Laptop Mag: Apple Has Best Tech Support

[deltatux]

I wouldn't be surprised that Apple has the best tech support. We did pay for better service essentially when we buy our Macs. I rather invest money into a better after sales service even if I'm a computer hobbyist. I'm pretty sure there are many things that are actually faulty that you can't fix and have to rely on the warranty. I've never had to yell at any Apple tech support, but oh man, if I had to contact Acer, or esp. Dell (on behalf of my friends), I get so frustrated. The two worst laptop and cheapest manufacturers have the worst customer service, doesn't surprise me at all. I get so much Dell laptop fix requests that I just basically ban fixing Dells and never recommend Dells.

Oh and a great thing about Apple's AppleCare is when my old laptop was basically a lemon, they gave me the most expensive Macbook model (not Macbook Pro) for free. My new laptop was worth more than the purchase cost. Now that's what I call customer service.

 

[alagadnidonald]

why do you guys have to be PC apologists? move out of your mom's basement, get a job, then get a mac. 😛

btw, DELL and HP tech support really sucks. How do i know this? i work for Dell over here in the far east, and if you can hear the calls i listen to on a daily basis, it would make you weep blood. 'nuff said.

 

[griffed88]

Yes, dell and hp tech support are aweful. I seriously wish I could ban dell's and hp's from the campus we're I'm a tech at.

But then again I'd prolly be out of a job...

 

[joesapp37]

Apple is suppose to be user friendly so... having a good tech support is a good backbone to stand behind their products.

 

[scook9]

Dell will actually help you a lot. Read about owners of the Alienware M17x (the new one) which is through Dell and not Alienware. First off, its base warranty is 1 year in home service. This gets you a tech at your house within 2 business days of when you call and they will replace any part of your laptop - OR if it is something significant, you return laptop and get a brand new one at no charge (no shipping or anything). How is that something you can complain about?

Ya I am sure if you buy the cheapest Dell or HP laptop it will break (shocker there? I know) and need to be fixed, but at the high end, support is always excellent, from any company.

 

[tenor77]

[citation][nom]tektek2000[/nom]Half of apples problems are solved by ISP techs.... (as bad as they are)... my internet is down.. and btw .. my ipod wont sync up.. "go ahead and reboot your Mac" and boom free time for APPLE TECH SUPPORT!![/citation]

Well this is true. The #1 fix for a Mac is reboot your computer. This does say something about their product....and their users.

 

[RacerX0_3]

They based thier report on two phone calls to each company? That's it. Just two? So by chance you could end up the lead tech guy at Apple and the new guy at HP and that is what your conclusions are based on? That's laughable and not even worth our consideration. Make a hundred calls each and then get back to us with something meaningful. What ever happened to the days of responsible, meaningful investigative reporting?

 

[eklipz330]

Apple user: "My computer won't turn on!"

Apple Technician: "Is it plugged in?"

That's 90% of their calls, im sure of it.

 

[Euphoria_MK]

Dont bother putting anything pro mac here. Kids are ragin nowadays about their MS OS
I dont even get it why are all MS OS users taking this news so personaly, it's like someone offended your mother or sister...

Get a life, and like someone else said here, stop leaving with your mom, get your own place.

 

[nukemaster]

Dont bother putting anything pro mac here. Kids are ragin nowadays about their MS OS
I dont even get it why are all MS OS users taking this news so personaly, it's like someone offended your mother or sister...

Get a life, and like someone else said here, stop leaving with your mom, get your own place.

So the 90% of the world that uses PC's/Windows all live with there Mom? Interesting.....

 

[andy_newton]

@etichi

Are you saying that there are more Asians with Macs than Black people? FYI Mac users are computer idiots and PC users are computer genius.

Till this day I do not know 20-30 y/o PC users who does not know how to reinstall windows and on the contrary I do not know any 20-30 y/o Mac users who knows how to reinstall Mac OS X.

Your Mac VS PC thing is incorrect.

-ND

 

[thejerk]

[citation][nom]Andy_Newton[/nom]@etichiAre you saying that there are more Asians with Macs than Black people? FYI Mac users are computer idiots and PC users are computer genius.Till this day I do not know 20-30 y/o PC users who does not know how to reinstall windows and on the contrary I do not know any 20-30 y/o Mac users who knows how to reinstall Mac OS X.Your Mac VS PC thing is incorrect.-ND[/citation]

wut?

at any rate, etichi was making a joke... in case anyone missed it.

also, it's my opinion that it's more the luck of the draw when you call in for tech support, really. i solve my own issues, even with the laptops and desktops we have for my office (from lenovo). it's just easier that way. none of them have broken while in warranty, anyway.

the only reason why the support for our macbook is great is because my girlfriend's brother manages an apple store. otherwise, i don't think i'd have spent the $$$ on the boutique product it is. she bought it with her own money, so i have no real opinion on the matter.

 

[funkjunky]

First of all I'll mention I used to work for Apple Tech support... back when I wasn't willing to fork out the cash for a mac, and putting windows on powerpc was foolish.

First of all this study is the worst sample ever lol. 2 calls?!
Where i worked their were people who would talk to you for 30 minutes and not get anywhere, and people who would solve your problem in under 2 minutes. 2 Calls is not enough.

So the study has no base.
That aside I've dealt with a couple forms of tech support. Future shop gives you whatever you want, their employees usually don't want to think too hard. Asus is super slow with responses, but are friendly when they do respond (email). ncix is very friendly and fast with their support, but it's all consumer.
In the end most companies just aim for a solid fallback like giving away stuff or providing a friend answer even if it takes a long time.

Apple covered all the bases with their tech support. Agents are required to solve problems in under a certain metric. When I was there that metric was 12 minutes including gathering information about the customer.
A few calls were screened by performance coaches every day, and their was a "Team Leader" there specifically to help everyone.
We were trained to not only solve the persons problem, but teach them how to solve it in the future. We were supposed to give the customer a support article during every call, even if it was only the generic troubleshooting guide, which did solve over a third of the problems.

One person mentioned that the tech support would be screwed if hardware failure occured. Apple computers are susceptible to those failures as other machines are. It is less often, because Apple uses higher quality parts, but it does happen. When that happened most parts were customer installable and we could give them articles on how to install them.