Apple Tops Consumer Reports List 156
memoryhole writes "It seems Apple has come out on top in recent Consumer Reports surveys regarding technical support and hardware failure. Way to go Apple!"
"An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup." - H.L. Mencken
Apple Products (Score:1, Funny)
Linux -Os X switch (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:4, Funny)
So anyway, to cure my happiness, I got Plan9 for my BeBox, and as soon as I get a video card for it which actually works, then plan9 it is, baby
They don't support unix! (Score:3, Interesting)
"What? You say you've been using to secure shell to remotely access your XServe? That's unsupported."
I admin a little over 20 FreeBSD servers, and a few Win2k servers that run Cygwin. This is a new one to me.
They'll support it if you purchase an enterprise support agreement, but you have to dicker with a sales person on the price...it isn't static. My client that has 5 OS X servers they wanted $15k (!!!) per year, or $
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't get me wrong, I like Linux, but especially for stuff like laptops with less common hardware, it's just not worth the hassle of making it all work (And before you mod me down, I have actually tried Linux, both Mandrake and Debian, and this comment is based on experience, not popular opinion from
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:1)
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:2)
Use the "big arse download" combi updater instead of software update. It's generally safer.
Dave
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:1, Interesting)
And even then I wouldn't call it a panic; the computer responded quite bravely. Ok that was lame...
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:3, Interesting)
But don't even GET me started on my Inspiron running RedHat. Feh! It's going out the door this week! Soon I'll be only Mac. Odd. But good!
Now to get rid of my Sun 5 and a box of about 25 In
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:1)
Re:Linux -Os X switch (Score:2)
Apple vs Dell (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe they're seeing people who got their computers working, then discovered they were running XP...
[ducks, runs for cover...]
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, Apple's tech support tends to be freakishly fast. I had a friend get a Powerbook G4's mobo replaced in 3 buisiness days, including shipping. She thought that she mislabeled the package and Airborne was shipping it back to her; she called Apple and they asked if the problem was fixed. Believe it or not, it was. If it wasn't for the price, I would buy from Apple every time, and that iPod is giving me a serious case of geek-lust.
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:2)
The larger your QC department gets, generally the higher the percentage of bad machines that slip through, theoretically.
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:5, Interesting)
Would QC efficiency be higher if you make more products? I really don't know, and I don't care as long as I'm not within the percentage who are hit, regardless if it's Apple or Dell.
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:5, Interesting)
The hardware problem is Dell's fault. Not in your case with the DLink NIC, but with the hardware THEY sell. Everything made for them is made to certain specifications-- you're not getting the retail equivalent!
Michael Dell wants CHEAP hardware, and he gets it, at a cost to his cutstomers. Much like FORD has done lately, they've been trying so damn hard to save a nickel they're losing customers left and right because of producing poor quality (of course now they're trying to drastically change all that).
To your last comment: I've been the statistic you're talking about. 6 times out of 30 Dell machines. 20% failure. So the percentage matters when you're buying more than one machine.
"Much like FORD has done lately" (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:3, Interesting)
I had to have my iBook(2001) serviced because it was having this wierd problem where the Airport reception was dependant on the angle of the screen hinge. I had already figured out that it was probably a pinched wire in the hinge, so I took it to the Genius Bar at my local Apple store. I showed them the problem, they decided that it needed to go to the repair depot to be fixed. They warned me it might take up to two weeks.
I left it with them on a Saturday. They packed it and shipped it out on Monday, o
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:2)
I wish my story was like yours. As it turns out the service has been the one horrible flaw on the otherwise wonderful experience of owning a TiBook.
Had a little accident with it, dropped actually, but a very small drop, maybe two feet. Apparently it landed just precisely the wrong way though, the case crumpled on the corner noticeably, but it seemed to have done it's job and protected the inside. It didn't seem like any real damage, still worked fine in every way, just a little cosmetic damage, though I f
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:5, Funny)
This is why you should NEVER let your cat drink coffee.
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:2)
To bad we can't get that kind of reliability from our desktops (generic built to order from someone in Broo
Thinkpads kick ass (Score:1)
BTW, trade in your 600 for a T series with the 1400X1050 screen. You won't regret it.
Re:Thinkpads kick ass (Score:2)
warning! insufficient funds! warning!
Ah well... maybe by Christmas I will have money for a new machine.
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:1)
Re:Apple vs Dell (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Apple vs Dell - listen to this iBook / G4 story (Score:5, Interesting)
Two days later I got a call saying it was back and ready to pick up. They had to replace part of the case but also replaced the motherboard, which knocked up the cost of repair. The fellow at the Apple Store noted that a call was not put thru to me to ask my "ok" on that (since it was more than we orig. asked) and crossed off the additional charge, without me even raising the issue.
Better than that, perhaps, is what happened a month or two earlier. I had bought a Dual G4 800 right when it came out, summer of '01 and got it with a combo drive (DVD player / CD-RW). It had trouble reading some discs on occasion, so I put off getting it serviced. Almost a year later I was 2 weeks out from warranty expiration so I took it in to Apple Store, showed them the prob and they said they'd get it replaced. Machine was serviced on sight and ready the next day...and indeed a working drive had been swapped in...
A working SuperDrive.
...perhaps I should've pointed it out like a truly honest lad, but instead I just bought a pack of DVD-R's and had some fun at home.
I love Apple. I will never willingly stray. Never.
blakespot
Re:Apple vs Dell - listen to this iBook / G4 story (Score:2)
Seems they're doing pretty well on the whole, as far as customer service, though.
blakespot
Coincidence?... (Score:2)
I still love Apple. Without them, I'd probably be dead.
Re:Coincidence?... (Score:2)
I can't let Apple's tech su
No questions asked (Score:5, Informative)
I had the misfortune of having my logic board fried by an "analog" hotel phone line within the first year of owning my Powerbook. Apple swapped it out for free.
Free Airborne shipping back & forth too.
Re:No questions asked (Score:1)
the truth about this (Score:5, Funny)
We were playing with Legos in the room when the father came in and starting chatting with us
All of a sudden, he stopped cold and stared out the window, with his mouth half-open. I thought maybe he was having a stroke or something, but eventually he swallowed and said in a monotone "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY APPLE COMPUTERS. THEY WORK PERFECTLY."
And then he left the room. It freaked me out a little. My friend looked at me and shrugged. "Don't ask him about those computers. My mom has a Tandy that she uses to do her work and every time we talk about the Apples dad spazzes like that, so we just don't talk about it."
I didn't think about it much after that, I mean I had this one friend who freaked out anytime you touched his guitar without washing your hands.. people are like that sometimes.
But over the years I noticed this more and more. Apple computer owners simply don't admit any problems with their machines, and when confronted, their eyes glaze over and they refuse to talk about it.
Friends, girlfriends, relatives; Mac Classics, Powerbooks, iMacs... I've seen it with all of them. The funny thing is, it's only the Mac owners, folks who just use a Mac don't seem to suffer from it.
I wondered about this for a long time, ever since that strange day in 1988. That is, until last week.
That's when I saw the sunflower. It's on the back of their necks.
Every Mac owner has a small sunflower-shaped tatoo on the back of their neck, just inside where the hair grows. It's about 3mm in diameter. I'd never noticed it before. I didn't know what to make of it at first.
I was fooling around with this cute graphic designer friend, just teasing her one night, and I saw it. Then I saw it on my uncle, a hard-core Mac user. Last week I saw it on our Unix sysadmin as he bent over to pick up a cable for his iBook.
Well I had to find out what this was about. I tried mentioning it but they all denied its existence. Just yesterday I went to the nearest Apple store and waited and watched.
Yes, it was as I thought. Every new Apple purchaser was taken to a small, gleaming white room with a curtain, supposedly to pick up their Mac. As they came out with their bags, some of them stopped to rub the backs of their necks.
Now I understood.
I also understood why Apple made it so difficult to become an Apple reseller: the store had to have "Special Equipment".
I have no idea what that tattoo means, or what happens to those poor people in that smooth white room, but I can tell you one thing: I'm not touching a Mac ever again.
Re:the truth about this (Score:5, Funny)
Re:the truth about this (Score:1)
Re:the truth about this (Score:2)
*mind trick* You never saw the daisy. Macs work fine. Go to sleep.
Re:the truth about this (Score:2)
so i ran around like a dog chasing its tail, trying to look at the back of my neck - until i ran to the bathroom and used the mirror.
alas, no sunflower tatoo, it was a small pimple. (well, this is slashdot)
Re:the truth about this (Score:2)
Re:the truth about this (Score:2, Funny)
The only problem with Apple service... (Score:3, Informative)
Airborne seems to leave packages at random times at my doorstep, and sometimes will honor my signed instructions to them if I'm not there, sometimes will not. Their customer service sucks as well. Any problems need to be kicked along a chain of command that moves with the blazing speed we've come to expect from slugs and other slimy invertabrates.
Beats Dell in my Opinion (Score:5, Interesting)
Dell's response to my having to unplug a new harddrive to get XP to install to a "c" drive on my new Dell was, "it's an OEM version of XP, that's what you'll have to do".
Last Dell I'm buying. Last Windows machine.
Re:Beats Dell in my Opinion (Score:1)
And in a parallel Universe somewhere/somewhen... (Score:5, Funny)
Apple's customer base wont settle for poor service (Score:5, Interesting)
customers who have problems with their Tosh. or Compaq laptops are by far more laid back about delays in service and rarely complain about cost of repairs.
where as when anything goes wrong with an Apple laptop it's far more frequent to get a customer that'll complain like their throats ben cut.
it's quite funny sometimes when they get all riled up and resort to the old "I'm gonna trade it in for a PC" line. when I know the service procedures for other manufacturers is nowhere near as streamlined as Apple's
Re:Apple's customer base wont settle for poor serv (Score:5, Informative)
it's quite funny sometimes when they get all riled up and resort to the old "I'm gonna trade it in for a PC" line.
You just described me.
The motherboard on my first Mac died one month after the warranty expired. I wouldn't pay for a new motherboard. I told the repair rep that I'd replace it with a PC. She gave me a phone number. I guess it was their pissed-off-customer hotline. The new rep agreed to cut the price in half, so I bought the repair.
My iBook returned less than 72 hours after I mailed it across the US. Still works great today. Count me in for a new G5 / PowerPC 970.
Re:Apple's customer base wont settle for poor serv (Score:2)
I don't buy extended warranties eith
I've got 2 apple //e's and a IIc that still work. (Score:2)
Granted the parts are significantly more intricate. Never the less, I expect them to work forever (or at least until i'm dead).
Re:I've got 2 apple //e's and a IIc that still wor (Score:2)
The existence of computer repair shops would seem to indicate you'll be disappointed at some point in the future.
If you could somehow seal the parts from breaking down (glues, solvents, solders, etc. drying out) and keep them in a static-free, temperature and humidity controlled environment (thermal expansion, rust, static etching) then you could expect them to last quite a while.
I guess you're just extraordinarily lucky if you h
Re:I've got 2 apple //e's and a IIc that still wor (Score:2)
I was kidding about the working until death part too. I'd like for them to work that long, I just dont' expect it (the old ones only).
That's only part of the story... (Score:5, Informative)
They say nothing about it having a one button mouse, though
Also: the Consumer Reports website is an excellent source of information. Well worth the monthly or yearly subscription.
Read my lips and repeat very slowly (Score:1)
BTW you are the lucky 1.000.000th guy who's coming up with that old joke.
Re:Read my lips and repeat very slowly (Score:2)
Re:Read my lips and repeat very slowly (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyway, if you got at least a 512 MB stick of RAM, the eMac would make a pretty respectable Maya workstation. It has a reasonably powerful processor, a sufficient graphics card, FireWire (Maya Live M
Re:Read my lips and repeat very slowly (Score:2)
Re:Read my lips and repeat very slowly (Score:2)
Guess that counts you out of the "experienced" category, doesn't it? ;)
Re:That's only part of the story... (Score:2)
I agree, most of the time. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I agree, most of the time. (Score:5, Informative)
OT: (Score:2)
Trogdor was a dragon..man... um..
Trogdor was a dragon..
no no no (Score:1)
He was a dragon man...
Or maybe he was just a dragon
but he was still TROGDOOOOOR!!!!
Re:no no no (Score:2)
Re:I agree, most of the time. (Score:1)
Florida AppleCare (Score:1)
Now THIS is Killer Support (Score:5, Interesting)
I was so bummed I thought I would call Apple, just to learn if I had been ripped off by the seller, or if the multiple verticle blue lines in the display could have in fact been a shipping issue.
I called Apple and talked first to a CSR who chuckled when she looked up my name because of the many Macs I own. Then she forwarded me to a tech, who spent 45 minutes explaining the details of how my problem could have possibly been caused in shipping, but was not a certainty. But, since I did not buy it from an authourized reseller, I was SOL on warranty work. I told him he blew my mind with his kindness in speaking to me for so long for free. Then we hung up.
20 minutes later the tech called back and said they would take a look at it "just to see" if it was an Apple problem, and I would see a pre-labelled post-paid return shipping box in the mail tomorrow. I sent it in and FOUR DAYS LATER had my Pismo back in hand with a brand new screen at no charge.
My next computer? Guess.
Re:Now THIS is Killer Support (Score:5, Interesting)
I've had nothing but good experiences with Apple Support. Of course, the best thing has been that I haven't needed much support
Remember when the Wallstreet PowerBook G3 AC adapters were being recalled and replaced? I had to replace one on my own a few months prior to the recall. I bought the exact same adapter that Apple had just started shipping in the recall program. It made for a tight fit in the AC adapter plug, but it didn't seem too bad.
After a few months, tho, the wear and tear owing to that snug fit broke whatever board the adapter plug is attached to. This was just as the recall program had gotten into full swing. My PB was long out of warranty, so when I called Apple to explain the problem, I wasn't looking for any service. I called to warn them they were looking at a looming issue. The guy who fielded the call passed it to a supervisor who (to my astonishment) offered to fix my PB for free.
That's not all. The supervisor called back several hours later, asking me if I would mind shipping my PB to Apple HQ rather than the repair center. I would not be getting the PB back, tho. On receipt, they would ship me a brand new TiBook. I did, and had the TiBook the next day.
Soon thereafter, Apple started shipping a replacement for their replacement adapters. These didn't fit as snugly.
Part of my story is luck and timing. The rest is explained by killer support.
Re:Now THIS is sensible management (Score:2)
Re:Now THIS is Killer Support (Score:2)
I was fresh away from being an Apple tech for a local VAR, so I had a friend or two at the SOS-APPL line at the time. I called up the support line, explained the situation, and the girl on the line said that it wasn't covered under warranty, however there were a few things I could
Yay! (Score:2)
They better (Score:2)
Re:They better (Score:1, Insightful)
A/C $0.02 = -$0.02
=)
I'm not suprised (Score:5, Informative)
Apple's custormer support has impressed the hell out of me, and this will not be my last Mac.
My experiences (Score:5, Interesting)
Around December I was sitting in my dorm at college and leaned the chair back on the power plug (the part that goes into the ibook with the colored ring) and squashed it. I tried to make it circle again and it fit with some pushing. I got home for xmas break and one day went to pull out the power adapter from the ibook. The bare leads ripped out of the adapter, beckoning me with certain death at the hands of Apple.
I called AppleCare, as I was still under my 1yr factory warranty. They sent me a brand new adapter in a postage-paid returnable box. All was well.
Around March my new power adapter stopped working on me. I did the same thing and got a brand new one in the mail. Soon thereafter my batter y started holding no more than about a 20 minute charge. After calling AppleCare and talking with some awesomely helpful techs I got a brand new ibook battery for free in a postage-paid returnable box.
Finally, last month my hard drive started making a "clicking" noise when I tried to edit this one song in iTunes. I called AppleCare and they advised me to bring it to the Knox Street Apple Store to get it looked at. I brought it in and they told me that the hard drive was on its last legs (which I already figured out by the clicking, but wanted to be sure) It was sent off on Friday, May 2 right before the big iPod party. I got it back on the wendesday the next week.
I looked at the work order attached, and not only had they given me a new hard drive, but also swapped me out a new logic board...just to be nice
Conclusion: I rave about Apples and how they work so great, but one of the best parts is that when they don't work, the support is a dream.
Not surprising. (Score:2, Insightful)
I love Apple support (Score:3, Interesting)
In fact, yesterday I called Apple because the cord on my iPod remote had started to tear near the plug. I honestly thought they would just tell me tough luck because it was mostly a cosmetic issue.
The tech said they would be glad to send me a new one and it would arrive in 3-5 days. It arrived at my house no more than 18 HOURS later! Granted, some of that has to do with proximity (California->Oregon), but they sent it Airborne, when I would have been happy to get it in a week with ground shipping.
I read posts about bad Apple service occasionally, but all I can say is that it probably just really bad luck or the caller was a royal pain in the arse to the rep on the phone.
Re:I love Apple support (Score:2)
I called Apple support for the REP for the PowerBook 5300. They shipped me a box. Unfortunately, I wasn't there when the delivery guy called or stopped by, so he dropped the box off at the main office for my apartment complex. They left no note, so I had no idea that it was there. I called Apple again and they said that they would ship the box imediately. I got it 10AM the next d
Re:I love Apple support (Score:3, Funny)
"The letters on the keys are rubbing off!"
"And?"
"It doesn't look nice"
"And?"
"Design is one of your unique selling points..."
"Oh, alright then"
This keyboard has lasted much better. Either the first one was just not up to scratch, or they coat the keys with thicker varnishy stuff now.
New Apple Business plan. (Score:1)
2. Excellent Software
3. Industry Leading Support
4. ???????????
5. Profit!!
Note: ???? probably involves crushing Microsoft, something which Linux actually looks like it might do.
P.S. I couldn't resist
Excellent support (Score:3, Informative)
Some of my better experiences... (Score:4, Interesting)
Another time I was running a Workgroup Server 95 (Quadra 9500 running A/UX) as a print server. I was having problems at 7 AM CST on a Sunday morning. Called the support number and was patched through to an engineer at his house (I could hear a parrot in the background...) and he walked me through the solution.
Re:Some of my better experiences... (Score:1)
Yes but (Score:1)
Re:Yes but (Score:3, Informative)
My Experience (Score:2, Informative)
Re:My Experience (Score:1)
it rox
Mysterious upgrades (Score:3, Interesting)
Go Apple!
The fixed my iMac free of charge... (Score:3, Interesting)
Nothing but good experiences... (Score:3, Informative)
As a former AppleCare support agent... (Score:5, Informative)
Sure, Apple like any other business has limits, and has to say no to customers sometimes, but it was pretty rare when I was there. They had very clear and specific lines of escalation for all manner of customer issues.
Another thing is that the agents take a lot of pride in their work, and are given a lot of latitude in helping customers. Not only are customers satisfied, but the support agents are satisfied too.
I've tried to apply all that I learned at Apple to where I'm working now, and it's helped me be the best Macintosh support agent here, and among the top 1% of all agents, which admitedly isn't hard considering that 98% of the rest are all Windows product related agents.
Re:As a former AppleCare support agent... (Score:3, Informative)
Um, the iPod has a 1-year warranty. It *used* to be 90 days, but Apple changed their warranty policy after much bitching from customers. And, at the time, Apple extended out the warranty to a year for people who already had iPods.
One thing to remember with any Apple laptop - get AppleCare. So long as you didn't step on it and break it yourself (as I did with my girlfriend's clamshell iBook), AppleCare could sa
A dubious distinction (Score:4, Funny)
Apple is tops in hardware failure. Way to go Apple!
Re:I love apple, but they could be alittle better. (Score:2)
Apple Care: You should have asked if it was possible to verify your ownership for them. The same problem occured with my iPod recently which was apparently registered by Target, and thus t
Re:I love apple, but they could be alittle better. (Score:1)
______________________________________
Re:I love apple, but they could be alittle better. (Score:1)
Re:I love apple, but they could be alittle better. (Score:3, Insightful)