Best Customer Service, Apple, -New American Model?

Need a replacement for an adapter cord (mine had frayed); saw warranty was 1 yr, pulled up Amazon receipt and made an Apple Genius Bar appointment. Check in 2 mins early, service rep greets me on the dot. Show the adapter cord go over problem; rep comes back with a new one 2-3 mins later. Walk out humming. Plug adapter cord into car (to stream music to car stereo); NOTHING!! Damn, go over to Best Buy (who installed system in car); isolate cord is the problem.

Go back to Apple store, tell about my earlier appt., wait 5 mins, another rep. comes over and reviews problem with me. She goes back behind closed doors, comes out and confirms something was wrong with the replacement I was given. Given another one, fingers crossed, go to car...PERFECT!!

I'm praising Apple's straight-forward approach, knowledgeable, engaged customer service reps., responsiveness, and timeliness.

Don't know how they can afford such a great staff (cheap off-shore assembly parts probably) but here's to hoping other retailers strive for this level of satisfaction.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/magazine/thinking-outside-the-big-box.html

 

Considering you had to make an appointment, I'd hope you'd get good service.

 

HC & I made an appointment to fix our iPods. All great, all bang on

Guess what, it's not a new model. It's that old fashioned thing called knowledgeable customer service.

You can thank fucking Walmart for eliminating that.

Oh, wait, I just saved $5.00 on that t-shirt. Yeah, it'll last three washes and fall apart, but hey, it was cheap.

Oh, and get off my fucking lawn

 

Customer service is dead. If you have a good experience these days, you'd be wise to consider it the exception rather than the rule.

 

Customer service IS indeed dead, a victim of the race-to-the-economic bottom that is America's fate these days.

There is a fundamental change in our economy, and it's begun the long march to destroying our way of life: service has been monetized out of existence. The corporations have decided they'd rather give multi-million bonuses to CEOs who slash staff, than give $10.10 an hour pay to CSRs who can help drive sales. That misbegotten bottom-line thinking is why you're waiting longer than ever at a McDonald's drive through, and thigh-and-arm touching on airline flights.

Edit to include a specific example of 'Murica's exceptionalism:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/19/jcpenney-photos_n_4810896.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

 

If this is the case, then why hasn't anyone seized on this opportunity to open Service Burger, or Service Airlines?

A business surely can differentiate itself by offering good customer service. But, we don't want to pay extra for the service. The problem is that good customer service almost always does cost more.

Occasionally, you'll see a company like JetBlue come along and offer better service, at a lower price. But, as they mature, their costs rise and become inline with their competitors.

 

It's not that customer service doesn't exist anymore; it's just that now it's typically reserved for those willing and able to pay a premium for it.

In retail, customer service is usually in inverse proportion to the size of the store. That's why Apple jumps out as an exception.

 

Good customer service, and the cost of delivering it, should be built into any respectable business's operating budget. It shouldn't be optional, nor should it be subject to cuts in lean economic times.

But it is. Even the bare minimum standard is becoming optional.

I can count on one hand the times I've been even mildly impressed by customer service in the last five years.

 

Go to Trader Joe's.

 

I have. They were just as assholish as everyone else around here.

Disclaimer: I live in an area with one of the highest concentrations of dickheads in the country, so I may in fact be seeing that and not the death of customer service.

I don't think so, but I'll remain open to the possibility.

 

Interesting. I live in an area with a bad reputation, but I'm curious as to where it could be bad enough that even companies with a corporate policy need to settle for just slightly less jerkish than the surrounding area.