PC Guy with a Mac

The Boy Genius Report posted an exchange between a man whose MacBook sustained water damage and the guy he decided to contact regarding the problem, Steve Jobs. The man, who in the post is named “Xxxxxx Xxxx” (way to show some balls, anonymous whiner), admits that the water damage was his fault but claims that “After three or four calls I was finally able to get a straight answer” regarding the repair, which he was “not at all happy with the answer.”

The answer was that the customer, who I will refer to as Boohoo McSomeonepayformyproblemsotherthanme, could spend $300 to get the MacBook repaired, but that there was no guarantee that they could get the unit working. “Boohoo” continues in his email to his Steve-ness..

I was horrified to learn that their is no system to assess the problem and bill once all damage is known. I am reluctant to put money into a problem that could easily grow. I have had three Apple computers in a row. I love using them but I am not sure if my replacement will be one. I feel powerless in the situation and the whole experience has turned me off of the Apple company.

Horrified? Really? <sarcasm>You know, the things that happen in Burma are kind of nasty, but this situation is downright horrific!</sarcasm>

After Steve received this email, his reply (according to the post) was as follows:

This is what happens when your MacBook Pro sustains water damage.They are pro machines and they don’t like water. It sounds like you’re just looking for someone to get mad at other than yourself.

Steve

Now, I don’t believe that Steve actually wrote this response, but it is a good reply nevertheless (not great, but good). My major problem with Boohoo is that he obviously wanted some kind of help with his situation, above and beyond what he really deserved. The way he thought he could get it was to (a) contact the guy in charge and (b) threaten to not be a customer any longer.

If it were me responding to this email, it may have gone something like this:

Dear Boohoo,

When we come out with a MacBook Pro with Scotchguard ™ I’ll send you a $300 coupon towards the purchase of a new unit. Until then, go jump in a lake (but be sure to not take your Dell with you into the lake, because I’m pretty sure Michael Dell will tell you to go f*ck yourself).

Best,

PC Guy with a Mac

I feel that every customer I have is a friend of mine on some level. The relationship is always give and take, even though it is based on an exchange of money for goods and services. Being a business owner, I will bend over backwards for any customer who is not only willing to pay my bill, but is nice and appreciates how much my crew and I care about their problems. Heck, there have been times that my guys and I worked on computer problems for Titans tickets and cookies (see: picture of fat headed blogger at top of this post).

For me, I guess it comes down to this: customer service issues are resolved in the best possible way when both the company providing the service is great and the customer is great. Now I’m not saying that customers shouldn’t be mad about problems that happen or products that fail to live up to expectations, but I do know that problems get worked out more quickly and smoothly when both sides of the issue, the company and the customer, are committed to a resolution.

I’m not in the corporate world, so everything I just said may be wrong. Oh well, I at least get to sleep soundly at night..