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Five reasons Apple gets it (Customer Service)
Posted in: Blog, Customer Service by Brian Cauble on May 29, 2009
I want to share a quick story with you. My macbook started getting a crack in it a few months back on the case. Well, the little crack started to get bigger and bigger until some of the casing was chipping off. Needless to say, I felt that this shouldn’t happen after just over a year. In fact, this is a know issue for plastic macbooks. As luck would have it, my warranty was up when this started. I was just going to put this off until it got back enough.
Well, the other day it dawned on me that I purchased my macbook on my American Express. Why does that matter? Because Amex extends your warranty by a year at no cost. Maybe just maybe, I wouldn’t have to spend $200 or $300 dollars to repair the computer. So I called Amex up to inquire about the warranty figuring that it probably wouldn’t get covered due to fine print. I figured they would say that we only cover PC purchased between January and March in New Delhi. Who knows. I was ready for excuses. To my surprise, Amex was very easy to reach and very helpful. They needed 3 things. My receipt, my credit card statement from the purchase, and a repair estimate. Not too bad. For several hundred dollars, I’ll do that.
So I got the paper work and headed off to the Apple store for an appointment to get the repair estimate. Let me first say that Apple makes it so easy to get checked in at the store. They have a constantly updated list of who is next in the wait list projected on the wall, and you don’t generally wait very long. So they call out “Brian C with a Macbook”. I go to the desk and explain to the tech what the problem is and that I just need a repair estimate because Amex is going to cover the repair. Lo and behold, he looks at the laptop and says “we’ll cover it no charge. We can have it ready for you in 24 hours or less. Is that ok?” After reviving myself from a sudden fainting spell, I said sure. 7 hours later, I get a call from Apple saying I can pick up my computer.
Now I know they did exactly what they should but I want to list the things that impressed me.
1. Apple knew they had a problem and admitted it. How many companies make you fight with them and go to a manager before they give in?
2. They fixed it quickly. How many companies would have to ship it off for a week?
3. They communicated well. From the time I showed up at the store, I was constantly updated by a updated list, by reps asking how they could help, and by someone calling me to tell me everything was good. How many times do you have to call and deal with one person after another just to find out if your repairs are done?
4. They didn’t hide behind another company. The tech knew that Amex was going to cover the cost but he knew it was Apple’s design issue and so he fixed it.
5. They give their employees power to make decisions. In most of my dealings with Apple, you can tell that the employees have the power to satisfy the customer without asking a manager. That isn’t always true, and shouldn’t be, but it is most of the time.
So I have to give Apple big props. Instead of irritating me, they confirmed my decision to buy a mac as a good one. So when you setup customer service at your company some day, go to the Apple store. They just seem to get it.
PS. I have to give a little bit of love to Amex. They handled everything nicely also and made it a fairly easy process to fix my laptop. That is a really nice benefit and a good reason to purchase major items on my Amex in the future.
