When is Apple at its best?

I like to think of it as the Xerox phenomena.  Companies often treat employees and customers very well when the company looks to be going out of business.

Plenty of companies go through this, IBM and Apple.  Apple actually came closer to going out of business than most.

At one time Apple actually gave bonuses to employees who hung around for another year.

That didn't last very long, because Steve came back.  The thought then was that employees who had been around Apple a long time weren't the people to take the company forward.

The joke at the time was that the best way to get a raise was to quit Apple and get rehired.

More important to customers at the time, Apple responded to hardware problems with whatever needed to be done.

Now that the iPod seems headed to near monopoly status, apparently behaviors which may or may not be consumer friendly aren't limited to the team up in Redmond.

MacWorld Magazine has this to say.

While I agree that Apple does some amazing work and deserves every point of its success, much of the world’s view of Apple (and this includes the financial world) is emotional. People are passionate about Apple—for both the good and not so. Regardless of what Apple does in the real world—release great hardware, offer up the finest operating system computerdom has seen, make incredible content deals—if it returns to the days of the Arrogant Apple, it’s going to lose its darling status in a hurry. And this is the path I fear Apple has returned to.

The editorial lists a number of troubling signs.

Actually I am not certain that Apple has changed at all.  I don't see any of the bad Apple behaviors as being anything different than have been slipping out of Apple (or many other companies) for years.

I have been complaining about inconsistent user interface changes for years.  One of the big complaints is the new keyboard and how it favors design over function.

Well this is Apple, and design has often been favored over function.

As to the bricking of the iPhones, Apple is a very competitive company that has long believed that anyone who tried to change one of Apple's products was an unwashed heathen.

It has also never let what happens to a few users bother it's conscience.  While people make light of a Quicktime Pro key no longer working, it is something that a company dedicated to customer satisfaction would fix.

Apple wants you to buy not only the whole widget from Apple but all your widgets.  I had this to say a couple of years ago.

There's no doubt Apple's an innovative company, but sometime I really wish they would try to see the  picture from the customer's perspective.  These days when I subscribe to all sorts of services and software which get upgraded regularly without any tricks, why can't I have a simpler relationship with Apple on a yearly basis.

I actually don't know when Apple is at its best, but I do know that Apple is capable of greatness in products when they choose to focus.

I also know that Apple can be very good like many companies at ignoring their customers. Getting a return phone call from someone in Apple is often a challenge.

It was only a little over a year ago that I took a call from an important Apple customer in my home office.  He had a Xserve melt down and had been trying to get someone from Apple to return his phone calls.

He kept calling Apple people who had been through his office until he called me.  I had to tell him that I hadn't worked for Apple for two years.  I did stir up enough embarrassment at Apple to get him a return phone call.

I don't think Apple has changed very much.  It's still pretty much Apple as the way Steve wants it to be.  What might be changing is the way people look at Apple.

Apple remains a very secretive company whose employees cannot even have a simple blog.  Apple employees are terrified to talk to anyone in the media. 

The company pays little attention to customer input.  Few things have changed at Apple since I heard one of Apple's key executives say in 2003, "Customers don't know what they want to buy, we have to tell them what to buy."

I continue to use Apple's tools for my career in spite of the company and some of their decisions.  I feel fortunate that they don't cost as much as they used to.  As a consumer, I feel constrained by the choices that Apple gives me, but I haven't found a better alternative. 

The Macs I buy are computers so I guess I should not expect the buying experience to be like going to my favorite neighborhood pizza place and ordering my special toppings.

There is brilliance in Apple, but so many times it is only half finished or fatally flawed like iWeb or just questionable like the integration between Pages and iWeb.  Still Pages with .Mac is one of the easiest ways to do a blog.

There's not much more that Steve can do to me as a consumer, unless he figures out how to make my computer obsolete in a year's time.

Some to think of it, I'm glad Steve isn't paying much attention to computers or we might have to deal with that.

Comments

[Louis Gray]

The path of quitting and being rehired to get a raise is not unique to Apple. If the employee believes outside market value is higher, then they should have the guts to look their boss in the eye and say, "Let's skip that step." It's better for all involved.

[Louis Wheeler]

I'm not sure what you want from Apple. It is not your buddy; it is a hardware/ software company. Apple will act in its own self interest. Its interests, most of the time, is in accommodating its customers. But not always. Sometimes, its customers are irrational.

There are times when Apple's plans are not yet ready or announced and a product has been shipped before it has all the bells and whistles. The iPhone works fine when it is unmodified. But if you modify it, you make it vulnerable to malware because its applications operate at root privileges.

That security problem causes Apple to prevent you from modifying the iPhone. That puts Apple at odds with a very tiny percentage of its customers who feel that they can break their warranties and still expect service from Apple.

Have you ever considered that Apple might have a love/hate relationship with you-- that you are a high maintenance customer who wants gifts all the time?

When you act as a Apple pundit or an ex-employee, you are not acting as a customer. Apple owes you nothing. Apple is secretive in self defense. Microsoft was quite adept at turning Apple's friendliness and openness against Apple, so it stopped doing that.

Does Apple keep its promises? Mostly. You left out some information about your friend. Was that melted down Xserve still under warranty? I'm assuming no, since you didn't mention it. Had the Xserve been modified to make it run faster/ hotter? Leaving out this information makes me believe that you are trying to deceive me.

[ocracokewaves]

First off Apple's secrecy is far more than self defense. It is a way of life at Apple, and it goes way beyond normal.

Check the full article out if you are a WSJ subscriber.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115146095308592693.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone

I'm actually quite happy with my relationship with Apple as long as the products I buy from them perform well, but I plan to buy as little as possible from Apple.

I am a customer and they owe we what any customer gets. I have never asked for more and certainly never gotten any special treatment on products.

The Xserve was in a very sensitive location in the government. It is a very high level customer. It was not modified. Apple had actually paid thousands of dollars to make certain this Xserve was installed properly. I can't remember which support agreement they had.

But I do know one thing, if a key customer calls me, I don't check whether his warranty is out or not, I answer his phone call.

That's part of basic customer service. Ignoring a customer's phone call is plan rude especially when a number of the people ignoring it helped convince the customer to buy it.

The customer running through a number of Apple business cards and getting no return phone call is a measure of Apple's priorities.

If you want to condone Apple doing that, then you are part of the problem which I define as those people who are okay with Apple doing things which no other company would even try because their customers wouldn't stand for it.

[Louis Wheeler]

So, you hide the information about the Xserve that melted behind the Wall Street Journal's paid wall. You won't explain the case fully and then point to the article. Then you say that Apple plays favorites. That it doesn't pay attention to warranties if a big enough contract is involved. May I then assume that is was a small, very unpleasant customer regarding a machine that was out of warranty?

I have no idea of the particulars about the case since you chose to state only those which favored your opinions. That seems deceptive. I have no idea how unreasonable the customer's case was. Have I run across customers who were so unreasonable, demanding and unpleasant that I didn't want to talk to them? Yes. If the ciustomer had a case, he would take Apple to court.

And since I no longer have any trust in anything you say, this is my last communication.

[ocracokewaves]

I am sorry but you need to take a chill pill.

The particulars of the case don't matter other than a very important customer risked his reputation by going with an Xserve in a Windows environment.

When he had a problem, people who helped convince him to buy, couldn't seem to make time to return his phone calls until I brought it up in my blog.

I wrote about it at length in a previous post, feel free to dig through my archives.

I am very glad that I don't buy products from you.

Yes there are very demanding and sometimes unreasonable customers out there.

However, I have never not returned a customer's phone call.

Good customer service demands that you talk to unhappy and yes sometimes unreasonable customers.

If you are good at your job, you manage to turn them into happy, reasonable people.

It's common courtesy which you obviously are completely lacking.

So every time a customer has a problem with Apple, they should take Apple to court? That's a winning strategy for everyone.

It is obviously a quick way to solve a computer problem.

You have one warped view of the world.

Good luck, and I would love to know what you sell so I can make certain that I never buy it.

[John]

Customer Service = Profitability

In the UK there is a department store chain called the John Lewis Partnership. All of the employees are partners who take a share in the profits in the way of bonuses each year. They have a slogan 'Never knowingly undersold' which means if you see anything cheaper elsewhere they will lower their price, to match it. They also have an excellent reputation for customer care.

John Lewis has outperformed every other department store in Britain for years.

In years gone by, if you went into a Ford or GM dealer in Britain as an individual buyer, rather than a fleet buyer, you would almost always be treated as a nobody or even a bloody nuisance. Go to a Toyota or Honda outlet and instantly you were treated as a valued customer.

Are you getting the picture? Most of the other department store chains in the UK have disappeared while John Lewis keeps on growing. Ford and GM are in all sorts of trouble, while Toyota and Honda seem to be unstoppable.

Customer service isn't rocket science, its just treating people with respect and in the same way as you would be wished to be treated yourself. You may have the best product in the world, but if you don't look after the individual, eventually your competitors will.

[ocracokewaves]

Well said

[Charel]

I feel obliged to note that I have always been treated fairly and courteously by Apple and their resellers. Whether it was a hardware or a software problem. Needless to say my contacts have not been numerous of late.
I read your blog regularly, but suspect you have a chip on your shoulder. You seem to protest too much.

[ocracokewaves]

First off, I appreciate your reading my blog.

Secondly I said pretty clearly that I didn't think anything that Apple does is different than many other companies.

"I don't see any of the bad Apple behaviors as being anything different than have been slipping out of Apple (or many other companies) for years."

Many large companies operate under the assumption that losing a few customer is okay and that there are plenty more to replace a few dissatisfied ones.

I have written up a number of other companies.

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/david_sobotta_weblog/2005/10/high_tech_car_l.html

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/david_sobotta_weblog/2005/05/maytag_home_dep.html

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/david_sobotta_weblog/2007/02/can_real_custom.html

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/david_sobotta_weblog/2006/11/why_circuit_cit.html

I believe strongly in customer service.

Apple's basic consumer customer service is fine. It gets high ratings compared to others.

But if you are anything out of the ordinary, Apple (and maybe most companies) don't know how to handle you.

One of the larger government customers had a problem with 12 original iMacs. They were told to load them into a car and bring them to Tyson's Corner Apple Store.

When I had a problem with my MacBook and called Apple, I was told to take it the nearest Apple store which is 2.5 hours away.

Since I had worked at Apple I knew the warranty was such that Apple would send me a FedEX box and ship it to them. Had I not known that I suspect I would have ended up with a long trip and the computer would have been sent to Apple anyway.

Apple doesn't just make any product they typically make Lexus and Acura quality products with a few exceptions.

So I see no reason to not expect that kind of service out of Apple, adjusted of course for price differential between cars and computers.

The defense that others treat their customers that way or customers are unreasonable should not hold water.

I once heard the story (and I don't know if it is true or not) of a customer bringing a tire back to Nordstrom's for a refund. Well Norstrom's doesn't sell tires but the manager gave the customer their money back.

Having a satisfied customer was more important than the money.

LL Bean's and some other companies have a well earned reputation for customer service and satisfaction.

We pay premium prices for Apple products and most of the time get premium products.

However, I don't think we get premium service from Apple.

Also Apple's warranty isn't as good as most of the competition's.

And I can assure you that anything beyond the standard is a challenge with Apple.

As to phone calls, I'm not talking about the people who answer consumer lines. I am talking about the almost invisible Apple field sales force.

They work with some of the larger, more important, and also almost invisible Apple enterprise customers.

I can assure you that the ones who worked for me returned every phone call.

My point was that even something as simple as these field sales folks returning a phone call has slipped in priority.

About once a month, someone still contacts me asking for help in getting someone at Apple to return their phone call. I look at that more of measure of their frustration than at my ability to get Apple people to answer their voice mails.

If that is having a chip on my shoulder, I'm proud of it.

[ocracokewaves]

This post details exactly the kind of situation which I believe Apple should be able to handle.

http://blog.holtz.com/index.php/weblog/apple_loses_a_customer/

The point is Apple controls its employees so tightly that few feel empowered to deliver exceptional service.

That's the difference between service that is better than the rest and great service which is in different league than the other vendors.

[Andrew]

The best customer service I received from a computing company was many years ago by Digital Equipment Corporation. You rang their call centre number and immediately you call was answered by an operator who simply took down your details and a description of the problem. They did not attempt to solve the problem. You were always given a callback reference. This was then passed on to support staff who rang you back. You ended up dealing with the same person if your problem was ongoing. There was end to end responsibility, people actually built a relationship with the customer and didn't have to start from scratch by having the problem explained each time.

It also lead to efficiencies as there were experts within the organisation for particular problems. The problem was routed to the best problem solver and not to someone who started with the company yesterday.