Apple support vs. Dell support
Here’s one for the mac fanboys who are still wondering why Apple is lagging in the businesses.
Last thursday my MacBook croaked with a dead DVD burner after only a month. In addition to that I also had the lovely case discolouration problem. So first I had to call Apple. They registered the call and told me the nearest Apple service centre was 40 miles away and gave me the address.
I drove there the next morning and got told it was the wrong address, they didn’t do tech support, I should have dropped it off at another address. But I could leave it there anyway. Gee thanks Apple.
Today I could pick it up at the other address. Everything was apparently fixed, at least the case was replaced. So happily I drove back to work, turned it on, inserted a disc and heard really bad squeeks and clicks coming from the drive and actually saw the keyboard lift for about 5mm. Lovely. Called Apple again, they told me I better take it back (no shit). Called the place I picked it up from and they said they only took in machines between 1pm and 5, and even funnier, they didn’t do tech support, that was the first address…. riiight. So I called the first address again and now I can take it back there tomorrow. To be continued.
Now here’s what happens when one of my Dell machines throws a fit:
I call Dell. Done. Within 4 hours I’ll have somebody with replacement parts at the door fixing the damn thing.
See the difference? Kind of hard not to. And with this kind of business support there’s no way in hell we’ll ever switch the rest of the company over to Apple and the joys of Os X.
Thoughts of Imbalanced Mind
Nope business needs less hassle and better efficiency and service hours…
yahaa! duh.. hah! etc. and so on…
I told you so i told you so i told you so….
well i didn’t but i meant to… really i did!
Atleast there are stores now to bring them too. They used to tell you to mail it to them, and that would take forever especially if the problem was serious. So i’ve taken to fixing all the problems myself. Computer tech support in general blows.
Too bad… :(
Especially since this rules out more MacBooks for the company.
Didn’t know that DELL was that fast. Nice support!
I’m sorry, but this story demonstrates nothing. Every single company that has tech support will have issues. In my experience (and that of many others) Apple has far superior tech support to Dell. Consumer Reports has done large surveys regarding this, as have tech sites.
I could easily relate literally a dozen incidents I’ve had with Dell. Once they tried to explain to me that hard drives can’t expand or be harmed by heat, because they are metal, which conducts heat. Once they refused to repair the keyboard onsite, even though I had paid $300 for that service. The list goes on.
Apple has issues too. I have called them and been told incorrect things, or that I would have to send my computer in for repair.
I would advise you to base your purchase decision not on how the techsupport treats you (it will almost always suck), but on how often the product NEEDS tech support (Apple >>> Dell in this regard).
True, but in that case unfortunately Dell still comes out on top. I know it\’s all a case of YMMV, unlike you I\’ve never had any issues with Dell support because the hardware rarely needed it. And in the rare cases it did I was helped swift and accurately (EU here, don\’t know about you and whether there\’s much difference). In the case of Apple I was supposed to get a call yesterday after I dropped it off. I\’m still waiting…
as for the amount of Macs in need of tech support, here\’s a nice new report:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=15150
Is the MacBook (finally) repaired or are you still waiting?
Yeah, I got it back yesterday, with a new optical drive. At last, whee.
How can you believe a site or a report that cannot even spell Macintosh properly?
Just a thought. :)
Please tell me that was a joke…
Hmm… one of my friends had his 4-month old iPod crash about 2 days ago (his hard drive started clicking and it died), then he complained about how Apple sucks the entire day. The next day (yesterday), he went up to the Apple Store and they gave him a brand new one, free of charge.