Because of a string of commercially successful product launches and the return of Mr. Jobs, it's easy to forget how browbeaten Apple was by the MSM between 1991 and 2000. In fact, one would have been forgiven for believing the company had changed its name to Beleaguered.
Apple today still gets its fair share of criticism; read any serious product review in consumer press, flaws are clearly enumerated.
Apple isn't so much protected by the press, it simply spends millions on sustaining a romantic brand identity. This - consciously or otherwise - impacts how it's reflected in pop culture and, consequently, the media within.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
David: well, that romantic brand identity falls apart in comparison with Best Buy and Costco and Walmart.
I just watched yet another "gushing" story about Apple on TV. They certainly do get a lot of cool coverage, particularly from influentials (read: celebrities) and from mainstream press.
Maurice
· 2 years ago
Hmm
i thought that Cisco had dibs on the Iphone ?
james
· 2 years ago
A 12 year old gets his second laptop, a macbook PRO, has a problem with it, and daddy is pissed.
Didnt you just get back from new orleans?
Jeez, after I got home from there last month I was thankful to have my house, electricity, etc.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
Maurice: it does, but not on iPod Phone. :-)
I'm sure Steve Jobs will come up with another cute name for whatever his gadget is, though.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
James: I'm happy to have my life after visiting New Orleans. But that doesn't have anything to do with this. By the way, Patrick gave away his first laptop, so he's laptop less right now.
PXLated
· 2 years ago
Apple didn't exactly tell Patrick to go pound sand Robert. And what's with all the posts, this is the third on the same subject. Get tired of the responses you were getting on the first two. Thought your luck would change here with a third?
james
· 2 years ago
My point is, reading a couple paragraphs from your blog everyday, you go from katrina devastaion to 12 year old kid having to put his laptop in the shop for a week (to me, the brand doesnt matter, perspective does).
I guess I could read into other interpretations, you want to create traffic, you want to create another incident like Jarvis did, etc.
Mitch Denny
· 2 years ago
The Bush brand is the problem in New Orleans . . .
Nick
· 2 years ago
"After all, I don’t see many, if any, bloggers getting access to its PR events Steve Jobs keynotes."
WWDC for sure and Macworld I believe are open to the public, so any blogger who wants to get a ticket and go to SF could cover those keynotes.
Are you going to be at Macworld? If not, why not?
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
WWDC requires all attendees to sign an NDA. So, sorry, bloggers are not allowed to report what happens there.
I'm going to CES instead of MacWorld. Why? Well, disclaimer time: Seagate is paying PodTech to put on a BlogHaus there.
But, I went last year when there wasn't money on the line instead of going to the MacWorld keynotes. CES is a bigger show and more important.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
PXLated: I saw another post on it that got me thinking. Maybe I was wrong for posting three posts.
No, Apple didn't tell Jarvis to pound sand either. He just told him to call customer support and didn't take care of him to his liking.
Apple didn't take care of Patrick to my liking either. You might not agree (not everyone agreed with Jarvis either) but it's my blog and I get to say it.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
James:
>I guess I could read into other interpretations, you want to create traffic, you want to create another incident like Jarvis did, etc.
If this was the only time this has happened, I guess you could call me on my motives. But, Dave Winer has been documenting these issues for months, pointing to dozens of bloggers who've had rebooting/shutdown problems, and most of whom get the same "leave your computer here for two weeks" answer.
Am I trying to make an issue about this? Definitely.
Why is it fair for Dell's PR to be dragged under the bus and not Apple's? Dell is making a good effort to engage with bloggers, take care of problems, and improve its customer service.
Is Apple?
jon honeyball
· 2 years ago
"WWDC requires all attendees to sign an NDA. So, sorry, bloggers are not allowed to report what happens there."
Not true -- the keynote, which is the only bit the press are allowed into, has no NDA. The full event is NDA.
Compare and contrast with press attendence at PDC.
jon@pcpro
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
Jon: thanks for correcting me. PDC usually doesn't have NDA sessions and everything is reportable. At least that was true at the past two that I was involved in.
Alfred Thompson
· 2 years ago
Robert, I haven't seen the press in action lately. What is the mix of Apples to WinTel systems at press confrences these days? The media seems to pick good guys and bad guys based on some system that seems logical to them but not always to the rest of us. Why is IBM a good guy for example. In my short 30 years in the industry I have always seen them as the bad guys - does no one remember their anti-trust suit? There are examples outside of tech as well. I'm sure we could both come up with a list.
Paul Roundy
· 2 years ago
Man, one bad laptop and you go off the deep end. Sometimes stuff breaks and the vendor isn't going to fix it your way. No amount of whining from you or Winer is going to change that.
But I have to hand it to you, you turned your son's bad experience into a bloggers vs. the MSM. vs. Apple topic really fast. Good job man.
Regarding press coverage, who knows? MSM press coverage seems to center around the cult of Jobs and cool designs, not around the dark, dirty underbelly of Apple's business, things like customer service.
You seem to think Best Buy, Costco and Wal Mart have great customer service. My experience is that all three suck in the customer service department but I don't bemoan a lack of negative media coverage about it.
Likewise one link in Business Week about Jarvis' lemon doesn't seem like a significant amount of MSM press coverage. Dell took way more heat about exploding batteries.
robo74
· 2 years ago
Robert, you should take a look at how the Zune team have used their blogs to respond to customer complaints. Over on Zune insider (www.zuneinsider.com), Cesar Menendez has been on top of every post there, and has had a pretty quick response to legitimate complaints. It impressed me enough to actually buy a Zune, despite the bad press. (Note on that: I haven't had any problems, and love the device.) I think this is a fine example of customer service through blogging. Now if only other companies/divisions would get "it". Good luck in your quest for satisfaction from Apple. I think though you will find it hard to get the mainstream media/news/entertainment megacorps to look at a company run by a Disney/ABC/PIXAR board member.
Joe
· 2 years ago
Dude, Apple has become like a religion to some people,and when you attack their beliefs, they go after you with a vegence.
Ben
· 2 years ago
Sorry to hear you are experiencing the restart problem. I hope it gets fixed quickly. fwiw, i have a macbook pro and have had no such problems.
RE:yr point about Apple getting a pass from the MSM.
I think that's a wildly hasty generalization unsupported by facts.
1. Apple got dinged in the mainstream press after a couple users documented their unhappiness with the cost of replacing batteries for the ipod and posted their unhappiness to youtube. CBS news, Washington Post, ZDNet, cnet, blogs, Fox News, Rolling Stone, etc. all picked up the story.
Apple responded to this criticism and changed its policy.
RE:comparing Costco and Best Buy's return policy to Apple's.
I don't expect Apple's retail policies to be like Costco's and Best Buy's. That's not why i buy an Apple computer. I may have missed the point of the comparison of Costco/Best Buy to Apple. I've had both great service from Apple stores and average service from Apple. So far i've been fortunate to not have lousy service, though of course i know others have suffered bad service from them.
RE:why Jarvis's rant got picked up. Jarvis is a member of the mainstream press so his blog is likely heavily read by the MSM. That incressed the odds of the story getting picked up, not so much a MSM ignore all bad things about apple bias.
One question: When you say MSM, are you referring mainly to NYT, Washington Post, Newsweek, WSJ, or are you also referring to the industry sites like cnet, zdnet, infoworld, macworld?
One last thing about MSM coverage. Frankly, not all manufacturing problems warrant MSM coverage. In print, there are limited pages; on TV, there is limited time. In all cases, there is limited resources to cover stories.
There are so many important stories that the MSM should cover and such limited resources to do it that if they are not covering this particular one about the macbook pro or another one i'm ok with that. There are many more urgent issues to cover.
More power to you to get attention focused on this particular hardware issue. And again, i hope it gets solved quickly.
T Man
· 2 years ago
I agree Robert. Apple gets a total slide on everything. Does anyone actually believe that if Bill Gates and/or MS was involved with a stock options scandal that they would get such a pass? The press and bloggers of any size would be up in arms, demanding blood. The iPeople however are more than happy to look the other way when it involves ol' Stevie boy.
What this really shows is the arrogance of Apple and the iPeople that religiously follow them. Just like when you met Steve Jobs, that same arrogant attitude carries through everywhere. On their web site, from the cheeky comments about their own mistake (the iPod virus issue) to rolling headlines of "news" stories bashing MS. Imagine the wrath if it was the other way around.
Just yesterday I was helping out a friend with his iPod, as iTunes was throwing up a strange error. After searching around I found that many others were having the same problem. I also found that a thread on the Apple support forums had been DELETED. Once again, imagine if MS started doing stuff like that on the newsgroups or blog comments. In the end, the error still exists, and he can't sync his iPod.
Robo74 you make a good point about MS these days. We can complain about a lot of things, but they have an awful lot of employees blogging these days. After reading the IEBlog, they caught a lot of little last minute gotchas, responding quickly and efficiently to comments left. Throughout it all, many a negative post existed, and still does. Where are the sanctioned Apple bloggers? Bueller?
~bc
· 2 years ago
Get a grip, Robert. One broken portable does not a PR catastrophy make. And just because Apple doesn't turn to your favored PR avenue to solve its problems or advertise doesn't make them unresponsive to customers. Apple doesn't blog, boohoo. I'm as big a blog fan as anyone, but I can't say I'm bothered that they don't blog. Who cares? I'd rather they spend their time and money making great stuff for with me to blog and podcast with. Remember a) Apple has the highest rated quality products and highest rated service (as per CR) in the industry and b) all your ranting about your son's laptop, as unfortunate as that is, isn't going to erase "a."
Herb
· 2 years ago
Doesn't get bad PR? Remember the Washington Post reporting on Apple's (unproven) WiFi vulnerabilities? The recent coverage in pretty much every mainstream publication on Jobs' involvement in the stock options scandal? All that press about iPods making people go deaf? The exploding battery recalls? How about ongoing the Month of Apple Bugs? Not to mention the whole "beleaguered" image (as mentioned above) that Apple has just recently shed.
That's not to belittle your problems - I've had problems with Apple hardware and have been frustrated with their lack of communication, but in the end, they fixed the problems. I hope you get your problems fixed (or you get your money back). But please don't say that Apple doesn't get bad PR. Just like any big company, there are plenty of people in the press trying to knock Apple down a peg or three.
John C. Welch
· 2 years ago
Dude, there's people printing tons on the bad moves apple makes, including the stuff about deleting threads on the support forums, (lame).
But there's tons of stuff written about EVERYTHING Apple does, just like with Microsoft. The S/N ratio is absolute crap for both companies. It makes trying to find useful information ten times harder, (along with Microsoft changing URLs every six seconds) than it should be.
The thing is, Apple also keeps churning out new product. In the space of time that Microsoft managed, what, two game consoles, a new version of server, a fix pack for an OS, a couple of "get the ipod" initiatives, and other things, only a handful of which even came close to new, look at what Apple's been pulling off.
It's the results that people care about dude, and Apple is providing them more than Microsoft. Sure as HELL doing a better job than Dell who, at this point, only brands other people's stuff.
Oh, and ANYONE talking about some mythical time when Apple hardware was perfect and reliable is smoking that crack that makes you stupid. Apple has always had, like everyone else, hardware problems. When we get together in S.F., ask me about them, I'll give you the list.
Gideon
· 2 years ago
I think, perhaps, there is something to be said about the 'saturation' of problems people have with Dell or Gateway or, etc customer service. Who doesn't have or know such horror stories? I've had a number of Dells, and before getting a Mac myself, I encouraged my family to do likewise - and we've still all experienced nightmarishly bad service time after time.
Mac market share is hovering around, what? 5%? The amount of 'dissatisfaction' in the air is nothing compared to the amount of people with Dell's and other PC's who have bad experiences with customer service. And there is of course, the general 'love' that Mac users have towards their computers that work against it. Who sits around talking about how great their Dell experience is? Very little works FOR Dell except that as far as PC's go, it's one of the better companies. Still, most users see it as a 'necessary evil.'
That's a big difference.
Rob
· 2 years ago
Apple has their customer support structure and it currently doesn't involve a blog to solve issues. I'm okay with that. I can go to the Apple Store and get my issues resolved. Not always in the fastest manner but I'm confident that it will get taken care of.
I don't really see the connection between your son's support issue and the presence of an Apple blog. I've been trying to follow your argument and it seems that you aren't really satisfied with your support experience with Apple and wish they had a corporate blog to tell you what's going on. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Did you let Apple know that a week or two without the laptop would be unacceptable? How did they respond? How are you going to let them know that you aren't happy as a customer (beside your blog)?
Instead of constantly going after Apple for not having a blog could I make a suggestion that you keep highlighting companies that are successfully using blogs to create great customer experiences? Example: the guy that made a comment about the zune and their helpful blog. I think this would strengthen your argument for corporate blogs.
davidwb
· 2 years ago
Scoble - you are abusing your bully pulpit. If Apple told your son to pound sand, that would be one thing. If Apple were refusing to replace a computer that was obvious, after weeks of failed repairs, that would be different too.
But here you are pissing down Apple's neck because your son's computer isn't functioning properly. A reason to be upset, yes. A reason to ask others for similar experiences? Okay. But essentially calling for a news jihad against Apple?
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
jon honeyball
· 2 years ago
I should also point out that getting anything hardware out of Apple for reviewer loan is next to impossible. Like *very very very* hard. They have legendarily small budgets for press support -- a mere handful of us went to WWDC from europe, for example. Want a long-term loan of an xserve? Nope. I managed to get an xserve raid from them for a couple of weeks.
(all my apple kit is bought and paid for by me)
jon honeyball
· 2 years ago
Also:
"Is it because mainstream press are sent Apple products to try and use before anyone else sees them? (True story, how do you think that Newsweek and Time gets iPods on its covers at the same time the rest of the press gets to see them?)"
Nope -- magazines arent given subs to Apple Developer subscriptions, so they have no access to Leopard at the moment.
And Apple does not brief the press in advance of a launch -- very occassionally, this rule will be broken but only for very specific deals (like the front cover of Time). And that is rare.
terrin
· 2 years ago
I think Apple generates bad press when it is warranted. A few years ago, I can remember a blogger who was mad at Apple's refusal to provide battery replacement service for the iPod. All the main press picked up on the story, and eventually Apple reversed course. As others have pointed out, there have been plenty of other bad press stories over the years. My favorite is when some scientist develops a OSX virus in a lab, and this is reported as if OSX is now insecure even though the virus usually is impractical or never been released.
Moreover, Apple usually gets treated unfairly by the main press. For instance, a rumor site will report a rumor, then the main street press will often report it as fact. When the rumor does not pan out, Apple's stock will take a hit.
The problem is you only have your experience to judge Apple on. You have no idea how many people are effected by the problem your son's computer is experiencing. If there are only 50 of you, this hardly is reason for a bad press assault against Apple, considering the company probably has sold over a million of the units. Five percent failure rate is considered good.
Moreover, Apple did what it should do: namely take the computer, look at it, and fix it. No company I know of gives out replacement computers every time there is a problem with one. The companies would go out of business, or the product would be too high.
I will tell you the people who should be mad at Apple: all those people who bought G3 or G4 iBooks. The machines logic boards failed because of a defective design. Apple merely replaced the logic boards, but the defective design remained the same. So all those iBooks usually failed again. Many outside the warranty period.
Apple, however usually gets high marks on customer service.
Alan
· 2 years ago
"The Zune team has used their bloggers"
Imagine that, Microsoft using Microsoft funded bloggers. Who'd have thunk it?
It's a good thing a Microsoft funded poster told us about it and mentioned that he was so impressed that he bought a Zune and loves it. I thought a free Zune was part of his Microsoft compensation. Maybe he has 2 of them now. He is probably the only owner outside of Redmond that has successfully squirted a tune from one Zune to another. Who knew you had to move to Redmond or buy 2 Zunes in order to use that feature?
LayZ
· 2 years ago
Boy, Scoble. Now you're doing the prima-donna thing? You get all pissed off when you get same level of customer service normal people do? And you wonder why you get accused of being an elitist.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
BC: it's more than one. SHould I send you the dozens of bloggers who've had their Macs randomly shut down again?
LayZ: normal people get automatic returns at BestBuy and Costco. Yes, I just want the same service normal people can get at other stores.
Chuck
· 2 years ago
Some people have short-term memory loss. I remember good and well what Apple went through with the press during the mid-90s and even as near ago as 2001. The entire press industry was saying Apple was doomed! Now the tables have turned and all the Windoze users want to complain. Boo-hoo.
What will it take for Dell and HP to realize that their laptops, as an example, look bloated and unsleek when placed next to an Apple MacBook Pro? They don't get design and never will because they don't make it a priority. Now everyone is using the same chips, so they have no excuse.
Apple is not perfect. They spin their marketing differently and they have that right, even if it means no one at Apple is blogging. Blogging is not the answer to all our problems, but some people who live on the net can't understand that, I guess. Besides, Dell and HP would LOVE to sell a laptop w/o Windows, but they are stuck. Stuck with one OS they can't alter. They have no choice and are afraid to look elsewhere because they know they will lose even more market share. If Dell had ballz they would ditch the Win platform and create their own, buy Be from Palm or go with Ubuntu. Nope, they are stuck, even if they improve their designs. I would not want to be the CEO of Dell right now. They are dying a slow death.
And Apple almost always comes out on top when it comes to quality surveys, overall. Is Apple buying the press? I think not. They just have better design, and few would argue they don't have more compelling products. Give them the credit they deserve.
Millions of customers did this last year.
Tom B
· 2 years ago
If Dell went out of business, it would hardly matter, would it? Lenovo or someone would take up the slack.
Apple gets PLENTY of bad press, but their successes outnumber their failures, these days, so perhaps this not obvious to you.
Scott McNulty
· 2 years ago
I would point that you could have returned the MacBook Pro:
Of course I think restocking fees are lame, they are an industry standard.
KenC
· 2 years ago
Well, all the things that you purport that Apple does to garner good press are things that any company can do, including Dell. If what you say is true, then why wouldn't Dell do likewise in order to garner better press coverage from the mainstream press? Michael Dell is a smart guy, so what gives?
What gives, is that your hypothesis is flat-out wrong. Apple has had more than their fair share of criticism, particularly during the period when every article began with the word "beleagured Apple". At that time, they were doing all the things that they do now. In other words, your hypothesis does not stand up to scrutiny.
Kingston
· 2 years ago
What are you talking about? Apple got miles of real bad press recently. Because of this, its stock priced dropped from $93 to $76 in a couple of weeks; look for yourself by checking AAPL in December 2006. BTW, this press was bogus, just like all the press about Apple in the 90s. I'm glad that Apple learned from that media-induced near-death experience and now knows how to present itself. Also, it seems ironic that a blogger is so concerned about mainstream media. Don't we all know that the press is not fair and balanced?
blogger@wordpress
· 2 years ago
@35 "If Dell went out of business, it would hardly matter, would it?"
Are you saying the earth will stop spinning if Apple went out of business? Nothing is irreplacable. Substitute Dell with any firm/person/system you know in your sentence, it would still hold.
" but their successes outnumber their failures"
Are you counting each iPod and MACs sold as an individual successess?
BTW, it's not about "how much of bad press". Its about how the ratio of badpress to the goof-ups that caused it and how it differs from AAPL to DELL.
Jo Bauman
· 2 years ago
Our household has 4 Macs, my brother's has 3, my parents' (in their 70s) each have an iMac,- we all have had some issues with the hardware as I guess can be expected with expensive gear. Working with the Apple store, each time it was dealt with fairly, and in almost every case, to a degree greater than we had expected (faster and less expensively than we had anticipated).
I'm hoping that in the case of your son's laptop, even more than teacning him the value of one operating system over another, or the quality of customer service at one company vs another's (all very valid points, and part of the reason I buy Apple)- that you are also teaching him how to make one's point without resorting to bullying, bluster, and threats.
You are his biggest influence- support him right now without scorching the earth. Maybe that's not the blogger way, but it should be a father's way.
Stanley
· 2 years ago
Apple used to get their fair share of bad press in the 90s. But then they made a frikkin mp3 player, and now everyone thinks that they're gods or something.
Apple dominates one market, and one market only (or two, if you count mp3 players and online music sales as two markets). They are not gods, and they deserve to be bashed just like anyone else when they screw up. And make no mistake, they do screw up; they're humans after all.
Stanley
· 2 years ago
@John C Welch: "The thing is, Apple also keeps churning out new product. In the space of time that Microsoft managed, what, two game consoles, a new version of server, a fix pack for an OS, a couple of “get the ipod” initiatives, and other things, only a handful of which even came close to new, look at what Apple’s been pulling off."
I think you're the first one to even bring MS into this discussion. I like how with some Jobs sycophants, you can't criticize Apple without them bringing MS into the picture. Why don't you address Apple's problems in their own right rather than engage in misdirection?
But since you did decide to turn this into yet another of your lame Apple > Microsoft rants, MS did a lot more than that during the time frame you refer to. Multiple versions of Windows Mobile. Multiple versions of Tablet PC OS. Multiple versions of .NET. Multiple version of Office for Windows and Mac. Multiple versions of MCE.
I like how you dismiss what MS has done over the last few years while play up what Apple has done with a "Look at what they've been pulling off", without bothering to tell us what they pulled off. All I see is an iPod update each year with new colors and a few more GB, like an auto manufacturer, and the incremental OS upgrades every 18 months.
Ben Rundle
· 2 years ago
Why does anyone even read this site?
The guy has absolutely no balance and is a raving Microsoft fan boy. I've never seen any insight here, in fact basic common sense is simply absent. I'm not saying he's stupid but he certainly isn't a balanced intelligent commentator. Every mouth piece with an attitude gets press and eyeballs these days. I'd say scan if required and dismiss as usual. Each article is more meaningless and a waste of my and everyone's time. A veritable Rob Enderle in the making.
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
Ben: heheh! You might have missed that I own two Macs. So much for being your friendly Microsoft fan boy. But, I'm happy not to have more readers like you. Have fun, you might enjoy Digg more than me.
blogger@wordpress
· 2 years ago
@43 "The guy has absolutely no balance and is a raving Microsoft fan boy."
Care to substantiate this with some hard evidence?
If not, why stop here? Make up something like "Robert Scoble is the 007 of Microsoft!"
(Atleast this would make a good reading)
Thomas Fitzgerald
· 2 years ago
"BC: it’s more than one. SHould I send you the dozens of bloggers who’ve had their Macs randomly shut down again?"
Wasn't the macbook random shutdown issue solved over a month ago? Hasn't that been trashed out in the mainstream press, and Apple Responded to the problem because of the attention it was getting ( http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=... )
Im sorry that you're frustrated with Apple's repair polocy but to accuse the journalists of The New York Times etc of being bribed with exclusive stories to not post bad things about Apple is highly offensive to those journalists, and simply nonsence.
Michael
· 2 years ago
It's a combination of two things. First it's karma. Apple treats a lot of its customers really well. Most people who buy Apple products really feel like they got their money's worth. Their customer service is usually very good. I had an iBook that I broke by kicking the power cord out of it. I went to Apple's website, said I had a problem with my iBook, they sent a nice box to pick it up that arrived the next day. I mailed it out, it was repaired and returned to me within three days, with no money out of my pocket, no time wasted on a telephone or driving somewhere to drop it off, etc. I had an iPod I broke by getting it wet, and got exactly the same kind of service, only this time it was replaced no questions asked.
So in general, Apple makes a lot of people happy. Thus when they do screw up (and they definitely do,) there's enough good karma to absorb the bad karma.
The second reason, and you hit on this, is strictly business. Apple uses its position in public opinion to make them extremely valuable to the press. That whole first amendment thing allows the press to print whatever they want, regardless of bias. The press is a business and thus they are heavily biased by the value that Apple brings to them and are free to make decisions based on this bias. When you start complaining about the press bias towards Apple, you sound a lot like a Republican complaining about the "liberal media." Freedom of the press cuts in a lot of ways.
Dominic Jones
· 2 years ago
Robert,
You know as well as anyone that the press likes an underdog, and despite its recent success, Apple is still seen as an underdog.
When iTunes became overwhelmed by demand it wasn't a big company failing to plan ahead, it was an underdog victim of it's own success.
Dave Winer
· 2 years ago
Scoble, I tell the truth about Apple, and the zealots mostly don't hassle me these days. But they used to terrorize me. Not sure what changed.
But keep telling it like it is. You're absolutely right, it's ridiculous to make Patrick wait because Apple sold him a defective machine. There ought to be a grace period, mandated by law, that says if you bought it you can return it. Use your new power with Senator Edwards to make this a national issue. It is worth looking at. GIve him a chance to make good on his promise to do good before the election. Here's something he could do good at. It's not like global warming, or Darfur, or the war on terror, but it still would be a good idea to make Apple behave reasonably toward its customers if it won't do so on its own.
Keep on keepin on brother!!
And happy new year.
PXLated
· 2 years ago
Ya, maybe he could call his buddy Al for ya.
TC
· 2 years ago
Winer: "There ought to be a grace period, mandated by law, that says if you bought it you can return it." Yeah, we can all agree on this. Still don't see any good comparative facts from him about Apple v. Dell v. Costco v. Best Buy. All anecdotal propped up with a few examples - even 500 would be a drop in the ocean!
Apple, Dell and MS are all there to make a profit. Getting favourable media coverage without paying for it, without masquerading as something it isn't, without dummy web sites is something Apple just happens to be very good at. Dell, MS and others can raise their game in the media world if they want to - make some interesting product!
Robert, if you don't like Apple that much then start a new campaigning web site with loads a facts to support your opinions. Your a big noise in the blogging world, influential for many, so I'm sure Apple will respond.
Paul Roundy
· 2 years ago
"There ought to be a grace period, mandated by law, that says if you bought it you can return it.” Yeah, we can all agree on this.
I don't agree with it. You should expect that you can return a defective product and get it replaced for one that works, but legislating mandatory return policies is excessive. If a company wants to create a policy like that on its own, fine. It seems to me we have bigger national issues to tackle than customer service.
Dave Winer
· 2 years ago
Geez this guy TC is a real dick.
met
· 2 years ago
I have a Dell and 2 apple laptops (a powerbook and a macbook). Dell has been really good at getting me stuff shipped next day. When I've had to send it in, I usually get it within 3 business days. My powerbook went back for 15 days because of a faulty touchpad after the first month. The next time was better - 7 days (it took 4 days for the "geniuses" to ship it from the store(Bay Street))
And Dell gave me a new (refurb but its history showed that it was built the same week) - after I had to send my old one 5 times in the 2 years. Apple would never do anything like that. Considering that the keyboard has stopped working this week. By now Dell would have made me happier.
I understand that different people have different experiences. I love Apple products and feel good to own one, but that feeling goes off when they go bad.
By the way all my recent iPod purchases have been from Costco.
rj malfalfa
· 2 years ago
so your son can go to an Apple store and get help...coool....how come there is no microsoft store for all the pc's i had crash over 9 years-
I honestly believe that maybe you just don't like apple products-i understand-it's hard to love the guy who is on top-me too-ive always rooted for the underdog too-
apple is all about integration, functionality, and innovation.
Microsoft.... i like em but....zune is a copy of the apple ipod idea- check out the new vista-by microsoft.....it copies tons of features from the apple panther and tiger
innovation-integration-Microsoft.... you can be innovative again-
John Bauer
· 2 years ago
It sounds like you are venting your rage at Apple because you wanted your son to handle the problem and he didn't handle it to your satisfaction. It's good that you are redirecting your anger away from your son, but it's too bad that you equated his learning to handle computer problems with learning to handle customer service issues.
The important lesson to be learned here has nothing to do with Apple (who apparently did everything by the book) and everything to do with teaching your son better negotiation skills.
TC
· 2 years ago
"Geez this guy TC is a real dick." I've noticed that when the weight of opinion is not going your way it's time to resort to rational comment.
J Virginia
· 2 years ago
Just as an anecdote on another consumer item, my friend's XBox 360 died after a little over three months, after he applied an update.
Given the anemic 90-day warranty, he didn't even have the option to wait a couple of weeks for the repair, it was going to cost him $140 or so to have it fixed.
I believe that Microsoft has since softened their policy within the last week or so in this, but there were many others who blogged about this issue, and were told by Microsoft: Too bad.
Point being, this is hardly a scenario restricted to Apple.
PXLated
· 2 years ago
TC...Congrats, wear the slam like a badge of honor. The few, the proud, the brave, the slimed by Dave ;-)
Joe S.
· 2 years ago
How about backing up your assumption with facts...for example what is the failure rate of Apple products versus Dell? Nothing is perfect. What denotes the quality product of a product is the number of flaws. Grow up. You're whining like a little school girl. Seems to me anybody with a pair could get the laptop replaced. Grow some.
Oddly enough, Apple absolutely trounces the competition in customer service and satisfaction polls year after year after year. Also, Costco is going to be changing their return policy in the near future (too easily abused) and Best Buy has more return/repair horror stories to its name to ever be taken seriously as a shining example of customer service.
We've all had to go a while without our [insert gadget here] while its under repair at least once or twice in our lives. It's not that big of a deal.
But, therein lies the stench of bullshit around this story. It isn't about regular ol' customer service. It's about a prima-donna blogger acting like he's been slighted when he doesn't get special treatment from Apple. I mean, gosh. You get treated like every other dude ever, instead of Steve Jobs floatin' down from on high with a MacBookXtreme and a bowl of ice cream? Gosh, cry me a fucking river.
I think certain people are letting the "influential" title get to their head. Please do keep in mind that your audience consists primarily of us "non-influential" folk. Also note, we find shit like this absolutely ridiculous and pathetic.
Terry
· 2 years ago
I don't know what maintream press you are reading but I have seen plenty of negative press about Apple including in some of the publications you mentioned. The idea that Apple gets a pass is ludicrous.
Btw "Stanley" just about everything you said is wrong.
Terry
· 2 years ago
Hey I just used this crazy search thing called "Google" to look up the names of the publications you mentoned along with "mac issues" or "mac problems" and they all came up with hits on negative Apple stories. Try using it instead of MSN Search and you can avoid some embarrasment next time. Or any kind of basic research would be good.
DWalla
· 2 years ago
OK.... you have our attention... publish the miles of bad press about Apple that you somehow are privy to.... what?... you don't have any? Or are you asking mainstream media to do their normal job... trumping up stories for the sake of selling their media?
Robert Scoble
· 2 years ago
>It isn’t about regular ol’ customer service. It’s about a prima-donna blogger acting like he’s been slighted when he doesn’t get special treatment from Apple.
That makes for a very nice story. But read my post again. I wasn't the one at the counter.
Second, I have more than a dozen stories of people who had to leave their new Macs at a store for two weeks to have rebooting/shutdown problems fixed.
And, again, Best Buy always takes back stuff. I've returned several items there and spend a lot of time in that store and I've always seen them take things back.
jbelkin
· 2 years ago
CES is 98% clock radios, wiring, car attennas, and wiring - even 99% of large Tv's are just that - TV's - there's some show-off technology but like a car show, where you get a lot of concepts that never get very far (How's that voice activated remote from Intel working for you). Bill Gates goes but says nothing that you or I couldn' say if we had 5 minutes and someone threw us up on stage. Go back and read his keynote and pretend the guy from RadioShack says it - who would even quote it? That's not say CES isn't fun in some aspects but right now, the industry is being led by Apple - the companies at CES intro some new technologies but it's a show for retailers who dictate what's what - look at the nobuzz around blu-ray or HD or the Sony Aibo dog ... Apple actually intros technology that gets used by people and right now where they go, they stake a lead ...
Larry
· 2 years ago
Robert,
I am confused by the strength of your anger.
Help readers understand what your time expectations are for fixing your car (inc time to get a slot in their schedule), washer and dryer, TV, getting cable installed, etc etc, while they are under warranty.
Bill Sagert
· 2 years ago
Jeez, sorry to hear all these stories about computers gone bad, whether Macs, Dells, or whatever. I must be the luckiest sonofabitch to walk the face of the earth, because my two aging Toshibas (4 and 3 yrs old) just keep truckin. For some strange reason, I find Toshibas to be very beautifully designed (but what the heck, aren't Mac and PC laptops just basically two slabs of hinged plastic?). One had a hard drive failure but the other ain't never seen a repair shop. Neither one has ever had a virus and since SP2, have never crashed (memo to Steve, I'll buy a Mac when you quit insulting me in your ads). Robert, I think all the hissy fits are in the comments.
Jo B
· 2 years ago
Robert- I sent an email earlier this afternoon regarding your son's laptop - please don't post my comment on the blog, it was more for you personally. I have an 11 year old son nyself, and reading your blog (which I"ve never read before- sorry!) made me wonder how your son was reacting to your reaction.
I hope it all works out for him- I wish him the best on his Mac! He'll love it.
Larry
· 2 years ago
"The idea that Apple gets a pass is ludicrous."
Not only do they get a pass, they get tons of free publicity from "stories" that are nothing more than journalists coming up with ways to talk about Apple products.
Use Google News to put it in perspective: Results 1 - 10 of about 12,210 for ipod Results 1 - 10 of about 11,126 for darfur
Why does it happen? Because journalists are by and large Apple fans, and by and large biased. You can refute both of those statements if you like, but evidence backs it up.
aToMac
· 2 years ago
I think Apple has a lot of fans, like me, but there are also a lot of anti-Apple people.
Apple does get a lot of bad-press. CNet for example has a record on this. Sponsored by...?
I can understand that you and your son are upset. Hell, I would be. But you have to put it in perspective. I am a programmer and at work I have to use MS .Net framework. Visual Studio Professional costs around €1000. It has a lot of bugs in it, as well as the .Net framework.
I file those bugs. If MS can't fix it, it is either postponed or By Design. And we have to wait months before it gets fixed. Don't let me even get started about Windows.
Every piece of software contains bugs. And it should be fixed much faster if they have a great impact. The problem is that everyone expects flawless hardware, but on the software side a lot more is accepted. MS doesn't make a lot of hardware, they are a software company. But we all know, they are lucky that it is much more accepted to create buggy software, than it is to create buggy hardware.
plubius
· 2 years ago
The press only publishes what won't hurt them.
Mick
· 2 years ago
The Scobleizer is speaking the truth. I worked in major media and had a former Apple executive as a boss. Apple is very particular about its image. They should be studied. Apple's brand is extremely valuable. But Dell has turned its brand into a commodity. The design is boiler plate. Their low-end lap tops are so cheap, they are disposable. The keys fall off of Dells.
You are right, Robert. Now that you are a born again Mac user (I remember your first Mac interation) you are wondering what I have been wondering for a long-time. I still have a problem with the fact that Mac does not allow folks to blog and I am a person who used to say, "if I am cut I bleed eight colors."
Mick
· 2 years ago
Is the Scobleizer a Mac user now? I have been for about 18 years. But I toggle back and forth between PCs. Apple wants total control of the brand communications, but it has the smell of the man all over it. It's still better PR than any other computer company. See sadbastards.wordpress.com
mark day
· 2 years ago
Whether it's a Dell or a Mac, when your laptop bursts into flames, there can only be one question.... "who will save my... um.... 'special interest' files...."
As for Apple glitches, they would be less of an issue if so much of the Apple mantra (as muttered by the Mac faithful) didn't revolve around the notion of superiority through simplicity. Would-be users may well find to their suprise that in some respects Mac products are sometimes just like other products. Glitchy.
Podesta
· 2 years ago
I am posting from an Apple Store in Portland. I came in with a PowerBook G4 battery that had stopped charging and iPod earphones that had developed a hiss. Both the pattery ($80 value) and the earbuds have been replaced without a hassle. The 'genius' could have made me go through the diagnostic process with the battery, but he took my word that it would not charge. I am not naive enough to believe customer care is always this easy, but I do think that good experiences with Apple most of the time is why Apple leads in customer satisfaction surveys.
Mary
· 2 years ago
Dear Apple, Dear Apple, My iPod won't play My MacBook shuts down - the power won't stay. Quicktime is buggy and leads to attack Dear Apple, please tell me why I bought a Mac?
mike
· 2 years ago
You actually had to PROVE that Apple preview gadgets in the media?
Um, you mean like... how Ebert and Roeper get to see movies before I've seen them?
Wooo... trippy
mike
· 2 years ago
Dude. Dell doesn't even GET press. They slap computers together and ship them in the millions to banks and office towers around the world. THey should stick to what they do best: sell Windows.
Mick
· 2 years ago
Mike, exactly. Dell is like the street hooker charging $20 per client. Macs are the high priced escorts going for $500 an hour.
Mick
· 2 years ago
What kind of "press" does Dell think they are going to get? Hey, the keys that fall off are not that hard to put back on yourself.
Or, Dell has new deodorant in it's office restrooms.
Miguel Calejo
· 2 years ago
Anyone noticed that: 1) Michael Dell has stated he'd be interested in bundling Mac OS X 2) Apple has finished moving to Intel, and is finishing Leopard, the next version of the OS previewed to developers in August, expected to be announced next week 3) Microsoft bullies manufacturers, and Vista... well 4) Steve Jobs keynote in SF will be at the same time as Michael Dell's in Vegas... I predict iChat will get a new VIP user tuesday
Mick
· 2 years ago
I've heard rumors of Dell/Apple partnerships for about two years. It' would be like Tiffany's (Apple) merging with Target (Dell).
That's wishful thinking on Michael Dell's part to boast his stock.
Steve Jobs is way to smart to fall for any partnerships with a dime a dozen computer company.
Paul Herbert
· 2 years ago
When you go thru what i have no wonder Dell has Bad PR.
Customer service...Hmmm Interesting concept...I have to say that in my book Dell has a long way to go before Kudo's need to be handed out.
(*Note: I purchased the extended top of the line service agreement and it just now a one year old machine)
For instance I have had an open case number for over 22 days now. Let me back up and run down the whole scnerio here for ya. Get your popcorn this is a good one. Ok one day long long ago my less than a year old XPS 600 took a nose dive while right in the middle of doing routine work. Just froze up. Ok so i reboot ...waiting...waiting..nothing. I can't even get into safe mode. So here is the first call to Dell..(22 days ago) I don't know what happened but to make this part of the long story short. We ended up having to completly reinstall the OS. Now this is my business machine with 10's thousands of dollars worth of software and one of a kind business materails. Ok new OS installed (only cost me a couple hundred dollars to get some programs back)
NOW THE FUN BEGINS!! I buy a large enough hard drive to start doing daily backups just in case this would happen again, but wouldn't you know it, the backup drive has yet arrived (5 days) when the machine crashes AGAIN. Called Dell again..this time its determined that my graphics card is bad. This time I talk to TWO techs on TWO different calls and neither one offers anything to help me to gain access to my machine to at least do some work, Now you have to understand the machine will not even boot up in safe mode, Ok so how do we take care of this I ask? We send a graphics card replacement and a Qualex Serv people come out and install it, he replies. GREAT, what time tomorrow should i expect them i ask? Oh you won't see them tomorrow its at least 3-5 business days....Whaaaaaa I gasp. What happened to the 24 in house service i paid for? OH thats after Qualex gets the parts he tells me. Wooooh..I say to him this was never explained to me or even mentioned. This is my business machine I can't go a week dead in the water. Im sweating buckets now and all i hear is sorry thats the way its done im told. The call ends and all i have is a case and dispatch number and the hopes this gets taken care of sooner rather than later.
After sitting at my desk looking at a blank screen it dawned on me that these techs hadn't even tried to to get my machine back up and running. So I call dell back, and of course a different tech...well he pretty much dismisses my attempt at getting him to try anything, he just agreed with the first two techs that its my graphics card, wasted call. SO I call a 4th time and BEG..BEG mind you, to even get a tech to try and at least get me in to get emails or something. The tech gets me in in safe mode and at least i can go thru my ISP and get some emails but no work can be done.
So moving on..5 days later and no graphics card or tech to be seen i call dell again. Im informed that there aren't any Gforce 6800 graphics cards to be had, ( i have dual Gforce 6800's) they are back ordered...no solution suggested, nothing. Im getting hot by this time and demand to speak to a supervisor (I did not curse)..now would you believe this...this guy hangs up on me! No mistake, we didn't get disconnected, or he would have called me back..did he? NOOOOOO! So customer oriented Dell did the one thing i never ever thought i would have happen, A customer was hung up on!
Now after this im steaming. I call again and im on my 4th or 5th tech...This guy offers to send me Gforce7600 card instead. Ok im cool with that (I believe its a better card) and the tech tells me it is also and that he is doing this because of the trouble i have had. Ok like any person Im apeased, after all what can i say Dell is stepping me up to a better card, or at least I thought so and was led to believe so.
To my delightful surprise the card shows up the next day! BUT it too good to be true..I have a DUAL Gforce 6800 and this guy sends me ONE Gforce 7600..ONE !...Ok back on the phone...I get yet another tech and he is falling all over himself to help me. Gives me his ID, email, phone extention the works..OH and he is sending a second card to Qualex this time.
5...thats 5 days later no tech no card no nothing! I call dell and use the extention the last tech gave me to contact him. Would you believe its NOT HIS NUMBER ! I call Qualex to see what the deal is...Now get this..Dell scheduled 3 service calls..then they ( DELL) cancels ALL THREE. Qualex has no clue whats going on. Frankly neither does Dell... So Once more I call Dell today...and I was right THEY HAVE NO CLUE whats going on. Its now 22 DAYS later, 22 DAYS! Would you believe the guy tells me ok we will do this again and its gonna take another 3-5 days on top of what has already been one major joke and horror show!
Oh twist that blade thats plunged deep into my back just a little bit more! I get a call back from the tech i just talked to. Now they are not going to send the Gfroce 7600 dual cards but the Gforce 6800 Dual. He told me the 7600 is not as good a card as the 6800. I don't know much about these cards so im not sure which one is better..but get this..If the 7600 is a worse card that means Dell was going to replace my better cards for a downgrade and not even tell me! ORRR Dell decided that the 7600 is a better card and i don't warrent the upgrade now that they have the 6800's back in stock.
So I have been hung up on..lied to....Tricked one way or another about the performance of graphics cards and dell was knowingly going to downgraded me without me even being told, i have waited or will have waited almost 30 days before my 24 hour service just might be completed.
So customer service and Dell...as far as im concerned they shouldn't be mentiond in the same sentence. I will NEVER suggest to ANYONE that they even think of buying a computer from dell.
In fact i just bought a laptop since i don't have a working machine...and i assure you it WAS NOT a DELL !
A footnote: I tried to post this over on the blog. They have yet to post it. The same page Where Mr. Dell i Believe posted his infamous speach. Guess they selectivly post there. Lets now add insult to injury! Would you believe i just received a call from dell saying that this graphics card is now on backorder and won't be shipped till MARCH!
WARNING...Dell service does not exsist!
Nancy
· 2 years ago
I’ve spent about 4 hours on the phone with Dell over the last month, trying to get my 16 year old daughter’s 2005 Christmas present (an Inspiron 6000) fixed and now I think it's the vertical line problem with the LCDs at www.dellverticalline.com. I've already told them to send it back because I just couldn't waste anymore time or my life on their stupid customer service run around. But now I realize if you don't say the right "almost a lawsuit problem" they will blame it on your handling of the product. Here is what happened to us: > I was busy moving, so my daughter took it upon herself to call in and try to get our “under warranty” laptop repaired. She said the word “dropped” and we are totally hosed now. The laptop’s audio never worked right, the keys started to fall off randomly and then the LCD screen went (which I now am sure is the vertical line issue that Dell won’t acknowledge). She’s 16, she knocked it once harder than she thought she should and felt responsible and was honest with them. Now they say the motherboard needs to be repaired and we have to pay $798. I flipped at that and guess what … the price changed to $490 plus taxes. I gave them a choice since I knew we were doomed because she said “dropped” … I offered $200 to fix the LCD since I knew her words couldn’t be erased off their work order AND we would buy the 3 year, $209 accident insurance OR years of my badmouthing Dell and never being a customer again. They wouldn’t budge. So you know, I feel much more comfortable giving the probably $400 repair money to a local businessman and making sure I tell everyone that Dell products aren’t worth the hassle of the guaranteed repair needs.
They need to tell the customer service people not to say, “Thank you for chosing Dell” at the end of an angry, unsatisfying call! I said,”You are kidding right?" Now that I've found www.dellverticalline.com I am trying once more to get this resolved. This time when I mentioned this website and that I think that is our LCD problem all along, the customer service tech guy was gone while I was on hold for, no kidding, 10 minutes. I think that means I have a slightly better shot at getting this resolved than I did earlier this morning. But again, based on problems I've read all over the web in Dell Hell, if I pay for a 3 year $209 warrantly I'll just go through this again, won't I!? OH ... guess why I haven't been getting emails? Because their spelling system ... "f" as in frank, "u" as in unbelievable, "t" as in tirade, "t" as in tired of being on hold, "o" as in ornery, "n" as in "nuff" already, "b" as in bizarre, "a" as in AAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhh, "y" as in you're kidding me, "m" as in mad as hell, "e" as in error, "d" as in despicable, "i" as in idiots, "a" as in the A word @yahoo.com FAILED MISERABLY and they've been sending my emails to futtonmaymedia@yahoo.com instead of suttonbaymedia@yahoo.com. Dell Hell is such an apt description. And I'm am trying to be forgiving of the language barrier, everyone needs a job. But this system isn't working. The problem started when my daughter couldn't understand a word the customer service guy said and vice versa. This is just an inexcusable business practice. Please go to www.ihatedell.net and complain there as well. Memphis Dell continues to hold my daughter’s laptop for ransom. How sad.
51TzrGoHdW
· 2 years ago
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Mick
· 2 years ago
Dell is set up like an old "Rust Belt" corporation from the '60s. Dell's stock is in for a death spiral now that the quality issues are coming out.
Let's face it, Dell laptops are the crap.
pookster
· 2 years ago
IF Dell would actually have tech support that spoke English, maybe they wouldn't get dragged through the mud. I won't ever go back to Dell because of their "tech(LESS) support". Mac rules. (And I have 2 Apple horror stories for repairs, but at least they spoke English.) All computers break down, it's a fact of life. If I have a computer problem, I want to speak to someone NOT reading from cue cards with a more than rudimentary understanding of English.
Disneys
· 4 months ago
It's about time! The Republicans in Ohio and several other states are trying to return us to the days of the poll tax. I'll bet that plenty of wealthy right-wing suburbanites are going to appoint themselves poll watchers in poor and minority districts again this year, as they've done in recent elections. Unless there are independent poll disney acting auditions watchers in those neighborhoods this year, it's likely to get ugly. Rich reactionaries have controlled literally everything in this country for years, and they won't give up their dictatorship of the dollar easily.
All Comments
Apple today still gets its fair share of criticism; read any serious product review in consumer press, flaws are clearly enumerated.
Apple isn't so much protected by the press, it simply spends millions on sustaining a romantic brand identity. This - consciously or otherwise - impacts how it's reflected in pop culture and, consequently, the media within.
I just watched yet another "gushing" story about Apple on TV. They certainly do get a lot of cool coverage, particularly from influentials (read: celebrities) and from mainstream press.
i thought that Cisco had dibs on the Iphone ?
Didnt you just get back from new orleans?
Jeez, after I got home from there last month I was thankful to have my house, electricity, etc.
I'm sure Steve Jobs will come up with another cute name for whatever his gadget is, though.
And what's with all the posts, this is the third on the same subject. Get tired of the responses you were getting on the first two. Thought your luck would change here with a third?
I guess I could read into other interpretations, you want to create traffic, you want to create another incident like Jarvis did, etc.
WWDC for sure and Macworld I believe are open to the public, so any blogger who wants to get a ticket and go to SF could cover those keynotes.
Are you going to be at Macworld? If not, why not?
I'm going to CES instead of MacWorld. Why? Well, disclaimer time: Seagate is paying PodTech to put on a BlogHaus there.
But, I went last year when there wasn't money on the line instead of going to the MacWorld keynotes. CES is a bigger show and more important.
No, Apple didn't tell Jarvis to pound sand either. He just told him to call customer support and didn't take care of him to his liking.
Apple didn't take care of Patrick to my liking either. You might not agree (not everyone agreed with Jarvis either) but it's my blog and I get to say it.
>I guess I could read into other interpretations, you want to create traffic, you want to create another incident like Jarvis did, etc.
If this was the only time this has happened, I guess you could call me on my motives. But, Dave Winer has been documenting these issues for months, pointing to dozens of bloggers who've had rebooting/shutdown problems, and most of whom get the same "leave your computer here for two weeks" answer.
Am I trying to make an issue about this? Definitely.
Why is it fair for Dell's PR to be dragged under the bus and not Apple's? Dell is making a good effort to engage with bloggers, take care of problems, and improve its customer service.
Is Apple?
Not true -- the keynote, which is the only bit the press are allowed into, has no NDA. The full event is NDA.
Compare and contrast with press attendence at PDC.
jon@pcpro
The media seems to pick good guys and bad guys based on some system that seems logical to them but not always to the rest of us. Why is IBM a good guy for example. In my short 30 years in the industry I have always seen them as the bad guys - does no one remember their anti-trust suit? There are examples outside of tech as well. I'm sure we could both come up with a list.
But I have to hand it to you, you turned your son's bad experience into a bloggers vs. the MSM. vs. Apple topic really fast. Good job man.
Regarding press coverage, who knows? MSM press coverage seems to center around the cult of Jobs and cool designs, not around the dark, dirty underbelly of Apple's business, things like customer service.
You seem to think Best Buy, Costco and Wal Mart have great customer service. My experience is that all three suck in the customer service department but I don't bemoan a lack of negative media coverage about it.
Likewise one link in Business Week about Jarvis' lemon doesn't seem like a significant amount of MSM press coverage. Dell took way more heat about exploding batteries.
RE:yr point about Apple getting a pass from the MSM.
I think that's a wildly hasty generalization unsupported by facts.
1. Apple got dinged in the mainstream press after a couple users documented their unhappiness with the cost of replacing batteries for the ipod and posted their unhappiness to youtube. CBS news, Washington Post, ZDNet, cnet, blogs, Fox News, Rolling Stone, etc. all picked up the story.
Apple responded to this criticism and changed its policy.
See http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/spotlight/arti... for more info on this.
2. Apple was widely covered in the MSM when there were questions raised about the manufacturing conditions in China.
Apple responded to the concerns (they even have a link on their website)--http://www.apple.com/hotnews/ipodreport/
3. Apple was widely covered when Steve Jobs banned all Wiley books from the Apple stores to punish Wiley for publishing a book on him
4. Apple has been widely covered for not having an apparent successor to Steve Jobs
5. Apple has received a ton of press about the backdating thing
6. Apple received MSM coverage about possibly falling sales re:Itunes after the Forrestor posting
7. Apple received MSM coverage regarding scratching on iPod nano
Another Jarvis-like poster had created a site. Apple responded.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4286294.stm
8. Apple received a ton of MSM coverage when France was trying to force Apple to make music bought from its stores play on other players
RE:Apple doesn't respond via blogs
Yes that's true. However, fwiw see also this:
http://blogs.msdn.com/mthree/archive/2006/08/04...
RE:comparing Costco and Best Buy's return policy to Apple's.
I don't expect Apple's retail policies to be like Costco's and Best Buy's. That's not why i buy an Apple computer. I may have missed the point of the comparison of Costco/Best Buy to Apple. I've had both great service from Apple stores and average service from Apple. So far i've been fortunate to not have lousy service, though of course i know others have suffered bad service from them.
RE:why Jarvis's rant got picked up. Jarvis is a member of the mainstream press so his blog is likely heavily read by the MSM. That incressed the odds of the story getting picked up, not so much a MSM ignore all bad things about apple bias.
One question: When you say MSM, are you referring mainly to NYT, Washington Post, Newsweek, WSJ, or are you also referring to the industry sites like cnet, zdnet, infoworld, macworld?
One last thing about MSM coverage. Frankly, not all manufacturing problems warrant MSM coverage. In print, there are limited pages; on TV, there is limited time. In all cases, there is limited resources to cover stories.
There are so many important stories that the MSM should cover and such limited resources to do it that if they are not covering this particular one about the macbook pro or another one i'm ok with that. There are many more urgent issues to cover.
More power to you to get attention focused on this particular hardware issue. And again, i hope it gets solved quickly.
What this really shows is the arrogance of Apple and the iPeople that religiously follow them. Just like when you met Steve Jobs, that same arrogant attitude carries through everywhere. On their web site, from the cheeky comments about their own mistake (the iPod virus issue) to rolling headlines of "news" stories bashing MS. Imagine the wrath if it was the other way around.
Just yesterday I was helping out a friend with his iPod, as iTunes was throwing up a strange error. After searching around I found that many others were having the same problem. I also found that a thread on the Apple support forums had been DELETED. Once again, imagine if MS started doing stuff like that on the newsgroups or blog comments. In the end, the error still exists, and he can't sync his iPod.
Robo74 you make a good point about MS these days. We can complain about a lot of things, but they have an awful lot of employees blogging these days. After reading the IEBlog, they caught a lot of little last minute gotchas, responding quickly and efficiently to comments left. Throughout it all, many a negative post existed, and still does. Where are the sanctioned Apple bloggers? Bueller?
That's not to belittle your problems - I've had problems with Apple hardware and have been frustrated with their lack of communication, but in the end, they fixed the problems. I hope you get your problems fixed (or you get your money back). But please don't say that Apple doesn't get bad PR. Just like any big company, there are plenty of people in the press trying to knock Apple down a peg or three.
But there's tons of stuff written about EVERYTHING Apple does, just like with Microsoft. The S/N ratio is absolute crap for both companies. It makes trying to find useful information ten times harder, (along with Microsoft changing URLs every six seconds) than it should be.
The thing is, Apple also keeps churning out new product. In the space of time that Microsoft managed, what, two game consoles, a new version of server, a fix pack for an OS, a couple of "get the ipod" initiatives, and other things, only a handful of which even came close to new, look at what Apple's been pulling off.
It's the results that people care about dude, and Apple is providing them more than Microsoft. Sure as HELL doing a better job than Dell who, at this point, only brands other people's stuff.
Oh, and ANYONE talking about some mythical time when Apple hardware was perfect and reliable is smoking that crack that makes you stupid. Apple has always had, like everyone else, hardware problems. When we get together in S.F., ask me about them, I'll give you the list.
Mac market share is hovering around, what? 5%? The amount of 'dissatisfaction' in the air is nothing compared to the amount of people with Dell's and other PC's who have bad experiences with customer service. And there is of course, the general 'love' that Mac users have towards their computers that work against it. Who sits around talking about how great their Dell experience is? Very little works FOR Dell except that as far as PC's go, it's one of the better companies. Still, most users see it as a 'necessary evil.'
That's a big difference.
I don't really see the connection between your son's support issue and the presence of an Apple blog. I've been trying to follow your argument and it seems that you aren't really satisfied with your support experience with Apple and wish they had a corporate blog to tell you what's going on. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Did you let Apple know that a week or two without the laptop would be unacceptable? How did they respond? How are you going to let them know that you aren't happy as a customer (beside your blog)?
Instead of constantly going after Apple for not having a blog could I make a suggestion that you keep highlighting companies that are successfully using blogs to create great customer experiences? Example: the guy that made a comment about the zune and their helpful blog. I think this would strengthen your argument for corporate blogs.
But here you are pissing down Apple's neck because your son's computer isn't functioning properly. A reason to be upset, yes. A reason to ask others for similar experiences? Okay. But essentially calling for a news jihad against Apple?
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
(all my apple kit is bought and paid for by me)
"Is it because mainstream press are sent Apple products to try and use before anyone else sees them? (True story, how do you think that Newsweek and Time gets iPods on its covers at the same time the rest of the press gets to see them?)"
Nope -- magazines arent given subs to Apple Developer subscriptions, so they have no access to Leopard at the moment.
And Apple does not brief the press in advance of a launch -- very occassionally, this rule will be broken but only for very specific deals (like the front cover of Time). And that is rare.
Moreover, Apple usually gets treated unfairly by the main press. For instance, a rumor site will report a rumor, then the main street press will often report it as fact. When the rumor does not pan out, Apple's stock will take a hit.
The problem is you only have your experience to judge Apple on. You have no idea how many people are effected by the problem your son's computer is experiencing. If there are only 50 of you, this hardly is reason for a bad press assault against Apple, considering the company probably has sold over a million of the units. Five percent failure rate is considered good.
Moreover, Apple did what it should do: namely take the computer, look at it, and fix it. No company I know of gives out replacement computers every time there is a problem with one. The companies would go out of business, or the product would be too high.
I will tell you the people who should be mad at Apple: all those people who bought G3 or G4 iBooks. The machines logic boards failed because of a defective design. Apple merely replaced the logic boards, but the defective design remained the same. So all those iBooks usually failed again. Many outside the warranty period.
Apple, however usually gets high marks on customer service.
Imagine that, Microsoft using Microsoft funded bloggers. Who'd have thunk it?
It's a good thing a Microsoft funded poster told us about it and mentioned that he was so impressed that he bought a Zune and loves it. I thought a free Zune was part of his Microsoft compensation. Maybe he has 2 of them now. He is probably the only owner outside of Redmond that has successfully squirted a tune from one Zune to another. Who knew you had to move to Redmond or buy 2 Zunes in order to use that feature?
LayZ: normal people get automatic returns at BestBuy and Costco. Yes, I just want the same service normal people can get at other stores.
What will it take for Dell and HP to realize that their laptops, as an example, look bloated and unsleek when placed next to an Apple MacBook Pro? They don't get design and never will because they don't make it a priority. Now everyone is using the same chips, so they have no excuse.
Apple is not perfect. They spin their marketing differently and they have that right, even if it means no one at Apple is blogging. Blogging is not the answer to all our problems, but some people who live on the net can't understand that, I guess. Besides, Dell and HP would LOVE to sell a laptop w/o Windows, but they are stuck. Stuck with one OS they can't alter. They have no choice and are afraid to look elsewhere because they know they will lose even more market share. If Dell had ballz they would ditch the Win platform and create their own, buy Be from Palm or go with Ubuntu. Nope, they are stuck, even if they improve their designs. I would not want to be the CEO of Dell right now. They are dying a slow death.
And Apple almost always comes out on top when it comes to quality surveys, overall. Is Apple buying the press? I think not. They just have better design, and few would argue they don't have more compelling products. Give them the credit they deserve.
Millions of customers did this last year.
Apple gets PLENTY of bad press, but their successes outnumber their failures, these days, so perhaps this not obvious to you.
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salesp...
Apple charges a fairly standard 10% restocking fee which is actually cheaper than Best Buy's 15% fee:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?type=p...
Of course I think restocking fees are lame, they are an industry standard.
What gives, is that your hypothesis is flat-out wrong. Apple has had more than their fair share of criticism, particularly during the period when every article began with the word "beleagured Apple". At that time, they were doing all the things that they do now. In other words, your hypothesis does not stand up to scrutiny.
"If Dell went out of business, it would hardly matter, would it?"
Are you saying the earth will stop spinning if Apple went out of business? Nothing is irreplacable. Substitute Dell with any firm/person/system you know in your sentence, it would still hold.
" but their successes outnumber their failures"
Are you counting each iPod and MACs sold as an individual successess?
BTW, it's not about "how much of bad press". Its about how the ratio of badpress to the goof-ups that caused it and how it differs from AAPL to DELL.
I'm hoping that in the case of your son's laptop, even more than teacning him the value of one operating system over another, or the quality of customer service at one company vs another's (all very valid points, and part of the reason I buy Apple)- that you are also teaching him how to make one's point without resorting to bullying, bluster, and threats.
You are his biggest influence- support him right now without scorching the earth. Maybe that's not the blogger way, but it should be a father's way.
Apple dominates one market, and one market only (or two, if you count mp3 players and online music sales as two markets). They are not gods, and they deserve to be bashed just like anyone else when they screw up. And make no mistake, they do screw up; they're humans after all.
"The thing is, Apple also keeps churning out new product. In the space of time that Microsoft managed, what, two game consoles, a new version of server, a fix pack for an OS, a couple of “get the ipod” initiatives, and other things, only a handful of which even came close to new, look at what Apple’s been pulling off."
I think you're the first one to even bring MS into this discussion. I like how with some Jobs sycophants, you can't criticize Apple without them bringing MS into the picture. Why don't you address Apple's problems in their own right rather than engage in misdirection?
But since you did decide to turn this into yet another of your lame Apple > Microsoft rants, MS did a lot more than that during the time frame you refer to.
Multiple versions of Windows Mobile.
Multiple versions of Tablet PC OS.
Multiple versions of .NET.
Multiple version of Office for Windows and Mac.
Multiple versions of MCE.
I like how you dismiss what MS has done over the last few years while play up what Apple has done with a "Look at what they've been pulling off", without bothering to tell us what they pulled off. All I see is an iPod update each year with new colors and a few more GB, like an auto manufacturer, and the incremental OS upgrades every 18 months.
The guy has absolutely no balance and is a raving Microsoft fan boy. I've never seen any insight here, in fact basic common sense is simply absent. I'm not saying he's stupid but he certainly isn't a balanced intelligent commentator. Every mouth piece with an attitude gets press and eyeballs these days. I'd say scan if required and dismiss as usual. Each article is more meaningless and a waste of my and everyone's time. A veritable Rob Enderle in the making.
Care to substantiate this with some hard evidence?
If not, why stop here? Make up something like "Robert Scoble is the 007 of Microsoft!"
(Atleast this would make a good reading)
Wasn't the macbook random shutdown issue solved over a month ago? Hasn't that been trashed out in the mainstream press, and Apple Responded to the problem because of the attention it was getting ( http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=... )
Im sorry that you're frustrated with Apple's repair polocy but to accuse the journalists of The New York Times etc of being bribed with exclusive stories to not post bad things about Apple is highly offensive to those journalists, and simply nonsence.
So in general, Apple makes a lot of people happy. Thus when they do screw up (and they definitely do,) there's enough good karma to absorb the bad karma.
The second reason, and you hit on this, is strictly business. Apple uses its position in public opinion to make them extremely valuable to the press. That whole first amendment thing allows the press to print whatever they want, regardless of bias. The press is a business and thus they are heavily biased by the value that Apple brings to them and are free to make decisions based on this bias. When you start complaining about the press bias towards Apple, you sound a lot like a Republican complaining about the "liberal media." Freedom of the press cuts in a lot of ways.
You know as well as anyone that the press likes an underdog, and despite its recent success, Apple is still seen as an underdog.
When iTunes became overwhelmed by demand it wasn't a big company failing to plan ahead, it was an underdog victim of it's own success.
But keep telling it like it is. You're absolutely right, it's ridiculous to make Patrick wait because Apple sold him a defective machine. There ought to be a grace period, mandated by law, that says if you bought it you can return it. Use your new power with Senator Edwards to make this a national issue. It is worth looking at. GIve him a chance to make good on his promise to do good before the election. Here's something he could do good at. It's not like global warming, or Darfur, or the war on terror, but it still would be a good idea to make Apple behave reasonably toward its customers if it won't do so on its own.
Keep on keepin on brother!!
And happy new year.
Apple, Dell and MS are all there to make a profit. Getting favourable media coverage without paying for it, without masquerading as something it isn't, without dummy web sites is something Apple just happens to be very good at. Dell, MS and others can raise their game in the media world if they want to - make some interesting product!
Robert, if you don't like Apple that much then start a new campaigning web site with loads a facts to support your opinions. Your a big noise in the blogging world, influential for many, so I'm sure Apple will respond.
I don't agree with it. You should expect that you can return a defective product and get it replaced for one that works, but legislating mandatory return policies is excessive. If a company wants to create a policy like that on its own, fine. It seems to me we have bigger national issues to tackle than customer service.
My powerbook went back for 15 days because of a faulty touchpad after the first month. The next time was better - 7 days (it took 4 days for the "geniuses" to ship it from the store(Bay Street))
And Dell gave me a new (refurb but its history showed that it was built the same week) - after I had to send my old one 5 times in the 2 years. Apple would never do anything like that. Considering that the keyboard has stopped working this week. By now Dell would have made me happier.
I understand that different people have different experiences. I love Apple products and feel good to own one, but that feeling goes off when they go bad.
By the way all my recent iPod purchases have been from Costco.
I honestly believe that maybe you just don't like apple products-i understand-it's hard to love the guy who is on top-me too-ive always rooted for the underdog too-
apple is all about integration, functionality, and innovation.
Microsoft.... i like em but....zune is a copy of the apple ipod idea-
check out the new vista-by microsoft.....it copies tons of features from the apple panther and tiger
innovation-integration-Microsoft.... you can be innovative again-
The important lesson to be learned here has nothing to do with Apple (who apparently did everything by the book) and everything to do with teaching your son better negotiation skills.
Given the anemic 90-day warranty, he didn't even have the option to wait a couple of weeks for the repair, it was going to cost him $140 or so to have it fixed.
I believe that Microsoft has since softened their policy within the last week or so in this, but there were many others who blogged about this issue, and were told by Microsoft: Too bad.
Point being, this is hardly a scenario restricted to Apple.
Anti-Apple, Pro-Dell Anecdote: [here]
Oddly enough, Apple absolutely trounces the competition in customer service and satisfaction polls year after year after year. Also, Costco is going to be changing their return policy in the near future (too easily abused) and Best Buy has more return/repair horror stories to its name to ever be taken seriously as a shining example of customer service.
We've all had to go a while without our [insert gadget here] while its under repair at least once or twice in our lives. It's not that big of a deal.
But, therein lies the stench of bullshit around this story. It isn't about regular ol' customer service. It's about a prima-donna blogger acting like he's been slighted when he doesn't get special treatment from Apple. I mean, gosh. You get treated like every other dude ever, instead of Steve Jobs floatin' down from on high with a MacBookXtreme and a bowl of ice cream? Gosh, cry me a fucking river.
I think certain people are letting the "influential" title get to their head. Please do keep in mind that your audience consists primarily of us "non-influential" folk. Also note, we find shit like this absolutely ridiculous and pathetic.
Btw "Stanley" just about everything you said is wrong.
That makes for a very nice story. But read my post again. I wasn't the one at the counter.
Second, I have more than a dozen stories of people who had to leave their new Macs at a store for two weeks to have rebooting/shutdown problems fixed.
And, again, Best Buy always takes back stuff. I've returned several items there and spend a lot of time in that store and I've always seen them take things back.
I am confused by the strength of your anger.
Help readers understand what your time expectations are for fixing your car (inc time to get a slot in their schedule), washer and dryer, TV, getting cable installed, etc etc, while they are under warranty.
I hope it all works out for him- I wish him the best on his Mac! He'll love it.
Not only do they get a pass, they get tons of free publicity from "stories" that are nothing more than journalists coming up with ways to talk about Apple products.
Use Google News to put it in perspective:
Results 1 - 10 of about 12,210 for ipod
Results 1 - 10 of about 11,126 for darfur
Why does it happen? Because journalists are by and large Apple fans, and by and large biased. You can refute both of those statements if you like, but evidence backs it up.
Apple does get a lot of bad-press. CNet for example has a record on this. Sponsored by...?
I can understand that you and your son are upset. Hell, I would be. But you have to put it in perspective. I am a programmer and at work I have to use MS .Net framework. Visual Studio Professional costs around €1000. It has a lot of bugs in it, as well as the .Net framework.
I file those bugs. If MS can't fix it, it is either postponed or By Design. And we have to wait months before it gets fixed. Don't let me even get started about Windows.
Every piece of software contains bugs. And it should be fixed much faster if they have a great impact. The problem is that everyone expects flawless hardware, but on the software side a lot more is accepted. MS doesn't make a lot of hardware, they are a software company. But we all know, they are lucky that it is much more accepted to create buggy software, than it is to create buggy hardware.
Apple's only competitors are Sony, IBM and HP.
sadbastards.wordpress.com
http://markdaycomedy.wordpress.com/2006/08/17/d...
As for Apple glitches, they would be less of an issue if so much of the Apple mantra (as muttered by the Mac faithful) didn't revolve around the notion of superiority through simplicity. Would-be users may well find to their suprise that in some respects Mac products are sometimes just like other products. Glitchy.
My iPod won't play
My MacBook shuts down - the power won't stay.
Quicktime is buggy and leads to attack
Dear Apple, please tell me why I bought a Mac?
Um, you mean like... how Ebert and Roeper get to see movies before I've seen them?
Wooo... trippy
Or, Dell has new deodorant in it's office restrooms.
1) Michael Dell has stated he'd be interested in bundling Mac OS X
2) Apple has finished moving to Intel, and is finishing Leopard, the next version of the OS previewed to developers in August, expected to be announced next week
3) Microsoft bullies manufacturers, and Vista... well
4) Steve Jobs keynote in SF will be at the same time as Michael Dell's in Vegas...
I predict iChat will get a new VIP user tuesday
That's wishful thinking on Michael Dell's part to boast his stock.
Steve Jobs is way to smart to fall for any partnerships with a dime a dozen computer company.
Customer service...Hmmm Interesting concept...I have to say that in my book Dell has a long way to go before Kudo's need to be handed out.
(*Note: I purchased the extended top of the line service agreement and it just now a one year old machine)
For instance I have had an open case number for over 22 days now. Let me back up and run down the whole scnerio here for ya. Get your popcorn this is a good one. Ok one day long long ago my less than a year old XPS 600 took a nose dive while right in the middle of doing routine work. Just froze up. Ok so i reboot ...waiting...waiting..nothing. I can't even get into safe mode. So here is the first call to Dell..(22 days ago) I don't know what happened but to make this part of the long story short. We ended up having to completly reinstall the OS. Now this is my business machine with 10's thousands of dollars worth of software and one of a kind business materails. Ok new OS installed (only cost me a couple hundred dollars to get some programs back)
NOW THE FUN BEGINS!! I buy a large enough hard drive to start doing daily backups just in case this would happen again, but wouldn't you know it, the backup drive has yet arrived (5 days) when the machine crashes AGAIN. Called Dell again..this time its determined that my graphics card is bad. This time I talk to TWO techs on TWO different calls and neither one offers anything to help me to gain access to my machine to at least do some work, Now you have to understand the machine will not even boot up in safe mode, Ok so how do we take care of this I ask? We send a graphics card replacement and a Qualex Serv people come out and install it, he replies. GREAT, what time tomorrow should i expect them i ask? Oh you won't see them tomorrow its at least 3-5 business days....Whaaaaaa I gasp. What happened to the 24 in house service i paid for? OH thats after Qualex gets the parts he tells me. Wooooh..I say to him this was never explained to me or even mentioned. This is my business machine I can't go a week dead in the water. Im sweating buckets now and all i hear is sorry thats the way its done im told. The call ends and all i have is a case and dispatch number and the hopes this gets taken care of sooner rather than later.
After sitting at my desk looking at a blank screen it dawned on me that these techs hadn't even tried to to get my machine back up and running. So I call dell back, and of course a different tech...well he pretty much dismisses my attempt at getting him to try anything, he just agreed with the first two techs that its my graphics card, wasted call. SO I call a 4th time and BEG..BEG mind you, to even get a tech to try and at least get me in to get emails or something. The tech gets me in in safe mode and at least i can go thru my ISP and get some emails but no work can be done.
So moving on..5 days later and no graphics card or tech to be seen i call dell again. Im informed that there aren't any Gforce 6800 graphics cards to be had, ( i have dual Gforce 6800's) they are back ordered...no solution suggested, nothing. Im getting hot by this time and demand to speak to a supervisor (I did not curse)..now would you believe this...this guy hangs up on me! No mistake, we didn't get disconnected, or he would have called me back..did he? NOOOOOO! So customer oriented Dell did the one thing i never ever thought i would have happen, A customer was hung up on!
Now after this im steaming. I call again and im on my 4th or 5th tech...This guy offers to send me Gforce7600 card instead. Ok im cool with that (I believe its a better card) and the tech tells me it is also and that he is doing this because of the trouble i have had. Ok like any person Im apeased, after all what can i say Dell is stepping me up to a better card, or at least I thought so and was led to believe so.
To my delightful surprise the card shows up the next day! BUT it too good to be true..I have a DUAL Gforce 6800 and this guy sends me ONE Gforce 7600..ONE !...Ok back on the phone...I get yet another tech and he is falling all over himself to help me. Gives me his ID, email, phone extention the works..OH and he is sending a second card to Qualex this time.
5...thats 5 days later no tech no card no nothing! I call dell and use the extention the last tech gave me to contact him. Would you believe its NOT HIS NUMBER ! I call Qualex to see what the deal is...Now get this..Dell scheduled 3 service calls..then they ( DELL) cancels ALL THREE. Qualex has no clue whats going on. Frankly neither does Dell... So Once more I call Dell today...and I was right THEY HAVE NO CLUE whats going on. Its now 22 DAYS later, 22 DAYS! Would you believe the guy tells me ok we will do this again and its gonna take another 3-5 days on top of what has already been one major joke and horror show!
Oh twist that blade thats plunged deep into my back just a little bit more! I get a call back from the tech i just talked to. Now they are not going to send the Gfroce 7600 dual cards but the Gforce 6800 Dual. He told me the 7600 is not as good a card as the 6800. I don't know much about these cards so im not sure which one is better..but get this..If the 7600 is a worse card that means Dell was going to replace my better cards for a downgrade and not even tell me! ORRR Dell decided that the 7600 is a better card and i don't warrent the upgrade now that they have the 6800's back in stock.
So I have been hung up on..lied to....Tricked one way or another about the performance of graphics cards and dell was knowingly going to downgraded me without me even being told, i have waited or will have waited almost 30 days before my 24 hour service just might be completed.
So customer service and Dell...as far as im concerned they shouldn't be mentiond in the same sentence. I will NEVER suggest to ANYONE that they even think of buying a computer from dell.
In fact i just bought a laptop since i don't have a working machine...and i assure you it WAS NOT a DELL !
A footnote: I tried to post this over on the blog. They have yet to post it. The same page Where Mr. Dell i Believe posted his infamous speach. Guess they selectivly post there.
Lets now add insult to injury! Would you believe i just received a call from dell saying that this graphics card is now on backorder and won't be shipped till MARCH!
WARNING...Dell service does not exsist!
> I was busy moving, so my daughter took it upon herself to call in and try to get our “under warranty” laptop repaired. She said the word “dropped” and we are totally hosed now. The laptop’s audio never worked right, the keys started to fall off randomly and then the LCD screen went (which I now am sure is the vertical line issue that Dell won’t acknowledge). She’s 16, she knocked it once harder than she
thought she should and felt responsible and was honest with them. Now they say the motherboard needs to be repaired and we have to pay $798. I flipped at that and guess what … the price changed to $490 plus taxes. I gave them a choice since I knew we were doomed because she said “dropped” … I offered $200 to fix the LCD since I knew her words couldn’t be erased off their work order AND we would buy the 3 year, $209 accident insurance OR years of my badmouthing Dell and never being a
customer again. They wouldn’t budge. So you know, I feel much more comfortable giving the probably $400 repair money to a local businessman and making sure I tell everyone that Dell products aren’t worth the hassle of the guaranteed repair needs.
They need to tell the customer service people not to say, “Thank you for chosing Dell” at the end of an angry, unsatisfying call! I said,”You are kidding right?"
Now that I've found www.dellverticalline.com I am trying once more to get this
resolved. This time when I mentioned this website and that I think that is our LCD problem all along, the customer service tech guy was gone while I was on hold for, no kidding, 10 minutes. I think that means I have a slightly better shot at getting this resolved than I did earlier this morning.
But again, based on problems I've read all over the web in Dell Hell, if I pay for a 3 year $209 warrantly I'll just go through this again, won't I!?
OH ... guess why I haven't been getting emails?
Because their spelling system ... "f" as in frank, "u" as in unbelievable, "t" as in tirade, "t" as in tired of being on hold, "o" as in ornery, "n" as in "nuff" already, "b" as in bizarre, "a" as in AAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhh, "y" as in you're kidding me, "m" as in mad as hell, "e" as in error, "d" as in despicable, "i" as in idiots, "a" as in the A word @yahoo.com FAILED MISERABLY and they've been sending my emails to futtonmaymedia@yahoo.com instead of suttonbaymedia@yahoo.com.
Dell Hell is such an apt description. And I'm am trying to be forgiving of the language barrier, everyone needs a job. But this system isn't working. The problem started when my daughter couldn't understand a word the customer service guy said and vice versa. This is just an inexcusable business practice.
Please go to www.ihatedell.net and complain there as well.
Memphis Dell continues to hold my daughter’s laptop for ransom. How sad.
Let's face it, Dell laptops are the crap.