Apple Tech Support
March 3rd, 2009 | by Ridhima Suri |My IPod Shuffle stopped working
Recently my Ipod Shuffle (Late 2nd generation) stopped working. When I write ‘late 2nd generation’ it simply means that it was a fairly new piece manufactured in the last quarter of 2007. We bought it in January 2008. My average usage is only a few hours a week and I estimate having used my Ipod for about 150-200 hours since the purchase. I am not sure what is wrong. The piece still looks boxed new to me!
I tried to contact the customer care at Apple and I am quite disappointed with the experience. I am trying to relate my recent experience with Dell Customer support and this was nowhere near that class. Well well.
Apple Support was not as amazing as expected
1. I did not find the website user friendly and had to click around to find customer support information.
2. I found the link which shows warranty status quite useful. The tool asked me to put in the IPod serial number and I was quickly informed that the product did not qualify for a warranty replacement.
3. Finally after waddling around for 2-3 minutes I got the link to ‘Speak to an Apple Expert’. The description read “Arrange a phone call with an Apple Expert who specializes in your exact question. Talk to us now or later at your convenience. We’ll even call you. Get started”
I promptly entered my login details and followed instructions hoping to actually chat with an expert. It promised to be a technically supported ‘simple’ affair.
4. I was asked a bunch of questions about my product, my computer specifications, operating system, so on and so forth. I was patient all this while till I got the message informing me that I would have to pay for ‘expert advise’. This was certainly not acceptable. This is when I gave up on using any support to vent out my dissatisfaction for the product.
Online tech support
Ideally website based customer support systems must be user-friendly and in no case should there be any reason to pay for getting advise on products. Sites supporting online chatting options are very popular among internet users. I have personally checked out great online chat support by a few furniture companies, nike, travel sites like makemytrip, expedia etc. The overall experience was very good.
With Apple I did not feel the vibe to surf around. The site was very cool (a.k.a the Apple image) but my problem was not solved. So ‘looks’ did not matter here. Actual functionality did. They asked me so many questions before anyone even looked at my problem. I would instead prefer to have a ‘less cool looking’ but working gadget which does what it is intended to do.
Anyways
I will try the tech support phone numbers and see if someone can talk to me about why my Shuffle stopped working merely a month after the warranty period expired and why did the product not keep upto its image and performance standards
My worry
We have purchased 5 Ipods for family and friends in the last year itself and it is annoying that I cannot use my Ipod anymore. I would call myself a ‘moderate’ or ‘occassional’ user. Wonder how other in my family are doing? What if they think I gave them a ridiculous gift? Tonight I will make a few calls…;) I am quiet sure that if I do not get a replacement for my almost new IPod (I am sure this will happen) I will buy other portable music systems by competing brands like Sony or even Sandisk..:)
Update: March 6,2009
I spoke to a representative. He informed me that the product was our of warranty and a battery replacement could solve the problem. The IPod Shuffle battery costs $49.99. He also said that I got a one year warranty as the product was purchased from a third party (Amazon) and not Apple. He suggested that I buy another IPod instead of buying a new battery and asked me to go to Apple store to get a 10% discount….Thanks but no Thanks. I am not amused. Products which promise high quality must offer high functional performance as well!
Tags: Apple, Customer Service, Opinion, Review
One Response to “Apple Tech Support”
By Ridhima Suri on Mar 6, 2009 | Reply
Update: March 6,2009
I spoke to an Apple representative. He informed me that the product was our of warranty and a battery replacement could solve the problem. The IPod Shuffle battery costs $49.99. He also said that I got a one year warranty as the product was purchased from a third party (Amazon) and not Apple.
He suggested that I buy another IPod instead of buying a new battery and asked me to go to Apple store to get a 10% discount….Thanks but no Thanks. I am not amused!!