What number did you call for customer service? I have called the support number for a problem with my I-Mac, but it only got me to someone in what I think was India. They were unable to help with my problem and I would like to talk to someone more local and with whom I can clearly communicate my problem and proposed solution.

It seems that my I-Mac model had a design flaw that did not show up until now, mainly because my use has been in the moderate to low category. The repair folks tell me that Apple had been fixing I-Macs with my problem for free over a three year period, but that program ended some time ago. They have advised me to contact Apple Customer Service and plead my case that I was covered by Apple Care up until last October and that my machine was showing signs of the problem then, but had just not hit a critical point until now. They advised that if I am unsuccessful in convincing Apple to honor their previous repair program, I may as well just buy a new machine, as the repairs would be more than 70% of the cost of a new one.

Thanks,

Tim

Long time — interesting to find that you’re also working in the interaction design field. Sad to hear about your poor experience with Apple (nice setup, btw). It is worth noting just how much a company’s level of customer service is determined by the computer systems they use — designed by a a team of programmers no doubt, with minimal consideration of user experience. As you so accurately pointed out to the rep: “So really this is a communication problem with your warehousing and fulfillment infrastructure?”

Amazon, on the other hand, I think does a great job, in terms of system / customer service. I love how you can cancel an order that has not been shipped yet, for example. It seems, tech innovation at Apple has not been applied equally!

Best,
Phil

I just got a call from a manager @ Apple a few minutes ago (based on my call yesterday not from this post), and he continued to fumble on this one.

I forgot to ask yesterday if they’d be keeping my software installs in tact. It’s all freeware at this point, but a decent amount of time has gone into pulling over software and files and configging passwords etc. The computer is going to be a FULL REPLACEMENT instead. GAWD! This is ridiculous. This guy still didn’t have the communication channels to fix the problem and I told him he needs to file my complaint at a higher level because there is clearly a more convenient solution to this problem and I expect to hear from someone higher up later this week. I will say the reps are good about offering up their managers, but it’s the weekend so I am not getting to who I really need to speak with.

I have a discussion going on this over at TGR.

Jason Rakowski