jjw7384@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) (05/04/90)
Apple Dealer Service. (An Oxymoron?) This is probably an Apple owner's biggest fault with the Apple dealer network, and unfortunately we had some serious problems two weeks ago when we had a service tech in for memory upgrade and video card installation. Our local dealer is Computerland/Leon's, and our department has an on-site service contract with them. We had purchased 2 two meg upgrades and a Radius FPD to be installed in three different SEs. We operate as a production type shop, so time is money for us. I scheduled the service call for noon so that I wouldn't loose too much billable time. Computerland's service technician (and I use that word loosely) arrived two hours late. He also didn't bring the correct tools. I've done a few memory upgrades for myself and friends, but I opted to have someone else do our equipment in case their was a problem. It was evident to me the guy they send had never seen the inside of an old SE. As he was putting the mac back together, I casually asked him which bank he had installed the 1 megs SIMMs in. He said he didn't know which bank they should go in, and that he was going to just start up and see what happened! I also asked him if had clipped the resistor, and he gave he same answer. After powering up the mac and finding that it didn't work, he discovered that he didn't bring any wire cutters. He reached over to the desk and grabbed a pair of scissors and tried to get at the resistor. At this point, I asked him to take a break and I called our saleswoman to find out guy was. (I should also mention that he didn't use a grounding strap or any care to avoid damage.) They ended up sending someone else down to finish the upgrades, and we were back up at 5:00 (loosing 4 hours of billable time). I doubt that the original tech could have installed the Radius card. I guess what I'm getting at is, what alternatives do people have with other 3rd party service contractors? I've heard that TRW and Xerox provide service for other computer companies, but do they work on Macs? Is there some other company I should look at? We're very close to ordering a IIfx and related hardware to run as a postscript RIP for our L300, and after this service snafu, I'm really paranoid about Apple's service network. I have my doubts about their ability to keep us up and running if a critical mac goes down. My boss has the same feelings. I hope there's an alternative (and I wish we didn't need one). Jeff -- | RIT VAX/VMS Systems: | Jeff Wasilko | RIT Ultrix Systems: | |BITNET: jjw7384@ritvax+----------------------+INET:jjw7384@ultb.isc.rit.edu| |UUCP: {psuvax1, mcvax}!ritvax.bitnet!JJW7384 +___UUCP:jjw7384@ultb.UUCP____+ |INTERNET: jjw7384@isc.rit.edu |'claimer: No one cares. |
marc@Apple.COM (Mark Dawson) (05/05/90)
In article <3041@ultb.isc.rit.edu> jjw7384@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Jeff Wasilko) writes: >Apple Dealer Service. (An Oxymoron?) > >This is probably an Apple owner's biggest fault with the Apple dealer >network, and unfortunately we had some serious problems two weeks ago >when we had a service tech in for memory upgrade and video card >installation. > >Our local dealer is Computerland/Leon's, and our department has an >on-site service contract with them. We had purchased 2 two meg upgrades >and a Radius FPD to be installed in three different SEs. > >We operate as a production type shop, so time is money for us. I >scheduled the service call for noon so that I wouldn't loose too much >billable time. Computerland's service technician (and I use that word >loosely) arrived two hours late. He also didn't bring the correct tools. > >I've done a few memory upgrades for myself and friends, but I opted to >have someone else do our equipment in case their was a problem. It was >evident to me the guy they send had never seen the inside of an old SE. >As he was putting the mac back together, I casually asked him which bank >he had installed the 1 megs SIMMs in. He said he didn't know which bank >they should go in, and that he was going to just start up and see what >happened! I also asked him if had clipped the resistor, and he gave he >same answer. > >After powering up the mac and finding that it didn't work, >he discovered that he didn't bring any wire cutters. He reached over to >the desk and grabbed a pair of scissors and tried to get at the >resistor. At this point, I asked him to take a break and I called our >saleswoman to find out guy was. (I should also mention that he didn't >use a grounding strap or any care to avoid damage.) > >They ended up sending someone else down to finish the upgrades, and we >were back up at 5:00 (loosing 4 hours of billable time). I doubt that >the original tech could have installed the Radius card. > >I guess what I'm getting at is, what alternatives do people have with >other 3rd party service contractors? I've heard that TRW and Xerox >provide service for other computer companies, but do they work on Macs? >Is there some other company I should look at? > >We're very close to ordering a IIfx and related hardware to run as a >postscript RIP for our L300, and after this service snafu, I'm really >paranoid about Apple's service network. I have my doubts about their >ability to keep us up and running if a critical mac goes down. My boss >has the same feelings. > >I hope there's an alternative (and I wish we didn't need one). > >Jeff I'm very sorry about the unqualified service you received. I'm sending your memo to the people in charge of customer service. I wish I could promise that they'd send a bolt a lighting that would strike your dealer and turn him (her/it?) into the Cinderella of dealers, but things take time. Please (I'll send this directly to you, but in case the mail bounces, I would like to make sure you see this) send the dealer's name, address (there must be thousands of Computerlands), and any other information you can on the service call. I promise to forward this information also && if possible, <hopefully!!> make sure no one else has to face this dealer/ technician. There ARE competent (and even very good) dealers out there, I (and for Apple) appologize for your mistreatment. Apple IS trying to improve its dealer network. Please send any dealer complaints to our customer relations dept (AppleLink C.RELATIONS, usenet: C.RELATIONS@Applelink@Apple.com) Mark -- --------------------------------- Mark Dawson Service Diagnostic Engineering AppleLink: Dawson.M Apple says what it says; I say what I say. We're different ---------------------------------