My son handed me his iPod Touch, and I could tell by his expression that something was wrong. He couldn’t get it to turn on and neither could I. I figured the battery was dead so I plugged it into my computer and waited. But no luck. It still refused to turn on 30 minutes later.
Although I’ve owned a number of Apple products, I’ve never called their technical support. I avoid calling support unless I’m down to my last option given past experiences. A while back I called Dell’s technical support line. It took 25 minutes before I spoke with an agent, and when I finally did he tried to sell me additional services instead of helping solve my problem. It took another three or four calls before I finally reached someone who could help solve my problem. I wasted several hours and the entire process soured my feelings towards Dell.
That incident was on my mind as I navigated to Apple’s website. I quickly found a link called Apple Support Express Lane. I selected support for the iPod touch and typed my serial number. I was then presented with a few options, one of which was for an Apple rep to call my home. Under this option were the words, “Wait time less than 1 minute”. That can’t be right. What company would provide assistance almost immediately on a Sunday evening?
I decided to give it a try. I typed my phone number and the phone rang 30 seconds later. Apple must employ an auto-dialer? But no, it was a support engineer on the line and I could understand every word he said. He jumped right into helping me fix the the problem. He didn’t try to sell me anything. He didn’t pass me off to another tier of support. He didn’t even make me recite my serial number.
Within two minutes my son’s iPod Touch was back to normal. The entire process was smooth and unlike any other support call I’ve made. Based on this experience, I’m lead to believe that part of the premium I pay as an Apple customer goes into providing top-notch technical support.
Nordquist Blog 
Your experience is more the norm than the exception.
As a long-time tech with tons of (usually bad) experience calling support reps over the past 20 years, I’ve been very impressed with Apple’s tech support. Their ‘express lane’ is very efficient and does something virtually no other company considers – how to best save their customers’ TIME.
I just had a need for Apple support and spoke with a few people throughout the process. Everyone was nice to deal with, did more for me than I asked of them, took care of the problem in 1/5th of the time estimated, and didn’t charge me for a service repair that they could have under the rules of my AppleCare agreement – again, without my asking.
Incidentally, the service repair was required due to user (me) error and clumsiness – not because of a problem with the hardware or software. I’ve used Apple products (MacBook Pro, iPhones, iPad, Time Capsule) almost exclusively for 2 years and only had one problem – an iPhone ‘home’ button that became a little sticky. I returned it an Apple store and they handed me a new one because I had the iPhone covered by AppleCare.
This is why I plan to remain an Apple customer, and why the Microsoft-based computer vendors have lost my business.
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My most recent experience with Apple support was amazing as always. I was trying to figure out how I could move mail from my Mom’s Outlook Express to her new iMac’s Mail program. While I wasn’t immediately having much success, I was informed that there’s not really any Apple sold solution to complete this task but that if we were to take the computers down to the Apple store, they would do it for like $100. After which the Apple technical support representative actually recommended that only as a last resort since there are a few other much less expensive 3rd party options available. Wait a minute, did the guy who gets his paycheck from Apple actually suggest I try other avenues before going to spend more money at the Apple store for assistance? Indeed he did and even did a Google search for me to try and find some possible solutions I might consider. When was the last time any other company did that? This didn’t seem like a disgruntled employee with some grudge against Apple. They were actually genuinely helpful even if it meant a possible missed “opportunity” to help out Apple’s profits.
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I’m so glad you were able to fix that for him. I can imagine his sad eyes when he brought it to you not working. That’s good to know Apple is so on the ball and customer oriented.
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I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with Apple and support.
I visit the Genius bar and they get it done with a smile.
Never had them try to sell me something, redirect etc. That’s 100% better than my average customer service experience.
Todd
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I just called Apple yesterday. My Mac Mail program was whacked and I could not figure out where my new mail was being stored. I to was called back within seconds and was not asked for a serial number either. It take about 20 mins to diagnose and repair but I will tell you this. Service tech was very pleasant and I could understand every word he said. Counting my wife and kids, we own 5 iPhones, 2 MacBooks and 2 iMacs – I plan to continue to support the brand as long as they continue to support me. Thumbs Up to Apple….
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