If you have trouble with an Apple product.

What to do if you have issues with an Apple product.

Let's say I've been to Apple hell and back. Looking at the rainbow striped satan in the face.
And yes I learned a few things. Pretty much common sense, but when you are &!$$#@-off things can get convoluted.

After 16 days in that hell this is what I found helpful.

1. Try the proper channels; i.e. call tech support, get a case number (this is what you need every time you speak to Apple) and try their solution. Always get the name, and if possible, the extension of the person you talked to.
2. Soon as you smell fish, call Apple Customer Relations. 1-512-674-2500, this gets you as direct as possible. Inform them that you are "a very dissatisfied customer". That catch phrase seems to work well in getting attention. Make sure they give you their contact information as well.

Contacting Customer Relations will get you far.
Once I contacted them and "expressed my displeasure" action was finally taken.
Don't fly off the handle, but let them know how you feel in no uncertain terms.

The two things I can't stress enough is having that case number and then name & contact info for the person you have been dealing with. At all costs stick with communicating with that one person. Soon as you get bounced around, you're through.

All else fails, several shots of Don Julio 1942 chased with Tecate in the can w/lime and salt will make you feel better.

eek. hope nothing goes wrong with mine... people keep telling me if i want any advice from tech support they charge me £30? is that true?

what was wrong with your mac?

Blown motherboard.

The tech in Reno tried to tell me that it was the Airport card....which we did not have.

New one should be here monday.

If your mac isn't under warranty, either regular or extended, you will have to pay for tech support. I always get the extended warranty. Three years of free phone support is worth it for me.

I'm glad things worked out for you Doug. I would think that was an unusual situation, since Apple has the highest ratings for hardware and support in Consumer Reports.

yonni, have you read about the macbook pro issues? Makes me wonder with Apple's increased success if they are starting to slip.

Doug you could not be more correct about getting ahold of the customer relations dept. They are really helpful.

When I first got my G5 the machine needed a thermal calibration. I had a local place run their cd and that was it. The problem was fixed btu they created another. Me being ticked. They charged me $50 to run this CD even though it was under warrenty. Since no parts were replaced it was considered a software problem and thus not reimbursed to the shop from apple. I was not happy to say the least. The guy said he would work on it. Time went by, I cooled down and in the mean time lost my receipt. I had a further falling out with this local provider after he stole 512 mb of memory out of my G4, anyway... I found the receipt a year later and got a hold of the customer relations dept. To make up for the bad experience and the $50 they sent me an Airport Express. Made me a very happy cusotmer! Beside where to contact, never go to a local place for repair. Either get in home service (tough to get) or go to an apple store... at least if you are dealing with a warranty situation.

Hey Drew,

I'm not familiar w/macbook pro issues. I was basing my post on personal experiences with Apple and reading the computer reveiws in Consumer Reports. As far as I know Apple always comes out on top in customer satisfaction, and it's usually not even close. Imho.

I'm glad your situation was eventually resolved to your satisfaction.

yonni, your data is dead on correct.

There is a mass calling being planned by Macbook Pro owners dissatisfied with Apple for not admitting to or doing much about obvious problems people are having.

Here is an interesting link related to this:
http://whine.osx86proj​ect.org/

This has been replicated all over many mac sites. As I said, I hope QC is not decreasing due to success. Also, more tech support is moving to India. Not sure when that facility will start up. I really love my Mac after about 2 years being PC free. Life really is better on the other side

Got to completely agree with you here.

But I still do not have a G5

Apple has completely blown it.
Sooooo pissed off I can't get mad anymore.
I'm just awe-struck.
Anyway, Apple says I "should" have my G5 by friday.
Once the machine is here, that is when the gloves come off and "Politically Correct" language will be left in the dust.
We, my business partner and I, are drafting a letter to Steve Jobs and are trying to track down who ever is in charge of Tech support and Customer Relations so they get a copy. The BBB has been contacted and a complaint filed.

For Apple to make ammends they will need to kick down another G5.
$4500 for the computer, $6800 in lost jobs and pissed off customers. (We purchased the extra computing power to handle a couple of big jobs that would have paid for the machine in a week. But since we are late on the job because of this we have to eat this one big time)
7 hours or so on the phone....