The keyboard on my computer frequently sticks – causing the spacebar to malfunction and the words to mushalltogetherlike this. As you can imagine, it’s quite annoying. So, when I finally had access to an Apple Store, I eagerly took it in for repair.
“Yes, we’d be happy to replace it. Yes, you need a whole new keyboard, not just a fix. Yes, it’s faulty – we’ve had many of them and would replace it for free even if you did not have the AppleCare service program.” Great. Until we came to the kicker: “Just leave it with us and we’ll have it back to you in 7-10 business days.” Gulp.
Two weeks without a computer seems impossible to me. There are the daily dots. Zoom meetings. Documents. Calendars. Well, everything is on my computer.
Apple is worth $2 trillion and is considered the most valuable company in the world. Wouldn’t you think that they could do a better job of handling problems like this? Provide a loaner computer. Do repairs on-site. Expedite repairs that need to be sent out so it takes a day or two, not a week or two. Be proactive in offering options for repair instead of having people make service appointments only to be told: “yeah, we know, but mail it in.”
Problems happen. But if you become aware of them in your organization, try to be more empathetic and responsive in addressing them. Handling issues well can actually endear your customers to you even more than if something bad did not happen. If only Apple had learned that lesson.
