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Skrying
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:28 pm

Corrado wrote:
Until your car accelerates out of control and hits a person. </rimshot>

But I digress. My point is that you're right, they are for different markets, which makes the people saying 'well you should compare the all metal, premium macbook pro to the $800 all plastic Studio'. No, you shouldn't. Apple does not have something in that market space unless you're buying a student version of the plain macbook. But when you get that $850 macbook, you get the ability to bring it to the apple store to have trained, certified people work on your laptop for free. Bringing your Dell back to.... oh you have to mail it in, after talking to someone that doesn't speak English as their first language reading from a script. You can bring it back to Best Buy and pay Geek Squad hundreds of dollars to more than likely not fix it properly, or you can take it back to WalMart or Target and have the teenagers that work in the electronics section's eyes glaze over.


I said you shouldn't even list the Adamo XPS, it's basically a nonexistant product. You should on the other hand compare it to the Dell XPS Studio, the Latitude business series, the original Adamo, the original XPS series. Those are the premium laptops Dell manufacturers. They all either come standard or have options to include warranties on the same level as Apple. You can quite easily get next day service by a technician who will fix the unit right in front of you. Which is the entire point you've been ignoring for a series of posts now. With Dell, HP, etc you must either go with a higher end series or tick the option for this higher end service. Those bring costs up (about on par with Apple's asking prices) but it's an option, you're not forced into it.

You're speaking from experiences with other brands where you were clearly not dealing with the premium warranty services.

It really is simple. To get the premium warranty services from other companies you simply tick the appropriate box at check out.

This is also a reason why those mass customer surveys are basically useless, they're not at a detailed enough level to tell us anything useful.
 
grantmeaname
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:18 pm

How many weeks has it been since apple's been all-metal? Just saying, that's not exactly a fair point of comparison.
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:22 pm

Well since they thread was originally suppose to be about Apple Customer Support, here is my experience:

I bought my iPod 5G in summer of 2005 and it stopped working probably a year and a half later. I never dropped it and had a case for it, i took it into Apple and they said the mainboard was dead and that i would have to pay $130 for repair. I said screw it and tossed it into a drawer and haven't used it since (was using a loaner iPod Touch 1G since then).
So fast forward to this past Saturday, i remembered about my old iPod and decided to google what was wrong with it. A quick search and i came across this thread, 28 pages of people having exactly the same problem with there 5G iPods. Apparently it is a manufacturing defect/issue with a sound chip in the iPod, and it eventually stops working or what have you so you are left with no sound but the rest of the iPod works just fine. But if you press on the bottom right hand corner with enough pressure the sound comes back. So i decided to call Apple because i too had the right hand corner issue, sound would come back after putting extreme pressure on the lower right corner. After about 5 minutes with the customer service rep, she said she cant do anything and that i am out of luck, so I asked to speak to a Product Specialist. I got a nice fellow by the name of Steve, i told him about the right hand corner issue and he said that it is turning out to be a pretty common issue with the 5G's...and even though my iPod is waaaaaay out of warranty (almost 4 years), they will send out a box for me to send my iPod in. They'll be taking a look at it and if the issue is what i describe, they'll be sending me a new iPod classic 120gb i believe free of charge. Now that is awesome customer service.

And i had another occurrance around the beginning of this January, my late 2007 Macbook Pro battery was nearing its life, and the warranty ON THE BATTERY was about to be up so i decided to take it in and see if i can get a new one. I took it in although i didn't make an Appointment with techheads at the bar (i dont like calling them "Genius") but the guy arranging appointments and taking standbys was nice enough to fully assist me and test my battery for me, granted i had to waited 10-15 minutes - but no biggie.
Testing the battery, it was in extremely poor condition. Within a week the warranty was up, it would hold only around 50% of original capacity, and the charge count was around 270 out of the 300 charge limit. He checks to make sure the warranty is still good - which it was and i was out the door with a brand new off the shelf battery with another 1 year warranty on it. I was extremely happy.


derFunkenstein wrote:
Corrado reminded me of something - I've called Apple four or five times in the last 5+ years, and every single time I talked to someone I could understand and didn't have to make them repeat themselves inaudibly quietly six or seven times.

Oh god, i just despise and WONT be calling technical/customer support if i know "Bob" from Calcutta is waiting for me on the other line.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:12 pm

grantmeaname wrote:
How many weeks has it been since apple's been all-metal? Just saying, that's not exactly a fair point of comparison.

Well they've had all-metal cases going back to 2003, so roughly 350 weeks.
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Corrado
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:19 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
grantmeaname wrote:
How many weeks has it been since apple's been all-metal? Just saying, that's not exactly a fair point of comparison.

Well they've had all-metal cases going back to 2003, so roughly 350 weeks.


Actually, the PowerBook Titaniums came out in 2001, so roughly 450 weeks.
 
SNM
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:25 pm

You're forgetting the plastic Macbook.
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Corrado
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:35 pm

SNM wrote:
You're forgetting the plastic Macbook.


I'm not forgetting it. I discussed it a few posts up. I said that you can get them for $850 with the same warranty and THAT is what should be compared to the Studio and Latitudes and the like.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:54 am

SNM wrote:
You're forgetting the plastic Macbook.

The question was, as far as I know, "how long as Apple offered an all-metal enclosures" not "how long have all of Apple's computers had all-metal enclosures". That's not true for any vendor.

Corrado, I've never had one in my possession but I was under the impression that part of the enclosure on the Titanium Powerbook was plastic.
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Corrado
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:40 am

Yeah I'm not sure either. Never seen one in person, just made the assumption.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 8:42 am

I've seen two in person, but couldn't really tell. They're painted, I know that much, and when the paint comes off whatever it is that's underneath is black. I have to think that's plastic.
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PainIs4ThaWeak1
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:23 am

Okay, so you're saying we've all succombed to keeping a dot "happy" so we can continue to fulfill our "warranty coverage" terms on our overly priced portable audio/video devices?

Hmm... Is this planet Earth? Or am I lost?

I think I'd rather USE my device than handle it like a dried rose bud. But's thats just me.
 
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:31 am

It's not new or uncommon. A google of "water damage dots" comes up with about a gazillion results from LG, Motorola, Sony Ericson, and Apple, along with listing a couple of carriers.
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Corrado
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:34 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
It's not new or uncommon.


Exactly. Phones and gadgets in general have had these dots for YEARS. My wife's Motorola Krazr from 2003 had one, as did my father's LG flip phone from 2001 or so.

If you're that worried about it:

http://www.gadgetreview.com/2007/09/iph ... phone.html
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_ ... cts_id=730
 
shaq_mobile
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:58 am

i dunno, it probably varies depending on your store. the one here in my hometown is awful. they tried to charge my friend $450 for a 500gb hard drive. then they told him that only qualified specialists have the ability to install that and the ram upgrade he wanted. so he got on newegg, ordered the parts (which totalled $175ish) and got his 500gb drive and 2gb ram. installed them the day he got the package. of course, i suspect the OP is actually just trolling the forum. posting generalizations like "pc's are uber" or "the general consensus of my single experience and the other users i spoke with had a good experience with this controversial product" is going to get some panties in a knot. props :)
 
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:09 am

PainIs4ThaWeak1 wrote:
Okay, so you're saying we've all succombed to keeping a dot "happy" so we can continue to fulfill our "warranty coverage" terms on our overly priced portable audio/video devices?

Hmm... Is this planet Earth? Or am I lost?

I think I'd rather USE my device than handle it like a dried rose bud. But's thats just me.

Considering the iPhone's "dot" is in a quite exposed area you better be more careful with it than with any other phone.
 
Corrado
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:18 am

shaq_mobile wrote:
i dunno, it probably varies depending on your store. the one here in my hometown is awful. they tried to charge my friend $450 for a 500gb hard drive. then they told him that only qualified specialists have the ability to install that and the ram upgrade he wanted. so he got on newegg, ordered the parts (which totalled $175ish) and got his 500gb drive and 2gb ram. installed them the day he got the package. of course, i suspect the OP is actually just trolling the forum. posting generalizations like "pc's are uber" or "the general consensus of my single experience and the other users i spoke with had a good experience with this controversial product" is going to get some panties in a knot. props :)


What? I'm not trolling. I'm posting an experience. Everyone else decided to turn it into a Mac's are overpriced argument.
 
adisor19
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Re: Apple Store Customer Support is A++

Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:50 pm

Corrado wrote:
bdwilcox wrote:
Corrado wrote:
Try bringing your HP back to Best Buy and asking them how to make a DVD. They would laugh at you and tell you to get out. However, while I was there, an elderly man came in with his MacBook Pro and said he wasn't sure how to create a DVD slideshow of photos from his family's recent trip to France. The so-called Genius sat down with him, booted up the machine and proceeded to walk him through how to do it, and then left a text document on the desktop for him with a rough outline of the steps so he could use it as reference when he got home... all for FREE. Now, say what you will about Apple customers and the RDF... but THAT is customer service right there.

For the premium they charge, they should've also thrown him some oral while he was there.


For what premium? Compare a 13" adamo to a 13" macbook pro. If you want a cheap **** plastic laptop for $600 thats fine. But for the build quality, price to price, its not much more expensive, if at all.

13" Adamo XPS = $1999
13" MacBook Pro + 128gb SSD to match the base Adamo config = $1849

So uh... wheres the premium? Also consider that the MacBook Pro has a C2D 2.53ghz and the Dell has a 1.4 C2D CULV, and an optical drive is $99 more for the Dell, while built into the Apple.


Why the heck are you comparing the Adamo XPS to the MBP instead of the MacBook Air ?!?!

Adi

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