Apple fail ... but an important lesson learned

[smmokan]

Strange, but very good, Apple experience-

Last Fall my iphone shit the bed long after the warranty had expired and about a month before my 2-year Verizon contract was up. After a lot of web research I figured out it was an odd software issue that could maybe be fixed, but I'd need some help from an Apple tech. The nearest Apple store is over an hour away and it's hit or miss on if you'll get a "genius" who can actually do anything so I started calling them and eventually got a call back from a "senior advisor."

He recognized my Colorado area code and asked me where I lived. I told him I had lived there for years and kept the phone number when I left. It turned out he was working at a call center in Gunbarrel, CO, just outside of Boulder. He had recently moved there from Florida to live the dream, he had just bought a Vail pass and he was totally stoked for the upcoming season. It was cool to hear the honest enthusiasm he had about his winter plans.

I gave him a quick rookie run down on what to expect with the I-70 shit show, along with some other Vail Resorts advice and tips. He soaked it all up because his roommate was his only good friend in CO and he hadn't been there for very long.

Eventually we got back around to my phone issues and almost immediately he said "It sounds like you made a good effort to try and fix the problem, and it's been months since I did this, but I'm just gonna send you a new phone." He also said he would try to help me get my new phone set up since the software issue was some how connected to the icloud back-up interface.

When I go the new phone I called and left a few messages about trying to recover a couple of missing things and he never got back to me. I don't know, maybe he got fired for giving away too much free stuff, but I hope that dude is having a good winter.

And on the other end of the spectrum, those fucks at Apple wanted me to pay $19 just to TALK to someone about my shitty iPhone. Fuck those guys.

[stfu&gbtw]

Having to talk to apple about your contract phone is bullshit right out of the box. I usually get HTC phones, but AT&T is my only point of contact. And when the phone doesn't work, they send me a refurb. And after 2 refurbs, they send a new (current) phone to replace. And no deductible, all under warranty. Protection plan ($50 deductible) only kicks in if I break it. Just went through this with my HTC One X+... First one started dropping wifi after 6 months, so they sent a refurb. That one didn't want to switch networks correctly all the time after a few months, so they sent another refurb. That one did something weird, don't recall exactly... So they said I could choose between the GS4 and the new HTC One... I chose the GS4, but didn't like it after I had it a couple of days, so they took it back and sent me the new HTC, which is awesome btw... All of these replacements were done up front - never spent a day without a basically functioning phone, and all the shipping, both ways, was free.