I used to be a fan of this place, but no longer! I spoke to them on the phone, and they said bring in my Mac, that they would plug it into another monitor and see if they could reproduce the problem I was having with it.
The clerk listened to my description and replied: ""That will be $50 and you can call us in 3 days to see if we've repaired it yet."" I was shocked -- 3 days to plug it into one of their many monitors to see if there even was anything wrong? I use my Mac for my business -- not that he cared. Incredible!
He took the Mac back to his boss who I could hear ranting in the back room. Without another word as to what was happening, the clerk left me waiting at the counter for another 20 minutes.
When he came back, he apologized that he had answered a phone call (oh, great customer service). He then said he's plugged it in and sure enough it was slow to boot up (which was not my problem by the way). I thanked him and left. I felt like about all the guy would have offered in advice would have been; ""Don't let the door hit you on your way out!""
I drove to the Apple Store, my only other option, fully expecting to buy a new Mac. Anyway, the place was buzzing, with at least 50 other customers -- and it seemed at least 20 people on the floor to help. Immediately, a nice woman and her supervisor suggested I get in the queue for the Genius Bar, that was only a 20-minute wait (less time than I'd wasted at Mac Pro). In the meantime, they were very knowledgeable, and discussed my options with me.
A smart young woman at the Genius Bar then listened carefully, and immediately plugged my Mac into their monitor. Surprise! No problem. Even after multiple attempts, nothing was wrong. We determined it had probably been my monitor, not my Mac that needed replacing!
All I can surmise is that the clerk at Mac Pro had either lied to me -- he hadn't plugged it in at all -- or worse, he had no clue what he was doing, or understanding of what I had told him.
Oh, and the Apple tech lady threw in a diagnostic and resetting of my 4-year-old Mac FOR FREE! Now that IS customer service!
So I paid nothing for the help at the Apple Store, and they did not pressure me into buying anything -- just advised me. In fact they refreshed my computer for no charge. What a concept in this economy -- serving customers! The Apple Store has made me a loyal customer.
Apple has figured it out. Mac Pro hasn't!
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