Customer Support?

This post is nothing more than me complaining about my customer/technical support, so read on if you are either bored or may be able to offer words of encouragement or confirmation.

So I'm brand new to the mac world and was pretty excited about making the switch. I'm still enjoying the new macbook pro 15 and will be exploring for the next few weeks I'm sure. However, I'm frustrated by the level of support Apple is providing me and wanted to get some input from others if this is to be expected or if I've just had some bad luck the past couple days.

It started when I first booted up the machine and noticed I had a bunch of software updates that needed to be done. My experience with PC manufactures is they typically perform all software updates after custom configuration and then let the machine run for 24 hours or perform a benchmark to test stability. This need for software updates made me wonder if they had actually performed the custom configuration I requested (upgraded drive to 7200rpm), so I went to look at hardware information. Turns out there is no way to see what speed your drive is, so I called in to get some help. The first guy I talked, after about 20 minutes of research, said he couldn't help me since he wasn't too familiar with the equipment since he has only been there about a month and that I would need to take it to the nearest Apple store (which for me is about an hour and a half away). The next day I called in because I was told at the time I placed the order my notebook would be shipping with iLife '09, which now I have found was wrong. While I was on the phone with that person I asked again about software updates, testing, stability, checking hard drive speed....and again, wasn't able to get any answers.

So, can anyone tell me...have I just made a huge mistake going with mac as far as their support is concerned, or have I just had a small string of bad luck here at the beginning?

I really haven't had any bad support from Apple, at least not in comparison with other manufacturers.. when I get home (at work and not on my mac) I'll see if I can remember how to suss out the drive speed.

Feh, so I still haven't had a chance to do much digging and since there is no /procfs on OSX do this.. go to system profiler, Serial ATA.. It'll list the drive model number.. google it. I guarantee it'll come back with plenty of hits, including detailed specifications.

I think the whole deal about iLife '09 was only for the 17" MBP. As far as it goes on your 15", I'd go onto the Apple Online Store for their online tech support who usually just knows the answers. If they don't know (very rare for that though), then I usually just wait a minute and then do the same thing again since you'll probably get a different person. It's safe to do this regardless though just to make sure you're getting the right information. Apple has great tech support, and I guess your case is just pure unlucky, but the one complaint I have about Apple is that in any hardware problem situation, they usually make you look dumb and far less superior compared to them and then just tell you that you have every right to choose another manufacturer because they know you won't switch. It is unfortunate though that your nearest Apple Store is that far away because when it comes to Apple, you're always better off going into the store to talk to somebody. They're always much nicer in the store and they never make any threats or begin to do anything rude, and you're much more bound for a better experience by going through the Apple Store. If you can't do that, I've found just calling an Apple Store for support is sometimes even better than calling their phone support. If any repair needs to be done, DO NOT SEND IT IN!! Apple Care takes care of the problem the day you bring it in 95% of the time and they don't cause any external damage/flaws that you may experience through shipping it since they can then blame it on the shipping process. This applies to reasons why parts aren't working too. They may identify the problem to be something that was really caused through shipping. Apple really is a great company, you just need to know how to correctly deal with them for the best experience. By the way, congrats on your new MBP!!!

Thanks for the replies...it appears I just had a string of bad luck calling in those couple of times. I have to say though, I've been enjoying this new laptop...having good feelings about making the switch.