Apple Must Be Outsourcing Its Customer Service for Christmas
I've been trying to get a replacement battery for my Macbook Pro for two weeks. The wait times on the phone support line have been interminable, but I figured that with the launch of Leopard they were probably swamped, so I kept dropping off after 5 minutes and calling back every few days.
Today I stuck a headset in my ear while I was working and waited on hold. The first person I got, after 10 minutes or so, said they needed to direct me to another department. Here is what the second person, after a 25-30 minute wait said:
"I see from your serial number you have a Macbook Pro."
Yes, I replied.
"Is this a portable computer?"
When I replied—incredulous—that it was, the man said there was a special "portables" department and shuffled me back directly into the same queue I had been in before.
Total wait time: 45 minutes.
Total problems solved: 0.
Both these guys were Indian while Apple's tech support tends to be American. I couldn't care less what the nationality of Apple's reps are, but their normally exemplary customer service is seriously (anecdotally) in the shitter at the moment.
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I had very nearly the same experience, Joel, only in my case the Indian rep who answered asked me if my MacBook Pro was a "desktop or laptop MacBook Pro" and put me in a two-hour-long queue, only to be answered by someone named Bob who said "Uh, this is the Apple testing lab. You know, in the back. We're not supposed to talk to anyone."
I called back and got another Indian rep who kept confusing my hard drive with my fans. When I asked for his supervisor, he said, "No supervisors. I'm here by myself."
I got a little Uniden hands free cordless phone. I carry it around and get on with my work while on hold. I couldn't live without it. My record on hold with Telstra is 90 minutes plus another 50 to discuss and partly solve the problem.
As someone who worked telephone cust svc for Apple 10+ years ago, I find this appalling. I guess they couldn't even stomach paying decent technical reps the cheap wages they used to get vs. bargain basement people in South Asia.
I can, and have, seen "Wal-Mart" type companies like Dell do this. I mean really ? What do you expect from them. But Apple's reputation is an actual asset to the company, and nonsense like this will damage it...
Apple has call centers in Sacramento, Houston and somewhere in Canada. They have contractor call centers to serve as backup when the volume gets too high. I suspect that they need to do some hiring to keep up with their recent gains in marketshare.
Try calling in the morning, I think they open at 6 AM (Pacific)
It might not make you feel even one iota better, but I can assure you that the appropriate people at Apple have been apprised of the situation. Several other people at Apple, with whom I converse, expressed horror and dismay at this report, and especially that it's not just one person complaining.
In the mean time, let me offer some alternatives.
First, Newer Technology sells replacement batteries, often offering more capacity than original batteries at a slightly lower price (ie. 4.8 AH instead of 4.1, for $95 instead of $120). They've been doing this for a really long time, and I've never seen complaints. I've used several of their batteries, and been completely satisfied.
http://www.newertech.com/
Second, if you are willing to do some research and take a chance, you can also find inexpensive replacement batteries on eBay (say, $35 to $50). It looks like many people are selling the exact same batteries. I bought one very recently, and it has been OK for a week or so. Checking the battery information provided by the battery in System Profiler, it looks like a good battery.
Note that neither the Newer Tech battery or the eBay batteries will look exactly like the Apple brand battery, but then again, sometimes Apple batteries don't, either.
@haineux: That is good to hear. I think it's a very understandable problem, but customer service is something near and dear to my heart, and I always get disappointed when a company that had been good at it starts to drop the ball.
I hear this. I recently bought an iMac, and after it came DOA it took me 8 hours on the phone and two trips to the Apple Store for troubleshooting before they replaced it.
I recently had to call to the Apple support line as my Macbook's battery was drastically losing capacity. (I'd found out that it was within the period where I could get a free replacement).
No matter when I call (early morning, later evening, etc.) I am nearly always on hold for at least half an hour. I've given up believing that "Based on current times, your wait should be X minutes long or less..."
I ended up having to call them again when I needed the DHL package re-routed to my work instead of my home address, and I was bounced around a couple times, again with more time on hold. And I've repeated my work address so often that it's burned into my brain.
So, overall, yeah, what I needed to get done was done, but I would've been much happier if I could have done it in less time. And I wish that there was an Apple store here, as I'd've just made an appointment with the Genius bar instead.
apple crapped in my mouth and left a bad taste....
Where do I start??? I have been a "fan" of Apple and Apple products for too many years to count, I had $20 stock when it was considered a crap company, I purchased new Apple products as soon as they came out. Of course I got the iPhone, didn't stand in line, but picked it up the second day, no line. Laptops, desktops, Apple TV, iPods, you name it, I have it!
....BUT this is not why I am writing this....I digress.
I have been on the phone with Apple support for SEVEN hours, not trying to fix a problem-Trying to return the SECOND defective 24" iMac that I have received. The first one had a bad 800 Firewire port, this one has a bad 400 Firewire port, not only is it bad, it fried one of my external hard drives - An audible pop and that wonderful electronic burn smell.
Anyone out there with a NEW 24" iMac - BE CAREFUL!!!!!
So after a week of transferring info, pictures, music, installing programs etc. My new iMac was DOA!
I pick up the phone, call Apple. I have used Apple support TONS of times, and have always been amazed how great it was, I commented numerous times to friends and family, they need to switch to a Mac for great products and Great support, well...... after I sit on hold for FOUR 1/2 hours and transferred at least 9 times- NO one could help me. At first I just wanted another replacement but the more I sat on hold and was transferred, I realized I DID not want to deal with this lack of customer support again and finally asked for a full refund!
FINALLY they said, "we will e-mail you the shipping info." I was so happy that even though I missed a Saturday afternoon is was done, finished.....but NOooooooo
After 24 hours I DID NOT receive the shipping info. and started dialing for headaches again!!!
After THREE hours of the same ol' transfer, can't help you run around, NO ONE knew the status, why I did not get a shipping label...nothing. Here we go again....I can't take it!!!!
Everyone has a Customer service support horror story, this is mine, a nice rant about one of my favorite companies. I feel like I am 6 and someone told me Santa doent exist, that punch in the gut feeling. My favorite company doesnt give a rats ass about me, my years of support, my shout it from the roof tops attitude about how great Apple is, how I single handedly transformed my entire family and my wives family into Mac users. APPLE JUST DOESNT CARE!!!
I guess you always know in the back of your mind big companies just care about $ but when it is right in front of you it really makes you sad!
After all this I was lied to twice and it was a total of two weeks to complete!!!! Very Frustrating!
My Apple support guy yesterday was not only confused, confusing, and hard of hearing, but he had an almost laughably bad case of Laryngitis. It would have been comical to listen in on us going back and forth about my serial number.
General advice: if you've been sold a defective product and the merchant is unresponsive, call your credit card company and tell them all about it. A $2000 chargeback will get Apple's attention very quickly.
I had the same problem when I contacted them for an issue with my Macbook. I was quite angry when this Indian call center asks me if my macbook is a laptop or a desktop and puts me back in the queue (why did he even need to ask this question ?) and being from India, I wanted to yell something foul at him ..
I did not expect this from Apple.
I'm Indian and I work in a call center. In Charlotte, NC in the good old USA.
It gets pretty annoying when people assume because of your accent that they can somehow skip all rules of polite discourse and treat you like dirt. When a problem is not resolved to their satisfaction and people start invoking my ethnicity, it's difficult to remain calm.
Blame Apple. Blame those two call center personnel.
But to obliquely mention they were Indian, hinting towards that being the source of their incompetence is not cool. Its like telling a story about getting mugged and saying "not that it matters, but they were both black." Not cool.
How to get instant technical support from most companies:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultratec-Advanced-TTY-8840-Telephone_W0QQitemZ150246743905QQihZ005QQcategoryZ41374QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem