen stopped responding to touch. The first place we called basically gave us the big ol' "So Sorry" line like you got, but we actually went into a different store, made ourselves out to be loyal Mac customers (fairly, we are... two laptops, he WORKS on one, etc.) and generally really sad, and they just swapped it. Apparently they also like it if you happen to have all the original packaging. So box it up, tell them how much you babied it, and emphasize the *defect* that such a phone would *shatter* after a teeny little bump!

sweettea said...

Hi. I just found your site off Sadie's :o(. I wouldn't give up yet. Go higher up the ladder at both Apple and AT&T. Check around with other companies and let them know what else is available to you out there and where you might take your business. Did you have insurance on it? I have learned the hard way - washing one in the washer and putting another in a cup of water that I thought was empty - LOL. I hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction, and I look forward to learning more about your family. Congrats on Audrey, btw. I was 9.5 myself. None of mine were below 9. My biggest was 10. :o)

JD