I don't care how many of you out there complain that Apple fangirls and boys are ridiculous and that Apple is overrated just because of their stroke of luck with the iPod line. To me, they are not only #1 in computer, mp3, and phone markets, they are on the top of my list for best customer service. Ever.
One year and one month ago, Tim purchased a Macbook for me and a Macbook Pro for himself. Incredibly grateful as I was, I went and got my new Macbook dented on the first week because the clasp on my bag hadn't been closed properly, and it slipped out and hit concrete as I knelt down to tie my shoe. Upon taking it to Apple, they immediately replaced it for me with another. Up until I dropped it, that first Macbook worked perfectly. Come to think of it, there were no noticeable performance defects either. I was just heartbroken and craved a second chance, and Apple gave it to me.
This second one had issues with the disc driver. Being refurbed, I was prepared for such. Took it back, and they gave me a brand new one at no charge, as it was well under warranty.
Unfortunately, several months ago all my data was accidentally erased, and for reasons unrelated to this blog, I ended up trading Tim for his Macbook Pro. This was roughly... four months ago? A rough estimate. Anyway, his superdrive had already broken and had refused to burn anything. Actually we found out about that problem about 2 months after we got our Macbooks. But as we didnt need to burn DVDs or CDs for the whole year, we never bothered to get it fixed.
Two days ago I figured that our warranty must be about over, and that I should get the superdrive checked before I head off to Davis. Went to Apple Valley Fair, they diagnosed the problem and deemed the disc drive "finished", and proceeded to check if my warranty was up. Well, it was - on the 27th of July. I then turned hesitant about getting it fixed for fear of cost, and asked for an estimate.
The girl who was working with me while the tech looked into the problem further quoted me $35.40. I was shocked, and repeated the price to confirm. She said yes, and I told her I'd like to go ahead and get it fixed, as that's way below what I estimated the price to be. She checked the stores and found a good superdrive in stock. After printing out a confirmation and having me sign it, I took my copy without a glance at it and left feeling quite happy. That was my mistake - I didn't look at what I'd signed.
Yesterday morning I looked at my confirmation page and received a huge shock - the repair estimate on there said $311.00 for repair, and $85 for labor. I was about to owe them close to $400! I immediately called Apple to see if I could halt their repair - but too late - their speedy workers had replaced the superdrive overnight and it was ready for me to pick up. Terrified and hoping that they really had "cut me a deal", as Tim had put it when I told him the price of repair the previous day, I stumbled over to Apple and asked to pick up my laptop.
The worker who I met with first was a little rude, but went to the back to check whether my Macbook was ready. He came back out holding it, wrapped in a padded envelope, and directed me to the girl who would ring me up for the repair. I said my thanks and sat nervously.
The girl took a while with some other customers, and by the time my turn came around I had resolved to stand strong, and was prepared to ask for my broken superdrive back if $400 was really what I owed. And indeed it was - $396 before tax. I guess my expression turned quite desperate when I told her my dilemma. I was quoted for $30ish, and was met with this monster of a bill. I explained to her that there was just no way I could pay for it, and whether I could have my broken superdrive back. Without the slightest sign of frustration on her face, she nodded and informed me she would "see what she could do" - and slipped into the back room.
The offer she came back with was not great, but a fair punishment for me for not looking before I signed. They were okay with waiving the $85 labor charge if I kept the new superdrive, bringing the total to $311 + tax, or they could reattach my old superdrive for a labor charge of $85. I sat there for a minute, speechless of my unbelievable bad luck. Right when I'm about to move to college and dive into an even deeper debt... I had to fork over $85 for something I don't even really use in the first place, that I just wanted to get fixed if it was under warranty or cheap.
I guess the worker felt sorry for me, because she called over a manager (blue tshirt), and he went over the problem with both of us briefly before retreating into the back room. At this time I was prepared to fork over my $85 - as it was partially my fault and I wanted to avoid making a huge deal out of it (the mother/daughter next to me were already giving another worker a lot of trouble, trying to trade in a second-hand 1st gen iPhone for a 3G by "making up the $100 difference"... they were getting quite upset and were demanding to see a manager). I sat there waiting, and the girl seemed to have moved on to other customers. The manager came back out and slid what looked like a copy of my original confirmation at me, and said "here. sign this." I nervously asked him what that was for, afraid that he was trying to gyp me into paying the price for the new superdrive (you can imagine how wary I was, as the last document I signed doomed me to $400 of debt). He shook his head and simply said "we'll take care of it. don't worry."
So I signed. And he handed me my repaired Macbook Pro.
"What's the moral of the story?" He asked me with a slight smirk on his face.
I just looked at him with an O for a mouth.
"Buy AppleCare next time."
And thirty seconds later I walked out with a good-as-new Macbook Pro - they didn't charge me a cent for their troubles. I wanted to hug the manager and the worker; they were so nice. I couldn't stop thanking them before I left, and they just smiled and nodded knowingly at me. When I walked into the mall half an hour ago, I was a nervous wreck who was seriously questioning whether Apple would take nearly as good care of me without warranty, and doubting it. Horror stories of Best Buy and Walmart cheating people (who had 100% legit proof that they had been wronged) of their money circled my brain and made me feel hopeless. Walking out of Apple, I was 100% loyal and even felt a tinge of guilt for having doubted them. I couldn't've asked for better service, and now I will always return to them for my computing/music/phone needs in the future.
*P.S. - My 1st gen iPhone was replaced three times without charge. Admittedly it was under warranty and each phone's problems were present without my help, but that same Apple store handed me new phones or repaired my then-current phones without so much as a furrowed eyebrow. Each worker I saw did their jobs, and did them well, with a sympathetic, trusting, and humorous attitude. I can't be more thankful that Tim got me into Macs in the first place.
One year and one month ago, Tim purchased a Macbook for me and a Macbook Pro for himself. Incredibly grateful as I was, I went and got my new Macbook dented on the first week because the clasp on my bag hadn't been closed properly, and it slipped out and hit concrete as I knelt down to tie my shoe. Upon taking it to Apple, they immediately replaced it for me with another. Up until I dropped it, that first Macbook worked perfectly. Come to think of it, there were no noticeable performance defects either. I was just heartbroken and craved a second chance, and Apple gave it to me.
This second one had issues with the disc driver. Being refurbed, I was prepared for such. Took it back, and they gave me a brand new one at no charge, as it was well under warranty.
Unfortunately, several months ago all my data was accidentally erased, and for reasons unrelated to this blog, I ended up trading Tim for his Macbook Pro. This was roughly... four months ago? A rough estimate. Anyway, his superdrive had already broken and had refused to burn anything. Actually we found out about that problem about 2 months after we got our Macbooks. But as we didnt need to burn DVDs or CDs for the whole year, we never bothered to get it fixed.
Two days ago I figured that our warranty must be about over, and that I should get the superdrive checked before I head off to Davis. Went to Apple Valley Fair, they diagnosed the problem and deemed the disc drive "finished", and proceeded to check if my warranty was up. Well, it was - on the 27th of July. I then turned hesitant about getting it fixed for fear of cost, and asked for an estimate.
The girl who was working with me while the tech looked into the problem further quoted me $35.40. I was shocked, and repeated the price to confirm. She said yes, and I told her I'd like to go ahead and get it fixed, as that's way below what I estimated the price to be. She checked the stores and found a good superdrive in stock. After printing out a confirmation and having me sign it, I took my copy without a glance at it and left feeling quite happy. That was my mistake - I didn't look at what I'd signed.
Yesterday morning I looked at my confirmation page and received a huge shock - the repair estimate on there said $311.00 for repair, and $85 for labor. I was about to owe them close to $400! I immediately called Apple to see if I could halt their repair - but too late - their speedy workers had replaced the superdrive overnight and it was ready for me to pick up. Terrified and hoping that they really had "cut me a deal", as Tim had put it when I told him the price of repair the previous day, I stumbled over to Apple and asked to pick up my laptop.
The worker who I met with first was a little rude, but went to the back to check whether my Macbook was ready. He came back out holding it, wrapped in a padded envelope, and directed me to the girl who would ring me up for the repair. I said my thanks and sat nervously.
The girl took a while with some other customers, and by the time my turn came around I had resolved to stand strong, and was prepared to ask for my broken superdrive back if $400 was really what I owed. And indeed it was - $396 before tax. I guess my expression turned quite desperate when I told her my dilemma. I was quoted for $30ish, and was met with this monster of a bill. I explained to her that there was just no way I could pay for it, and whether I could have my broken superdrive back. Without the slightest sign of frustration on her face, she nodded and informed me she would "see what she could do" - and slipped into the back room.
The offer she came back with was not great, but a fair punishment for me for not looking before I signed. They were okay with waiving the $85 labor charge if I kept the new superdrive, bringing the total to $311 + tax, or they could reattach my old superdrive for a labor charge of $85. I sat there for a minute, speechless of my unbelievable bad luck. Right when I'm about to move to college and dive into an even deeper debt... I had to fork over $85 for something I don't even really use in the first place, that I just wanted to get fixed if it was under warranty or cheap.
I guess the worker felt sorry for me, because she called over a manager (blue tshirt), and he went over the problem with both of us briefly before retreating into the back room. At this time I was prepared to fork over my $85 - as it was partially my fault and I wanted to avoid making a huge deal out of it (the mother/daughter next to me were already giving another worker a lot of trouble, trying to trade in a second-hand 1st gen iPhone for a 3G by "making up the $100 difference"... they were getting quite upset and were demanding to see a manager). I sat there waiting, and the girl seemed to have moved on to other customers. The manager came back out and slid what looked like a copy of my original confirmation at me, and said "here. sign this." I nervously asked him what that was for, afraid that he was trying to gyp me into paying the price for the new superdrive (you can imagine how wary I was, as the last document I signed doomed me to $400 of debt). He shook his head and simply said "we'll take care of it. don't worry."
So I signed. And he handed me my repaired Macbook Pro.
"What's the moral of the story?" He asked me with a slight smirk on his face.
I just looked at him with an O for a mouth.
"Buy AppleCare next time."
And thirty seconds later I walked out with a good-as-new Macbook Pro - they didn't charge me a cent for their troubles. I wanted to hug the manager and the worker; they were so nice. I couldn't stop thanking them before I left, and they just smiled and nodded knowingly at me. When I walked into the mall half an hour ago, I was a nervous wreck who was seriously questioning whether Apple would take nearly as good care of me without warranty, and doubting it. Horror stories of Best Buy and Walmart cheating people (who had 100% legit proof that they had been wronged) of their money circled my brain and made me feel hopeless. Walking out of Apple, I was 100% loyal and even felt a tinge of guilt for having doubted them. I couldn't've asked for better service, and now I will always return to them for my computing/music/phone needs in the future.
*P.S. - My 1st gen iPhone was replaced three times without charge. Admittedly it was under warranty and each phone's problems were present without my help, but that same Apple store handed me new phones or repaired my then-current phones without so much as a furrowed eyebrow. Each worker I saw did their jobs, and did them well, with a sympathetic, trusting, and humorous attitude. I can't be more thankful that Tim got me into Macs in the first place.
