Evidence I’m Not a Mac Person . . .
I just completed a feedback form regarding my AppleCare warranty experience. Question 12a gave me a chance to bitch. Question 12b made me smile at my ridiculous expectations:
12a Is there anything else you would like to tell Apple about your recent in-store repair experience at the Apple Retail Store? (NOTE: 2000 character limit)
Replacing the optical drive on a Mac Mini is a simple procedure that takes fifteen minutes, requiring a screwdriver and a putty knife. That I should have to drive to a God damned mall and explain to a “genius” that he doesn’t actually need my password to log in to OS X, wait for twenty minutes as the “genius” engages in manual data entry, then wait “seven to ten business days” for the part to be replaced is FUCKING SAD.
(Note: Hold down command+s during boot, run to the appropriate init level and type “passwd” to reset the password. Even someone who isn’t a “genius” can pull that off!)
12b The comment above is a
Complaint
Suggestion
For the record, the optical drive on my Mini started acting up last year. In March, I took it in to the Apple Store. I wanted to get the issue resolved quickly, so I figured I would call the store to ask them if the part was available and what was the best time for them to make an appointment. That call got routed to a call center, where someone with a South Asian accent filled in the same form that I could have filled in online to wait in line at the store for service. Once I got to see the genius, he explained that there was no way to tell how long equipment might be “on the rack” and there was nothing he could do but advise me that it would take 3-5 business days . . . over the months I eventually built a PC out of spare parts to use while my workstation was away, and recently got the drive replaced. Nowadays it is 5-7 business days.
I love that it takes longer for the “Genius” to enter my data into the system after I had previously visited, than it must take the Morlock at the repair center to diagnose, test, and repair the bloody thing. If this were inferior PC technology I could carry it down to any number of local neighborhood stores and wait as the guy replaced the part for a modest charge. The charge for my repair was presented to me as $300, but covered by warranty. I think that is what three-year next-day on-site service for a laptop costs from Dell.
