Apple doesn’t care about its customers
We here at BGR love Apple products as much as the next guy, but we think this crossed the line a little bit. Thanks to tip from a close friend of the Boy Genius Report, we’ve uncovered a truly amazing exchange between Apple and a customer. The customer, an owner of a recently water-damaged MacBook Pro, called Apple customer care to get information about repair costs. Accepting full responsibility for the water damage, the customer was still subjected to confusing and contradictory information about the repair. Frustrated with his experience, he took matters into his own hands, emailing sjobs@apple.com (a widely acknowledged direct line to high-level Apple customer care). The customer’s email is as follows:
Dear Steve Jobs,
I wanted to write and express my concern about some recent problems that I have had with Apple Care. This week, my MacBook Pro unfortunately sustained water damage. I understand this is entirely my fault but it is still something I would like to get fixed. After three or four calls I was finally able to get a straight answer. While I was happy to get a straight answer, I was not at all happy with the answer. It is very worrisome to me that the only way to get my computer fixed is to pay almost $300.00 up front with no guarantee that this will fix the problem. I was horrified to learn that their is no system to assess the problem and bill once all damage is known. I am reluctant to put money into a problem that could easily grow. I have had three Apple computers in a row. I love using them but I am not sure if my replacement will be one. I feel powerless in the situation and the whole experience has turned me off of the Apple company.
Sincerely,
Xxxxxx Xxxx
Reasonable? We think so. Shortly after, the customer received the following response:
Xxxxxxx,
This is what happens when your MacBook Pro sustains water damage.They are pro machines and they don’t like water. It sounds like you’re just looking for someone to get mad at other than yourself.
Steve
We find that response totally comical! Don’t you? While we’re guessing Steve Jobs himself wasn’t on the other end of this, it’s certainly a direct response from the @apple.com domain, which is only available to employees of the company. This means that someone directly representing Apple was responsible for this stunt. Come on, Apple. Seriously, this isn’t a good way to treat your customers, though you do get major points for the witty and comical response.
UPDATE: Full email after the break!
From: Steve Jobs <sjobs@apple.com>
Date: March 27, 2008 6:53:46 PM EDT
To: [email removed <xxxxx@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Apple Care Concern
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Xxxxxxx,
This is what happens when your MacBook Pro sustains water damage. They are pro machines and they don’t like water. It sounds like you’re just looking for someone to get mad at other than yourself.
Steve
On Mar 27, 2008, at 3:01 PM, Xxxxxx Xxxx wrote:
Dear Steve Jobs,
I wanted to write and express my concern about some recent problems that I have had with
Apple Care. This week, my MacBook Pro unfortunately sustained water damage. I understand
this is entirely my fault but it is still something I would like to get fixed. After three or four calls
I was finally able to get a straight answer. While I was happy to get a straight answer, I was
not at all happy with the answer. It is very worrisome to met that the only way to get my
computer fixed is to pay almost $300.00 up front with no guarantee that this will fix the problem.
I was horrified to learn that their is no system to asses the problem and bill once all damage is
known. I am reluctant to put money into a problem that could easily grow. I have had three
Apple computers in a row. I love using them but I am not sure if my replacement will be one.
I feel powerless in the situation and the whole experience has turned me off of the Apple
company.
Sincerely,
Xxxxxx Xxxx
Although I think the response was rude and uncalled for I think it was right on. I get sick and tired of customers using the “poor customer support” chip to get their way. You spilled water on your laptop, you suffer the consequences! Grow up and buy a new laptop.
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As one of the guys who used to respond to customers on behalf of Steve, I can assure you that sounds EXACTLY like the kind of email Steve would send himself. And no one drops the hammer on Steve at Apple.
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While I don’t agree with the tone of the reply, water damage is almost impossible to assess without testing every single component individually.
The list includes, LCD, hard drive, motherboard, battery, ram, keyboard, optical drive etc. Short of telling the end user to buy a new computer, there is no easy way to do it.
The quoted assessment fee of 300 dollars will barely cover the effort required to test every component.
It is a lose lose situation, quote a price to replace everything that can possibly be damaged and Apple will get blamed for overcharging. Quote an assessment fee that will justify the effort required to test every component so that the user does not get charged for replacing undamaged components and the assessment fee is seen as too high.
End users need to understand that tech support personnel are not gods. Sometimes they will be stumped, sometimes it will take a few calls before getting the required information. While this should be the exception rather than the rule and to be honest, water damage is really something that does not happen every day.
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If you wreck your car doesn’t your auto shop charge you an inspection fee to look and diagnose the repair? Sounds to me like the guy is a crybaby. I’m with apple on this one.
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Earth to every person on this comment board: No service warranty/plan EVER covers abuse. This includes whatever idiotic treatment of your hardware you can dream up, but not limited to: running over in your car, throwing in a river, letting your dog urinate on it, etc etc.
The supposed response is smart ass because you’re an idiot to ask for any help due to your own negligence.
Go buy a car, smack it and tell the dealer they should cover it. Why don’t people complain about that? Its the same reasoning.
Newsflash: NOBODY owes you a car except you.
Get a life.
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From Apple’s repair policy:
“Apple may charge you a diagnostic fee including shipping charges, of no more than one hundred ($100) dollars US, (“Diagnostic Fee”)…”
http://www.apple.com/legal/terms/repair/naonlinerepair.html
Something seems fishy with this story…
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As an Apple Certified Technician working at an Apple Authorized Service Center, I can tell you the information in those emails is either misinterpreted or misrepresented or fictional. As several others have noted here, there are only two ways an out of warranty repair is performed by Apple.
1. Flat Rate Mail in Repair, cost of approx $300 depending on the model, plus $19.95 portable shipping fee.
2. Flat Rate Mail in Repair, accidental damage, liquid spill, Tier 4 repair costing approx $1250 (depends on the model) plus $19.95 portable shipping fee.
To my knowledge, there is no “$300 diagnostic fee and if it is more then they charge you”. If there is a liquid spill, it is automatically a Tier 4 repair which is the most expensive repair and covers everything that might need replacing. If it is not a liquid spill, but still accidental damage (like dropping the unit, etc) then Tiers 1-3 apply depending on the parts needed to repair. If it is NOT accidental damage, then the flat rate $300 repair applies where they fix whatever is broken.
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It costs money to assess a situation like this, and they cannot guarantee a fix unless they agree to replace the unit, which they should not do. It would have made a better response to explain to the customer that they have no way of pricing it other than to charge $300 for an assessment and that they will not guarantee it will fix the problem. The customer’s question seems to be frustration with the fact that they won’t guarantee a fix, which they would be foolish to do! So “Steve” is correct, the guy is just angry about the damage and he should either pay the $300 to see if its fixable or he should donate it to charity and buy a new computer.
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That’s funny, someone else named Rob posted right before I did -
It costs money to employ technicians that could assess the damage. Its perfectly reasonable for Apple to expect a fee for the assessment. If they guarantee a fix, and then the problem is truly fatal, then they are liable for another machine…when the customer in fact acknowledges its his fault.
The response was impolite and unprofessional though, I agree with that.
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I have a Dell laptop. I spilled water on the keyboard. I have the full care coverage. I called, they came the next day and replaced it no charge. A year later my lcd started acting wonky. I called, two days later I had a new screen, no charge. Everyone hates Dell, and says the warranty is a ripoff, but they’ve always fixed anything I’ve had wrong, with no questions asked.
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i think this is fake for the fact that in the response there are 7 x’s to cover the name, when in the letter sent his name was covered with 6 x’s
cheaply done.
fake or not, poor customer service.
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It’s now official! Most apple fans are complete idiots! The company can do NO wrong your eyes. AMAZING! The guy knows he is at fault and willing to pay to fix and you guys STIL find some way to trash the customer! I own an iphone and love it, however I am not sucked into this cult mentality of “apple can do no wrong”… Give me a break, you people need lives. Clearly this was a horrible break down in customer service, ADMIT IT! Even the best companies make mistakes, oh except apple LMAO… I am curious how many of you have the Apple logo tatooed on your asses????
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This seems odd since Apple has set tier levels for the cost of the repairs. Call a local Apple Service provider and ask for a quote on a Tier level 4 repair which is for liquid damage.
Most likely because of a untrained subcontracted phone support person.
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Why are people getting pissed about this? Go ahead, spill water on your Dell and try to get them to diagnose the exact problem for free. Bloody Idiots.
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Ok, everyone. Fact of the matter is…the guy broke his laptop. It was unfortunate. The guy didn’t want to pay for the damage that he had done to it. He wanted to blame Apple for something he did, which is complete crap. I’m going to have to side with Apple on this one. Quit poking at people with deep pockets, just because they have more money, doesn’t mean your not accountable for you have done
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Entitlement culture. Why do so many of us in America think that we are entitled to be compensated for our own stupidity? There are consequences for actions. Take responsibility for what you do and stop trying to get a handout when you mess up.
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For god’s sake, this is going to happen with any laptop vendor. They have no way of controlling your ability to keep liquids out of your machine. And if the guy didn’t have applecare, the charge is normal. It’s crybabies like this that make me die a little inside.
from a MacBook Pro user who would accept his own fate if he broke his own computer.
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I’ve been a long time Apple customer, but the customer service I’ve received on my Dell Laptop is far superior to Apple.
Apple care and apple customer service are pitiful. Dell offers an extended warranty for exactly such an event that essentially fixes or replaces the machine.
There is no doubt that Apple needs to reassess it’s commitment to it’s customers. Or perhaps Apple customers need to reassess their commitment to apple products.
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actually, this is a perfectly reasonable response.
laptops are complicated bits of electronics. you DO NOT get electronics wet. especially when they are running.
if you are enough of an idiot to get the thing wet while running and to peruse the manufacturer about some kind of deal, you deserve all the negative flack, you get.
if a guy goes out driving in his new car and smashes it into a wall, you don’t see him crying to whomever makes the car about getting it fixed for free.
give me a f*cking break.
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The response is very WoW GMish
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Apple doesn’t care about their customers? What other computer retail store can you go in for a free workshop every single day or get one to one training for only $99 a year for any of their hardware or software? What other computer manufacturer includes tech support for software with their protection plan at no additional price? What other computer manufacturer offers tech support that isn’t based in a third world nation? What other retail store offers personal shopping for anybody for free with no pressure to buy? What other retail store has a staff that is even fucking knowledgeable about the products they sell? When was the last time you went into Best Buy or Circuit City and got to speak with a sales rep who was not only knowledgeable, but excited to show your their products and isn’t just trying to make an extra buck because they work off of commission? What happened in this email is obviously inexcusable and I’m sure somebody just lost their job. It is an isolated incident. Apple is more dedicated to their products and customers than any other technology company and that is why they have tripled their market share in the past 2 years and that is why Fortune magazine named them the most desired company in the world. It pisses me off when people say the Apple doesn’t care, because they do. You just have to not be so friggin’ closed-minded about it. Stop thinking of Apple as just another computer company. Think different.
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Just curious, which month did you get this service down concerning the replaced logic board?
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I agree with Apple. It is unrealistic to troubleshoot water damage on a laptop. The only certain way, without spending 1000 hours on bench testing, is to replace the whole thing. Far more cost effective but still, Apple should not have to replace it.
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HELL NO IF THE DUDE DROPPED WATER ON HIS MACHINE AND ITS NO GOOD , HOW CAN APPLE FIX SOMETHING THAT IS NO GOOD. LOOKS LIKE THE DUDE WANTS A FREEBEE. HE’S JUST GOT TO GET A NEW MACHINE AND BECAREFUL WITH WATER. represent steve
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If you’re worried about paying 300 dollars for repairs maybe you should get a PC like the other riff-raff
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