Hello everyone! I ordered my iMac (20 inch, 2.0 Intel Core 2 Duo GHz with a wireless keyboard/mouse..blah blah blah) on December 22, 2007 with a promised five business day shipping. I wait, and wait, and I finally get the computer on January 3rd, 2008. First I am a little disappointed in the wait but oh well–Like Apple could controll it right? It was FedEx…
So I instantally open it up and start putting my files on it after I bought my AirPort Extreme Base Station Router and my mom is using it for her school work since she is a teacher after all.
Then suddenly it goes out–the screen is black and then it restarts. This problem continued over the next 5 days of having it randomly restart. Soon pixels we’re going out, applications wouldn’t load, etc. So I decide it’s time to call AppleCare.
The say, “Oh, you have a bad logic board, just ship it back and we will give you a new one.” Frustrated, I box it up eagerly awaiting my fixed iMac. FedEx will pick my computer up at noon, but actually took them until four so I am a little late on that but receive a brand new one!
It comes and I am ecstatic! Again I instantally open it up and finally it WORKS! Horray, so I decide to load in my iWork ‘08 disk and—wait. My Super Drive doesn’t grab my CD for me, and makes a grinding noise when it loads it. Shortly after the computer randomly restarts, it doesn’t always turn on after I power it off, my wireless keyboard keys aren’t responding, my keys are squeaking and so again we call AppleCare. Somehow after a 30 minute wait time I get to a dude in India and he tells me that I need to shut off the computer. We tell him that It may not come back on since it wouldn’t–again he instructs, “You have to trust me on this” So we do…and what happens? It doesn’t turn on…
So I have another Apple Case Number and we get elevated to this girl called Ashlee who is called a product specialist and she instructs that she will get all the paper work ready so we can return the computer and get a new one and lets us know that she will call us back at 06:00P EST on Sunday. I’m so happy that they will call us back and we don’t have to call them! She even gives us a code to bypass the voice mail and her extension!So I wait until Sunday, and it’s four, five, six….six thirty…seven…seven thirty–No phone call. We call and try to bypass the voice mail using her code of *8, “Error, that code isn’t valid”
Again feeling bitter we call Apple and get to this dude called Wayne, he is at the same level as Ashlee and let’s us know that she could of done all that day. Wayne is a pretty cool dude, he is really nice and is working on the paper work to get our third replacement. He soon explains that here is a code to bypass the voice mail and he let us know he isn’t lying and it does work! (We even tried it! 
) He even tells us to contact this guy at “Product Appeasement” since we have had such a bad time. He suggests that we can get the 24″ model, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme and that made me pretty euphoric! 
So we give him a call the next morning and leave a voice-mail. After two business days which he was supposed to call back, no response.
Our new iMac finally arrives so we are all semi-happy and being the iddiots that this one will work wrong! They send us the wrong model…with a wired keyboard and mouse.
*Sigh*
Calling Apple to get this fixed in a little bit…
Filed under: My Thoughts, apple | Tagged: apple, christmas, computer, imac, mac, My Thoughts, return
What you need to do is send a very terse and polite email including your support numbers, customer care number, and serial numbers to sjobs@apple.com. Do not make it emotional. Stay 100% on topic. Don’t make whacky commentaries. Don’t scream something sucks. Don’t start making accusations. Check your spelling. Have someone else read over your message before you hit send. Be sure you provided email and phone contact information.
What you want to do is explain is that you have been trying to buy a computer since Dec 2007, but each time the hardware arrives, there’s something wrong with the hardware, and you are expressing concerns over three things: 1) A Quality Control Problem that they need to be aware of. 2) That while Apple support, when you have a human is great, they are dropping the ball on return calls and keeping you in the loop. 3) That it is still three months later and you are still without a computer, as they’ve shipped you something you didn’t buy. Meanwhile, prices have changed and new models are rolling out. All you’re looking for is some assistance and traceability through the process. Make them gently aware that your experience is running counter to Apple’s projected image of superior customer service.
Note you will not be getting Steve Jobs personally, but someone very high in the corporate customer service department. Most likely they will get personally involved and see what the glitch is at Apple and address the root cause of the problem. When I’ve been kind and persistent with Apple, they’ve always done right by me.
Exactly. I had a similar situation. I wrote a clear detached letter explaining the situation and asking for someone to solve it. I sent it registered mail to Steve Job’s office at Apple. The very next day I got a phone call from someone who identified himself as an Executive Assistant. He took my info, looked it up, called me back within hours and had the whole thing resolved, having already called my local Apple Store with instructions on what to do when I came in.
Bitching is never helpful. Letting the company know you care and would like help almost always does in Apple’s case.