Three bad Apples in five: it's 'gloves off' with Stevie wonder-boy
Published August 10, 2003
How do defective Macs like this get on to the market? Why is Apple support increasingly often unworthy of the name? And what do you, Apple, plan to do about it?
In September 2001, I'd planned to ask the visiting overlords about shabby practice, but Steve Jobs & Co suddenly cancelled Apple Expo in Paris after "9/11", much to the annoyance of Europeans who were gearing up for it for months.
Oh. Yes. I'll predict Panther's release for September 16. This is easy, not inside knowledge. Americans get the hardware; we get the software. If I'm wrong, I'll eat at least one printout of this page before witnesses.
Where else but the keynote at this year's Apple Expo? And there's not much more up Steve's sleeve now, is there?
However, I've had it with the crap from Apple.
I've read too many woeful stories in the letters' pages of magazines from customers who've been shat upon, particularly when it comes to so-called service, without doing anything about it.
I don't know whether a certain Patrice Gauthier still runs customer relations in France, or whatever his job description was. I'll find out this week. I also have another name from a helpful somebody.
Plus the all-important 'phone numbers, ones that don't connect you to robo-woman.
It can sometimes be harmless fun, as a Mac user, to take the piss out of Micro$oft, but it's high time a few of us with the clout began to turn our torches on Apple.
If Mr Gauthier, or some other appropriate senior member of staff, cares to reply, I'll happily to publish the response on my 'blog (and here). I also have the patience to hear out their viewpoint should this need to go further.
This isn't a crusade, but castigation, like charity, begins mainly at home. Not with the neighbours.
____________
*A close translation of part of 'Strengths and Weaknesses of the New Macs', a feature review not now in their archives. It was signed by the editorial staff as a whole, supervised by Jean-Luc Arnaud.
- Three bad Apples in five: it's 'gloves off' with Stevie wonder-boy
- Published: August 10, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Culture: Administrative
- Writer: Nick Barrett
- Nick Barrett's BC Writer page
- Nick Barrett's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
I haven't been as lucky as Jim. However, out of the more than a dozen Macs I've owned, I've had significant problems with only two. Apple was kind enough to replace one of my PowerBook G4s after a negligent Airborne delivery man left it out in the pouring rain so it was soaked through. They sent me a new TiBook which was an upgrade from the damaged one.
Sometimes I've had to ask to speak with a supervisor to get real action, but eventually Apple usually comes through. I have never received an Apple product that was dead on delivery.
As for the stuck disc, I've heard you can get them out by hitting the eject key (on F12) while starting up from scratch. If that doesn't work, send the computer in for service. In my experience, a repair by Apple is often back in less than a week of being sent.
Though my experiences with PowerBooks has not been absolutely perfect, I endorse them without reservation. They are the best laptops I've ever owned.
The bad Macs came from the same (small specialist) place, but the dealer's not at fault here, Jim.
Regarding very flash toilets, I'd not have known what you meant before that fuss over the iLoo (which, as we know, was not a hoax but saw the plug pulled after Rebecca B. called it the "WWW.C"). Also I have a friend who has a friend who collects/takes photos of lavatories around the globe. This is true. So if you know of any particularly striking ones in that small plot of yours squeezed in between America and Alaska...
But I digress. My piece was a rant and should be read as such, though my intent is perfectly serious. People at (Mac free help site) TechSurvivors get tetchy if I don't get out the AK-47 from time to time.
What really pisses us off in old Europe is being treated, in more respects than I care to detail, as second-class customers; furthermore Macs are damned expensive, though the high VAT is not Apple's fault.
As to the Diva, such service would almost incline me to want to live in the US. I wouldn't quarrel with anybody who says a good Mac is like a Rolls-Royce, once it's working.
There's good comment on the secrecy that irritates we hacks in this
'Why I Have to Write about Apple column in a special report. Does Stevie have any scatological schemes?
Bottom line: being an multi-billion dollar empire I love to hate doesn't exempt Apple from an obligation to explain itself sometimes.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/7487)
I've not lived in the Europe. However, I do live in the Canadian protectorate where Apple is in name only. I've owned nine Macs and never had a serious problem. And this is coming from dealing with buying a Plus at $5K with a hard drive which arrived a couple of weeks later.
I had friends of mine who lived in the UK who were told modems were business tools, so I can conjecture your problems are the result of the business you are dealing with, not Apple.
Since they only got flush toilets in Europe a couple of years ago, this might be just a side-effect.