+1 for Apple, this is why I insist on buying all hardware from them.
A couple of years back my MacBook Pro started having bad graphics artifact problems compounded by overheating - it looked like the graphics chip was going to bite it any day. I called Apple, and I shit you not, within twenty-five minutes of picking up the phone, I had received authorization to get it replaced. Not only that, they were going to replace my 2 year-old non-unibody MBP with one of the (at the time) brand-spankin' new unibodies.
Since the MBP was pretty heavily customized, I couldn't go get it swapped at an Apple Store, they wanted me to send it in. When I balked about the downtime, they simply shipped the replacement machine out to me and let me return the old one once I got it.
Now that's customer service.
And before someone makes the argument that Apple sells extremely high-margin items and thus can afford good customer service... HTC sells the same type of product at the same price points. Not only that, I've consistently gotten great customer service from Amazon, who is decidedly a very low margin business.
before someone makes the argument that Apple sells extremely high-margin items and thus can afford good customer service... HTC sells the same type of product at the same price points.
HTC sells similarly capable products at lower price points and with a less deluxe finish. I know because I saved hundreds of pounds by going for an HTC desire instead of an iphone. But don't take my word for it, It's a well known fact that apple's profit margins dwarf those of other manufacturers.
My story's a little different, but equally impressive.
I originally purchased my iPhone ~2 years ago. After about a year of abuse (certainly not the fault of the manufacturer), I had a phone with a smashed and no longer functional screen, microphone, wifi issues, etc. etc. Even the mute button no longer functioned.
Eventually I went into an Apple store, intending to purchase a new iPhone 4 (~$1,000USD here without subsidizing). The sales guy asked why I needed a new phone - had I used an iPhone before? I explained what had happened and showed him my shriveled hardware.
He disappeared out back and returned with two boxes. One contained a phone identical to my own - a white 32GB 3GS. The other had a brand new iPhone 4. He explained to me clearly and objectively that while he was happy to sell me a new phone, he could also replace my current phone for a quarter of the price. He explained that Apple was happy to do this as this was roughly similar to their cost price, and that some of the phone itself is salvageable (ie for precious metals).
I loved that they presented my actual options to me in a no-bs way. I loved that they wanted to make sure I wasn't spending an extra ~750USD on something I didn't need.
Both Apple and HTC clearly want to retain their customers for the long-haul. Sadly, it seems HTC are yet to understand it takes work to do so.
That's actually happened to me — not-in-store-reproducable home button issues on iPhone 4 — twice now, and I've gotten a brand new phone in 5 minutes every time. Definitely agree,
That it pretty impressive. I've had good experience with apple as well, replacing an iPhone and CPU on my unibody MBP.
I've had other complaints with them, though. I bought my 17" MBP to run WinXP (all my software is winXP), which they advertise as being fully supported. Running it through Boot Camp works great, but Apple made some.. frustrating design decisions, such as not having a dedicated delete key, or publicly releasing downloadable driver like every other hardware manufacturer, and not updating them for that matter. I know I know, it's my own fault for wanted to run XP on a Mac, but since they advertise the capability I assumed they would do at least as good a job of it as an average XP-supporting comp manufacturer.
I had the exact same experience at an Apple Store two days ago. Brilliant service -- though I do wish they'd think of a better way to deal with a faulty button contact than junking the whole device.
Contrast to my Asus netbook, for which the power adapter pin fell apart after a few weeks' use. I called the support line, who more-or-less accused me of deliberately breaking it myself and said I'd have to send everything back, netbook (with my data on) included, and they'd see whether or not to charge me. Cheap device, cheap service.
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I brought my 11 month old iPhone 4 into the Apple Store two weeks ago. My home button was intermittently sticking, and it was really frustrating me.
I spent three minutes explaining to a guy at the Genius Bar how, despite the problem not repro'ing then, that it still did usually occur.
He went in back with it for five minutes and then came back to tell me they'd replace it free of charge.
Now, that's customer service.
+1 for Apple, this is why I insist on buying all hardware from them.
A couple of years back my MacBook Pro started having bad graphics artifact problems compounded by overheating - it looked like the graphics chip was going to bite it any day. I called Apple, and I shit you not, within twenty-five minutes of picking up the phone, I had received authorization to get it replaced. Not only that, they were going to replace my 2 year-old non-unibody MBP with one of the (at the time) brand-spankin' new unibodies.
Since the MBP was pretty heavily customized, I couldn't go get it swapped at an Apple Store, they wanted me to send it in. When I balked about the downtime, they simply shipped the replacement machine out to me and let me return the old one once I got it.
Now that's customer service.
And before someone makes the argument that Apple sells extremely high-margin items and thus can afford good customer service... HTC sells the same type of product at the same price points. Not only that, I've consistently gotten great customer service from Amazon, who is decidedly a very low margin business.
before someone makes the argument that Apple sells extremely high-margin items and thus can afford good customer service... HTC sells the same type of product at the same price points.
HTC sells similarly capable products at lower price points and with a less deluxe finish. I know because I saved hundreds of pounds by going for an HTC desire instead of an iphone. But don't take my word for it, It's a well known fact that apple's profit margins dwarf those of other manufacturers.
My story's a little different, but equally impressive.
I originally purchased my iPhone ~2 years ago. After about a year of abuse (certainly not the fault of the manufacturer), I had a phone with a smashed and no longer functional screen, microphone, wifi issues, etc. etc. Even the mute button no longer functioned.
Eventually I went into an Apple store, intending to purchase a new iPhone 4 (~$1,000USD here without subsidizing). The sales guy asked why I needed a new phone - had I used an iPhone before? I explained what had happened and showed him my shriveled hardware.
He disappeared out back and returned with two boxes. One contained a phone identical to my own - a white 32GB 3GS. The other had a brand new iPhone 4. He explained to me clearly and objectively that while he was happy to sell me a new phone, he could also replace my current phone for a quarter of the price. He explained that Apple was happy to do this as this was roughly similar to their cost price, and that some of the phone itself is salvageable (ie for precious metals).
I loved that they presented my actual options to me in a no-bs way. I loved that they wanted to make sure I wasn't spending an extra ~750USD on something I didn't need.
Both Apple and HTC clearly want to retain their customers for the long-haul. Sadly, it seems HTC are yet to understand it takes work to do so.
That's actually happened to me — not-in-store-reproducable home button issues on iPhone 4 — twice now, and I've gotten a brand new phone in 5 minutes every time. Definitely agree,
Oh, that's awesome. My home button sometimes requires pressing twice before it does something, I'm definitely taking it in now.
That it pretty impressive. I've had good experience with apple as well, replacing an iPhone and CPU on my unibody MBP.
I've had other complaints with them, though. I bought my 17" MBP to run WinXP (all my software is winXP), which they advertise as being fully supported. Running it through Boot Camp works great, but Apple made some.. frustrating design decisions, such as not having a dedicated delete key, or publicly releasing downloadable driver like every other hardware manufacturer, and not updating them for that matter. I know I know, it's my own fault for wanted to run XP on a Mac, but since they advertise the capability I assumed they would do at least as good a job of it as an average XP-supporting comp manufacturer.
I had the exact same experience at an Apple Store two days ago. Brilliant service -- though I do wish they'd think of a better way to deal with a faulty button contact than junking the whole device.
Contrast to my Asus netbook, for which the power adapter pin fell apart after a few weeks' use. I called the support line, who more-or-less accused me of deliberately breaking it myself and said I'd have to send everything back, netbook (with my data on) included, and they'd see whether or not to charge me. Cheap device, cheap service.