Let me be honest, I’m on the rant. I am so annoyed with Apple at the moment that I want to set my dogs on Steve Jobs and see how he likes having a Doberman hanging off his bollocks.
I have been desperately thinking of ways to turn this post into something vaguely related to self-development and/or life coaching and I can’t.
Therefore, as Fridays and Saturdays are a bit quiet round here I thought I’d up my posting from twice per week to three times and start a series called A.O.B. (any other business) where I can post stuff that is just, er ya know, stuff.
It may be a rant like this one, or it may be a bit of humor like my LMAO post, or it may be something completely different. I’m also happy to publish guest posts that are somewhat off my normal topics, so if you have something interesting you’d like to share send it to me and I’ll take a look.
I’ll try this for a month or so and if it’s boring everybody’s arse off, I’ll revert back to business as usual, but in the meantime I’d love your feedback.
Is Apple Screwing Its Customers?
I think it would have been fair until a month or two to have called me an Apple Fan Boy. Since migrating away from PC’s a couple of years ago I have adored all things Mac.
I have a 24” iMac, a Macbook, an iPhone , several iPods, a time capsule and I even stop the TiVo when I’m fast forwarding through adverts if I spot a new Apple ad to laugh at the poor souls using PC’s
Very sad, I know.
However, something has happened recently that is forcing me into resigning my fan boy status forthwith. I’ll also be taking down the 24 foot bronze statue of Steve Jobs I erected in my backyard as well as dismantling my Apple shrine that takes up most of the family room.
I am only a poor lowly life coach and as such don’t earn the kind of money that has me upgrading everything electrical including the toaster every time a new model comes out. Thu,s I’m stuck with an iPhone 3G that is positively ancient at 18 months old.
A few weeks ago as I’m sure you know, Apple brought out Version 4.0 of their operating system designed for their new phone. Cool I thought, the best just got better and I synced both mine and my wife’s phones as I was told to do in iTunes.
That was several weeks ago and the last time either of us had a phone that actually works properly.
I can no longer download photos, it wont sync properly and my iPhone is now more unstable than Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears out on a drinking spree.
iTunes doesn’t even work properly half the time and opening an application is an exercise in self control and persistence as multiple attempts are often needed.
And that’s just my phone, my wife’s is even more erratic.
So off I trotted into the local Apple a few weeks ago to explain my problems safe in the knowledge that they’ll be falling over themselves to help such a loyal customer sucker.
When I told the guy he literally shrugged his shoulders and said something like:
“Yeh we know about it, it’s happening to a lot of people”
Oh well, as long as you fucking know about it then that’s all that matters. I know about my $200 AT&T bill this month is it ok if I don’t pay it?
After some more shoulder shrugging and shaking of his head and that of the equally clueless technician he brought over, I stormed off in a very dramatic and somewhat camp huff to search the Internet in hope of salvation.
A shitload load of research later and I do indeed find that thousands of people have the same (and in some cases worse) issues and they also know that Apple know about it and they are about as happy as I am.
I did find a blog that explained how to revert back to 3.0, but quite honestly after reading of some people in tears after killing their phones trying to do this, I figured I’d leave it well alone.
What would you have done if you had been Steve Jobs when this problem surfaced? I know what I’d have done, and it wouldn’t have involved intense in-house training, teaching assistants how to shrug their shoulders properly. I’d have got on my phone (if it worked that is) and placed a call to AT&T saying:
Jobsey: “Look we screwed up, but we can both benefit from this and more importantly, so can our customers. We’ll offer you new 4.0 phones at a vastly reduced rate and you can offer free upgrades to any user on the 3G phones if they sign up for another 2 years.”
Under those circumstances (presuming they get their antenna issue worked out) Apple turn a huge negative into a positive by demonstrating their loyalty to the people that pay their wages. And AT&T hold on to legions of customers that will probably bail to Verizon once they start selling the iPhone too.
Remember when Lexus had to recall hundreds of cars earlier on in their history?
Not only did they go and collect the cars from owners that didn’t live near a dealership, but they detailed each vehicle and filled the gas tank up before returning them!
What did that achieve? Oh nothing much, only a life time of loyalty from a situation that could have buried a fledgling business.
At the moment I’m leaning toward moving away from my iPhone when my contract expires early in 2011 as I don’t want this to happen again in 18 months time. I’m not thrilled at the idea, but at the moment I feel like I’m being shafted and I don’t like giving money to people that are shafting me, unless I have specifically asked them to shaft me that is.
Tim Brownson is a Certified Life Coach and has been unsticking people and helping them reach their true potential since 2005. If you would like to know how he can help you
Yikes! I just got my first Mac back in April… it is a standard Macbook. I really like it though it has taken a lot of getting used to. (I’ve used a PC all my life.)
Anyway, this is disappointing to hear. I truly hope that Apple finds away to fix this issue AND make it up to the affected customers for all the grief.
Have a great weekend!
Cheers,
Dena
Macs are great Dena and this wouldn’t stop me getting another. It is making me think twice about dropping several hundred dollars and signing a 2 year contract on an iPhone though.
Which pretty much means your rant was just an entirely understandable rant, but not one that you actually intend to act upon.
Your tone was Apple screw their customers and aren’t worthy of your business. But it appears the reality is actually you recognise that Apple leave a lot to be desired when it comes to customer relations, but their products are sufficiently better than what Apple’s competitors offer that you are actually prepared to put up with it.
(I had a 3G and after updating to iOS4 it was terribly laggy. Apple should have not have released iOS4 for the 3G (they didn’t for the 2G), and given that they did release it – presumably without adequate testing – then of course a long time ago they should have offered a fix, or helped users revert to the old OS.)
I have to say, yes, you almost nailed it!
Not sure on acting on it. I will now look at other phones and I wouldn’t have done before this happened.
I wonder if something is happening inside Apple that is creating this customer service trend. I just read this today from another friend. http://beckyblanton.com/1557/moving-on-with-apple/
Actually, my phone was a bit glitchy at first and it still does some strange things. The strangest though occurred the other morning when I woke up, turned it on and instead of a photo of my dog (my usual) there was a large image of Jerry Garcia. I have no idea how it got there. And, when I tried to see if someone had sent it – poof it was gone – never to be seen again.
Do you have any idea what this could mean?
Bob Poole recently posted..Average Fail
Sounds like an acid flashback Bob.
I hope it’s a glitch and not Apple chasing the mighty dollar to the exclusion of all else.
Tim! I feel your pain – my 3G was a wreck and I was pretty freaking pissed about it. Is was basically useless. iPod, Calendar and Mail would frequently crash. I was in the same boat of deciding when I’m done with this I will NOT be getting another iPhone, just because this was so poorly handled. I didn’t go to your extent as I live 1.5 hours from a Mac store.
2 nights ago I was able to upgrade it to 4.0.2 – and it’s back to normal. It runs smooth and I can even play games once again. Angry Birds purrs like a kitten.
If you can make it work, upgrading to 4.0.2 did it for me – hopefully it can for you?
Shawn Christenson recently posted..It Wasn’t Me- It Was The One-Armed Man!
Thanks Shawn. I think I’m on 4.0.2. as it did upgrade a few days ago and it’s made little if any difference, but I’ll check to make sure.
Don’t know what to do now. I LOVE my MacBook Pro and Time Capsule. Haven’t had the best of luck with ipods-they didn’t tend to last. I was hoping to get the iPhone 4 but the antenna issues (and handling of them) as well as the obligatory THREE YEAR contract in Canada to avoid needing a loan to buy have made me pause. This is making me even more nervous!
A 3 year contract! Shit the thing will be completely obsolete by the time your contract expires. No way would I ever agree to that with an iPhone. I’m amazed that they can get away with that in Canada.
I feel like I’ve gone back in time here. It was an 18 month contract in Ireland which was long enough! I like Canada but the stuff they get away with is crazy. One company (Roger) owns two different cell phone providers, a cable/internet company and lots of other bits and pieces. They have a stranglehold on the place and people accept it. I’ve never had a phone last 3 years so seems ridiculous alright!
Ha ha, I’m a Canadian, and there are a few select companies here that basically have a monopoly. And I’ve pretty much never known anyone to have a phone for their full contract. It’s either broken or outdated by the time the contract rides out. We’re one of the few countries that have something like this. I assure you – I’ve researched!
I have my iPhone through Rogers and my phone is not acting up nearly as bad as yours, Tim. It’s no where near as good as it was, but it’s not nearly as glitchy.
Personally, I have a MacBook, iPhone, iPod, and I will be owning an iPad in a few months and so far, Apple has their issues, but I still find their products to be superior in comparison to anything else I’ve used.
Don’t disagree with that. I like Apple stuff, but I maybe no longer love it with the passion I once did.
Oh Tim. Bummer. But I must admit, I really enjoyed reading your rant. And, thanks for the head’s up. I have a *truly* ancient iPhone – Edge – that was before 3G! It’s working fine, but then again, I haven’t tried to sync to iTunes lately, either.
Great rant. Keep it up! I was actually considering upgrading to the cheaper 3G, but thanks to your warning, will skip that.
Hope it get’s better….
Leisa
Leisa recently posted..52 things I know about words and you should too- 2 Words Create Experience
Thanks I do like a good rant from time to time! I just hope Apple take notice of all the Internet Chatter.
Hi Time:
I enjoy reading rants so you go on right ahead, ra- nt away. I, too, am a recent Mac convert – I think it was May but I still have a clunky old cellphone. I drool at my friend’s iPhones but then I think “yet another thing I have to go learn…”
Hope you feel better now and some altruistic Apple person hears about it and fixes your problem.
Alison Golden recently posted..Tiger Woods is a Buddhist
What do you think the odds of that happening are?
Oh wait I’ve spoken to soon I have Jobsey on the other line, gotta go.
Oh but Alison, the beauty of the iPhone (when it works) is, you don’t have to ‘learn’ it. You just use it, and it makes perfect sense. Again, that is when you’re not having troubles …. um, ehr, nevermind.
Leisa LaDell recently posted..52 things I know about words and you should too- 2 Words Create Experience
Oh sorry, your name’s not Time, it’s TIM.
Wow, that sucks. I’m a big Apple fan but still love my Blackberry and don’t think I’ll be getting an iPhone anytime soon. I’ll keep on loving my Macbook and my gorgeous iPod.
Oh and I think you should keep doing this, variety’s always good, besides your writing’s funny and entertaining, no matter what you write about. :)
Rosa recently posted..El fotógrafo
Thanks Rosa and now you may laugh at me for laughing at my friends that said Blackberry’s are better.
An Android phone is looking good right about now….
In this house, we have two ipods, one a nano (mine, bright pink) and a shuffle (hubby’s, boring silver) and that’s it. No other Apple products. I love my ipod, but am not impressed with the brand.
Honestly, I think Apple market to be a status symbol. Their products aren’t the best, definitely not the cheapest, but HEY! It’s Apple! No thanks.
Melinda | SuperWAHM recently posted..Blogging Workshop – starting 30th August
I’d never have looked at a Droid before this, but I will be doing now!
Not sure about the other though, I’d never go back to a PC, my Mac is far superior to any PC I’ve owned.
Do you feel overwhelmed or stressed?
Do you know you have untapped potential?
Do you feel like life is passing you by?
Yes and mostly because I “upgraded” my iPhone 3G to iOASS 4. Most of my social media and business activity used to take place on my iPhone. Now I can’t do simple things like take a phone call and jot down notes at the same time in Notebook or Notes without my iPhone freezing as it tries to deal with low memory.
Mark Davidson recently posted..markdavidson- Is Apple Screwing Its Customers A Daring Adventure @TimBrownson Im giving this post two thumbs up Read it http-ffim-pQDoY
LMAO! Maybe I should change the approach of my site and go for the stressed out iPhone user niche?
The thing Apple don’t seem to have realised, and that Toyota learned years ago, is that a product issue can be a huge opportunity.
I remember working with a manufacturer years ago when we had a product recall. We measured the CSI (customer satisfaction index) on a daily basis. As soon as the recall was announced it dropped like a stone. But as we handled the problem (and we went the extra mile) it slowly rose, and once it was dealt with the CSI ended up higher than before the problem!
Absolutely 100% right. A customer that nothing ever goes wrong for may turn into a loyal customer, but equally they may not as we expect things to go ok.
However, when any business screws up, is the time they have a real chance to build rabid fans with the way they deal with it.
The reason I’ll never move away from Progressive Insurance is the way the phoned me to tell me they could do a better deal, and not only that, they backdated it almost a year and refunded me $300. That’s customer service!
Agree with this. I have a lot of companies I like…but I think some of the ones I’m most passionately devoted to and tell people about are the ones where I had a problem and they sorted it. Almost like true friends-you recognise them when times are tough!
Oh and just to add to this. I soooooo wanted an iPhone when they came out, having had Blackberries for years, but I didn’t want to change my airtime provider, so I waited. So glad I did, I’ve fallen back in love with BB’s.
Mike CJ recently posted..How Much Time Do We Waste Booking Airline Tickets
If you’d still like one Mike, mine makes a lovely paperweight.
Tim! So sorry this is happening to you. I super love my iPhone (3G, ancient like yours..), and haven’t had any problems. I am in Canada and not sure if this makes a difference. (sorry, not a techie).
BUT, I am happy to support anyone blogging or in social media when they have a legitimate concern and get zero help from the offending company. Good luck and keep us updated!
Nanci Murdock recently posted..BLOGGING MISTAKES
I’m sure lots of people haven’t had problems Nanci and contrary to how it may appear I still love the rest of my Apple stuff.
I’ve thought long and hard about posting this in the comments as it came in an e-mail to me.
But I see no problem in posting it anonymously because I want contrary opinions and not in my inbox either.
The first part is the comment from a subscriber and the second part is my reply.
Hi Tim,
I am a poor lowly life coach. I am also an Apple shareholder and user of all things Apple, including iPhone 4, iPad, iMac, MobileMe and several iPods. I did update my iPhone 3G (prior to purchasing the iPhone 4) and had NONE of the issues that you described. While your blog would cause me to believe that I am one of the fortunate few, I believe that you have used the power of this tool to spread negativity. While I may be a new Life Coach, I am certain this is not what we are about.
Personally, I am a big fan of authenticity and speaking the truth, but my mother also taught me that “if you don’t have something nice to say, please refrain from saying anything at all”. I think your rant would be appropriate if sent to Apple Customer Care or to Steve Jobs directly, we all know he answers his email (and maybe you’ll get that iPhone 4 at a reduced rate), but using your influence to damage someone’s business is just plain wrong. Do you Coach your clients to behave in this manner?
I hope that I am completely overestimating your influence here, but as a subscriber of your blog, who finds herself strongly considering unsubscribing, I ask you to think twice before beginning another blog such as this. Is Apple perfect? Nope. AND newsflash, neither are we!
————————————–
Thanks for the feedback, although I must say it would have been 100x cooler as a comment. Maybe there are people reading that agree with you and just need somebody else to speak up first, I really have no idea.
Do I coach my clients to do this? As a coach you should know I don’t coach my clients to *do* anything. I coach them to be themselves and if that means doing something like this, then so be it. It’s not an approach I would either advise or not, it’s just me being me. As for being ‘plain wrong’ well that is a belief, a judgement call by you, nothing else. Obviously some people (me included) don’t agree with you.
If I can use my blog to make businesses accountable when they have mistreated their customers then I really have no issue with that in the same way as I have no issue with people telling me on my own blog when they think I’m wrong.
Apple have acted appallingly on this imho and I have been in to 2 separate Apple stores to seek help and got nowhere. I didn’t even go into a load of other crap regarding my journeys in and the laissez faire attitude of staff for fear of making the post too long.
I cannot damage Apple without there being something to damage, I’m not making stuff up here. If they’d have acted quickly to rectify this, or even apologized publicly then I doubt I would have posted. The fact is I spent hours on the problem thinking *I’d* done something wrong. I have praised Apple lots of times and you can tell from the post and comments I LOVE most of the Apple products.
Seriously, the option to unsubscribe is there because I will never change my style for fear of upsetting people, it would be inauthentic. I love people disagreeing with me and making me think more deeply, it’s what makes me a better coach, but let’s do it in public not via e-mail.
I don’t think being a life coach or aiming to have a positive outlook on life means that you should lie back and allow yourself to be screwed! If a company provides a product that is substandard, knows about it and does nothing to fix it then why stay quiet? I’m glad of various rants because they’ve kept me better informed as a consumer. Contacting customer service is fine, assuming they do something. But then the company gets to cover it all up and people will unwittingly buy something bad. Do you think there would be free bumpers because of the reception issue if people hadn’t aired their views publicly?
Since when did life coaches have to be saps and smile regardless? Isn’t part of life accepting things you cannot change but changing things you can?
Agreed.
I have a $1500 Frigidaire fridge that is 3 years old and falling to pieces. Every single drawer is either cracked or completely broken, the ice tray doesn’t fit properly and the front of the ice dispenser keeps falling off. It makes a ridiculous amount of noise when making ice (unlike any other fridge I have known) and it overfills the ice if we forget to open it up and manually switch it off.
I wish to hell I’d known how crap the workmanship was before I’d bought the damn thing!
It’s all about accountability. Have you ever read a report on a blog slamming Zappos? I haven’t.
Tim, you seem to be implying that big companies care about their customers and not about money.
What’s your problem, man? Apple has such a tight grip over so many people, that despite any of this mess, there are still tons of people that will swear by Apple no matter what. It’s all business. These businesses don’t give two pie crusts about customers, it’s the money they’re after.
Aja Trinidad recently posted..Get Rid of Your Trust Issues Once and For All
I’m so naive ;-)
Hi Tim
I wrote a similar rant on my own blog about this very issue, so I can relate to the Paris/Britney metaphor! Also every time my 3G’s screen freezes up I now imagine a rabid Doberman chasing Steve Jobs down the street!
Apple are experts at persuading customers (especially loyal ones) to part with their hard-earned cash using great design and clever marketing, but would they really stoop to purposely degrading the performance of their earlier products just to increase sales of a new one?
They have promised that the next update will fix this issue – but surely this should have come out MUCH sooner than it has. Before my 3G’s performance went tits up, I was keen on buying the iPhone 4. But now I just feel forced into it and frankly I wonder if I’m just throwing money down the toilet by signing up to another expensive contract.
Milo recently posted..Gadgets for Gadgeys – which e-reader is best
Exactly how I feel mate! I feel like I’m being backed into a corner.
Buying a 4 was a done deal 6 weeks ago, now it’s a lot less likely.
Interesting that the woman who took the time to e-mail me telling me I was wrong to post this is an Apple Stockholder ;-)
Holy crap Milo it’s only just dawned on me what you said. Sorry I have a slight satellite delay to my brain.
It never even crossed my mind that Apple could have done this intentionally to get people to upgrade.
That is scary. I doubt it’s the case, but man it it were…..
If you think this is the only blunder Apple has done recently, think again.
I’ve been a loyal Apple fan the last three years, even when my harddrive have crashed once a year and I’ve either lost everything on it or paid a shitload of money to get it up in less than perfect order. I haven’t got worked up about these minor incidents because the programs work so good, they are exactly what I need.
Then I got a new MacBook this week, OS X Snow Leopard, as opposite to the Tiger (I believe) I had before. I was super-psyched, not only is the school giving us a MacBook for a fragment of the real price, it’s got a new OS!
Turns out, even if Snow Leopard is okay, iLife ’09 is completely useless, especially iMovie. Okay, so you can now switch around on a couple of things, but what use is that when they’ve removed the time line that MADE THE PROGRAM FRICKIN’ GREAT! To me it’s now completely useless and Windows Movie Maker would be better. Everything is well and truly hidden, it’s not possible to see in minutes and seconds how long a clip is, to move sound tracks back or forth to sync it better, the list goes on! Since it’s a program I’m going to use a lot in school, but it’s no longer possible to do the things I’m used to be able to do, it bugs me endlessly.
And just to add more fun to the games: the touch pad is not separated from the mouse button, which causes me to randomly zoom in, turn things or make some more disastrous move I had not planned on doing. It might understand I’m only clicking a link, or it might not… gah! They could at least kept the useful features!
To be fair I could have added a couple of other issues I had, but they were isolated to individuals rather than the company acting so poorly as as whole.
I’ve really no idea of the problems you are talking about, so it would be unfair of me to comment.
Well, I just chose this spot to rant, it’s really not that important. :)
Hi, I’m new. I am no Genius(TM), but I’ve been using an iPod Touch with iOS 4 software since it came out with no issues. I’m guessing that even though you found thousands of other people with a similar problem, you’re still in the minority, and claims that Apple is doing anything wrong are unsubstantied at best. As for a solution, you should give iOS a chance to get through a “teething” period, and while you are waiting you can switch back to earlier software which, despite what the Genius told you, is fairly easy to do.
So thousands of people with phones that they are paying for and in many cases are locked into paying for, that don’t work properly because the manufacturer has made a huge blunder is unsubstantiated is it?
We’ll have to agree to differ on that one.
I have been going through the ‘teething period’ for 2 months and think I’ve been fairly patient up to now. In that period I have been debited almost $400 for two phones that don’t work properly.
Can you tell me another product that you’d be ok with that happening?
Your car suddenly acting all weird and the manufacturer saying – “Don’t worry, keep on driving, we know about it”
Or your TV service that keeps changing channels and shutting down half way through a program causing you to have to go and turn your TV on. And this goes on for a couple of months. Would that be ok?
What about your accountant screwing up your taxes but telling you to stay calm as the IRS know about?
Well, the teething period is really more for new products. As in you don’t buy them until people stop having problems with them. And the “car” metaphor doesn’t make any sense because if you wait to buy a car, the car doesn’t get any less buggy. Plus, whether or not you buy a car and it works is case by case, which is why people have warranties (You know what else has warranties? Electronic equipment). If you iPhone 3G isn’t working, downgrade the software back to 3.0 and keep it there until you feel that 4.0 is a good choice. Maybe you should keep it there until 5.0 software, maybe 4.03 will solve your problems, I really don’t know. But the point is, Apple moves millions of iPhones every year and downloads of software are even more. Find an Apple rep that will be nice, take notes of the ones that treated you poorly and tell Apple about. Apple has won MANY awards/whatever for their customer service and they use ut as one of their selling points, so call them on it and quit spreading “Apple screwing it’s customers” crud around. Apple will help you, but you also have to help yourself.
Uh, except it’s an 18 month old phone and Apple told me to update the OS, I didn’t go looking for it.
If you’d read the other comments you’ll have seen I did try another rep. I have no idea how many Apple stores there are in Phoenix, but in Orlando there are two and I drove to both, getting the same level of service and ultimate result. Consecutive Saturday mornings given up trying to help myself
I don’t give a fuck how many awards Apple has won, what relevance is that to me and the thousands of people with phones that don’t work properly? That tells me what they have done in the past, not what they’re doing no.
And as for spreading ‘crud’ (aka facts) around, thanks for the advice I’ll give it some thought.
Hmm, looks like Apple heard you gripe about stuff. The iPhone 4.1 software includes an iPhone 3G performance bug fix. If you try it and it works, will you say so on your article?
Your obsession with defending Apple is a bit disconcerting, maybe you could benefit from hiring a life coach?
Oh and no, I wont be going back in and retrospectively editing a blog post any more than I ever do.
Worry not, it will be off the front page in a week or so.
Tim,
I’m sorry you are having such a nightmare, but this made me crack up.
‘Oh well, as long as you fucking know about it then that’s all that matters’ is one of the funniest lines I have read in ages.
Hope you get it sorted, and yeah, keep these ‘any other business posts!’
Kate.
It’s not rally a nightmare if I’m being honest, but it has niggled me almost every day for the last few weeks.
I think I will keep them coming, thanks.
I’ve dealt with Apple in the past, and while they’re stubborn (if you email about an app you bought that didn’t work, they state the whole ‘app purchases are non-refundable’) they eventually help out somehow. Most i’ve gotten was $6 of app store credits, least was 3 free songs.
As for crashing on a 3G- it’s because people don’t know about memory management. With 4.0, you have to turn off apps after exiting (double click home, hold finger, hit the red slash) or they clog up your memory)
I dunno Luke, there must be a lot of people that know nothing about memory management, that’s all I can say.