Once again on a topic that has little to do with the trials of home ownership but that I wanted to share was my recent experience at the Apple store. Last night one of the fans in my trusty MacBookPro started making decidedly bad grinding kind of sounds and then suddenly stopped making noise altogether and the machine then started to get pretty warm. I was dismayed. For the past two years I have had this laptop with me nearly all the time and looking back I'm not sure how I ever functioned without it.
With the machine overheating there was little I could do but weep softly, shut it down and hope that Apple would be able to do something to repair it. I brought it in to the Apple store this morning and made an appointment at the Genius desk. After handing over my laptop and giving them my best sad face with full on boo-boo lip. They took a look at the machine and quickly determined that the right side fan had indeed ceased to move air. They checked their computer system and determined that they had the part in stock. Then the orderlies came rushing out with a gurney and they got my machine hooked to an IV drip and they quickly whisked it back into the dark secret chambers within the apple store where they chant their incantations and perform their rituals of magic resuscitation.
I was left to sign the paperwork and to confirm the allergies and medical history of my little guy. They weren't sure they were going to be able to do the repair that day but they indicated they would call as soon as they had completed the repair. I put renewed effort into the boo-boo lip as I asked "Really, today maybe you think?"
I left the store with my empty laptop case and headed out to run errands. The errands were more to distract myself from the loss I felt at not having my entire digital world clutched beneath my arm more than any great desire or need to accomplish these tasks. After a haircut, carwash, grocery shopping and some other side trips I got a call from the Apple store. I'm sure the people in line at the grocery store assumed that a favorite uncle or close friend had just awoken from a long coma as I enthusiastically thanked them and promised that I would rush right over to pick it up.
The laptop isn't under warranty anymore so I did have to pay for the repair. It came to just over $100 (exactly what they said it would be) which is pretty outrageous considering the fan is probably a $2 part but in the scheme of having my laptop back and working and in the scheme of computer repairs in general really wasn't a big deal at all. To be able to bring my computer in on a Sunday morning and talk to a real live human being who cares and understands and to have the machine back and good as new within a few hours is service and support so far above and beyond the status quo as to be nearly completely foreign.
I had had a previous experience several years ago with a PC laptop needing diagnosis and repair and at CompUSA. At the time I think it was $175 for them just to open up the laptop and look at it and close it back up. If anything was actually broken that would cost more and they wouldn't tell me how much more until they'd opened it up. It took them nearly a week to get to it and I had to call them to get the information because they'd forgotten to actually call me back. I had to fill out all kinds of paperwork to get them to look at the thing in the first place and they were really insistent on pointing out all the places where I had to initial and sign away the fact that, given the ominous tone of the document, they were more than likely going to end up erasing everything on the machine in the process of their diagnosis.
My experience with Apple couldn't have been more completely different and thus infinitely better. The moment you walk into the Apple store you are greeted as if you are a long lost friend. Just the layout of the store is open and clean and inviting. Everything is just sitting out on tables and there always seems to be plenty of staff in the store. And these people in the store don't really seem to be sales people so much as die hard Cult of Mac enthusiasts who really just want you to drink the Kool-Aid and love it, cause they love it. They do all of this in the most unassuming and non-invasive way too. Then there's the concierge. That's right they have a dedicated person in the store who's sole job is to take care of customers. And not take care of as in a sales kind of way either. I really think they are trained and taught to be there to take care of the people. Listen to their stories, laugh with them, sympathize with them, get them a bag for their purchases, and generally being a FUCKING HUMAN BEING.
This humanity at the Apple store is probably what make the experience there feel so great and at the same time feel so completely different from so many other customer service and retail experiences. Far too many other places have forgotten the human element of the equation and are merely there to move the product out the door and move the cash in. The fact that the transaction involves a human customer really doesn't seem to be much of a factor.
In summary, what could have been one of darker days in recent memory (the disabling of my much loved laptop) has turned into one of the happier experiences in recent memory. For those out there who have not yet drunk the Kool-Aid and joined the cult of Mac I hope that this pushes you one step closer to taking that first sip. Come on, you know you want to.... Everyone else is doing it... It'll make you feel good....