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I had to post this here, since my Newsvine page is not available to the public yet. (See Other Stuff I’ve Been Doing…) I’ll add links to that when it is publci. But for now, here is the article I posted there last night, after telling my story on my other two blogs.
(It is getting rather complicated, isn’t it?) 🙂
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PALMYRA, NY – I consider myself a pretty avid computer user. Knowledgeable beyond your 9 to 5 office cubicle user, and definitely more passion for the machines that populate my home and office. I am the type of computer user who gets excited when rumors come over the wire about the next innovations coming out of Cupertino, CA.
I admit it. I am an Mac-aholic.
But tonight, Apple proved again why they have my complete loyalty. A few months ago, we were having trouble with our 3G iPod battery life. The charges were lasting only 2 hours, and sometimes only around one hour. That doesn’t cut it. So, having heard of the iPod battery replacement program, we took a stroll (techincally, a drive…) down to our local Apple Retail Store and inquired within.
After a brief conversation with the on-duty Genius, and a little bit of paper work to fill out, we left the store with a $69 iPod replacement – for free! Due to a kind and generous Apple Genius, we didn’t even have to pay the minimal fee for replacing our iPod.
Let me put this in different words. We came in with an iPod that worked just fine, it’s only detractor being the weakened battery that had gotten that way due to hours upon hours of use and re-use. We left the store with not only a BRAND NEW iPod, but it was also FREE.
Now THAT’s customer service.
But it does not end there. Oh no. That was a couple months ago. The Apple Retail store came through again tonight in a big way.
Tonight, as I was happily employing the full capabilities of my PowerMac G4 with Dual 500Mhz processors (yes, I’ve had it quite a while), a power surge of yet unknown origins caused my computer to just instantly shut off. Completely. Zap. Off.
“That’s bad…” I thought.
After a little bit of computer CPR, I realized I needed some outside help, and made a quick call to Mac 911. (The local Apple store.) It took persistence on my part, but I was able to schedule an appointment with the Genius on duty forty minutes from the time I called. And, long story short, we made it to the store, and we were able to diagnose one of two hard drives was fried – the other (my start-up volume) was still in tact… sort of.
For an hour and a half, Mr. Genius worked on my computer, running several repair programs to try and resuscitate the ailing hard drives. Alas, the smaller back up drive was flat lined, and headed for hard drive heaven. And the prognosis was not good for the start up drive. The catalog B tree was something er other. I think.
But here’s the best part.
Not only were the Mac guys super friendly with this not easy to fix problem thrust upon them at the end of their long days. Not only were the employees cordial and fun to talk with, being fellow Mac enthusiasts themselves. Besides all that, I found out about Apple Pro Care.
While my computer was undergoing surgical procedures, I got a quick lesson in Photoshop layer masking from the Creative Consultant. Again, for free. He showed me a hands-on example of how to separate a subject from a difficult background. And even better than that quick lesson? He offered to do it every week.
For a nominal $99/year, your local Apple store will provide you one-on-one personal training with one of their creative consultants in anything you’d like to learn. An hour a week. 52 hours per year. That’s a good amount of professional training for $99/year.
Apple pays attention to details. And, more than just being a detail, so far my experience with Apple has been that they pay attention to people. Of course there are exceptions, and I am sorry if you are an exception. But in general, I have not seen a company that works so hard at making sure you get what you pay for.
Again tonight, I was blown away by the experience I had at my local Apple store. I am definitely going to sign up for the ProCare thing, and once a week for the next year I’ll see again why Apple can count on my complete loyalty to their products and services.
For more information on Apple ProCare, go to:
http://www.apple.com/retail/procare/
To read the full story about my expereince at the Apple Store:
http://www.gregshead.net/2006/01/my-computer-had-heart-attack.html