It seems that you have now entered the land of "The privileged few". Customer Support now calls you, you cannot even talk about the experience because you received free stuff in return. Not that I am complaining, I wish I could could get a pass but there seems to be more and more entries where you cannot speak your mind because of legal stuff. I hope this does not mean you lose your "I still one of you" personality.

Posted by: Starkman at May 17, 2005 08:23 AM

It is refreshing to hear when an evil flaming-eye conglomerate capitalisitc profit-sucking short-sighted souless mega-corp takes the time to help out one individual properly. (not refering to Apple here - not at all - in no way. Nope - not APPLE)

Makes me feel all luke warm and fizzy inside...

Glad you got sorted, Wil.

Maybe you are the one?

Posted by: Nyarl at May 17, 2005 08:29 AM

Cool Wil! I've had my 15' PB since last May and I absolutely love it. I've had ZERO problems with it and it goes with me everywhere. WAIT! I mean...it crashed and it sucks and um...Apple? Apple Customer Service? Call me! Crap. I think I've blown my chances. :-)

Glad to hear it all worked out.

Posted by: Shane Nickerson at May 17, 2005 08:33 AM

I, too, was surprised in a pleasant manner by Apple's customer service when the screen on my iBook failed. They shipped the computer at their expense and even replaced my badly damaged power cord at no cost to me - and my computer was a year out of warrantee! Turnaround time was about 3 days, even though I was told 10-14 business days. I can't say enough about how well they did, and wish that other large companies would take notes from Apple. It may be a hassle sometimes to have a Mac, but it's little things like these that make Windows machines look less and less appealing (not that they ever were). It heartens me to know that they are consistent in their customer services. Thanks, Wil!

Posted by: melanie at May 17, 2005 08:39 AM

Wil, I think your bad iBook luck is contaigious! Just after you posted the pic of yours unbootable, and I replied that mine had never done it, MINE DIED! (Clearly, I was tempting Fate.)

It happened right at the end of my Tiger install. I still don't have my computer back up yet, but Apple's apparently been AWESOME about it. Because Tiger's a new product, they're giving my box 90 days free support.

It hasn't come around yet. A good friend of mine down there in LA has it, and is working with the guys at Apple, who have apparently been a huge help...So, finger's crossed!

Though, I have to say, a new Powerbook (feel the computer lust) just might have been an even better solution...MMMMmmmmm Poooooooowerboook...

Posted by: naiah christine earhart at May 17, 2005 08:47 AM

And if it happened to be a Dell computer, you'd still be on hold trying to reach their help desk, which is 10,000 miles away in a land called India. If you're lucky, you might be able to understand them.

Posted by: DPJ2005 at May 17, 2005 08:48 AM

I have just been reading about Apple's work creating customer evangelists. They must really be doing their job right. It is impressive that they turned two strikes into a positive. No wonder they are a textbook example in marketing books. Welcome to the clergy.

Posted by: michelle at May 17, 2005 08:49 AM

i had to send in a couple of ibooks (the white ones like Wil's old one) for the university i worked for a couple of times. their customer service people were absolutely wonderful to work with. the machines were back on duty in just a few days -- and the school's not located in a major hub (although it's kinda close since it's about 2 hours outside chicago). considering the beating these things took as student machines which were lugged all over the place and back (not to mention tossed onto the desk and then crammed back into its little night-time cubby), i was really impressed with how they held up and how quickly apple was to deal with the minor problems we had.

and the 6 year old powerbook that i thought was dead a few weeks ago? a quick look through the apple archives (from the public library -- damn their 30 minute per day limit!) showed me that the power cords for my machine had been recalled. i gave apple my address and the serial number of my machine and they sent me a new cord the next day! i tossed the old one into the mailer they included and tossed it back in the mail. didn't cost me anything -- and my poor, ancient, much upgraded powerbook is humming along again, just fine.

of course, it's too old to load tiger onto it -- no built-in firewire port.
apple? you there? i'll do any ad you want for an upgrade to a 15" powerbook. (or 17"? do i hear powerbook g5 yet?)
hmm, greedy, greedy. computer envy is a terrible disease. someone should start a 12 step program for it.

anyhow, wil, it's great that you got a new machine finally. and the backlit keyboard is AWESOME for writing stuff late at night. turn all the lights in the house off, turn up your personal sound track and hit the keys. amazing stories can happen in that environment.

peace,
ender

Posted by: enderFP at May 17, 2005 09:06 AM

oh and wil -- check out macskinz.com they have skinz for the 'book that are awesome. they're currently having production issues with everything except the ipod skinz, but those should be cleared up soon. they can do some awesome designs for these things.

Posted by: enderFP at May 17, 2005 09:11 AM

Awesome, wil. If you have positive experiences it'll probably encourage me to replace this three-year-old bucket with a PowerBook. Something tells me you will :-)

I'm glad this frustrating situation was resolved in a way with which you're pleased.

Posted by: tim at May 17, 2005 09:15 AM

I don't know Wil, I want to believe that large corporations such as Apple really care about their image and want to "do the right thing" to keep loyal and happy customers, but I just don't see it. I certainly hope to be proved wrong should anything ever go wrong with my IBook.

This just seems to much like sneaky back door ninja-marketing. Bam! You don't know what hit you. Suddenly Apple calls you to fix your problem before you even let them know. Regardless of the details of your transaction with Apple, it's really irrelevant, they just pulled off free Advertising to [enter your number of viewers here] people on your blog.

I hope Apple is more honorable than that.

That said. Congratulations on your new system and getting your problems resolved, I know all too much what a pain it can be (thus my skeptism) to deal with customer support with ANY company.

Posted by: Michael at May 17, 2005 09:15 AM

Congrats Wil,

I'm glad to hear that apple took care of you. In 1996 I bought my first laptop, an apple 5126? I think? It's been so long and I've sort of blocked the whole thing out in order to keep from being committed. I had the beautiful shiny laptop for all of 1 week when it crashed. I was talked through a bunch of stuff by support and nothing worked. I was such a huge advocate for Apple back in the day. I think I was personally responsible for at least 10 Apple owners. After waiting for my apple to be fixed 4 times and a total of 6 months without it I gave up because each time I got it back it worked for no more than 3 days. I was told my only recourse was to keep sending it back. No matter how many times it took. They would NOT replace it or refund. I was actually depressed at this point and chose to stop the insanity. Now I look at the whole experience as if it were a really bad dream. Needless to say I've never bought another Mac and we don't talk about the "incident" in our house. It's referred to only as "the day apple died". I still have the damn thing in a box in storage. I don't know why. I guess it's a first love kind of thing. I'm hoping one day I'll come across it and when I turn it on it will magically come to life. In the meantime I'm going to buy a Dell Inspiron next week. Not nearly as much fun but there's a chance it might actually work. Congrats to you again, I'm SO Envious but happy for you. Burned in Pasadena....

Posted by: Mikal at May 17, 2005 09:18 AM

Good for you. Everyone in my family has Apple. I have called them a few times and gone into the store for help. They are always helpful...no free stuff yet, but my daughters iPod is acting up so we shall see.

Wil, the movie IT WAS HIM OR US is on TV (Lifetime) at this moment. I didn't like what that guy did to you in the mall.

Posted by: joann at May 17, 2005 09:18 AM

I don't think they would have done this for just anyone. It seems to me that this deal is just a few steps away from being an Apple spokesperson. You would certainly be much better than that squirmy guy who became a fly.

What size did you get?

Posted by: Alan at May 17, 2005 09:29 AM

I can't talk about the details because I signed the same NDA everyone who replaces a product signs, and I didn't get anything for free.

I'm in Windows-land (but trying to find a way to get myself a Mac), so I've never had this experience. Why does a product replacement entail a non-disclosure agreement? I can't quite wrap my brain around that.

Posted by: Alan at May 17, 2005 09:32 AM

"I can't talk about the details because I signed the same NDA everyone who replaces a product signs"

... um, since when? I mean, I'll agree with you that Apple Customer Service kicks ass (especially if you pay for AppleCare, which everyone should, seriously) but I have *NEVER* been under an NDA for my repair work.

If you signed an NDA, then I'd be *real* curious what they thought was NDA-worthy, because ordinarily, there's no NDA involved.

Posted by: Derek at May 17, 2005 09:39 AM

I love Apple support!!! The HD on my PB went out a few weeks ago. Not only did Apple Care take care of the HD, but the cleaned all the crap off my LCD for me, polished up the keyboard and made the thing shine again. Too bad they can't do anything about the chipped paint (known issue w/ my vintage of PB).

Compare them to say.. HP, Acer, Packard Hell, Insight, Comcast, Com Ed, WE Energies, etc... and they're the best!

-A

Posted by: Adam at May 17, 2005 09:58 AM

I actually used to work for Apple Care in their customer support center. They are very big on customer service 1) Because their products cost so much & 2) Becuase they enjoy getting Best Service award of the year (or at least beating Dell)

As far as calling you is concerned - depending on your issue that is follow-up protocol by a higher level agent. (Sorry if that doesn't make you feel special anymore :)

And as far as the NDA is concerned Apple has EVERYONE sign tons of NDAs. They are currently in a huge lawsuit over the leaking of some company secrets - so dude even if they didn't have you sign an NDA you are smart to say you did.

Anyways, as a past employee and huge fan I'm glad you enjoy your powerbook - I couldn't imagine life without it :)

Posted by: designgirl9 at May 17, 2005 10:09 AM

Wil, the privilege of celebrity. I was so dissatisfied with their attempts, and failure, to fix my new G5. They couldn't even tell me what the problem was. Thankfully, I had bought it at MacMall, and they had it fixed with no charge. The Apple "genius bar" personnel are less helpful than one would expect.

Posted by: Kroeme at May 17, 2005 10:26 AM

Um... having time on my hands, and a ADSL line to boot, I'd thought I'd see what the Audioblog link was all about...

Anyone else getting a Blogger 404?

Posted by: Ben O at May 17, 2005 10:34 AM

Now, if all companies treated all of their customers with the same helpful care and concern, this world would be a better place. :)

Posted by: Sue R at May 17, 2005 10:47 AM

I have a friend with an iBook, who received the same OUTSTANDING customer care when hers crashed (although it was replaced with a newer model iBook as oppsed to a PowerBook - I'm assuming that has a lot more to do with her wishes than her relative standing to yours).

Meanwhile after having to turn into a rude, demanding bitch with the globally outsourced Dell reps who didn't want to send an in-home customer care specialist to look at my laptop (despite the fact that I'd paid for just such a service when purchasing my laptop), I'm once again regretting my decision to replace my antiquated iBook with a Dell for work (as my company's VPN is inaccessable to a Mac).

Good on you, Wil!

Posted by: EmilyAnn at May 17, 2005 10:55 AM

Apple support is good. I buy mostly Dell now-a-days, and Dell's phone support is

[indian accent] not very good [/indian accent]

...but their on-site support is solid.

Best Customer Care ever?

No question: GEICO Insurance.

GEICO provides, bar none, the most consistent, professional and courteous support of any company with which I've had dealings.

Ever.

--AJ @ Egg Radio

Posted by: AJ at May 17, 2005 11:04 AM

Sorry Wil, calling BS on this.

You being a popular blogger, complaining about issues with your iBook on your blog, then having someone from Apple call you does not equal good customer service. It equals Public Relations.

Because they knew that even if you 'couldn't talk about it' you still would.

wwdn + thousands of daily readers + bad things said about apple = bad.

wwdn + thousands of daily readers + good things said about apple = not bad.

Posted by: Twitch at May 17, 2005 11:14 AM

Great experience! I have a friend who does customer care for a local ISP, and she told me something recently that I try to always do now. Whenever you receive good customer service, always ask to speak to the rep's manager so that you can tell them what good service you got. It really does make a difference.

Posted by: Holly at May 17, 2005 11:20 AM

Imagine, if you will, someone with thousands of readers, many of whom geeks, says how his equipment is experiencing a natural paradox in that it simultaneously sucks and blows at the same time: Who in their right mind would be left with any sort of a positive impression of the manufacturer of that equipment?

In sending you the replacement, they have performed spin and damage control in one fell swoop: You now (heart) Apple. Your thousands of geeky fan-boys follow suit like the lemmings they've been raised to be, what with the pablum of mind-numbing public education being force-fed to them from their infancy.

In my opinion, it was a pay-off that worked out incredibly well for you. Joe Beercan should not expect "white glove treatment" because a celebrity with a powerful voice was given everything but a body-massage with a "happy ending."

As Joe Wilwheatonfan, I can say that Apple has shown that their customer service is quite intuitive and heads-up for having gone above and beyond the call of duty in order to take care of a helluva nice man like yourself.

I still think that they need to work on the quality of their hardware to ensure such a tragedy doesn't occur again.

Posted by: Thomas at May 17, 2005 11:31 AM

First off, Jeeze, now your comments require a signup procedure, e-mail confirmation and all? Man, you'd think commenting on Wil Wheaton's blog was a matter of national security.

Secondly, I hate to be a cynic here, but here's what you said:

"Apple is a HUGE corporation, and I'm sure the problems of one user aren't going to make a dent in their Big Picture, but they've always made me feel like they care about me as a customer."

Apple is a huge corporation, yes. But they're a huge corporation that understands the power of celebrity evangelists. So while you're sniffling at the beauty of how they've taken care of the "problems of one user" which "won't make a dent in their Big Picture" don't lose sight of the fact that here you are, making a dent in their Big Picture by raising Apple's banner in front of your thousands of readers (and before, you had spoken twice of your problems with your iBook, thus lowering Apple's image to your thousands of readers).

I wouldn't have even commented if you weren't acting so incredibly naive and un-self-aware here. Sure, tell us about it: "Apple fixed my stuff." But don't throw on this misty-eyed "respect for the consumer" crap, as if you're just some Joe Schmoe consumer, who just happens to be so valued by Apple that he was contacted directly by Apple ("Hi, Wil, I hear you've been having problems with your iBook") instead of going through the normal channels to get service.

Posted by: wbwither at May 17, 2005 11:59 AM

Nice! Which model did you get - 12", 15" or 17"?

I've had my 15" for a year and I love it. I had to have my motherboard replaced because of a memory problem, but it's worked flawlessly ever since then. I had a 12" before this one and it worked beautifully for over a year as my primary system.

Posted by: mike3k at May 17, 2005 12:16 PM

Wil, I luv ya, but, really, do you think we'd get the same treatment (Apple customer service calling US) as just regular Joes and Joannas? No--you got the call from customer service because, hey, Wil Wheaton, dig? LOL

Posted by: rush at May 17, 2005 12:48 PM

Thomas: "geeky fan-boys follow suit like the lemmings they've been raised to be" is one of the most insulting and offensive things I've ever read here. Keep it up and you can just go comment somewhere else.

wbwither: TypeKey + MtBlacklist + SpamLookup == no trackback or comment spams, at all. And I did go through the normal channels to get service back when my first iBook crashed. Because I was already in the system, somene at Apple followed up when they heard my replacement iBook also crashed. Sorry that makes you so unhappy, but that's standard Apple CS policy.

Posted by: Wil at May 17, 2005 01:07 PM

Heya, Wil and folks.
I was actually a part of AppleCare, and the truth is a benign mix of the two attitudes here.

First, YES, those with the same kinds of problems Wil has described over the last year will get the same kind of treatment from AppleCare. There's no good reason for Apple to force customers to continue repairing a single computer so many times. I've read about Wil's iBook failing too many times. If I'd spoken to him, I would have replaced it, too, even if it were not Wil. In fact, I used to, regularly, when it was warranted.

Secondly, YES, anyone who gets a non-like-for-like replacement must sign legal documents. It's standard procedure for the replacement process. It's rare for there to NOT be legal paperwork which DOES include an NDA, as a pretty standard CYA in these kinds of situations. Seriously, do you think Apple has no interest in CTA?

Thirdly, YES, Wil is special in that he can make a buzz - and Apple has people out there listening to the buzz. If I heard this buzz, I would respond. It behooves Apple to not ignore the grumbling of their customers, especially if their grumbling is heard by the masses. I find it odd people would think poorly of Apple for taking care of a higher-profile customer. Would you RATHER Apple ignore him and let him believe Apple doesn't care?

Even though Wil is higher profile, they treat other customers the same way. Follow up calls are common, I used to make them myself. Product replacement, when warranted, is part of the warranty. Apple may choose to repair or replace failed products at their discretion. That's part of the warranty documentation. Apple chooses when to do this, and honestly, it happens more frequently than people think, because it's worth it to Apple to make sure customers feel good about their purchase, and we want to ensure customer satisfaction on all levels. It's not enough just to get someone to buy a product... you can't abandon them there.

That's why Apple also has FREE IN PERSON tech support and warranty services. What other company has *free* in person tech support? This is just a part of the Apple culture and how Apple wants customers to see them - as yeah, okay, a big company, but a big company that really does CARE. They hire people like me, who honestly and truly care about the customer, and advocate for them, fight for them and their rights and help them as much as possible. I seriously did/do care about the people who came to me, and never wanted any of them to leave unhappy with me or with apple.

By and large, I found most people to be absolutely ungrateful for the Genius Bar services, but there were some who really recognized what we have going on there - someone to listen, face to face, hear your side of the story, care, and in a great majority of the cases, provide a complete solution on the spot.

Seriously, what other company do you get that from? Apple helps everyone, not just high profile customers. But anyone who thinks Apple would ABANDON a high profile customer to try to make some kind of asinine point should be sharing that crack.

So, anyway. Wil, I am REALLY happy that you got your iBook replaced. I seriously would have replaced it for you had I the opportunity to, so I am glad one of my comrades did. :)

And now a word of advice: Aluminum is a very soft metal. Treat it as such. The AlBooks are good machines, but the casing is soft. Not only does this mean dents come easily, and sometimes scratching, but also a bit of warping occasionally. Should you find it warping from sitting in your lap and being hot (that sounds wrong), set it on a flat, level surface to cool and things will be better. Get a nice bag and don't put things into the bag along with the computer, no matter how convenient. :) As in, don't shove the power adapter in along with it so if you put your bag down your computer may rest on the power adapter, and thus bruise the screen.

Just tips from the things I've seen and are avoidable. Avoid them. :)

Oh and keep the little film that comes between the keyboard and screen. It will keep your screen from picking up marks from your finger oils. The acids in your hands will eventually mar your screen permanently, and the Powerbook has less of a gap than the iBook.

Oh, and wear sunscreen. Yeah, that was random.

Posted by: kayleejay at May 17, 2005 01:46 PM

I see what you're saying now. I think your original post left out just enough information that your case appeared to be more preferential treatment than good customer service. Your update connecting the dots between prior issues with your iBook and your current problems opens the door to understanding your point much more clearly.

Regardless, or our individual opinions, your point at following up when previously you left entries concerning your problems is quite admirable. So many people become the squeaky wheel when there is a problem, but never offer praise when praise is deserved.

"... I'm some sort of big celebrity or something. Newsflash: I'm not." I must giggle a little bit. Your continued modesty in your posts is refreshing. You may not have the celebrity status of today's television and movie headliners, but in case you haven't realized - in the blogging universe you are quite the celebrity. Perhaps one day you'll also achieve that status as a writer.

Posted by: Michael at May 17, 2005 01:55 PM

I just got my PB back today. I had a minor logic board problem. Apple has always taken care of my and I agree that their customer service is outstanding. =^) Enjoy your PB...they are so much fun.

Posted by: =^) at May 17, 2005 02:19 PM

Hey Wil. Just glad to hear you got a new laptop. I'm so proud of you! *tear* just kidding. Now. Just don't break this one. Okay? *HUGS AND KISSES* Tell Anne and the kids I said hi.
Laney

Posted by: Laney at May 17, 2005 02:21 PM

Wil,

Your post originally made it appear that there was no trouble ticket involved or that you had not, actually contacted customer care. If that is the case, then someone probably read your blog, or got an email from someone you know at apple and decided to give you a call.

If it's because you have contacts at apple, then I would say your experience isn't representative, of what the average joe would get, if they didn't know anyone at apple, regardless of how you got the contact.

If it was because you had a trouble ticket, then hot damn, that's some good customer care.

If, on the other hand, someone from Apple read your blog and took action becuase you are a Big Time Writer(TM) with a blog that's read by thousands, that, sir, is Public Relations.

Posted by: Twitch at May 17, 2005 04:02 PM

Oh, and I'm not trying to imply that any of this is wrong or underhanded. Companies do what they do to make a buck. I got no problem with that. However it worked out, good for you.

Posted by: Twitch at May 17, 2005 04:05 PM

Back in the day I administered an Apple Workgroup Server/95 (running A/UX... we're talking 6 or 8 year prior to OS X...) Part of running such a beast included another level of Apple Care. So one Sunday morning at 7 AM CST I found myself calling the number because the fileserver or the print server was down and I swear the thing patched me through to an engineer who was at home with a rather vocal parrot in the room with him. He happily talked me through getting the machine back up and everything worked as he said it should. So I just gotta say that having on call engineers who can be that lucid, that early on a Sunday morning, really won some points in my book.

Posted by: ChuckEye at May 17, 2005 04:36 PM

There's a good reason IT publications rate Apple customer care pretty high for quite a few years now.

On top of having the best computers out there (mine is a dual G5 Monster Masher) we actually are able to keep out babies up and running pretty easily! Shoot, Tiger's been out less than two weeks, and we've alredy gotten a major bug fix yesterday. How long does it take the competition to do a service pack?

Regardless of Apple's motives in this case - no one knows for sure outside of the NDA crowd - the overall experience of most people is pretty darn good. Compared to the competition, it's a compelling reason to consider a Mac - even if you're running Linux or BSD UNIX! But forget about Planet 9. There ain't no Mac port - yet. GDR :-D

Posted by: eric at May 17, 2005 05:10 PM

I just wanted to say that I cracked up at this:

"Will definitely do business with again!!!11 TOP RATING!!! A+++++++++!!!!!!!

Har. Har. Har. Gods, I slay me with my funny."

Seriously. I laughed out loud. And I'm not just saying that, as folks are wont to do these days.

Posted by: Spudd at May 17, 2005 07:03 PM

Wil,
Nice audio-blog. Great, that the apple story has a happy ending. I know that it is great when they fix it. I'll take your word that apple is ok. Great to see some good news.

FG

Posted by: FABIAN at May 17, 2005 07:24 PM

First, thank you for updating and replying. I am a fan of both you and Apple, so please don't think otherwise due to my comments.

Second, I know that you have to deal with the comment spam somehow, but I feel there are better ways of handling it than relying on third-party registration where I've just handed my e-mail address to some company. It just kind of pissed me off when I encountered that, so I was a bit stronger in my comments than I should have been. My apologies.

Third, I agree with Michael and Twitch. The further information you've provided adds a lot of context, but still the fact remains that Apple Customer Care contacted you first (even though you had contacted them earlier about a previous problem, so they had your information) -- which I can't believe is standard practice. Whether this is due to 1) somebody at AppleCare reading your blog or 2) your friends at Apple, of course I don't know, but in either case it's not the norm. Who knows, maybe Apple has people constantly searching Technorati for "my Mac crashed" and pro-actively contacting customers, but I doubt it.

This isn't to be down on you, or on Apple. Really. From everybody's comments, it really looks like Apple has kickass customer service. My only real problem is with what made Michael chuckle: the idea that you're not a celebrity. Yes, the modesty is refreshing, and I'm really glad that this thing hasn't gone to your head, but you've gotta step into reality at one point. You've got a Posse. You're a leader, an influencer in the world of bloggers and geeks -- who, in turn, influence the rest of the world when it comes to technology. No, you're not a big celebrity in the traditional sense, but you and Christopher Walken are the only people to have their own little buttons on FARK. I think that says a lot.

Posted by: wbwither at May 17, 2005 07:32 PM

Hey Wil!!

I'm glad you got your computer problem solved!! You deserve something good for a change! You have been through so much, and if anyone DESERVES a break it is you my friend! I have been praying and thinking of your family everyday. I hope everything is going better. The best to you all!!

Posted by: JCade at May 17, 2005 08:07 PM

oh fer cryin' out loud, people, when did we all get so friggin' cynical?
never mind, i'm cynical about most things, too.

apple DOES make follow-up calls. some folks have now noticed the further context that wil put on the story and some folks have actually read all the words he wrote the first time -- maybe it's just because i've had that experience before taht i was able to read between the lines. his ibook was replaced with a pbook. yeah, that would require an nda. you don't want everyone thinking that they can trade in their abused, water-soaked ibook and actually get some credit to put toward a powerbook. (i worked retail -- people really think they can throw something in the pool and then bitch b/c it doesn't work and get a new one, or even an upgrade.)

i sent in an ibook for a broken clasp. minor, minor repair. they called back a month later to make sure that everything was all right.

now, yes, wil's something of a celebrity - someone known to many people and therefore a possible good marketing ploy. apple geeks read his blog. people from apple emailed him and told him to call so-and-so at apple. he didn't get around to it and then someone called him. maybe it was a routine follow-up. maybe it was because of his blog. who cares?

apple really does try to work with folks when they get a lemon. i've got a friend who's machine tanked a couple of times. faulty motherboard, faulty power board. next time there was a problem, they took care of the whole mess. reading between the lines (yes, she had an nda, all i can do is look at what i knew and what happened and apply a little detective-work), they knew her loyalty to the brand had to be fading -- common sense alone would tell them that. offer to fix it again? are you kidding? by that point i'd be sure it was jinxed, or at least that generation of boards had a serious production problem. i'm not going to trust it. i know she didn't either. they didn't even offer to fix it again. i assume they offered her a new machine. she certainly has a great new machine now and the old one is off being disassembled in area number 5 to figure out what the bloody hell went wrong.

and as for the registration taht everyone's bitchin' about? i started writing comments just a couple of weeks ago. the registration stuff was already in place at that point. it wasn't new to today. and it's a common feature in moving type. deal. the internets are a bitchy place sometimes and everyone gets tired of hearing the creeps spout off. if this cuts back on some of them, great.
is it a privacy issue? fine line here. i don't think so ... i used one of my relatively anonymous accounts to register. if you're that flippin' paranoid, what are you doing on the internets at all?
sorry for the rant, all this just hit a button i guess.

WIL- i'm glad your situation got settled for you. it got settled for my friend too. i'm sorry that people see this weird need to bag on you all the time. it's just weird to me to watch the posts go from so positive to just ... i dunno, so negative and condescending. whatever.

peace,
enderFP

Posted by: enderFP at May 17, 2005 08:48 PM

Just to add my two cents - I've had awesome customer service from Apple, much like Wil's. Apple's fucking awesome, as corporations go, and as cynical as I am - I'm not as cynical as some of the folks who have been commenting here.

Sure Wil's celeb status (no matter what level it's at) might get him a thing or two... but think how much it's cost him. So, I'm inclined to give the guy a break.

e

Posted by: pylonian at May 17, 2005 09:04 PM

I have to agree that Apple's Customer support is awesome. My G5 started to act all strange and stuff, so I called up AppleCare, they asked me to do a few things and the next thing your know, two days later a new stick of RAM shows up via courier.

And, my G5 behaves nicely now.

Apple rocks. I can't believe it took me so long to switch.

Posted by: AmiNTT at May 17, 2005 09:28 PM

I'd have to agree that the guys at Pasadena are awesome. One even scrounged up a replacement rubber "foot" for my 12" Powerbook. (which promptly fell off after I left...oh well, the PB works very well, so it's not a biggie...) It sucked that Wil has had such woes with his iBook, but I hope the new PB will more than pick up the slack. One thing's for sure, multiple important people at Apple certainly must be reading this blog, and that's definitely a Good Thing™.

Posted by: Ryan C. at May 17, 2005 09:33 PM

Why is it that everyone I know in person who has had an Apple desktop or laptop has had them die, break down, freeze up, or all of the above, leading them to get service/replacements from Apple Care.

And every Apple-owning blogger I read has an entry where their desktop/laptop blows up/locks down/runs down the hall with a hand grenade leading them to get service/replacements from Apple Care.

I, my family, and my circle of friends have always owned PCs and have NEVER had a problem with them. I'd love for someone to show me what I'm missing.

Posted by: LadyGypsy at May 17, 2005 10:13 PM

ladygypsy-
you're lucky.

let's see, there was the dell laptop that would not stay on. you could use it on a desk and type with an external keyboard and something somewhere would shift and the damn thing would power off. in the middle of whatever you were doing.

there was the ibm desktop that caught fire for no discernable reason.

there was the gateway that had FIVE freakin' new motherboards before the warranty went out and i gave up on it.

the compaq that had the read/write arm break off over the hard disk, destroying the disk beyond any recovery.

the thinkpads at work -- went in for at least 4-5 times as many repairs as the macs did. and one of the mac problems was simple user-abuse (breaking the clasp that kept the machine closed).

i've owned two macs. the first one got me through grad school and then some -- i never had a problem with it ever. at all. period.
my powerbook was bought in '99. i've upgraded it several times and the newest processor runs too hot -- it's a third party upgrade that keeps the machine viable despite being so old. the heat of the new processor screwed two charger circuit boards on the machine -- now i don't bother with the batteries that won't stay charged. it's a tethered laptop and i'm happy with it - at least it's within a generation of the current tech instead of two or three generations behind. when it 'died' on me two weeks ago, i thought the processor finally burned out the logic board. nope -- it was a faulty power cord. machine still runs great.

when i think of all the virii that windoze users deal with -- i'm happy to be on a mac. ditto the blue screen of death (although the spinning beach ball of death can be incredibly irritating -- it's not generally as fatal to documents).

don't get me wrong, i'm glad you've been lucky enough to know so many people who've never had a problem with their pcs. that's awesome. it hasn't been my experience and you asked for examples. :)
i don't wish computer problems on anyone except my old boss. and for him, well, let's just say may his hard drives always fail before he's got something important due.

peace,
enderFP

Posted by: enderFP at May 17, 2005 11:29 PM

When I got my new G5, we had trouble getting it to talk to our seemingly decrepit AirPort. Since we had the "90 Day Customer Care" thing going on, James called them, and after describing the problems - which were very strange - he got referred, not to "an AirPort guy", but to "the AirPort guy".

It turned out that our AirPort was one of a short run that didn't have any markings whatsoever on the ports, and we had the cables running into the wrong ones! And, credit where credit is due, we were still able to access the Internet from multiple computers with the modem plugged into the wrong port. How's that for robust!

My friend Jordan once opined that "if you could stick your finger into a port on an Apple, it would attempt to communicate directly with your brain". ;)

Posted by: robespierrette at May 18, 2005 12:22 AM

Look. My point wasn't to bash Wil, or say that he's not worthy of such good customer care or good luck or whatever you want to call it. He's definitely worthy of a new PowerBook as far as I'm concerned, ok? I'm not begrudging him that. I'm not even bitching about how it's unfair that he got treated specially. That's perfectly fine -- Apple's a company, they're trying to make money, everything's fine. It's no skin off my nose if Paris Hilton gets a free cell phone which she then has photographed in front of her face about a zillion times. Good for her, good for the cell phone company, and it doesn't affect me.

So let me make a list here of what I'm not saying:
- It's wrong for anybody to get special treatment
- It's wrong for Wil to get special treatment
- I'm not happy for Wil to have a new AlBook
- I'm not impressed by Apple's service
- I think that Wil is evil
- I think that Apple is evil

My sole problem is with Wil's insistence that he's not being treated specially and/or that he's not a celebrity (in a particular, but not diminished, sense of the word). Not because I think he's lying to us -- because I think he's lying to himself. Honestly. I'm not trying to be an ass here, as much as it may sound like it. Most people would not have gotten that first phone call from Apple. That's all that I'm saying. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, or that Wil doesn't karmically deserve it. My sole claim is that Wil got some sort of special treatment, however tiny, and that he's in denial if he doesn't admit to it.

Also, on a completely separate issue, I have a problem with having to sign into Six Apart's website every time I want to leave a comment on Wil's blog. That might actually be evil, and actually I think it's akin to the REAL ID act. Commenting here used to be easy. I guess I've been reading WWDN for about 9 months now. I've left a few comments now and then, mostly just meaningless stuff like "Congrats!" and the like. I recognize that spam is a problem, so I don't mind things like typing in special obfuscated text or other challenge-response mechanisms to ensure I'm not a spambot.

But it takes things to a whole new level when I have to go to another fricking website to sign in before I can post. If the signing-in process remained on Wil's site, I wouldn't have a problem with it (WordPress blogs have a fairly simple cookie-based one-time moderation/approval system that I think works pretty well, although I haven't used it on a large scale). But authenticating through Six Apart (a company with which I have a few beefs) every time is a bit too Big Brother for me. So I simply won't comment as much, if at all (which I'm sure breaks everybody's heart).

Posted by: wbwither at May 18, 2005 12:36 AM

wbwither: I totally agree with you. Even though Wil says he didn't get any special treatment for being a celebrity, let's be honest here. Apple doesn't have special transponders in their laptops that send out an SOS when one of them dies, resulting in an emergency call from AppleCare. If he didn't have thousands upon thousands of people reading his blog, and then subsequently wrote about his iBook dying on him, he never would have received that call from Apple's support and got him a fancy new PowerBook. Now, that's not to say that he wouldn't have gotten the same treatment if he called them up himself (from what I understand, Apple has some kickass support), but yeah, there was a bit of special treatment there.

Oh, and the TypeKey thing really irritates me too - what does that "Remember me?" radio button do? It certainly doesn't remember me because I've had to sign in every single time I left a comment. Wil, switch to WordPress, and Spam Karma! It works! Join the dark side!

Posted by: antifuse at May 18, 2005 05:57 AM

Thomas: "geeky fan-boys follow suit like the lemmings they've been raised to be" is one of the most insulting and offensive things I've ever read here. Keep it up and you can just go comment somewhere else.

Wil. Dude. Seriously.

I was referring to the "sheeple" factor that rears it's ugly head when we're presented with someone else's opinions, and that person happens to be perceived as an authority or expert in his/her field. It's how people have been raised as children, and perpetuated in classrooms everyday.

I would not, dare not nor will I ever suggest YOU are encouraging such cultish thinking. Quite the opposite. I was speculating, and I admit that I've made mistakes before, that the reason Apple was juxstapositioning their lips and your heinie was an effort to change your experience, and therefore the mindset of people that, like it or not, believe the sun rises and sets on said heinie.

And if you want me to stop commenting, I'll respect your request.

Posted by: Thomas at May 18, 2005 07:03 AM

Just to add my experience to this thread (admittedly to late).
I have a 22 inch Cinema Display that was well out of warranty when one of the backlights died. I took it in to my local Apple store (The Falls in Miami) and was told it would take a couple of days to check out. I was in the market for a second monitor anyway so I added a 20" and went on my way. They called me 3 days later and told me the backlight needed repair and it would take another 2 to 3 days to arrive. When I got the call that it was back I took the trip to the store and was told that even though it was not under warranty they had replaced the light... oh and since the glass was not looking to good either they replaced that, as well as the internal electronics. So for the cost of $200 I got what was basically a brand new display.

Posted by: Anim8me2 at May 18, 2005 07:07 PM

I've always received the absolute best customer service from Apple. Not only are they helpful but they talk in everyday language.
Not like Microsoft. Recently I had to submit two 'contact us' emails to their help department. (Which, by the way cuts you off after a certain amount of characters typed) One about MSN messenger, and one about Hotmail (both, having to do with work. If it wasn't for work I wouldn't go near them). I received two very prompt replies (the next day). Both of which began by apologising for the delay in replying (??!!??!!) and stating that MS have received an unusually large number of messages recently. (Well, if it worked properly, perhaps they wouldn't!!) One long winded reply basically says 'we're working on it', the other one had a few suggestions for me to try none of which worked.
Give me Apple any day.

Posted by: crystal at May 18, 2005 08:20 PM

Dude, you got it because you're a semi-celebrity. (Apple loves those people)

Posted by: those bastards! at May 19, 2005 02:07 AM

Wait a minute: THEY called YOU?

Do you think it's possible that blogger with several thousand readers might be treated just a teensy bit better than the average schmuck? Or am I just being "cynical?"

Posted by: FNRThomas at May 19, 2005 03:13 AM

I want to be clear: I can't talk about the
details because I signed the same NDA everyone
who replaces a product signs

My Confuzzlement reigns supreme.

In all my years having products replaced -- and, indeed, in dealing with customer service of any kind! -- I have _never_ signed, nor been asked to sign, any form of NDA, nor would nor will I ever sign such a document.

Can you give us more information on these NDAs, and who makes who sign them?

Posted by: Leviathan at May 19, 2005 07:00 AM

I find it disheartening that so many people question the motive behind the care Apple has shown you. However, I found it refreshingly elegant how you explained your reasoning for posting the article. Not that you should have had too.

Posted by: Z at May 20, 2005 03:56 AM

I have been a Mac user since 1995 and have had mostly positive experiences. Unfortunately though my laptop saga did not have as wonderful an outcome as Wil's. I had to send my laptop in twice for repairs, because of motherboard problems. The first time only a few weeks after purchase and the second time was less than a year later. I was without my computer for a month the first time I sent my computer for repairs, but the second time they kept my computer for 3 months. OK, when they returned my laptop without the power cord they did replace it with no questions asked, but that was another week without my laptop. The Apple support staff were very courteous, but they certainly never called me (in fact I called them repeatedly the second time to see what was causing the delay) and I was never offered any free services or upgrades in compensation. I have read about other laptop owners that received free upgrades, so I don’t think that celebrity was the sole factor affecting Wil’s fortuitous outcome, but then again I’m sure that fame didn’t hinder the process. Anyway glad to hear that some people are having good experiences with Apple, just wish I was one of them!

Posted by: ananke at May 26, 2005 06:44 AM