Apple Store Service FAIL
Posted by Kevin Owocki | Posted in Life | Posted on 22-12-2008
As those who follow my twitstream know, the Apple store in NY, NY had a big fail this weekend when I was attempting to get a simple repair of three keys on my keyboard.
What really gets to me, is not just their sheer inability to give me a straight answer about how long it will take me to get my computer repaired, but their complete indifference to my plight.
Complaint letter follows:
12/22/2008
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to complain about a repair that was not successfully completed at your 14th & 9th Avenue store, in New York City New York. Repair ID [repair ID #]
About a week ago, on 12/15/2008, my ‘tab, ‘escape’, and ’tilda’ keys failed to register with my Macbook Pro. Naively expecting that your team at the ‘Genius Bar’ of your NYC Apple store would be able to help me out, I took my MBP to them. After a 30 minute wait, 20 minutes after my scheduled appointment was to begin, A nice young man, named Chris diagnosed my problem, and claimed that his team would be happy to repair it. I explained clearly that since I work with my Macbook every day, I could only afford to leave it with them on the weekend. He assured me that would be no problem, and that I would do a ‘quickdrop’ on Friday, a procedure he assured me would take no more than five minutes, since he had already documented the issue, and ‘done the paperwork’.
On Friday, 12/19/2008, at noon, I went to the apple store to drop off my Macbook. After a 20 minute wait, I was introduced to Ron, a ‘Mac Genius’ who would we executing my ‘quick’drop. After 15 minutes re-diagnosing my issue, he printed out another set of paperwork, assured me that my repair would be performed this weekend. I signed the work order, and I was off.
Saturday & Sunday passed. No phone call from your retail store.
I called on Monday, 12/22/2008, at 9:10am to find the status of my repair. After 25 minutes on hold, a young man answered the phone casually with, and this is a direct quote: “What’s up?”. I explained I was waiting for a repair of my MBP, and asked when it could be done. After 10 minutes trying to get an idea of when I could expect to have my machine back from your ’support’ rep, he declined to give me a timeframe in which my repair would be done. He claimed, that in the Apple computer system, there was ‘no indication that this repair was scheduled for this weekend’. Dismayed, I thanked him for his help, and hung up.
I tried calling back again at 10:25am, hoping to get someone in your store who was more helpful than the previous phone rep. After another 10 minutes on hold, I was reconnected to the same young man, who, again with his casual demeanor, assured me that ’someone will call you right back about this’.
Another hour passed. Since I have no computer to do my work on, I decided to show up at the Apple store and pick up my computer unrepaired. Another hour of my time down the drain, and I was reunited with my MacBook Pro, still unrepaired.
I own a Macbook, an iPhone, and an iPod. I consistently recommend your computers to my friends & family, over Windows machines for their reliability.
I am dismayed, not only by the sheer incompetence of the support representatives that you market so assertively as ‘Genius’s’, but by their casual demeanor and indifference to my problems as a consumer of their techcnology. I rely on your technology every day to analyze, design, and implement solutions for my startup company. If I cannot rely on your support team to competently and timely support me when there is an issue with your products, especially when I’ve purchased your $260 extended warranty, I can no longer continue to recommend your technology to those around me.
I would appreciate if someone called me immediately at [phone number] to discuss this.
Sincerely,
Kevin Owocki
Have you had a recent Apple Store FAIL? I’d love to hear some stories in the comments section below.
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