My attempts to get a comment from Apple regarding their customer service policy have brought up a much more interesting, larger issue that is absolutely intriguing to me as a blogger, and I thought it might be to you as well: the question of Apple’s official position with respect to communication with bloggers and podcasters. This is indeed an intriguing question!
And just for transparency’s sake, it is not my intent to smear Apple; I am currently a satisfied customer, and the original hard drive repair has been taken care of to my satisfaction.
However, the PR department’s lack of response to what Ms. Roberts, Corporate Executive Relations representative called “NOT media; just a blogger” has raised a very interesting issue that I suspect other bloggers, podcasters and journalists might be interested in pursuing as well—is it really Apple’s policy not to communicate with bloggers or podcasters at all?
So I’d like to put the issue out to those in the blogosphere, podosphere, and even regular, old, credentialied journalists who might have better media contacts than I do (and who doesn’t)? ;-) If anyone has contacts at Apple that might be willing to comment on their policy towards those of us engaged in social media, please join in the conversation!
For the information for those who have been receiving this story piecemeal, here is a summary rundown (with more of Ms. Roberts surprising comments about Apple’s refusal to speak to bloggers on the March 17th entry):
- February 14—The hard drive on my two-year-old iBook G4 crashes.
- February 15—At the Apple store on North Michigan Ave., I speak with Genius about whether or not to have outside Apple specialists try to recover the data first; he said that the store technicians could attempt data recovery first, so I sign the repair agreement and give him the iBook.
- February 18th—Call that laptop has been repaired.
- February 19th—I pick up laptop, pay $377.99 for hard drive and keyboard replacement; and ask for old hard drive to attempt data recovery, since they were not able to get the drive to mount. The Genius says that customers aren’t “allowed” to own two hard drives at once and that the old drive, including the data on it, now belongs to Apple, who will loan it to the customer for 30 days, provided the customer signs a sales slip for $300 in case the drive isn’t returned.
- February 22nd—Write letter to Apple corporate and the manager of the North Michigan Store detailing the experience; blog about the experience.
- February 22nd—A manager from the Michigan Avenue store responds to the faxed letter. We talk on the phone, and in response to questions about the repair policy (Is it really Apple’s policy to take ownership of components entrusted to them for repair and then charge customers for the return of their old parts?), he refuses to answer questions and suggests directing questions to Apple PR department.
- February 23rd—I Email Apple’s PR department a list of ten questions about the policy including a link to the original blog post about the experience; report the experience in my podcast, Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter #41
- February 24th—Robin Roberts from Apple Corporate Executive Relations replies that she will answer questions over the phone, not via email.
- February 28th--On a phone message, Ms. Roberts indicates that she will discuss the original customer service incident but will not answer any of the overall questions about Apple’s policy, which relate to “internal data that we will not discuss.” She indicates that she can’t speak about the issue without the computer’s serial number.
- March 2nd—Jeff, a manager from the North Michigan Store, makes contact and, in a warm and helpful fashion, offers to leave the old drive in my possession and tear up the $300 sales slip, even if it can’t be returned after the data recovery. The experience is detailed in this blog post However, the questions about Apple’s policy are still unanswered and lack of response from the PR department is consistent.
- March 5th—The hard drive crashes again; take laptop back to the North Michigan Ave. Genius Bar. March 6th--Lee Hopkins reports on the customer service experience on For Immediate Release podcast #117 (forward to 14:32 for his report)
- March 8th—A Swedish blogger reports on the experience in his Suburbia blog.
- March 9th—I post this blog entry to clarify that the intent with pursuing questions about Apple’s repair policy is out of a sense of responsibility, not to smear Apple, and also to clarify that the original repair was NOT a covered warranty repair; On For Immediate Release #118, (68:22 in), Shel and Neville discuss MacFan’s comments on the situation
- March 10th—A Canadian blogger comments on the experience in his blog here, and the ifoApplestore blog reports on the incident here.
- March 13th—Shel and Neville discuss listeners’ comments to the situation on For Immediate Release #119 (at 70:50 in).
- March 14th—I post this blog entry with a scan of the repair contract, which confirms that Apple does indeed take ownership of parts entrusted for repair and charges customers if they want to retain them and comment on Apple’s disappointing lack of PR response to the issue
- March 16th—Shel and Neville discuss my audio comment about the discussion surrounding Apple’s lack of PR response on For Immediate Release #120, about 25:43 in; “we think Apple is missing significant opportunities for connecting with their brand lovers”
- March 17th—Phone call from Robin Roberts, claiming that a friend had said that someone had “dissed” her online. She indicated that she hadn’t read the relevant blog entries nor “watched” the podcasts. When I clarified that the original customer service issue has been satisfactorily taken care of, and that the remaining issue was one of Apple’s media response to questions about its policy, she stated, “Nothing would make you happy with Apple.” When asked the questions originally posted here, she said “read your agreement.” When asked questions that couldn’t be answered in the repair agreement, she replied, “read your agreement.” When asked why it was that the only ones who seemed to be familiar with this policy were certified Apple technicians and not the public at large, who would like a comment on the issue, she replied, “You’re NOT media; you’re just a blogger.” She consistently refused to provide contact information for anyone in PR, saying that they would not answer any questions from bloggers without press credentials. When asked who bloggers should contact at Apple to join in the online conversation, she indicated that neither she nor anyone else at Apple "have time" to deal with this, and to “read your agreement.”
- March 20th—Pick up repaired laptop from Genius Bar; Genius confirms that the logic board repair was complimentary even though it was not technically covered under the previous repair. Letter to Apple corporate detailing the previous conversation and asking if it really was Apple’s policy not to communicate with bloggers and podcasters. Calls to Steve Dowling, Senior Manager for Corporate Media Relations, and one other PR contact at Apple to confirm this policy; no response has been received.