Positive Apple Experience

pigoo3

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As many of us know...when it comes to the computer industry...Apple is #1 in customer service (by far). And the majority of the time when it comes to warranty/repair issues...Apple seems to bend over backwards to take care of things.:)

Of course occasionally someone will post a thread where they say that Apple customer service is the worst ever:

- Apple sucks
- will never purchase an Apple product again
- gonna e-mail Tim Cook
- been on the phone for hours with multiple Apple reps.
- going to start a class action suit
- gonna post all over the internet to let everyone know how bad Apple is
- and we get a long over-detailed dissertation of how Apple is wrong & the individual user is right.

Well I just wanted to post one more positive Apple warranty/repair experience.:)

About a week ago my 13" 2011 MacBook Pro was starting to act up. I was getting all sorts of crazy cursor control problems:

- cursor would slowly jiggle or jump from one side of the display to another
- unwanted trackpad gestures (swiping, zooming, etc.)
- unwanted trackpad clicking (seemed like some "phantom" person was constantly doing single & double clicks).
- apps launching & folders opening mysteriously

So I thought...is this a:

- software issue
- hardware issue
- malware problem
- do I have some sort of new Mac virus
- who knows

But then I also thought..."Hey...I'm a pretty knowledgeable Mac person...I can fix this.":)

I:

- ran Onyx
- SMC reset
- NVRAM/PRAM reset
- even reluctantly reinstalled the OS
- installed all software updates

After a few hours...no LOVE...still had the problem. Computer was almost unusable with all of the trackpad issues.

So now I'm thinking...I bought this computer used...but it does still have Applecare on it...so I'll take it in to my local Apple Store for examination.

Long story short...took it in on Monday...and the "pre-exam" appeared to indicate that the trackpad was bad. Apple estimated a 3-5 day repair turnaround (which seemed sort of long to me given my prior Apple repair experiences). But they said that they were super busy with the new iPhone and iOS 7 releases...as well as back to school customers.

So I thought no problem...as long as it gets fixed. And the Apple "Genius" said that it could be shorter. Anyways...got the computer back on Wednesday (48 hours later). They did replace the trackpad...and now everything is fine!!:)

It was only about a $91 dollar repair (pretty cheap for Apple...$51 for parts & $39 for labor)...but hey...I'll take it! And of course since the computer still had Applecare...the repair was $0.00 cost to me!!!:)

Thanks for reading,:)

- Nick
 

RavingMac

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Good to hear, Nick.

My own customer experiences with Apple have been predominately positive. The only negative I ever had was trying to do something that wasn't in their SOP/normal protocol.

I had a non-repairable iPad 2 which they were going to replace free. My suggestion was they keep the replacement and give me some form of credit and I would purchase a 3rd gen iPad. Amount of credit was never discussed.

In the end, even though my request seemed reasonable enough (to me and the Apple reps I spoke with), couldn't do it because of red tape and lack of computer and charge codes to do it.

Regardless, they were uniformly polite and helpful through the process. And, every repair I have every had has been quick and painless. So, I agree, Apple customer service is excellent.
 
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I have had no experience with Apple Care. Have had my MBP going on 3 years with no problems. Knocking on Wood. My wife has a Sony laptop that is about 6 years old and we have had no problems with it. Again Knocking on Wood. For me Apple's OS X far surpasses Windows. I will be a Apple user for life there products just have style.
 
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You be preaching to the converted buck!

Nice story though.
 
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Nothing but good experiences, here. The Apple Stores I've been to are kinda "**-hum", but both times we've needed their service, it was quick with no-hassles and both times it was "user abuse". My wife dropped her her iPhone in water not once but twice. Once was the toilet. First time it happened, we sent the phone in and got it back a few days later. It was a brand new or remanufactured unit. They did send us a bill, but it was not the full going price of an iPhone and we have insurance with our carrier, so that covered almost the whole cost. Only took her a few months to drop it in a river. This time I was disgusted because it was brand new phone, so I took the control board out and tried drying it out with compressed air and leaving it apart for a few hours. After that, It worked a LOT better than it did when she pulled it from the river, but we couldn't get a 3G connection, so again it went back to Apple. Once again, they sent us a brand new unit within a few days. No questions asked and again, insurance covered it.
 
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pigoo3

pigoo3

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Nothing but good experiences, here.

Awesome...great to hear it!:)

My wife dropped her her iPhone in water not once but twice. Once was the toilet.

I think that the record that I've personally heard of for dropping an iPhone into water (toilet multiple times)...was a member here on Mac-Forums. Something like 4-5 times (I'm thinking 5x).

I think that the 5th time was when the iPhone FINALLY stopped working!;)

- Nick

p.s. Never found out what sort of "condition" that toilet water was in when the iPhone needed to be recovered 5x!;);)
 
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Whoa, 5x in the toilet??? Is the owner trying to rid himself of it? At around the 2nd time, it's time to get a good waterproof case. Looked for a good cheap one for my wife's 4s, but she's not gonna keep it long enough now (upgrading to 5s in a few months) to justify what they still want for the 4s wp cases.
 
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Had a decent experience at the Apple Store today myself.

The SSD died in my wife's MBA, and when I arrived for my appt. there was one Genius literally doing all the work for a half dozen customers or so. I told him that I had nothing but time today, so help whoever you need to. Once he got back to me he ran diags and the SSD didn't report so he sent it to the back to be opened up to check cabling and connections.

Once he got back he told me the SSD was surely dead and that I was out of warranty. I went in thinking I had warranty, but it expired 22 days ago. He said hang on, I'll be right back. He said that you've been "super cool" with me by letting me take care of other less than patient folks, so Apple is going to help you. I still have to pay for the repair, but not near as much as the original estimate. I got off the hook for $140 for an SSD replacement, and the wifey will have her beloved back in 3 days.

Apple surely didn't owe me anything as the warranty was expired, but I really appreciate what they did. Their customer service is second to none.

Alex (Leawood, KS Genius), this Apple user thanks you!
 
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I have not had my iMac very long but I know one day I might have too. After reading the posts here I feel good about bringing it in if I have too.
 
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pigoo3

pigoo3

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The SSD died in my wife's MBA, and when I arrived for my appt. there was one Genius literally doing all the work for a half dozen customers or so. I told him that I had nothing but time today, so help whoever you need to. Once he got back to me he ran diags and the SSD didn't report so he sent it to the back to be opened up to check cabling and connections.

Once he got back he told me the SSD was surely dead and that I was out of warranty. I went in thinking I had warranty, but it expired 22 days ago. He said hang on, I'll be right back. He said that you've been "super cool" with me by letting me take care of other less than patient folks, so Apple is going to help you. I still have to pay for the repair, but not near as much as the original estimate.

Alex (Leawood, KS Genius), this Apple user thanks you!

Super awesome for sharing that story/experience...thanks!:)

These are the kind of things that Apple/Apple Stores are known for (the gray area)...and how if a customer is nice...there's a good chance "special" things happen!:)

- Nick
 
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Last year my computer was getting really laggy while playing games, and it got so choppy it was unplayable. My computer (specs in description) has Apple Care so I took it to a local Mac store, (not an apple store) and they said they would take a look. I got a call the next day saying my fan had ceased up and although they got it working again they would install a brand new one just in case. I would have my computer back by the end of the week (took it in monday). I picked up my computer wednesday and didn't have to pay a dime. :)
 
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Anybody catch THIS joker's article (if you could call it that) on CNET several months back? It didn't say so much about Apple's customer service as it did about his character and it has so many holes and so many questions left unanswered that it's laughable at best. The only thing I can say for him is that it's an entertaining read, but I cannot believe that this was allowed to be published. On second thought, it IS CNET, after all...

Long story short (if you don't want read this drawn-out diatribe), the guy's 9-year-old daughter get's locked out of her ipod touch for 43 years (strike 1 - giving a passcode-locked device to small children is just silly), and he can't get it into restore mode, so he takes it to the Apple Store and they can't seem to get it into restore mode either, so they tell him he needs to pay $150 for a replacement, being a hardware problem, at which he balks, telling them he owns a billion Apple devices and is entitled to a free replacement and proceeds to cuss them out (strike 2 - nice childish behavior). He storms out, takes the iPod home and (on a fluke?) is able to get it into restore mode on like the first try, and in the end is able to fix it himself (strike 3 - he coulda saved himself and the people at the Apple Store a whole lot of grief if he would have just had a little more patience). What a moron. Guess the people at the Apple Store loosened those buttons up for him...
 
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pigoo3

pigoo3

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Anybody catch THIS joker's article (if you could call it that) on CNET several months back?

Knowing how good Apple's customer service and warranty repairs are...I didn't have the stomach to read the whole thing.

There are plenty of surveys, individual experiences, and statistics to prove how good Apple is...that a professional journalist writing an article such as this should be embarrassed.

He also wrote an article called "Why I regret buying an iMac." (which some aspects we here at Mac-Forums probably agree with)...so it sounds like he certainly has an anti-Apple slant to his journalistic endeavors.

This is probably the way he "puts bread on the table" (writing anti-Apple articles)...and there are certainly plenty of anti-Apple Windows users out there that enjoy reading his rants!

- Nick
 
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...and there are certainly plenty of anti-Apple Windows users out there that enjoy reading his rants!

- Nick
The thing I find most interesting about those people - and I've known (and still know) plenty - is that they almost always, in just about EVERY case, have never touched an Apple computer. Those that have, only very little. They go on pure hearsay or what they have read and almost never know what they're talking about; cuz everybody I know, or have heard of, who has switched from Windows to Mac and I do mean EVERYbody, has never gone back. Never even heard of one case, where somebody switched (having given Mac a fair chance), didn't like it and went back. I'm sure there are people who have, but I don't know any of them personally.

The biggest argument I hear (or read) against Apple these days, especially by journalists, is that if you buy Apple devices, you're stuck in the "Apple ecosystem", which I have just never felt to be true. I don't know about anybody else, but I get ALL my movies/TV programs/music and many of my apps from sources other than Apple. I feel more free with Apple than I ever did with Windows...

Kind of off the subject. Sorry. carry on...
 

chscag

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Times have changed. I can remember when the first IBM compatible generic PCs began to hit the market and everyone was either buying this or that or trying to build their own. During those days Apple pundits were the absolute worse people to talk to about computers. Always bragging how good their Macs were and how bad the PCs were. Apple folks back then projected a bad reputation and for the most part were apologists. Otherwise known as fan boys. (BTW, we still have several of those types who hang around our forums.)
 
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Had a decent experience at the Apple Store today myself.

The SSD died in my wife's MBA, and when I arrived for my appt. there was one Genius literally doing all the work for a half dozen customers or so. I told him that I had nothing but time today, so help whoever you need to. Once he got back to me he ran diags and the SSD didn't report so he sent it to the back to be opened up to check cabling and connections.

Once he got back he told me the SSD was surely dead and that I was out of warranty. I went in thinking I had warranty, but it expired 22 days ago. He said hang on, I'll be right back. He said that you've been "super cool" with me by letting me take care of other less than patient folks, so Apple is going to help you. I still have to pay for the repair, but not near as much as the original estimate. I got off the hook for $140 for an SSD replacement, and the wifey will have her beloved back in 3 days.

Apple surely didn't owe me anything as the warranty was expired, but I really appreciate what they did. Their customer service is second to none.

Alex (Leawood, KS Genius), this Apple user thanks you!

would love to say that was Apple's awesomeness..

BUT......

If this is a 2012 Air, there is a known issue with the SSD drives for them. they're dying like flies.

Thus far Apple hasn't publicly announced it, nor have they announced any service plan. But I have more than a couple instances of them eating a replacement on that drive because of the exact same symptoms.

I also know (I've been connected to the Mac industry for almost 3 decades) that the issue is tied to 2 specific SSD drives, and that they're replacing those specific models for free whenever one raises enough of a stink.. AND they're not just replacing them, they're "upgrading" for free to a different/newer version.

My experience has been that this means there is a known failure, and they're testing the waters to see if they're going to get away without getting sued (the same thing happened in 2001 with the original G4 Powerbook, again 2004 with Powerbook G4 RAM slot failures, in 2007 with Magsafe failures, in 2009 with Macbook Pro NVidia chip failures (which wasn't the chip but was actually due to a board design stress-induced crack, which was fully Apple's fault but was blamed on NVidia).

Time will tell on the Air issue.

Apple has some great people, and they've historically done really great customer service.
Apple also has some lying ba$tard lawyers. I've seen both sides, having been around it for long enough to professionally experience both ends of the spectrum.

While I know Apple corporate has some great folks (some of my friends work there), if I were shipwrecked with 10 of Apple's lawyer types, i'd probably take my chances on the good graces of the local shark population rather than ride in a lifeboat with them.
 

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