On Friday, July 5, 2002, at 09:19 PM, Michael Bryan Bell wrote: >> I buy dozens (and some times dozens of dozens) of Apple units each year. >> I >> guess I just have to disagree that Apple's service and support are >> suffering, > > Well, that's odd considering Steve Jobs even admitted they had a problem > and > would be trying to do better. :/ Others I think highly of, steve wozniak, > etc have said the same thing.
Care to quote any sources on quotes by either Jobs or Woz? > That's fine jeremy, but the things you're objecting to aren't the point at > all. She wasn't complaining that apple didn't charge her $30 to fix her > laptop. > > The point isn't that apple computers cost more money, or their pricing, or > what dell or compaq cost. The point is that apple has known problems with > machines that fail- and then charges an arm and a leg to get them fixed. > That is the "gotcha" pricing. It didn't use to be that way. Actually, Apple has a pretty good history of fixing "known problems" without charging anything. There's a whole series of REA programs for 5x00/ 6x00/7x00 machines for various problems, the entire PowerBook 5300 fiasco, the Airport Base Station reset issue, and others that they have handled for me and my customers without a problem. As for costing more, there are SEVERAL cost analysis papers out recently that prove fairly conclusively that the cost-of-ownership of Macs is actually significantly less than that for PCs. It's also worth pointing out that Dell, Gateway, and HP/Compaq are all in pretty bad shape lately because their margins are razor thin. (Dell's in the best shape among that bunch, but at the expense of laying off seemingly the entire city of Austin, Texas). > It's like this- if you drop your computer 3 days out of warranty and it > breaks and apple charges a lot... That's the way it goes. You roll the > dice > if you don't get a warranty. if you DROP the computer, even under warranty, you're paying for the repair. > But if your tibook's hinges fail after owning it for a year and you have > applecare, apple should not be charging you $1k to get them fixed. Even if > you don't have applecare and your firewire port dies after a year, you > should not be paying $650 to get it fixed as it is a known problem with > the > quality of the product. Sure, apple can say "tough, you should have gotten > our warranty" but that isn't the way to build customer loyalty. The hinges on my TiBook just about 2 months ago, outside the original warranty, and covered by AppleCare. I wasn't charged a dime, I didn't even have to argue with them about it. I can't speak for others, obviously, but the reports on MacFixIt trend (severely) towards Apple not charging for this if you're under some sort of warranty (either 1y limited, or 3y ACPP) . If your firewire port dies, you're NOT paying $650, you're paying $329 for the flat rate. If some Apple Authorized Service Provider is charging you to facilitate a repair into Apple that is only costing them $329, that's something you need to take up with the AASP. -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
