I have never had a customer experience as extraordinary as the one I had today courtesy of Apple computer. There were indications that things were going to be “different”, but how different was completely unexpected and surprisingly pleasant. Given Jeff Jarvis’ Dell Hell experience I was preparing for the worst and Apple turned it into a customer relationship building experience, all companies should take a page from Apple’s customer service playbook.
To shorten a long and boring story, a relatively new laptop I had was totally borked and wouldn’t charge, the laptop had the full Applecare package and I brought it in to a third party (not the Apple store) for repairs. Over 3-weeks into the repair & the laptop is still not fixed and I am getting quite upset. The service provider keeps telling me “nothing I can do it is an Apple problem”, I have been calling the service provider almost daily, finally I get fed up and call Apple to complain.
Thanks to the tenacity and helpfulness of the Apple Customer Service reps (I wish I had their names they were so nice) I discover the laptop was just sitting on the tech’s bench for a full week without the parts being ordered. The service provider NEVER even ordered the part until almost a FULL WEEK after the laptop had been brought in and I had stressed that this was a business critical laptop. I call the service provider to complain and, not-suprisingly, they lay blame on Apple telling me the information I had was wrong. In situation like these I can be somewhat “tenacious” and “creative”, I guess I share my father’s genes. I get the service provider on the phone with the Apple customer service rep.
As the service provider tells me more and more half truth fur starts flying… The Apple Customer Service Rep holds the third party service provider accountable and wants answers. I sit back and watch Apple muscle a service provider who had pissed off and lied to a customer. Wow, this was truly extraordinary. While on hold with the service provider, as we were escalating the problem through the management ranks, the Apple service tech gives me a $100.00 coupon for the trouble I have been through.
Amazing.
The head of service for the third party provider finally gets on the phone. He says he will call within one hour and do his best to make things right. About 2 hours later the machine was ready to be picked up.
I happily bought another Apple machine that same day content in the knowledge that I was buying from a company that really cared about me as a customer.
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