customer service posts

Apple has nailed down the number three spot on BusinessWeek's fourth annual customer service awards, falling in right behind LL Bean and insurance company USAA, and way above companies like Amazon and Dell. The awards were based on survey results from a few different places, and Apple scored an A+ in both Quality of Staff and Efficiency of Service thanks to its Genius Bars and helpful Specialists inside Apple Stores.

Of course we've heard the occasional horror story, but in general, Apple Store employees are beyond helpful, which is probably why BusinessWeek says that 66% of those surveyed would "definitely recommend" Apple products, and 58% said they would "definitely repurchase" the next time they needed something.

Apple's influence is also found elsewhere on the list -- USAA, number two on the list, has had a lot of success with its iPhone application, which has also helped the company out on customer service scoring as well. And while Starbucks can't necessarily thank Apple for a big boost in its business (it probably would have done fine anyway), it's not surprising that companies that score high in customer service tend to have the same goals in mind. Congrats to Apple for yet another survey-based award.

[Via Macworld's Dan Moren, not "Warren" -- sorry Dan!]

Former Presidential candidate and Arkansas ex-Governor Mike Huckabee has traded in his PC for a MacBook. He talked about in on his Sunday Fox News Channel Show,

Here's a link to the YouTube video. Huckabee praises the staff at the New York Apple Store who got his Macbook set up.

President-elect Obama's team also favors Apple gear, and John McCain, well, he relies on help from his wife when it comes to technology.

[via MacDailyNews]

For years, my Apple stuff has been super reliable, more than any other brand I own. So it came as a bit of a surprise when my trusty iPhone reported 'call failed' as I tapped a number from my address book. I assumed it was an AT&T cell problem, so moved out of the area and tried again. Same result. I looked at the iPhone screen and saw I had a full signal and 3G, so I tried yet again. This time I noticed that the call started, the signal dropped to zero (even the AT&T logo vanished) and the call failed again.

Assuming cell tower gremlins, I didn't think too much about it, but as a precaution returned home and restored and re-synced my phone.

Next day I made another call or two with no problems, then patted myself on the back for dealing with the problem on my own. Then the same symptoms returned. Not only were outgoing calls failing, but incoming calls failed in the same way.

A trip to the Apple Store was in order, so I made an appointment and sauntered on in. The tech was helpful. Tried the usual tricks like restarting the phone, resetting network settings etc, but nothing solved it. We switched SIMs with another phone, but no joy there. He suggested I call AT&T and have them 're-provision' the phone. Did that but no dice.

Cara Tia TUAW,

I need your help please. I am in Mexico and have an iPhone with a 150 MB data plan and 300 minutes. My carrier says that I have passed my data limit and owe them around $150 usd. According to the Cellular Network Data on my iPhone, I have used 35MB and 83 minutes (Settings > General > Usage). My question is, is this information technically good enough to fight back these charges? I think it must be, but I have to be sure. Can you help me, please?

Love, Joe P

p.s. Why I don't have an unlimited data plan? because it costs around $110 usd a month, that's why. My current data plan costs about $55 a month. Thank you!

Dear Joe P,

Auntie wishes she had better news for you, but the usage meter on the phone is notoriously unreliable. If you've restored or updated your iPhone in the last month (2.0.1 anyone?), you may have accidentally reset those values. Personally, we at TUAW can sneeze through 150 MB just by loading our own home page (or maybe it just seems that way).

Of course, feel free to contact customer service -- but relying on the onboard usage stats isn't going to take you very far.

Sorry for the bad news, caro.

Love,

Auntie TUAW

At Slate, Timothy Noah tracked down an actual customer service telephone number for iTunes. Here's the dish:

With your iPod serial number in-hand, call 1-800-275-2273, Apple Care Service and Support. Enter 70 at the recorded greeting. If rejected, enter 70 again. When prompted for a product name, say "iTunes". When prompted, say either "Macintosh" or "Windows" depending on the type of computer you're using. When asked if you're calling on behalf of a school, say "no". (Or "yes", if you are, you know, calling on behalf of a school.) After all these steps, Noah promises you a live person at the other end.

I couldn't resist the headline, but can you blame me? This tech stuff can be a doozie on consumers, but it seems that Apple just received the highest rankings in a customer support satisfaction survey released by the ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index). This 2006 second quarter report found Apple's industry-leading satisfaction rating on the rise to 83%, up 2.5% from last year (funny: in my student adventures, an 83% leading the class is typically considered a bad thing). The industry overall saw a slow increase in satisfaction, with Dell leaping over 5% to their 78% mark, and even HP and (surprisingly) Gateway seeing mild improvements.

Check out the full list of results - which includes plenty of other industries like automotive and even search engines - for more details of which companies are putting smiles on their customer's faces.