Apple store

Pez · « **on:** 15 May 2007, 05:19 pm »

Hey everyone, I wanted to post my experience with the Apple store for all the world to see! Totally awesome customer service. Here is a letter I sent them.

"Dear Employees and Management of Aspen Grove Apple Store,

It was with much gratitude that I am writing this message. Rarely do I receive customer service which I would say is “above and beyond” what is expected. Many of you may know my wife Sameerah and I recently purchased laptop computers from Aspen Grove Apple as part of our wedding presents. We wanted to convey to you that the customer service and knowledge we received from the staff has been amazing!!! Specifically I want to say that Stephan, the gentleman that assisted us on our purchase, is very knowledgeable, friendly, and patient. He guided us through the gauntlet of notebooks, keyboards, and extended services and made us feel very at ease that we were getting everything we needed.

Well as crazy as it may sound, that’s really not the reason I’m writing. I came back a second time to buy a bag for my computer. To make a long story short when at the store I had a… well an interesting run in with a very angry individual, who almost ran over my wife in the parking lot, assaulted me, and as a result destroyed my brand new 15 inch notebook. The employees of the store were very helpful in assisting me and my wife with the resulting police reports etc. On the spot your, staff wrote up a damage estimate for the sheriff’s department and were amazingly calm and collected about the whole ordeal.

I was of course devastated, not so much that I was punched in the face, but that my new 2 day old computer was now trashed. After the whole ordeal my wife and I were in the store asking ourselves “What do we do”? Well Debbie and Stephan got together for a while and came back to us. Debbie told us that she “was really sorry that this whole thing happened right in front of their store” (I want to make it clear that this entire incident was of no fault of anybody at the store) and that they have decided that they would like to replace my computer free of charge! I couldn’t believe that they would do that, especially since they were under no obligation whatsoever. Stephan went in the back, got a new computer, plugged the damaged one into the new one and moved all of my documents to the new one in 20 minutes flat. He then handed it to me and said “enjoy!” I’m sure at this point my jaw was on the ground!

This goes back to the core reason for this letter. I was utterly impressed with the service I received from the store before any of this happened. Looking back I can say, without a reserve, that this has been the best experience I have ever had with any retail store. Being a banker, I am always striving to attain and maintain great customer service. I will use my experience with your store as a template for what excellent customer service is!

It is said that for every good experience a customer has they tell one or maybe two people and every bad one experience they tell 10. Well I’m going to break that rule here. I am CCing as many friends, family, and co-workers in on this message as I can so they can all hear first hand how happy and impressed I have been with Debbie, Stephan and staff. Thank you so much for everything you have done for me and my wife!

Sincerely,

Jason Wong (Customer for life)
p.s. Also I don’t think I mentioned that we love the new computers! Get one if you don’t already have one.
"

That pretty much says it all. I'll post a more detailed description of what actually happened later.

Levi · « **Reply #1 on:** 15 May 2007, 06:55 pm »

Wow that is some great ending story thanks for sharing and congrats with the new notebook.

Pez · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 May 2007, 02:45 pm »

Here's what actually happened! Warning* long read!

I just got back from Maui of Thursday (the 3rd). The wedding and the honey moon were fantastic. On Friday we went to go get our new computers! We got matching 15" Macbook Pro's. Holy cow! These things are amazing! I had to go back sunday because I forgot to buy a bag and Sameerah wanted them to port her info over from her old computer.

While we were at the store Sameerah went out to the car to get something and when she was in the parking lot some dude going 30 mph in the parking lot came 4 inches away from hitting her. He lays on his horn as if she just walked out on a highway or something and starts cussing at her. I see all of this and am of course furious. I went out of the store and the guy is still yelling at her. I start yelling at him and he gets out of his car.

He's starts pushing me around and then punches me in the jaw. Of course I had my laptop in a flimsy little bag (hence the reason for my visit to the store in the first place) on my shoulder. When I fell I landed right on top of my computer bag. I get up and the dude is still trying to fight me. I had the foresight enough not to hit him back as I knew this was assault.

Sameerah calls the cops and gets the license plate number off the car. The dude hops in and takes off. Everyone in front of the apple store sees everything from beginning to end. The police get there and had my wife and I fill out reports as well as interviewing about 10 people.

I pulled my computer out of the bag and it was totally destroyed. The cops asked the apple guys to assess the damage. It was about $1100.00 worth of damage. Between the assault and the damaged property instead of a misdemeanor, this is now a felony. And the dude might have to go to jail.

After the cops left the people at the apple store said that they were so appalled that the whole thing happened, even though the damage in no way any one's fault but that guy they would replace my computer free of charge! They took my old computer, got a new one out of the box, ported my info over to the new one and said "Here you go". I couldn't believe it. They have truly earned a customer for life. I was so touched by their generosity. Not to mention that I am totally in love with my new laptop! Any way that's the gist of the story.

nathanm · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 May 2007, 05:06 pm »

That's a great story! Although it's never good to get punched, it's very fortunate that it happened right in front of a bunch of witnesses. And to get a new machine out of it, that's gravy! Pretty cool.

ctviggen · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 May 2007, 05:13 pm »

That is a very interesting story, with a good ending! (And Macs do rock -- they're very easy to use, and I don't even own one of them.)

kyyuan · « **Reply #5 on:** 16 May 2007, 05:19 pm »

Jason -- way to go on controlling your emotions/actions. For many men, I surmise, would have tried to violently fight back. And, of course, congrats on getting hitched.

IronLion · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 May 2007, 06:02 pm »

Quote from: Pez on 16 May 2007, 02:45 pm

I had the foresight enough not to hit him back as I knew this was assault.

I've never gotten into any streetfights but am interested to know more about the legal implications of such scuffles in public; what would have happened if you swung back? And how would that change the legal situation?

ctviggen · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 May 2007, 06:09 pm »

It's complex. By the way, classically "battery" was actual contact and "assault" was perceived threat of contact, although some jurisdictions have modified these terms.

Pez · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 May 2007, 10:24 pm »

Thanks for the advice all. Yes this was assault. I am supposed to go in tomorrow to do a photo line up. Exciting!!!

Nels Ferre · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 May 2007, 10:42 pm »

Jason,

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Prosecute the dirtbag with gusto!

Apple does rock. I bought my wife a new MacBook and I was using it (as well as my Dell Notebook) at home a week later, as I often work from home and telecommute.

Anyway, I spilled a beverage, which got inside the MacBook and shorted the main board before I could get it shut off. Apple Care had the board replaced (under warranty, which they didn't have to do) and the computer was returned within a week, good as new.

When my PC dies, I may investigate a MacBook Pro for myself. I wish there was Foobar and EAC for Mac, that's about the only thing stopping me.

Pez · « **Reply #10 on:** 17 May 2007, 03:57 pm »

Yeah that is a prob. It's looking like more and more I have to install boot camp and XP

Woodsea · « **Reply #11 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:14 pm »

You are more in control of your emotions than myself. Even though I have never been in a street scuffle, I am sure I would have retaliated. You are more evolved than this Cro-Magnon.
Apple is a good company, but you pay for that service. I pre-ordered the new airport extreme, and then found out that the local stores actually had them in stock. When I called to cancel, even though it had not been shipped they could not stop the transaction. There workaround that worked flawlessly was to buy another at a brick and mortar than return the one I would eventually get in the mail.
So I get it, install it, and it doesn't quite work. After calling the reps, and finally going up to the smart tech's it runs like a dream. Nothing in this hi-tech world works perfectly out of the box 100% of the time.
I recommend their computers and wifi, and Jason's WWJD attitude!

Double Ugly · « **Reply #12 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:18 pm »

Quote from: Nels Ferré on 16 May 2007, 10:42 pm

I wish there was Foobar and EAC for Mac, that's about the only thing stopping me.

I don't know about a Foobar replacement, but Max is perfectly adequate for ripping CDs to your Apple/Mac hard drive.

Before I discovered that Easy CD-DA Extractor is just as accurate, faster and FAAAAAR more intuitive, I used EAC extensively when I had a PC. Max is somewhere between the two in terms of speed and usability IMO.

FWIW...

-Jim

Maxdd_nj · « **Reply #13 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:20 pm »

Consider using Parallels instead of Bootcamp.
You wont have to wait for reboots to switch between applications and some say it runs Windows APs smoother than Bootcamp.
Plus, it's pretty handy to be able to copy and paste between operating systems!

Product website: http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/
Info from Apples site: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/parallelsdesktopformac.html

Pez · « **Reply #14 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:34 pm »

What I was told if you are needing to run more graphics intensive programs parallels is not a viable option though.

tvad4 · « **Reply #15 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:36 pm »

Quote from: Pez on 17 May 2007, 04:34 pm

What I was told if you are needing to run more graphics intensive programs parallels is not a viable option though.

Why would the PC environment be used for graphics intensive programs? Gaming?

Watson · « **Reply #16 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:39 pm »

Quote from: Pez on 17 May 2007, 04:34 pm

What I was told if you are needing to run more graphics intensive programs parallels is not a viable option though.

The competitor to Parallels, a product called VMWare Fusion, does support DirectX directly, making it work for graphics-intensive programs. VMWare Fusion doesn't get a lot of publicity because it was late to the market, but it's a good product and currently free (though that will change).

boead · « **Reply #17 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:42 pm »

Quote from: ctviggen on 16 May 2007, 06:09 pm

It's complex. By the way, classically "battery" was actual contact and "assault" was perceived threat of contact, although some jurisdictions have modified these terms.

Yes, assault and battery. You can assault someone with words and gesture but you can only batter then with a weapon or a limb.

And yeah, I was assaulted in front of a Gateway store once and the darn store manager came out and kicked me too. F’in PC’s suck!

Pez · « **Reply #18 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:47 pm »

Lol!

Hey has anyone tried VMWare Fusion on their machine? Looked at the site, and it sounds interesting.

Pez · « **Reply #19 on:** 17 May 2007, 04:50 pm »

By the way, does anybody find it ironic that I used to be the moderator of Fight Club here and when I actually have the opportunity to get into a real fight I take the Ghandi path.