I know most only post when they have issues with support, but sometimes I get reminded why Apple is different than other hardware companies I deal with.
Last week my right airpod pro just stopped working. It was 5 days post warranty. Figured make an appointment and see what happens. Found appointment 2 hours later about 5 blocks from my office. Got there 10 minutes before appointment and took me immediately. They took airpods to run test, and 25 minutes later came back and told me they replaced the broken airpod and the test was showing some things on other so replaced that as well. Only thing not replaced was case. I have these things in ear constantly so was not that upset if I had to get the new model which is what I expected. Even have 3 month warranty now!
I will give my alternate take when I visited an Apple Store last month to see about my defective Airpod Pros. Had them for a year or so and the right one developed a crackling and screeching noise when using noise reduction. I saw the extended coverage was available so brought them in. Guy tested them, brought them back and said sorry, they could not replace them. I later found the right AirPod no longer worked at all after their tests. It had worked fine with noise cancellation off before my visit. Ended up giving them a very mediocre review. I did get another pair only because my work bonuses let you pick from a gift catalog. But Iāll never buy AirPods again.
I had cracked the glass on my iPhone. It still worked fine to the touch. I went to the local Apple store to see what could be done. It was out of warranty so I was turned away, no repairs or replacement.
Two weeks later I was again in that same Apple store. I pulled out my cracked iPhone while waiting and the store manager saw it and asked what happened. I explained that I had dropped it, and that Iād been in previously but was told I was out of luck. The manager said, āWe canāt let you walk around with a phone like thatā and I was given a replacement at no charge.
The moral? I donāt know that there is one. But Apple is not a monolith, itās people all the way down. And sometimes it depends on which of those people you happen to interact with (and Iāve had other similar interactions with other Apple employees). But it sure is frustrating when you get the āwrongā person.
Would they have replaced it for a fee? Or did they say they couldnāt do anything at all?
This is my experience as well.
Iāve had stellar support experiences with Apple, and Iāve had absolutely horrible ones. Getting good support all revolves around getting the right person dealing with the problem. And unfortunately, sometimes you can even get somebody who knows that there should be something they can do about your issue, but thereās no way to properly escalate.
Just had a similar positive experience. Lightning port on my iPhone 12 Pro is failing. Got on the phone with an AppleCare person (super easy) who only asked me one question: āhave you tried different lightning cables with it?ā Yup. āOK, sorry about that. We can have a new phone identical to the one you have shipped to you in 3-5 days for free, as long as you return your current phone.ā Boom.
