Thursday, 2 April 2009

Apple have let me down

Apple have just given me a first hand example of how customer service can let a company down - even when you are trying to excel at it!

The clicker on my iPhone headphones hardly works any more. I will be walking down the street clicking away like furiously with only the odd one registering which means instead of changing tracks I keep pausing and unpausing the track I'm listening to. Combined with the look of frustration on my face, other people must think I've discovered a new sport or a new form of musical masturbation.

In truth it's annoying as hell.

So I went into the apple store on my lunch break to see if they can advise me - turns out they can't. Without waiting. For days.

Turns out, the headphones are considered part of the phone so I need to see an engineer - called the 'genius bar' (oh purlease)

While the image of a man in grubby overalls at the back of the shiny apple store saying "ooo, 's going to cost ya" amused me for a moment, it wasn't very helpful. Especially as you need to book an appointment in advance.

Now I understand why a brand like apple wants to seem genius and push the boat out, but like all machines, there needs to be a reality check where it interfaces with humans.

I've tested my headphones on another iPhone - the conversation in-store would to something like this:

'Genius': click, click. It doesn't work. Would you like a new set, sir?
Me: yes please.

2 minutes! Max! For that I have to book in advance, for the weekend - which I then can't do, because you can only book two days in advance so I have to remember to log back on on Friday to go in on Sunday, and no I can't come back at 16:40, because I have a job.

All this for a two minute conversation.

I love my iPhone and they could do no wrong but now the shine is tarnished.

Plus, Apple's website doesn't work properly on an iPhone!

SH

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