Apple has been in the news a lot lately. Mostly due to the “problems” people have with the new iPhone 4. As an owner of an iPhone 4 myself, I haven’t had any issues with my phone. In fact, this is the best design they’ve had so far in my opinion. It’s much more durable and resilient than the previous versions, the screen is absolutely amazing it’s noticeably quicker than my 3GS version. I always keep my phone in a case which is most likely why I don’t have the antenna issue, but to each their own.
The true reason I’m writing this post is to commend Apple on their customer service and support. About a month ago my 24″ iMac went belly up and died. The video card was a goner so I called Apple and made an appointment at the Genius Bar. They took my system and replaced the logic board and video card which took them about 2 days. I picked it up and went on my merry way. I have to caveat this with the fact I had Applecare on the system (which is something you absolutely must have if you own a Mac). When I got home and plugged it back in, I noticed the screen had some debris on the inside of it… actually there was quite a bit if it so I called up Apple and they apologized profusely and informed me I had to take it back in. Off I went, this time they had it for a day. I picked it up for the 2nd time and all was well (or so I thought).
A week later, the system had the same issue and wouldn’t boot at all. I’m not a happy camper at this point in time and once again called Apple. They were truly apologetic to the situation and were willing to have an in-house repair done, but unfortunately since they didn’t know the area of issue, it had to go to the store. I took it back for the third time. Oddly enough, the same guy that helped me the first time helped me the third time so he knew what issues I was having with the system. We talked for a few minutes and informed me of what they’d replace this time. He went to the back for about 5-10 minutes and came back out with a new option. He said that due to the issues I’ve had with the system, they wanted to offer me a replacement versus a repair. My old iMac was an early 2008 version, so it had a Intel Core2Duo 3.06ghz, 2gb of ram, 500gb HD, and a Nvidia video card. The Apple rep told me since I bought a top of the line unit then, they would replace it with a top of the line unit now. Boy did they ever, they gave me a 27″ iMac with 4gb of ram, 1tb HD and the upgrade Nvidia video card. This thing is double what I had before in every way. I was extremely satisfied at this point even though I had to make 3 visits to the Apple store.
None of this cost me a dime and it essentially saved me $2000 because I was going to upgrade to this very unit around the December time frame. Apple offered to refund the balance of my existing Applecare and informed me I could apply it to a new plan on my new system. After all this, Apple called me back (big Apple, not the local store) to inquire as to my satisfaction with everything. Needless to say, I was quite happy. The moral of this story is that when you deal with Apple, you deal with a company that truly cares about your satisfaction with their products. I’ve never had a bad experience with them and you always talk to an American (cough cough Dell support).
Here’s some food for thought if you’re considering an Apple system:
1. Local stores that help you with your transition from PC to Mac (they do this for free).
2. Applecare plans, which are nicely priced, save you from potential headaches down the road in repairs.
3. An American company with American support (every Apple rep I’ve talked to has been upbeat and happy to help).
4. Quality – Apple products are just high quality. Metal, glass and very little plastic. I made the switch years ago and I will never go back to PC.
5. Elegance – their products are just simple and elegant.
I don’t want to come across as what people call “fanboys”. It’s true, I speak highly of Apple. They make great stuff but there’s more to it than that.,. they support what they sell 100% and will always resolve the issue.
