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OTOH, Apple is renowned for keeping hardware problems on the down-low and quietly swapping things out with no questions when people come in to complain. The on

by smackfu 13y ago

OTOH, Apple is renowned for keeping hardware problems on the down-low and quietly swapping things out with no questions when people come in to complain. The only way this kind of thing gets out is through forum complaints and such.

taylodl 13y ago
swapping things out with no questions Is also known as excellent customer service. Hardware will always have issues - no defect rate is 0%. How the manufacturer responds to those issues is what determines excellency.
acdha 13y ago
> OTOH, Apple is renowned for keeping hardware problems on the down-low Renowned on forums. I've received recalls for widespread problems (batteries, a video problem in the PowerBook G4 era, etc.) but many of the forum / mac blog fodder seem more like selection bias – people who don't have a particular hardware problem don't tend to search for threads so they can say “Nope, works fine here”.
- regal 13y ago
  My MacBook Air fell into the camp smackfu is talking about. Big thread on the Apple website about the problem, no public acknowledgement of it from Apple. However, when I brought my out-of-warranty laptop in, they replaced the faulty parts free of charge. I ended up pleasantly surprised, and will buy Apple again in the future. Most businesses do everything they can to get out of warranties. Apple seems more like a high value add business to me now, and less a seller of commodities like many of the other computer manufacturers.
  - acdha 13y ago
    Yeah, a relative had that with an iPhone 5 charger cable: walked into the store and the tech simply reached onto the shelf and gave him a new one. No waiting, filling out a 3 page form, 6 forms of ID, etc. Completely changed the mood from griping to “Wow, I'll buy from Apple again” – quite a contrast to the rest of the computer industry which is generally chasing Walmart down the short-term cost minimization rabbit hole.
    - andyhmltn 13y ago
      You may fault Apple all you want for various decisions, but they are very good when it comes to product replacement. My iPhone 5 had a faulty screen (it just conked out one day.) Within 3 days I had a brand new one on my table having not walked into an Apple store and opting for pickup instead.
awj 13y ago
> quietly swapping things out with no questions when people come in to complain. Your tone makes this sound like a bad thing. Isn't this exactly what you would want the company making your hardware to do? In what way is the typical alternative (a gauntlet of ignorant script-jockeys) preferable?

by smackfu 13y ago

taylodl 13y ago

swapping things out with no questions Is also known as excellent customer service. Hardware will always have issues - no defect rate is 0%. How the manufacturer responds to those issues is what determines excellency.

acdha 13y ago

> OTOH, Apple is renowned for keeping hardware problems on the down-low Renowned on forums. I've received recalls for widespread problems (batteries, a video problem in the PowerBook G4 era, etc.) but many of the forum / mac blog fodder seem more like selection bias – people who don't have a particular hardware problem don't tend to search for threads so they can say “Nope, works fine here”.

regal 13y ago
My MacBook Air fell into the camp smackfu is talking about. Big thread on the Apple website about the problem, no public acknowledgement of it from Apple. However, when I brought my out-of-warranty laptop in, they replaced the faulty parts free of charge. I ended up pleasantly surprised, and will buy Apple again in the future. Most businesses do everything they can to get out of warranties. Apple seems more like a high value add business to me now, and less a seller of commodities like many of the other computer manufacturers.
- acdha 13y ago
  Yeah, a relative had that with an iPhone 5 charger cable: walked into the store and the tech simply reached onto the shelf and gave him a new one. No waiting, filling out a 3 page form, 6 forms of ID, etc. Completely changed the mood from griping to “Wow, I'll buy from Apple again” – quite a contrast to the rest of the computer industry which is generally chasing Walmart down the short-term cost minimization rabbit hole.
  - andyhmltn 13y ago
    You may fault Apple all you want for various decisions, but they are very good when it comes to product replacement. My iPhone 5 had a faulty screen (it just conked out one day.) Within 3 days I had a brand new one on my table having not walked into an Apple store and opting for pickup instead.

awj 13y ago

> quietly swapping things out with no questions when people come in to complain. Your tone makes this sound like a bad thing. Isn't this exactly what you would want the company making your hardware to do? In what way is the typical alternative (a gauntlet of ignorant script-jockeys) preferable?