apple tech support

I have been planning to buy a Mac laptop which would be a change from my many Dells. (I already own an iPad and iPhone.) However, I've been sitting tonight waiting for tech support for almost an hour and I'm still not connected. This is not the first time I've had such a long wait for help from Apple. As frustrating as Dell tech support has been in the past, and I haven't used them in many years, I've never sat waiting for help this long. And I need to add that I had a call back from Apple earlier this evening, and the tech simply disconnected me and never called me back. Since I wasn't being difficult at all, I assume it was because she couldn't answer my question. But really!!!!!

I'm interested in hearing other people's take on Apple support.

 

If you live near an Apple store, in-person support is pretty decent for a consumer-class machine. If you don't, it's as good as any other consumer-class phone support (as you've experienced).

 

Apple tech support is the best, it's nice that they have different levels ready to go on hand and no matter how complex your issue may be they can fix it. I've had some crazy issues when I was learning OSX and they gave me the results and answers and really surprised me. We were going into the console to fix some of my issues, I don't even recall what happened anymore I know that I left impressed because half way though it I was like it's not happening, and then it sure enough it did.

Easily the best I've seen/used but that's from my perspective as I've been Dell/Alienware primarily.

 

Phone support and Genius bar has been very hit and miss for me outside of the USA. and easily one of the better for consumer laptops ( of all things Dell has better support here in Alberta )

in the same price range and non consumer models however I have found it far lacking of the higher business and workstation model laptops, with NBD and accidental support/warranty. I had a good example of that on a job site on Friday, I pulled a blonde moment and managed to destroy a screen ( oh yes it was easily my fault I left the laptop on the roof of my car ffs ) by the end of the business day I had a tech to my location, the screen switched out for a brand new one and he noticed I had a few scratches on by BD drive so he had one overnight shipped to me to switch out myself, got it yesterday before noon.

 

Which Apple does not offer at all, so if you were to break your MacBook in manner not covered by the warranty like dropping or spilling liquid on it, you're just acquired an expensive paperweight. I'm not saying it's not worth it, but something to consider if you're planning on spending big bucks on a notebook.

 

I purchased a personal items policy under my homeowner's insurance when I had my MacBook Pro. It was something like $35/year, and in addition to accidental damage, it also covered fire and theft.

 

the only issue I have found through my homeowners policy etc is I still have to wait for them to fix it. a few days downtime can get expensive in a working environment.

 

"Apple for Business" seems like an afterthought to the mothership, as it looks like they would prefer their local authorized sales/support partners to handle that stuff. The company ought to take a page out of Dell's book and have a business unit that's focused on enterprise clients, offering similar levels of support - dedicated US-based call center, NBD on-site service, etc. It might be slightly more difficult for Apple because they don't have a distinct product line for business the way Dell does, but I think there are enough smart people at that company where they could figure out a way to make it work.