-
-
[ c|b ].extra
- BLOG HOME
- blog portal (to 2005)
- book list
- startpage
- (2005-2002)
- (2002-1999)
- warblog (2001)
- affinities (old)
- landor (bio)
- blogs.com
- blogcatalog
- friendfeed
- identi.ca
- posterous
- tumblr
- privacy/terms
-
[ c|b ].newsfeed
-
[ c|b ].is.ad.free
-
[ c|b ].friendconnect
-
« Thursday « May 27, 2004
-
- datetime
-
- content
-
-
Amazon (thumbs up), Apple iTunes (thumbs down)
-
Two recent customer experiences show me the difference between a company that (at least) acts like they actually care about their patrons, and one that's a bit hypocritical about it.
First, Amazon.com: A few weeks back, I saw that "The Return of the King" would be coming out on DVD on May 25th. So I logged on pre-ordered it. I fully expected that I'd probably receive it just in time for the Memorial Day weekend or so; at any rate, after it officially hit the store shelves. Since I was getting a 35% discount and free shipping, I accepted that as the price to pay for being able to impulse-buy the thing while loafing around the crib in nothing but my draws. And besides, there would be no time to watch a 3-hour-plus movie in the middle of a work week, so a Friday or Saturday delivery would have been cool. I was incredibly surprised when I got home on the evening of May 25th to find my copy waiting at my doorstep. Bravo Amazon! After years of using them, I still have never had a single problem with them and they continue to surprise me. That's why I'll continue to use their service. Of course, mileage may vary for other folks.
Next, Apple iTunes Music Store: great service ... until the inevitable computer glitch. You can learn a lot about a company in the way they handle problems, and so far I'm a bit disappointed by Apple.
The glitch occured when I tried to purchase an album in my "iTunes shopping cart." Well, the download failed, but I still got billed for the purchase. So I went to the Apple site to find out how to troubleshoot it. On their site, they list information for every possible error -- except the one I experienced. More snooping around on their site, and there's no direct E-mail address or phone number for support. So I use the online form they provide, which only allows you to type a limited number of words to describe your problem, but hardly enough space to provide detailed information so they can debug the situation.
After submitting the online form, I get a confirmation screen saying that Apple's "experts" will try to respond in 24 hours; with all due respect to Avis, but these people need to try harder! Now I'm willing to cut overworked customer support staffs a big break, because I've had jobs that deal with the general public before so I know it's tough, but I submitted my problem over 3 weeks ago! Still no response, and no clear or easy way to get in touch with a person who can help. I've lost confidence in trying to buy any more music from iTunes right now, because I don't want to be charged for content I can't even access.
For a company that talks about doing "insanely great things" this experience has been "insanely bullsh*t." I know that I'm just but one fish in the ocean of iTunes users, but if Apple doesn't solve this problem for me, that will be it for iTunes and me. Maybe the next time Marc tells me that Apple's not really a "good guy" I won't just consider his comments sour grapes from a vanguard developer who got dissed by this company. "Good guy" is a relative term, but I think that as a customer, the good guys take care of you, and the jerks treat you like crap. Today, in my world, Amazon's up, and Apple's way down.
-
- metadata
- categories
-
- keywords:
- cyberculture
- entertainment
- type
-
-
[ c|b ].archives
2000: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2001: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2002: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2003: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2004: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2005: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2006: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2007: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2008: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2009: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2010: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2011: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2012: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2013: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2014: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2015: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2016: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2017: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2018: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2019: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2020: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2021: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2022: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2023: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2024: 01 02 03 04