Forums | MacLife

I have had a successful repair on my Mac Pro, but it was an absolutely terrible experience. Poor documentation, the appointment business, failure to QC the product after repair, necessitating a re-do, the second tech not knowing it was a redo (because of the poor paperwork), and initially accusing me of working on the computer myself, and on and on.

I find the idea and methods of the "Genius bar" arrogant and disingenuous to start with, but it is made much worse by their very poor performance.

I love my Mac, but as I have said before, this kind of policy on the part of Apple is a self inflicted wound, and it is really a shame. it one of the things that takes away from the enjoyment of the product.

I agree with the above about the hard drive, and the appointment. Problem with the appointment is they won't make one until you are within 48 hours, and then they are booked. In both of my repairs, I had to call Apple, who could over-ride the system.

Another problem with the appointment idea, is they have no way to "triage" a problem, or at least talk the customer through easy solutions. With the Genius Bar, its all or nothing. So you find people waiting til the next weekend to get in, only to find they forgot to plug in something, and at the same time, take away valuable time from people with real issues.

I have run shops from 400 men (missile and special weapons service in the Army), to 3 or 4 men in private business, and a very strong part of our policy in all cases was a triage system. You would be surprised at the many hundreds of service calls we saved just by having the customer unplug his TV and restart it after an August thunderstorm had locked it up (and because we did not waste time on needless service calls, our techs were on the bench, and our sales force were on the phones following up. People loved it, and they actually felt empowered, as if they were now one of the team). Apple's system would be near perfect if they would 1) add that first level triage to comfort all customers, and help many customers, and 2) train the "Geniuses" harder and check their work so they do not make obvious mistakes.

Apple's reputation for excellent service is well deserved, and that, combined with my particular background, makes me sensitive to this issue. I am on Apple's side, and my comments are sincere.

Edit for PS.. When you try to book an appointment online, and they ask for "membership" info, what exactly is that? Its' not about extended warranties (apple Care). What else could it be? Please don't tell me it involves money.

Last edited by Art743 (2008-08-25 1:08 pm)

I agree that Genius Bars should be able to triage. I've been there before with serious issues with my computer, and have been behind people who just don't know how to use their ipod.

ifixit.com

Good point, but my Mac pro was under warranty, and Apple care, which I paid good money for. I wanted two things:
1) someone to talk to, so I felt there ws a plan I understood (could call it the "triage"), and
2) I wanted the machine fixed by Apple, as promised.

In other words, the issue is not so much whether the machine will work (it does), but what kind of respect Apple was going to show me as a customer. I am not the least interested in hearing about the "geniuses", when I am ushered out the door (literally), with my Mac pro on my hand cart, because I did not ask for help the way they wanted me to. As I see it, the burden is on them.

Frankly, I was pretty embarrassed, and it was another month before I got mad enough to call Apple to get an appointment (for the next day!). How could the girl at Apple get me an appointment when I could not?

Last edited by Art743 (2008-08-28 10:37 pm)

Yes, I understood that, and it was a good point. i bookmarked your recommendation for possible use. Thanks.

Another Volvo driver!!! Best cars ever created–they're safe, fun to drive, and run forever!

I took the computer to an Apple Specialist (not a store) and they got it installed for me without a problem. The guys were great about everything; they told me they work on even the oldest of Macs (they said some guy came in with a Power Mac 9500 not long ago to have work done on it). They were also nice about the part that I had, especially since it was a hard drive. They told me that some folks are indeed particular about what brand goes in to their computers.

I bought a Hitachi since I have had good luck with them. It replaced a dead Toshiba, which I've never thought was a good brand of drive. (I was a huge fan of Quantum drives but sadly the company is no longer around, I think Maxtor bought them out; Hitachi is my new favorite brand).