The Apple Files

Written on September 21, 2006 – 1:12 pm | by Ash |

^{Photo by Jonas Thomén}

I sent my MacBook in for repairs over 3 weeks ago now and besides the inconvenience of being without a computer for this long, I’ve been very disappointed with the service. Specially so in the Apple Store through which I sent my repair. I was initially told the repair would take a week but it ended up taking them 24 days! During this time I was mislead/misinformed several times by the Genius at The Apple Store. This lead to extreme disappointment and frustration on my part.

During this time, I also explained that I desperately needed a computer to work and insisted that they loan me a notebook or offered me a replacement/refund for my MacBook but my request was promptly declined each time!

In addition, I also emailed Apple’s PR (Janette Barrios) person for the MacBook explaining my situation, the inconvenience it caused me and why I desperately needed a computer to work on.

Today, 17 days since my email to Janette Barrios, I still don’t have a reply.

This led me to think back to a few years ago when I needed my Dell laptop repaired. I can recall Dell sending out an engineer to my house the very next day to fix the issue there and then!

Apple may design great products but they have a lot to learn from Dell about customer service!

If you are interested in the details of my Apple doesn’t Care/Store experience, read on for a chronological list of events relating to my repair.

26^th August 2006 - In Apple’s hands
After horrendous frustration caused by my MacBook randomly shutting down, I booked it in with an Apple Genius at the local (Birmingham, UK) Apple Store. He decided that it would have to be sent in for repairs and said that I would have it back by the end of next week, i.e. by Friday 1st September at the latest.

1^st September 2006 - MacBook due back
After looking forward to having a functional MacBook again for about a week, the Apple Store Genius disappointingly said that my MacBook has NOT yet been repaired and is awaiting parts, namely a logic board. When I questioned him about why the repair hasn’t been carried out during the time I was initially quoted, I was told that logic boards are in short supply and that the repair cannot proceed without one. His new repair completion date: yet another week later, Fri 8^th September

7^th September 2006 - Almost 2 weeks with Apple
I received a disappointing phone call from the Apple Genius saying that the MacBook will NOT be back until Tuesday the 12^th of September (no reason given) but that the repair has however been completed, the MacBook packaged and ready to be sent back to the Apple Store, available for me to collect on the 12^th. So I got my hopes up again and looked forward to having my MacBook in another 5 days.

12^th September 2006 - Over 2 weeks with Apple
Eager to pick up my repair, I walked into the Apple Store, handed over my repair form and waited… only to be disappointed once again! This time, not only did they not have my MacBook back but they also didn’t have anybody who knew where it was. I was simply told that they will get the Genius responsible for the repair to give me a call as soon as he can.

I waited for 2 days but I never got a phone call!

14^th September 2006 - Almost 3 weeks with Apple
Back I went to the Apple store to ask for an explanation! I asked to see the Genius in charge of this repair and after about 10 minutes wait, he came out from the back but only to say to me that it must be at depot. I asked what he meant by depot and whether it was just a temporary storage space where they stored the MacBooks until they got picked up for delivery. But I was told depot is just the company they use for the repairs!

It sounded like utter BS to me and I could clearly tell that the Genius didn’t care at all just by his tone of speech.

When I insisted that they at least find out the location of my repaired MacBook and when it would be back, the Genius called up Apple care. After another 15 minutes, he got off the phone with Apple Care and said that he is really sorry about the delay but that Apple Care is investigating the matter and will have an answer for me in the next 24 hours. I was advised to call up Apple Care the next day so they could update me.

15^th September 2006 - Almost 3 weeks with Apple
I called up Apple Care and after a long 30 minutes wait, I finally got through to someone. They didn’t seem to have any record of the Genius’ request for a status update from the day before! So I had to explain the whole turn of events right from the 26^th of August. He then put me on hold for a few minutes to check on the status on my repair and told me that my MacBook is still under diagnosis and should be ready for me to collect next week!!

Wait a sec I said, the Genius in the Apple Store told me my MacBook was repaired, packaged and ready to be sent back over a week ago and now you’re telling me that Apple is still diagnosing my MacBook?

This brought my disappointment and frustration to a whole new level I never knew existed! I filed an official complaint over the phone with Apple Care and was assured that the complaints go to the top level and that I would be contacted by phone or by email about it in the next few days. Until today, six days later, I still haven’t been contacted about my complaint! Thanks Apple! It’s good to know how much you care!

19^th September 2006 - After 24 days with Apple
My MacBook finally made it back to the Apple Store.