Comments on: What the Apple Genius Bar taught me about customer service http://asciidan.com/2010/07/what-the-apple-genius-bar-taught-me-about-customer-service/ News, rants and commentary from the Internet's foremost know-it-all Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:09:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Freddy Nager http://asciidan.com/2010/07/what-the-apple-genius-bar-taught-me-about-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-242 Freddy Nager Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:03:27 +0000 http://asciidan.com/?p=512#comment-242 A few years ago, I had a new Macbook still under warranty, and the fan inside was buzzing like a Cessna with tourrettes. I took it to the Apple Store in a major business district, which was a mob scene. The Genius there wouldn't look at it; he said he'd have to send it back to the factory which would take at least 2 weeks. I couldn't afford to be without a computer for that long. So I took my hyperventilating Mac to a smaller Apple Store which wasn't as crowded. They looked at it while I waited, then said they'd order a new fan and call me when it came in. So I was able to keep my Mac while waiting for the part. When it did arrive, they managed to install the fan in less time than it took me to get a cup of coffee. They rocked. So in my experience, Genius Bars can vary widely between Apple Stores. Of course, this was under warranty. I suspect that, had my warranty been dead, I would have received similar treatment to what you went through. We've entered an era of disposable electronics, where no one wants to pay for repairs. I've sadly recycled electronics that I suspect some enterprising techie could have rejuvenated with a little soldering, but I didn't want to pay the $70/hour to find out. Unfortunately, the default solution in America has become to tell the consumer to buy something new. A few years ago, I had a new Macbook still under warranty, and the fan inside was buzzing like a Cessna with tourrettes. I took it to the Apple Store in a major business district, which was a mob scene. The Genius there wouldn’t look at it; he said he’d have to send it back to the factory which would take at least 2 weeks. I couldn’t afford to be without a computer for that long.

So I took my hyperventilating Mac to a smaller Apple Store which wasn’t as crowded. They looked at it while I waited, then said they’d order a new fan and call me when it came in. So I was able to keep my Mac while waiting for the part. When it did arrive, they managed to install the fan in less time than it took me to get a cup of coffee. They rocked.

So in my experience, Genius Bars can vary widely between Apple Stores. Of course, this was under warranty. I suspect that, had my warranty been dead, I would have received similar treatment to what you went through.

We’ve entered an era of disposable electronics, where no one wants to pay for repairs. I’ve sadly recycled electronics that I suspect some enterprising techie could have rejuvenated with a little soldering, but I didn’t want to pay the $70/hour to find out. Unfortunately, the default solution in America has become to tell the consumer to buy something new.

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