I've been dealing with computer makers for about 10 years personally and professioinally, and overall Apple has always been easier to deal with. IBM was very good as well. Dell, was usually a pain.
The quality of service you get out of different support people varies widely, no matter what company you go with. I've had calls to Dell and Apple where it felt I was beating my head against the wall because it was a script reader or inexperienced tech, and calls where I get a knowledgeable tech that knows what to do. It's a crap shoot.
If you're already familiar with the ins and out of dealing with tech support skip this and go to the next post. If not read on for some tips in how to deal with them:
There's one thing I've learned over the years, it 's how you talk to the Tech support that really matters. Communication is key to getting good tech support. Act like an average user, don't do basic troubleshooting, or be rude and you get the run around from a lot of them. An experienced tech will peg you as an average computer user and feed you the script. The idea is to get off script as soon as possible to get your RMA/support call. Act like you know what you're talking about and communicating to them on a profession and, if you have the skill, a more technical level. (Do not fake it if you aren't technically skilled in the problem they smell that too and will script you then also.
Describe the problem, tell him/her that you've looked up the problem in the knowledge base an that didn't solve your problem. Tell them you've already trouble shot the problem to the best of your abilities, explain that the problem has reoccurred and tell them what you've tried, before you get into the troubleshooting script. If you already know the RAM or hard drive is bad, just tell them how you figured that out. They might make you retry the basic steps you already did, but that's okay. They have to verify the problem before you can get an RMA or service call. Explain politely that you are willing to reproduce the problem and they will sometimes skip a step or three, and take you word for it and save you time.
Sometimes I get a script reader tech support guy and I talk over his head, ask him questions his script doesn't have the answers too and I'll usually get transferred to the next service tier or to the manager.
If you're in IT or a level or two past "power user" or you get your IT guy (assuming he's not a jerk or incompetent) to make the calls you usually get better service too. Once you establish with the tech support person on the other end of the line that you're an advanced user (by telling them everything you've tried in detail), and that you know they are there to help solve the problem (and not someone you call to blame for the problem) user they're more likely to treat you right, and take extra steps with you. Say thing like "What can _we_ try to fix this?" to get them on your side. And I'll usually ask the tech support person if he gets a lot of calls on this problem or if it's new to him.
When you don't like the person you're dealing with, call back and try a different support person or ask to be transferred. I once was told a repair would take a week or two by one, but when I called back I got a person who had overnighted me a shipping box and I has it back within a few days. (Apple India vs. Apple USA)
If you establish that it's a hardware problem and its under warranty, ask if they'll cross ship the part to you and that you can install it. If it is a field replaceable part, I've never been denied cross shipment once I get them a credit card number for collateral that they'd get the bad part back. I've had some tell me to ship back the part instead of cross ship it. Then I explained to the tech that the computer wasn't on-site and it was a VIP's laptop that couldn't be without a computer for even 3 days, and they cross shipped for me.
I've had a case where the tech (dell) told me to do something that screwed up another driver instead of fixing the driver that
I read it wrong and thought of World of Warcraft. I think it'd be funny of lawyers all started playing WoW and dueling in their downtime to settle disputes.
Are you up to date on your facts? The iMacs run WoW fine. I don't have a frame rate in MC, but I heard it runs smoothly. Though I agree with you on one thing: Apple needs to create a gaming rig. If they had a 2PCIe 16x mac and one 8x slot (for an audio card) and dumped an NVIDIA 7950 or a Radeon X1900 XTX in there, they could sell it for the price of a iMac (sans display of course). And it would make a pretty kick ass gaming system. But let's not ignore the fact that no one buys a mac to play games on. It's just a nice feature.
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one thing I always love about him is how he consistently interprets even simple things into the most best sci-fi.
I've been dealing with computer makers for about 10 years personally and professioinally, and overall Apple has always been easier to deal with. IBM was very good as well. Dell, was usually a pain.
The quality of service you get out of different support people varies widely, no matter what company you go with. I've had calls to Dell and Apple where it felt I was beating my head against the wall because it was a script reader or inexperienced tech, and calls where I get a knowledgeable tech that knows what to do. It's a crap shoot.
If you're already familiar with the ins and out of dealing with tech support skip this and go to the next post. If not read on for some tips in how to deal with them:
There's one thing I've learned over the years, it 's how you talk to the Tech support that really matters. Communication is key to getting good tech support. Act like an average user, don't do basic troubleshooting, or be rude and you get the run around from a lot of them. An experienced tech will peg you as an average computer user and feed you the script. The idea is to get off script as soon as possible to get your RMA/support call. Act like you know what you're talking about and communicating to them on a profession and, if you have the skill, a more technical level. (Do not fake it if you aren't technically skilled in the problem they smell that too and will script you then also.
Describe the problem, tell him/her that you've looked up the problem in the knowledge base an that didn't solve your problem. Tell them you've already trouble shot the problem to the best of your abilities, explain that the problem has reoccurred and tell them what you've tried, before you get into the troubleshooting script. If you already know the RAM or hard drive is bad, just tell them how you figured that out. They might make you retry the basic steps you already did, but that's okay. They have to verify the problem before you can get an RMA or service call. Explain politely that you are willing to reproduce the problem and they will sometimes skip a step or three, and take you word for it and save you time.
Sometimes I get a script reader tech support guy and I talk over his head, ask him questions his script doesn't have the answers too and I'll usually get transferred to the next service tier or to the manager.
If you're in IT or a level or two past "power user" or you get your IT guy (assuming he's not a jerk or incompetent) to make the calls you usually get better service too. Once you establish with the tech support person on the other end of the line that you're an advanced user (by telling them everything you've tried in detail), and that you know they are there to help solve the problem (and not someone you call to blame for the problem) user they're more likely to treat you right, and take extra steps with you. Say thing like "What can _we_ try to fix this?" to get them on your side. And I'll usually ask the tech support person if he gets a lot of calls on this problem or if it's new to him.
When you don't like the person you're dealing with, call back and try a different support person or ask to be transferred. I once was told a repair would take a week or two by one, but when I called back I got a person who had overnighted me a shipping box and I has it back within a few days. (Apple India vs. Apple USA)
If you establish that it's a hardware problem and its under warranty, ask if they'll cross ship the part to you and that you can install it. If it is a field replaceable part, I've never been denied cross shipment once I get them a credit card number for collateral that they'd get the bad part back. I've had some tell me to ship back the part instead of cross ship it. Then I explained to the tech that the computer wasn't on-site and it was a VIP's laptop that couldn't be without a computer for even 3 days, and they cross shipped for me.
I've had a case where the tech (dell) told me to do something that screwed up another driver instead of fixing the driver that
This is yet another reason to switch to Linux or OS X.
I read it wrong and thought of World of Warcraft. I think it'd be funny of lawyers all started playing WoW and dueling in their downtime to settle disputes.
Are you up to date on your facts? The iMacs run WoW fine. I don't have a frame rate in MC, but I heard it runs smoothly. Though I agree with you on one thing: Apple needs to create a gaming rig. If they had a 2PCIe 16x mac and one 8x slot (for an audio card) and dumped an NVIDIA 7950 or a Radeon X1900 XTX in there, they could sell it for the price of a iMac (sans display of course). And it would make a pretty kick ass gaming system. But let's not ignore the fact that no one buys a mac to play games on. It's just a nice feature.