Apple Tops Consumer Reports List

memoryhole writes "It seems Apple has come out on top in recent Consumer Reports surveys regarding technical support and hardware failure. Way to go Apple!"

Comments

Beats Dell in my Opinion

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple's response to my bitching about not getting iLife with my new 12" PB was to send me 3 copies immediately.

Dell's response to my having to unplug a new harddrive to get XP to install to a "c" drive on my new Dell was, "it's an OEM version of XP, that's what you'll have to do".

Last Dell I'm buying. Last Windows machine.

Apple's customer base wont settle for poor service

[Anonymous Coward]

I've worked repairing Toshiba, Compaq and Apple laptops.

customers who have problems with their Tosh. or Compaq laptops are by far more laid back about delays in service and rarely complain about cost of repairs.
where as when anything goes wrong with an Apple laptop it's far more frequent to get a customer that'll complain like their throats ben cut.

it's quite funny sometimes when they get all riled up and resort to the old "I'm gonna trade it in for a PC" line. when I know the service procedures for other manufacturers is nowhere near as streamlined as Apple's

Now THIS is Killer Support

[zonker_rob]

I got a Pismo PowerBook (my 2nd) off Ebay and it arrived with bright blue lines in the screen For those who don't know, a screen swap is $1050 and up. The Seller, Ebay, Paypal, Trust-E, all offered nothing -- zero help from any of them. Insurance I paid for on the shipment was denied by the carrier.

I was so bummed I thought I would call Apple, just to learn if I had been ripped off by the seller, or if the multiple verticle blue lines in the display could have in fact been a shipping issue.

I called Apple and talked first to a CSR who chuckled when she looked up my name because of the many Macs I own. Then she forwarded me to a tech, who spent 45 minutes explaining the details of how my problem could have possibly been caused in shipping, but was not a certainty. But, since I did not buy it from an authourized reseller, I was SOL on warranty work. I told him he blew my mind with his kindness in speaking to me for so long for free. Then we hung up.

20 minutes later the tech called back and said they would take a look at it "just to see" if it was an Apple problem, and I would see a pre-labelled post-paid return shipping box in the mail tomorrow. I sent it in and FOUR DAYS LATER had my Pismo back in hand with a brand new screen at no charge.

My next computer? Guess.

Re:Now THIS is Killer Support

[rfovell]

...20 minutes later the tech called back and said they would take a look at it "just to see" if it was an Apple problem, and I would see a pre-labelled post-paid return shipping box in the mail tomorrow. I sent it in and FOUR DAYS LATER had my Pismo back in hand with a brand new screen at no charge...

I've had nothing but good experiences with Apple Support. Of course, the best thing has been that I haven't needed much support :-)

Remember when the Wallstreet PowerBook G3 AC adapters were being recalled and replaced? I had to replace one on my own a few months prior to the recall. I bought the exact same adapter that Apple had just started shipping in the recall program. It made for a tight fit in the AC adapter plug, but it didn't seem too bad.

After a few months, tho, the wear and tear owing to that snug fit broke whatever board the adapter plug is attached to. This was just as the recall program had gotten into full swing. My PB was long out of warranty, so when I called Apple to explain the problem, I wasn't looking for any service. I called to warn them they were looking at a looming issue. The guy who fielded the call passed it to a supervisor who (to my astonishment) offered to fix my PB for free.

That's not all. The supervisor called back several hours later, asking me if I would mind shipping my PB to Apple HQ rather than the repair center. I would not be getting the PB back, tho. On receipt, they would ship me a brand new TiBook. I did, and had the TiBook the next day.

Soon thereafter, Apple started shipping a replacement for their replacement adapters. These didn't fit as snugly.

Part of my story is luck and timing. The rest is explained by killer support.