Prologue: .. Now before anyone chalks me down as an Apple Fanboi let me pop the disclaimer here: I first started using Apple products (namely iPhones and co) when one of my employers "forced" me to use one as a company phone. Then years went by, settings and data grew, and I never bothered to try to migrate to another platform, use the time to re-download and set up all the apps whatnot figure out backups blabla. When something broke down or became an issue, normally I would just buy second hand Apple stuff, restore from the cloud, and get on with my life. So far so good.
So this story begins after my 3y old Airpod Pro's started hissing, popping very badly and also microphone quality went so bad that people said I sound like speaking from a barrel full of dead eels. Deviating sadly from my rule, I paid full price for it anew, at a rate of a kidney or two, thinking it'll last. Now I've noticed SOME small issues already when it was new, but I was like, well, it's windy, or whatnot, thinking it was normal. But it was almost unusable now. I also have to add, I'm a maniac with my electronics and take really good care of whatever I have, never drop them or such, clean them regularly, etc. but alas here I am.
So I check on Apple's site which says, first generation Airpod Pros have a known fault about hissing and distortion, and there is a service program to replace them, so I'm thinking AWESOME, so this is why I paid through the ear, time to shine Apple! So I book a time on the net with an authorized Apple service point and off I go.
Round 1: The guy at the service point is super nice, runs a test, confirms my AirPods are faulty (due to the issue) but tells me, oh so sorry, the service program was only valid for 3 years and you just missed the deadline. Erghh. Okay, so I ask him how should I have known? I never got a note from Apple that I bought a faulty product for full price? And is there anything we can do? So he says, oh we are really sorry but my hands are tied, bla bla, and no we don't repair AirPod just replace them, and guess how much is the relacement? Same price (well almost) as a new set. AND recommends to rather buy the new generation (guess what it's 30% more). But hey, he says, try to call Apple support and ask them, maybe they can make and exception about replacement and put it in the system. Then he can replace them.
Round 2: Apple phone support is all spick and span, I explain everything what happened at the service point, they check the case details, and error details, and ask, and record and bla, but lo and behold in the end: oh no, so sorry the service program has expired, no replacement for you.. and oh we wish we could help, but but but. So I repeat my woes, and ask them to maybe escalate, and the guy says, nah, there is nobody here higher in the foodchain, and then guides me to an apple link to show me: here you will find the daily up-to-date service programs from Apple. AND also shows me the small text on the service program page that says that 3 year is the deadline (like I needed proof), like for a child. Eventually I decide to order 1 (one) earbuds for half the price as a spare part so at least I can still use it as a headset for making calls. (Btw. He never proposed this, I just caught that they charge separately for both earbuds and case as a service part)
Round 3: Now the BUYING experience, is oh boy, unmatched. Did you know that they can remote control your iPhone just like remote desktop and such? So as soon as I uttered the words, puff, like a genie, a pop-up appeared out of nothing, showing the spare part, the price, and a nice big "Agree" button, after which, poof ApplePay pops up, after which poof and email with a tracking number saying I'll have the part NEXT day. I'm a bit dizzy but say thanks and hang up.
Round 4. After all that, I feel a bit uneasy so I just click through the support pages one last time, and after several links, I find "How to reset your Airpod Pro" article, which I follow, and poof my microphone works again properly, and I swear (but maybe just imagine) that the sound seems to be better too. Whoa, wait a sec, so WHY this has not come up neither at the service point nor at phone support? Oh, well, I go and call them again to cancel the spare bud order as I don't need them. Now THIS time I only get a drone from the "cancellation department", who just parrots everything I say back, and keeps saying that he can't cancel the order because it's "already been shipped" even though the tracking number is not even valid yet at the courier... And my best bet is to just not accept the parcel after which I'll get an "automatic" refund within 30 days. BUT call them again after 30 days if the money doesn't show up.
- The End -
Epilogue: This was my first time ever Apple support experience and likely my last too. Maybe (surely) I'm biased, but it seems they are more focused on how to skin their customers (multiple times) than how to keep them. Bada-bing-bada-boom there goes your money, here is the stuff you don't need (literaly) off you go into the sunset! Smart. I had a few Apple shares in my portfolio but now I'm buying more (shares that is, not products).
So this story begins after my 3y old Airpod Pro's started hissing, popping very badly and also microphone quality went so bad that people said I sound like speaking from a barrel full of dead eels. Deviating sadly from my rule, I paid full price for it anew, at a rate of a kidney or two, thinking it'll last. Now I've noticed SOME small issues already when it was new, but I was like, well, it's windy, or whatnot, thinking it was normal. But it was almost unusable now. I also have to add, I'm a maniac with my electronics and take really good care of whatever I have, never drop them or such, clean them regularly, etc. but alas here I am.
So I check on Apple's site which says, first generation Airpod Pros have a known fault about hissing and distortion, and there is a service program to replace them, so I'm thinking AWESOME, so this is why I paid through the ear, time to shine Apple! So I book a time on the net with an authorized Apple service point and off I go.
Round 1: The guy at the service point is super nice, runs a test, confirms my AirPods are faulty (due to the issue) but tells me, oh so sorry, the service program was only valid for 3 years and you just missed the deadline. Erghh. Okay, so I ask him how should I have known? I never got a note from Apple that I bought a faulty product for full price? And is there anything we can do? So he says, oh we are really sorry but my hands are tied, bla bla, and no we don't repair AirPod just replace them, and guess how much is the relacement? Same price (well almost) as a new set. AND recommends to rather buy the new generation (guess what it's 30% more). But hey, he says, try to call Apple support and ask them, maybe they can make and exception about replacement and put it in the system. Then he can replace them.
Round 2: Apple phone support is all spick and span, I explain everything what happened at the service point, they check the case details, and error details, and ask, and record and bla, but lo and behold in the end: oh no, so sorry the service program has expired, no replacement for you.. and oh we wish we could help, but but but. So I repeat my woes, and ask them to maybe escalate, and the guy says, nah, there is nobody here higher in the foodchain, and then guides me to an apple link to show me: here you will find the daily up-to-date service programs from Apple. AND also shows me the small text on the service program page that says that 3 year is the deadline (like I needed proof), like for a child. Eventually I decide to order 1 (one) earbuds for half the price as a spare part so at least I can still use it as a headset for making calls. (Btw. He never proposed this, I just caught that they charge separately for both earbuds and case as a service part)
Round 3: Now the BUYING experience, is oh boy, unmatched. Did you know that they can remote control your iPhone just like remote desktop and such? So as soon as I uttered the words, puff, like a genie, a pop-up appeared out of nothing, showing the spare part, the price, and a nice big "Agree" button, after which, poof ApplePay pops up, after which poof and email with a tracking number saying I'll have the part NEXT day. I'm a bit dizzy but say thanks and hang up.
Round 4. After all that, I feel a bit uneasy so I just click through the support pages one last time, and after several links, I find "How to reset your Airpod Pro" article, which I follow, and poof my microphone works again properly, and I swear (but maybe just imagine) that the sound seems to be better too. Whoa, wait a sec, so WHY this has not come up neither at the service point nor at phone support? Oh, well, I go and call them again to cancel the spare bud order as I don't need them. Now THIS time I only get a drone from the "cancellation department", who just parrots everything I say back, and keeps saying that he can't cancel the order because it's "already been shipped" even though the tracking number is not even valid yet at the courier... And my best bet is to just not accept the parcel after which I'll get an "automatic" refund within 30 days. BUT call them again after 30 days if the money doesn't show up.
- The End -
Epilogue: This was my first time ever Apple support experience and likely my last too. Maybe (surely) I'm biased, but it seems they are more focused on how to skin their customers (multiple times) than how to keep them. Bada-bing-bada-boom there goes your money, here is the stuff you don't need (literaly) off you go into the sunset! Smart. I had a few Apple shares in my portfolio but now I'm buying more (shares that is, not products).
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) I won’t need to use the Genius Bar. I am also invested into the Apple Eco system. I was actually back in the day a Nokia Fan Boy. As I was very reluctant to buy a IPhone. But as Nokia F’d up with their latest phones before they went under I thought I’d go for an IPhone 4. I even tried Android in the form of an ASUS fonepad. But since like others just been using IPads and Phones ever since. Only because they offered a fluent way to transfer photos and have the same apps in each device. Now-a-days getting too old to start to play with something else.
