Apple vs Dell: Apple FAIL July 12, 2009
(Note: If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have already caught wind of this…)
Last Monday I ordered a new iMac for myself. Rather than go with one of their stock configurations, I customized mine a bit, upgrading the 2.93ghz machine with the ATI Radeon 4850 video card. I’m not a gamer, which is what high-end cards are usually for, but I’m of the belief that getting a fast GPU is a great way to future-proof a machine these days, as CPU speeds are starting to level off.
Anyway, the day after I ordered the Mac, I got a call from a friend in a tech crisis needing to quickly procure a new PC for her boss. By helping her out I’ve managed to get roughly parallel experiences with Dell and Apple. And right now, Dell is wiping the floor with Apple.
Why? Well, sure, there were a number of irritating things about using Dell’s website to configure a machine. For one, the online chat feature didn’t seem to work in Safari. For another, the configuration options were bizarre — why is the “Windows Vista to Windows XP Downgrade” option (stupid enough on its own) available on Vostro desktops but not Studio ones? And so on…
But I’ll give Dell credit for delivering the goods when all was said and done. According to the Dell site, the machine I configured wouldn’t ship until July 13. Instead, it shipped the day after placing the order (July 8) and arrived the following day (July 9). And it cost less than $800. And since I haven’t heard any complaints, I’m pretty sure the machine works.
Contrast this with my iMac, which cost over $1800, shipped July 7 but arrived the afternoon of the 10th, and, uhhh…. doesn’t work. And when I say “doesn’t work,” I mean the thing doesn’t even power on. Pressing (or holding) the power button on the back of the machine results in a faint-sounding series of clicking noises (from the HD, perhaps?) and nothing else — no LEDs light up, no power hits the screen, nothing. I tried several outlets and even tried the power cable being used in my current iMac, all to no avail.
After this brief troubleshooting, I called Apple. The two people I spoke to, while friendly, were pretty much useless; I was told I’d get a call back from someone in “Sales Support” to figure out what to do about the situation within a business day. Of course, it being Friday afternoon, that meant I’d have to wait through the weekend just to know what the solution might be.
Unable to wait that long, I called AppleCare this morning with my case number to see if I couldn’t grease the wheels a bit. Eventually I got handed off to someone who told me I should have already received the return authorization and shipping label details via email. Um… what?
First, I was never told to expect such things. No one told me the plan was for me to ship the machine back to Apple. Nor did they indicate I’d be getting any specifics via email. After poking around I managed to find the emails in question in my spam box (my SpamSieve is quite aggressive).
Second, why do I have to ship it back to Apple anyway? I live less than 3 miles from an Apple Store! Wouldn’t it be easier (and cheaper for Apple) if I just brought my shiny new doorstop right into the store? Wouldn’t that mean they could ship me a replacement (since they certainly don’t have my exact machine in stock) sooner?
Apparently not. Instead, I get to slap some labels on a box and Fedex the machine back to Apple.
Once Apple gets confirmation from Fedex that my machine is in the pipeline, they’ll begin processing my replacement. That means it’ll take “1-3 days” to get the machine ready, and then 2-3 days to ship it (they said they’ll expedite shipping, but “expedited” apparently doesn’t mean “overnight”). So if I’m lucky I’ll get my new new iMac the end of this coming week.
If Apple really wanted to blow my socks off with their customer service — which, really, I think they ought to be trying to do, seeing as how they shipped me a completely unusable product and I’ve been a loyal Apple customer for well over a decade now — they would have said, “Just bring the dead machine to the nearest Apple Store. When you’re there you can decide if you want us to ship you a replacement machine with the same specs, or, as our way of saying we’re sorry, we’ll upgrade you to a machine we have in stock that has a faster CPU but slighter slower GPU, if that’s what you’d prefer.” If Apple had offered that, I could have cruised over to the Apple Store on Friday, swapped my brick for a working machine, and had the entire weekend to play, configure, transfer files, and so forth.
Oh well. I’m sure once I get a machine that works, I’ll be much happier with it than I would be with a plasticky Dell tower that cost less than half as much, and eventually I’ll have forgotten this whole shit week. Right? Right?? (It doesn’t help that I also ordered an iPod Touch for Martha at the same time, which arrived the day before my iMac and works great, giving her a fun new toy to play with).
In the meantime, though… I must say Apple looks a lot worse than Dell.
[...] long after publishing my earlier post on the dead iMac saga, I received a lovely automated email from Apple asking me to please rate my recent AppleCare phone [...]
Except I never called support and took it directly to the Apple Store and they handed me a brand new machine. I didn’t upgrade my video card, so that might account for the different experience.
As for Dell, I wonder if they realize they could be losing potential “switcher” sales by their poor browser support?
Ahhhh…. you need to amend your original blog.
First, let me start by saying my household is all Apple since 2005. Since then, I have never, and won’t looked back.
I had to purchase a “IBM” compatible for my daughter for her computer class in college. We regretfully chose Dell to do business with.
I found the COMPLETE opposite in respect to Apple wiping not only the floor, but the world hands down with their customer support. Dell is living in the early ’90′s with respect to both its web and phone support. I’m sure (and will bet ANY amount of money on it) when you called Apple, you spoke to someone in the United States. Secondly, you spoke to a tech support person within 3-4 minutes, not a channel of banks trying to determine where to actually send you then, not being the proper department. Third, your support for the first 90 days, whatever the problem may be, IS FREE!!! I asked to return my new, purchased from Dell, Inspiron within my 21 day return policy since their tech support was, and still has been able to resolve the issue. First, they had no record that I even purchased this from them and then went on to insult me by asking if it was purchased in the US!!!!! Then when sent to customer support, the only means they had to “Keep me as their customer” was to offer me a $25.00 discount to their “Premier” customer support. LOL. Gimme my money back!!! See ya.
Simply put. Dell has superior customer service in regards to accidental damages over Apple Care.
I recently bought a brandnew MacBook Pro 15″ for around $1700 on January 1st. During superbowl sunday, a clumsy friend spilled water on my keyboard, completely ruining my logic board among other components.
I visited my local Mac Store (Boston) the following day with my tale of woe. The Genius informed me that the repairs for my computer would total $1255 as the flat rate for water damage repair. I lamented how this was outrageous. Though i understand Apple does not cover any physical damages to their products, i felt cheated. My laptop was brand new and only 1.5 months old! I would have to pay almost the entire cost of new computer to get it fixed! After some debating and convincing, the Genius agreed to make an exception due to how recently i had purchased the new computer. They shipped it out to CA for repairs and had it back in about a week, fixing everything that was damaged, including the minor damages like scratches on the exterior body (though i believe the cases are almost designed to scratch). So my first round with apple care and support was awesome.
Later that week I left for Switzerland to visit a friend for a week. I return home, tired, jet lagged and slightly sick but nonetheless, ready to head back to work. As y most unfortunate luck would have it, the very first day back in the office, the very first hour, I bump my desk accidentally an open travel mug of OJ on my desk spills across the keyboard of my 2 week old repaired computer! FML! What luck!?
I am crushed, but i decide to return to the apple store to plead my case of misfortune, with minor hopes of a personable, sympathetic understanding of my case of sh*t luck and a hopeful repeat of events in regards to repair. Oh how i was mistaken.
The Genius listens to my tale, very sympathetic and personally, hearing how this is twice in a month and how the original case was handled. He says “Let me see what i can do for you” and returns from a backroom (I assume to look up the record of my previous work order and discuss with some higher-up manager) to inform me, “Due to the physical damage, we unfortunately cannot cover you laptop for repairs, however, at a flat rate (???) of $1255 (almost the cost of the computer originally) they could replace the parts. I pleaded, informing him how the laptop is barely 2 months old, how I, the broke intern/student having just returned from vacation, have no such funds for the repairs, and how the circumstance was previously handled, tried my best to convince him that it was rather unfair to charge me such a price (how can they not even have a limited 90 full coverage for accidents on some of the most expensive computers on the market???!).
He only replies to say, “I’m surprised to hear you were able to get the original issue handled free of charge. Im sorry there is no coverage for your issue. It will cost $1255 to repair your damages (regardless of however extensive or costly the damages actually were).
I ask, “Is there some kind of payment option? I’m rather broke but I live on this laptop for work/school/life, I can’t afford not to have it repaired, surely there is a payment plan we could work out?”
He replies, “Unfortunately there is not. I believe there is an apple credit care you could apply for (WTF?!) that could help you finance the repairs.”
The last thing in the world i want to do is apply for an Apple store credit card in order to fix my laptop that i feel deserves to be covered free of charge.
I say to him, “This is rather absurd, dont you think? Im paying about the cost of a new laptop for the repairs on a computer that is barely 60 days old! i could buy a brand new Dell with better specs than my MBP for that cost, and Dell will replace it for any reason, free of charge for 3 years! I hate windows, so I’d much rather use a Mac OS, but this doesn’t even seem worth it!”
His reply, “Well maybe that’s what you ought to do.” (WTF? Telling the customer the best advice they can offer for support is to leave their brand for the competition?)
You have GOT to be kidding me Apple. Your business is so content and sucessful at being profitable that you readily will throw your customers to the wind when they need support that logically seems reasonable to request AFTER REPAIRING IT ALREADY A WEEK PRIOR FOR FREE. Rather than make the customer feel connected and personally cared about, the Genius (ha ‘Genius’) says my best option is to say “F*ck It” and switch to Dell.
Gee, thanks for all the impeccable support Apple. You really stand behind your customers and your relations with them. The absurdity is killing me.
I can’t believe this Dave guy. Are you for real!? You damage your own machine and you expect Apple to pay for it? What if you just bought a new BMW and you accidently ding the door or drive into a telephone pole, should BMW pay to get it fixed? Wow, your absurdity is killing me!