posted
I was really ready to hate Apple's customer service forever. I did, in fact, hate it for a couple of weeks.
So I bought a new 8 gig iPod Nano from the online Apple store with my iPhone rebates, intending to sell it. Turns out my dad wants one for Christmas, so this works out well! The problem: it's the Product (RED) version and, unlike the previous red nano, it's more of a burgundy color than a red. So I call Apple, explain that I'd like to exchange it, confirm that it is unopened and that I will pay to ship it back, and get an RMA number.
A few days later, I receive an e-mail confirmation that my return has been received, explaining that the money charged to my credit card (tax, mostly) would be refunded to the card within 3-5 business days and the portion paid with gift cards would be refunded with a new gift card, to be mailed within two days. So far so good, right?
I saw the credit to my card right away but 30 days later, no gift card, so I called Apple. The CSR said "Oh, I'm sorry, but the e-mail's wrong; the cards are mailed in 30 days." I explained to him that, well, I have it in writing from Apple that they would be mailed in two, so I'd like my cards right away. He said they couldn't do that. I pointed out that it was 30 days, to the day, since I'd ordered. He said that since it was 30 days anyway, why not just wait for it in the mail? I gave up and acquiesced, willing to wait a few days.
Over two weeks later, still nothing had shown up, so I called again. This time, the CSR told me that both the written notice I received from Apple AND the previous CSR were wrong, and that the cards would be mailed in six to eight weeks. My immediate response: No. Please get me a manager. She complied.
The manager repeated what the CSR had said: "We're sorry, but 6-8 weeks is standard, and we don't know why you were previously misinformed." Well, I have it in writing from your freaking company that that's not the case, so honor your written agreement now!
"I'm sorry, we can't do that."
Just get me a new gift card, read the number & pin to me over the phone, and I will be able to place my new order.
"I'm sorry, we can't do that."
Okay, then put the new gift card in an envelope, ship it via a mailing system that has tracking, and provide me with the tracking number while I'm on the phone.
"I'm sorry, we can't do that."
Then at least send me something, via e-mail or fax, that indicates the 6-8 week lead time. I want it signed and dated on Apple letterhead.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that."
At this point, I'm pissed. Is it really unreasonable to expect some sort of written confirmation of the information I'm being told, especially given that I've been outright lied to twice previously? Really? How about a freaking handwritten note on a piece of paper? I'll take that, as long as it has your name, any employee ID number that refers to you, and is signed. But apparently she can't do that, either.
I told her to get me to her boss, who is apparently the general manager.
She wouldn't do it. She said he would just tell me the same thing anyway, but I didn't care, I wanted to hear it from him. I had to get some sort of confirmation before getting off the phone because it's not like I could turn around and issue a chargeback: these are gift cards I'm dealing with, pseudo money that even the purchaser can't charge back, since I received them as rebates for Apple products issued by Apple themselves. I explained all this to the manager, and told her I wouldn't be getting off the phone until she gave me some sort of proof that she wasn't lying to me. No, her word was not sufficient, sorry.
She waited fifteen minutes before I won the silence stalemate, and she transferred me.
The beautiful part starts here.
The general manager gets on the phone. "Hi, this is ____, how can I help you?" I explained the situation to him in 5 minutes. His immediate response:
"My employees are idiots and clearly do not understand our policies. Hang on."
He walked to the general customer service area, got a gift card, activated it, read me the number and pin. "I'm adding an extra $50 to your gift card for the trouble." He then took the gift card, put it in an envelope, told an employee to move from his desk, printed a Fed Ex label and gave me the tracking number. I verified the tracking number; he was sending the card Fed Ex Priority Overnight. He apologized again, and thanked me for my patience.
I placed the order for new iPods (two of them this time; I'd decided to get one for my mother as well). Turns out the gift card is still only $200, contrary to what the manager had told me, so I called customer service again, anticipating a battle. The CSR quickly cleared up, though, that the general manager had left a note on the order to just reduce the order total rather than add money to the gift card, which was fine. Turns out the manager decided to discount me $100, instead of $50!
I was pleased. The order was processed and shipped the same day, yesterday. The iPods arrived today; apparently the general manager had noted that my new order also needed to ship Priority Overnight, even though I paid no shipping charges.
Talk about dedication to winning me back as a customer. It still wasn't worth the hassle and I will never give anyone an Apple gift card, but I was thoroughly impressed by the general manager's dedication to actually solving my problems after his employees bungled things so, so very badly.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by TL: Clearly, though, he has failed at his job in a severely major way. I still wouldn't be happy.
Clearly he has, since it's ultimately his responsibility to ensure his employees know and act on a unified policy and abide by basic standards for customer service (e.g. putting into writing what you explicitly promise). What I was pleased with was his attempting to compensate for his failing by doing everything in his power to ensure I didn't walk away from the transaction ready to firebomb his office.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Or sue. Because you likely would have won. Make no mistake, their policy is to do exactly what they did do, i.e. stonewall anyone who will let them, and make the tiny minority of truly determined people happy. They net the maximum money that way. The suit would have cost them a whole lot more.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:What I was pleased with was his attempting to compensate for his failing by doing everything in his power to ensure I didn't walk away from the transaction ready to firebomb his office.
That's a fair perspective. Did he really call his employees idiots? He sounds absolutely terrible. Bad management is all too common, sadly, and he sounds absolutely dreadful.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I don't think he sounds that awful at all. He sounds like someone who CARES about the customer, which is more and more rare these days.
Tatiana's probably right about their policy, but I don't see how you can make the judgement that he's terrible when it looks like he was the only one doing the right thing...
posted
Part of the problem is probably that the procedures change pretty regularly, based on the particular promotion, so the employees don't know what to expect. I've worked several customer service jobs, and there can, in some situations, be a very big difference between what you're told and what actually happens, particularly in terms of any kind of time frame on anything. When the official line is "4-6 weeks", it's anywhere from 1 week to 10 weeks. If the promos change regularly, the reps aren't going to be able to go off experience. They'll be going by what they're told.
I'm betting that Apple contracts out either these customer service positions, the actual gift card fulfillment operation, or (most probably) both. Given that, incompetence is going to almost be a certainty. Farming these functions out in and of itself destroys the trust necessary to allow good communications between departments. Such trust isn't always a good thing for long-term functions that don't change quickly. Corruption/inefficiency is possible. However, for functions like this, where there are lots of quick changes, it's generally pretty much essential. Otherwise, these kinds of problems are inevitable. IMHO.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Phanto: A GM is responsible for his employee's behavior, and so that was a big failure on his part.
Exactly.
Also, the calling employees idiots thing (yes, he really used the word "idiots"), while really amusing to me as a pissed off customer, is a pretty crappy thing to say, and an even crappier attitude to take.
Still, I feel pretty satisfied with the end result.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:She waited fifteen minutes before I won the silence stalemate, and she transferred me.
I somehow missed this part when you first told me the story.
That's just terrible.
Hmm, is it possible that the call was put on hold while she explained the situation in detail to her manager, and it took 15 minutes for her to do that? That way the manager may have already had in mind how he wanted to solve the problem even before he was transferred the call.
Posts: 1256 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Hmm, is it possible that the call was put on hold while she explained the situation in detail to her manager, and it took 15 minutes for her to do that? That way the manager may have already had in mind how he wanted to solve the problem even before he was transferred the call.
No, I was definitely not on hold - background noise.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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