Mac vs PC – Part 6 of 6 – Why Mac CRUSHES the Competition

Part 6 of this series continues the amazing Apple repair saga.  If you missed part 5 you might want to go back by clicking here and read that so you know what this part is all about

When I got to the Genius Bar, I explained the problems the computer was having.  I added one issue that I’ve not talked about before.  When the screen brightness buttons did work, if I brightened it up all the way, it would go completely black and I’d have to restart using the power button.

I was seriously impressed with Apple’s method of diagnosis.  The customer actually gets to sit there and talk to the tech while they work on diagnosing the problem.  It was also impressive to see how deep and technical this diagnosis got in just a few minutes.  In very short order, he had gotten into the computer’s log entries and found a pattern of USB faults each time I had needed to forcefully restart the computer.  From this he concluded that the keyboard and the trackpad, which are attached to the USB hub, both needed to be replaced.  These are all built into the top case so that part was ordered and I left my computer there to have the parts installed when they arrived.  I might mention that I was fortunate to have the computer actually malfunction for the technician right off.  He would have found the log entries anyway, but it was nice to have him see the problem immediately.

So in under 15 minutes, he had discovered the problem and I was on my way.  If this wasn’t impressive to you, what I’m going to tell you next most certainly will be.

A few days later I called to check on the repair.  I was informed that they had decided, after getting into the computer, to replace the motherboard too.  Apple calls this a logic board.  This all happened over the New Years’ Holiday and so the part did not get ordered until January 3rd which was the day I was talking to them.

Instead of talking to a clerk or a receptionist, I actually got to talk with the person doing the repair.  I was informed that they had found some other hardware problems (loose cables that should never be loose) which is why they decided to replace the logic board.

Since I wanted to make sure this repair fixed the problem, I suggested that since ram can sometimes be a cause of intermittent problems, maybe they should just replace that too.  To my amazement, they instantly agreed and added new ram to the repair list too.

Let me digress a moment in saying that when I purchased this computer, I mulled over the decision of whether or not to upgrade the ram to 8GB’s from 4GB’s.  So I asked if it would be possible to just replace it with 8GB’s and charge me for the difference.  They apologized and said they had no way of doing that.  I was about to leave it at this point when I happened to make a comment, which you can see from all this writing, I’m fond of doing.

I happened to mention how much I absolutely loved this computer and was really missing it while it was in the shop.  I had grown accustomed to using it for all my web blogs and maintenance and I was having to go back to my unpleasant Windows computers to perform this task while my Mac was out of commission.  If you recall from a previous post, I said I now always try to make up for my years of bashing Apple and honestly express how I feel about their products.  This was the main reason for the comment.  It was heartfelt and true.  I just wanted to say how enjoyable it was and that I really did miss it.

It must have sounded very heartfelt because suddenly the tech was not getting off the phone.  He thought for a second and said, “I tell you what: considering how long you’ve been waiting for this, how would you feel about just getting a new computer?”  After I picked myself up off the floor I said, “sure, when could I pick it up?”  It was about 3pm when this conversation took place and the store closed at 8pm.  They said I should be able to pick it up that day if they had time to transfer all my stuff over to the new computer.

This was not the end of this amazing story though.  Before I got off the phone, the tech asked me if I’d mind a faster processor.  Apparently they didn’t have a 2.66GHz in stock in my computer’s configuration so he offered me a 2.8GHz upgrade free of charge.  Also, since my charger was not in brand new condition, he let me keep that too.  And finally, as if all this was not enough, he said he would be able to upgrade the ram to 8GB’s if I wanted to do that.  I declined this offer after hearing how much it would cost but thanked him for his very kind offer.  This incidentally, will be the inspiration for another blog post about how you can save a great deal of money upgrading your own ram on you Mac.  More about that later…

So basically all I had to give back, besides the computer they already had, was my empty box.  They gave me a brand new computer with new software, new charger, and new box.  They also transferred all my information so when I opened my computer it was EXACTLY like the old one was.  Oh, and I forgot to mention one other thing.  They restarted my warranty on the day of the replacement.  They also did have the computer ready that night and I happily drove the 50 miles (we live way out!) to go and pick it up.

Honestly, in all the years I’ve been working with computers (since the first version of DOS) I have never, ever seen service like this.  Even when repairs are performed, or a new product is issued (very rare), I have never seen a warranty restarted.  I ended up with nearly an 18 month warranty and a new battery to boot!  I guess the other part I’ve never seen before is such a willingness and desire to make the customer happy.  Several times during my conversation with the tech, he told me how glad it made them to be able to make a customer happy like they had done for me.

Later when I was talking to my business contact at the store, he was delighted to hear that they had completely replaced the computer.  He also mentioned how happy it made them to be able to do that sort of thing.  Is it any wonder Mac users are so loyal?  We’ve barely talked about how great the product itself is and already Apple has won this customer over for life.

Lastly, I told all the employees that were involved that I intended to write about this whole episode on my blog.  I wanted as many people as possible to know about this amazing adventure.  They then asked me to send them a link to it once I had it written.  Again, I have never had any employees be that interested in what I had to say about them.  So here is the fulfillment of that promise.  As soon as I’m done here I’m going to send them the link.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story.  I certainly enjoy telling it.  If you did enjoy it, please click the “like” button and leave a comment.  Also, join me on my Facebook page here or click on the like box in the upper left.

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