BizJetGuy

Not necessarily... a battery shouldn't fail less than 18 months from purchase.

But yes, the support for iPod's does suck.

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phozed

what if you had to buy a new truck to replace it, or send it back to the factory for replacement?

seamus

I'm pretty sure if you ask CBR929RE about how he feels about Chevy right now, he'd be on par with Biz's feelings...

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Richard Herald, The Gentle Giant

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---Leonardo Da Vinci

CBR929RE

haha I was actually kinda pissed cause I didn't wanna change the shit in the first place. Then I got pissed that I couldn't (well didn't wanna spend that much time and risk breaking shit) do it. I was ready to rip that cheap plastic grill right off.

but I digest, the guy went in to get a new battery. how hard is it to hand the ipod to a guy and give him some basic contact info.

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less than a year till Grattan

slickwill

Exactly, I make appointments to see the doctor, not get a battery changed. Hand it over, write down name and phone number...done.

Exactly. Now what might actually be useful is if you could go online and print a return label and then just drop the item in the mail, but having to make an appointment just to talk to someone is retarded.

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navydevildoc

You would be amazed at the amount of people who go in there thinking that they have "simple" problems, when in fact it's not as simple as they think. The whole point of the Genius system is that they can fix a majority of problems right there. This way you don't need to send out the item to be repaired, and you leave with a working item. But the key is that they will want to troubleshoot it first. You may be one of the smarter ones that already knows what's wrong, but trust me as someone who has done front line tech support for many years, most people do not know what will fix their problems, or even worse, think they know and they are wrong.

This is why everyone talks to a Genius first.

In order to make sure people don't have to wait in a line, they have the appointment system. You can choose to wait around, an option given to you, until 11:45.

Here is a scenario for you... if you walked in to the store, told them you needed to get your iPod fixed, and they said, "OK... the line for tech support is right there", and you get in the line, wait the hour in it, then get help, would you have been happier? It's the same thing, except with Apple's system you know when your time is, and you don't have to stand in the line.

The other alternative would have been to call 1-800-APPL-CARE, and they would have sent you out a box to your house to send the iPod in to get repaired. As has been mentioned before, Apple's phone centers that handle US calls are all US or Canadian, and consistently get high marks for customer care.

I am an Apple apologist on many things, and customer service is one of them. They spend a lot of time and money to make sure customers are well taken care of and happy. It really just sounds like the system for some reason was just not explained, or your expectations were off, or ????.

I have dealt with support on both the consumer and enterprise level with IBM, Sun, EMC, Dell, Apple, Cisco, Juniper, the list goes on and on. The only times I think someone did better than Apple was IBM on-site service (already mentioned by Abtech), EMC On-site, and a Cisco case that went CAP. But, to get that kind of support, you spend thousands of dollars each year on contracts for it. Apple gives it to you for the price of the product.

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RedRider

Why are there so many people needing repair/tech support of their Apple products that appointments (or long lines) are necessary?

BizJetGuy

I had a detailed response typed and thought better of it. Disputing Apple support seems to be equivalent to a religious or political discussion and I've learned my lesson.

I'm out of this one - please feel free to discuss amongst yourselves...

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Horn not working - watch for finger

SheepOfBlue

Easy Beavis folks are just providing perspectives.

At the end of the day you can purchase whatever you want. I have an Aunt that insists on buying POS e-machines because everything else is so expensive. She spends HOURS more in virus other maintainance items each time one breaks (frequently it seems on an e-machine) yet she is happy so fine. Mom and Dad have a Mac and just use it (the last one went 6 years before I gave them a new one) they are also happy which is even better Feel free to never buy an Apple product as will some others. Further there are folks that feel the same way about most manufacturers.

WARNING: typed on a Mac, now bow and send Maple

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seamus

I think you're all missing the point.

If I am standing in the store with a broken item, why not just take the unit from me and get my contact info (as I posted earlier)?

I understand the "genius" concept and what they're trying to do but can't the "genius" do stuff between appointments?

__________________
Ducit Amor Patriae

Richard Herald, The Gentle Giant

For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
---Leonardo Da Vinci

Hammer

Biz, I have read this and I too think it is BS to have an appointment to look at an I pod. You would think they are trying to treat cancer. They could have taken the damn thing and sent it back to you fixed if you could not wait. But this falls in line with other customer service issues I have noticed as well over the past year with other services. Customer service for the most part is a thing of the past.

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phozed

hope you had a gas mask on

Rotten smell raises Apple toxin fears - BizTech - Technology - smh.com.au

ConqSoft

She must have an ancient one I guess, since any recent e-Machine is basically a Gateway, and are actually decent machines for the price. Tell your aunt to stay off the porn and warez sites and she won't have to worry about virii...

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navydevildoc

No hard feelings man, I was just trying to show why they do what they do.

You are of course free to buy/not buy whatever product you choose, and in the end that's what companies will listen to most.

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Mojave954

you can order that stuff and replace the battery yourself. Takes about 5 minutes and a day or two to get it to your door.

Exactly what kind of service do you think you are going to get with a Zune, sony or other mp3 player?

My mechanically inept son replaced his sister's screen in about 15 minutes.

These things aren't hard..

Just have to know your model:
iPodParts.com is the iPod Parts, iPod Battery and iPod Repair Value Choice