Yes I do think it is a legitimate reason. It depends on what you expect for customer service. There are companies that will accept a return on mercandise that is used and 3 months old because "the customer didn't like it". Why? Because they want the customer to be happy and losing a few dollars from the bottom line is worth keeping a future customer. I don't advocate doing that, but not taking back a brand new item, unopened, says something about Apple's customer service. Not that this should be news to anyone, just do a search on other items that Apple turned their back on until there was enough public pressure that they had to deal with it to avoid bad PR (which is the only reason Apple seems to fix anything). iPod batteries, laptop screens, G4 power supplies, list goes on
I am currently converting our company from Windows machines to Macs because I like the hardware and operating system, but I am not going into it blindly thinking Apple is my savior from Microsoft. Both companies have a #1 goal, and that is to make money.
I had a machine on delivery (ie. Apple had shipped it and I had not received it yet) and their customer service informed me that I could not return it since it was custom built (I ordered a 15" laptop with a SuperDrive which was considered a custom built machine). The reason I wanted to return it was in the meantime we went to the Apple store to purchase more notebooks for the company and I picked up a nicer one for myself. So in short, time was within one week of purchase, no delivery, no open box, over $6000 spent at the Apple store, big F U from Apple.
Don't get me wrong, I like Apple hardware and and OS X, but the company is focused on money, with consumers coming second (like most companies) and they are not your friend.
Try a simple peer-2-peer Windows 2000 network (we disabled the domain and roaming profiles for reasons I won't get into here). If a normal user wants to print to a local printer, sorry, they need their privileges escalated...
This is good news to me since I signed up before 2000, when the concept was presented as my lifetime. I didn't realize that they had clarified it so well. I hope this info is on the packaging for people who don't always research the web before making a purchase.
When it is clear that you are paying for the lifetime of the unit, the fee is lumped into the price of the unit and I can sit back and say "is it worth $x to me?". Then you don't feel bad when you are told to pay another fee for the next box.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Maybe now I will upgrade...
I disagree. The "lifetime fee" is the lifetime of the unit. I purchased one of the first units with the "lifetime subscription". I recently went to order a new box because I got sick of reinstalling TiVOnet after every upgrade (fixed in 3.0 finally). I was told I would have to pay another "lifetime" fee, so I would have enough TiVO for two lifetimes appearantly.
I'm not saying this is unfair, but I think the company should better clarify "lifetime" to people buying the machines.
That is a good point. I guess I could sell my current one with subscription and the TiVo service doesn't need to know. Only problem is that I installed tivonet so it needs to be reconfigured everytime there is a software update. It seems too bad that it is a hassle to upgrade, especially from a company that has been very cool to its users.
It is a matter of perspective. When I purchased the lifetime subscription, I believed I was buying it for me, not my TiVo. I was wrong. Very similar to buying an operating system from a certain vendor (MS), you are not buying it for you, but for your computer. Unfortunately, I don't believe in that. Maybe when my computer buys me something, I'll rethink.
Beware. I bought one of the first TiVo's with the (what I thought was) lifetime service subscription. I just called TiVo and was told the subscription was tied to the recorder and can not be transferred to a new one, only repair models allow transfer. To upgrade, I would need to purchase a new subscription. If I have to purchase a "lifetime" subscription every couple years, then TiVo is going to lose some customers.
Before using PayTrust, all my bills were paid late, usually when the service was about to be shut off, because I never had time to sit down and write checks. Now everything is paid right away with no hassles.
Of course now I can't pay my bills because they've been SlashDotted;)
Slashdot Mirror
Yes I do think it is a legitimate reason. It depends on what you expect for customer service. There are companies that will accept a return on mercandise that is used and 3 months old because "the customer didn't like it". Why? Because they want the customer to be happy and losing a few dollars from the bottom line is worth keeping a future customer. I don't advocate doing that, but not taking back a brand new item, unopened, says something about Apple's customer service. Not that this should be news to anyone, just do a search on other items that Apple turned their back on until there was enough public pressure that they had to deal with it to avoid bad PR (which is the only reason Apple seems to fix anything). iPod batteries, laptop screens, G4 power supplies, list goes on
I am currently converting our company from Windows machines to Macs because I like the hardware and operating system, but I am not going into it blindly thinking Apple is my savior from Microsoft. Both companies have a #1 goal, and that is to make money.
I had a machine on delivery (ie. Apple had shipped it and I had not received it yet) and their customer service informed me that I could not return it since it was custom built (I ordered a 15" laptop with a SuperDrive which was considered a custom built machine). The reason I wanted to return it was in the meantime we went to the Apple store to purchase more notebooks for the company and I picked up a nicer one for myself. So in short, time was within one week of purchase, no delivery, no open box, over $6000 spent at the Apple store, big F U from Apple.
Don't get me wrong, I like Apple hardware and and OS X, but the company is focused on money, with consumers coming second (like most companies) and they are not your friend.
-D
You do not sound foolish...
Try a simple peer-2-peer Windows 2000 network (we disabled the domain and roaming profiles for reasons I won't get into here). If a normal user wants to print to a local printer, sorry, they need their privileges escalated...
This is good news to me since I signed up before 2000, when the concept was presented as my lifetime. I didn't realize that they had clarified it so well. I hope this info is on the packaging for people who don't always research the web before making a purchase.
When it is clear that you are paying for the lifetime of the unit, the fee is lumped into the price of the unit and I can sit back and say "is it worth $x to me?". Then you don't feel bad when you are told to pay another fee for the next box.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Maybe now I will upgrade...
reasonable lifetime fee
I disagree. The "lifetime fee" is the lifetime of the unit. I purchased one of the first units with the "lifetime subscription". I recently went to order a new box because I got sick of reinstalling TiVOnet after every upgrade (fixed in 3.0 finally). I was told I would have to pay another "lifetime" fee, so I would have enough TiVO for two lifetimes appearantly.
I'm not saying this is unfair, but I think the company should better clarify "lifetime" to people buying the machines.
Yes, but first I cried, then I cried again...
That is a good point. I guess I could sell my current one with subscription and the TiVo service doesn't need to know. Only problem is that I installed tivonet so it needs to be reconfigured everytime there is a software update. It seems too bad that it is a hassle to upgrade, especially from a company that has been very cool to its users.
It is a matter of perspective. When I purchased the lifetime subscription, I believed I was buying it for me, not my TiVo. I was wrong. Very similar to buying an operating system from a certain vendor (MS), you are not buying it for you, but for your computer. Unfortunately, I don't believe in that. Maybe when my computer buys me something, I'll rethink.
Beware. I bought one of the first TiVo's with the (what I thought was) lifetime service subscription. I just called TiVo and was told the subscription was tied to the recorder and can not be transferred to a new one, only repair models allow transfer. To upgrade, I would need to purchase a new subscription. If I have to purchase a "lifetime" subscription every couple years, then TiVo is going to lose some customers.
Before using PayTrust, all my bills were paid late, usually when the service was about to be shut off, because I never had time to sit down and write checks. Now everything is paid right away with no hassles.
;)
Of course now I can't pay my bills because they've been SlashDotted