What Apple Service? Carl Purkins Exchanges MacBook for Intel Santa Rosa chipset
Filed under: News | By: Daniel
Posted on: November 5, 2007 | No Comments
We reported to you a little while ago about how some PC users might move to Mac for Apple OS X 10.5 Leopard, Carl Purkins commented on how he did just that but since then they made some important hardware changes in a matter of days after he brought the MacBook.
Carl is very impressed with Apple’s customer service and in Carl’s own words, this is why:
A week in and I feel it necessary to update my previous comments to reflect on the customer service Apple provide. Living in London I thought it would be best to go to the Apple store on Regent Street for my purchase rather then PC World or somewhere similar. I’m extremely pleased that I did.
On Thursday, only six days after I had bought my MacBook (with Leopard OS X 10.5) Apple quietly released a hardware upgrade… An improved system at the same price! For exactly the same £829 price tag I would now get an Intel Santa Rosa chipset, a faster speed (2.2Ghz) and an updated graphics processor. These updates may not be much but there was a principle involved. I had deliberately waited until October 26 so I could get the best and most upto date I could afford, a MacBook with ‘Leopard, and it was already inferior! The shine had gone from my shiny new MacBook!
I emailed the Regent Street store and they replied swiftly, saying that as I was still in my 14 day returns period I could return my MacBook with all the original packaging and the receipt for an exchange. So on Saturday I went back to the rather busy Apple Store and after only five minutes I had exchanged my computer for the upgraded model, no questions asked. I was amazed at how efficient the whole thing was!
I stayed around in the Apple Store to watch the free demonstrations on the iLife software (iWeb, iPhoto, iDVD and Garage Band). The knowledge and enthusiasm of the presenters was great and they walked the audience through everything. If you had your MacBook with you (as plenty did), you were encouraged to follow the steps on your own projects. Sadly the iPhoto demonstration was cancelled at short notice, but this gave me time to unbox my new MacBook and set it up - I even downloaded updates using the in-store WiFi.
This whole customer service experience has only enhanced my overall impressions of Apple. I perfectly understand the need for updates and Apple handled my quibble swiftly and professionally. The staff in the Apple Store were enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Microsoft really should offer something similar for PC users.
As for the MacBook - aside for the minor irritation of having to reinstall a week’s worth of files and programs (I had backed it all up to an external drive so it wasn’t that much hassle) - it still performs brilliantly. The new MacBook has a slightly rearranged keyboard layout and it is impressive stuff. The whole thing is so simple to use. Apple seem to have all of the needless stuff. I’ve installed a Freeware Office suite as a temporary measure but this integrated fully with MS Office documents (though slight reformatting is needed) and at the moment I really don’t see any reason why I would ever revert back to a PC!
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