2006-05-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

I wrote this to share my experience with Apple Customers Service in Europe. A very negative experience I have to say.

I am a Mac person (or at least I used to be). I love OS X.

I am also a lecturer and a researcher in e-commerce. I use my iBook to give lectures (all of them stored on my HD) where I work and also abroad, so I need my laptop to be really reliable (imagine an iBook breaking during an important conference or a lecture for 300 people).

Summer 2004
I bought my iBook G3 from e-bay during my summer internship in Whitefish, MT (btw great guys at New Cyberport - greetings Skipp, Al, and everybody). After some time my iBook failed for the first time. I was getting very hot and the fan was maiking a strange sound. I took it to Kalispell, MT (Allied Computing and got excellent customer service. It took only a week to replace my motherboard, I got a replacement iBook G4 for the time of repair. Great guys.

A week after the repair my AC adapter failed. It was not covered so I had to buy a new not-apple one (about $30). Ok, you love Macs, you have to pay for it. Side note - I make $350/month where I live (not to bed here). iBook works but still makes this strange sound and also gives me electrical shocks when I keep it on my knees.

Fall 2004
I got relocated to Poland.

One of my keyboard keys felt off during typing. I didn't hit it or anything. I was just typing. Apple Poland told me they would not sell me an individual one. I was told to buy a new keyboard (more than $100 + repair).

Winter 2005
I went for 5 months to Finland.

My mother board failed again. It should be covered by Apple warranty (it is less than a year after the first repair) but Apple Finland (city of Turku) doesn't want to repair because
'I am not their customer'. I am told to pay 'an extra fee' - if you know what I mean.
I call Apple Finland Customer Service and they say their Turku office should help me. I come back to Turku, they don't want to. (first week without a laptop - cannot conduct my research, give presentations etc.). I am trying to reach European Customer Service. It takes me another week to get to European Customer Relations Manager - nice lady finally admits I am right, calls Turku office - they agree to fix my iBook). I wait another 3 weeks for a new motherboard to be shipped from Amsterdam. A week later my iBook is ready. It still gets super hot, gives me shocks, makes strange noise.

Next week my motherboard fails.. again. This time also my HD is not working. They say they will remove motherboard but I have to pay about 400 euros for the HD. I disagree. I call Apple Finland and Apple UK. A few days later they agree to replace my HD (nobody ever apologised me for destroying all my data). I wait another month for a new HD and motherboard to be shipped from Amsterdam. One good thing. They gave me my missing key. Not the same one but at least I don't have a hole in my keyboard. iBook still gets super hot, gives me shocks, makes strange noise...

Summer 2005
I am back in Poland. I am calling Apple Poland to fix the shocks and noise thing. They are happy to do it. For a fee. I disagree. I call Apple US, they say they would do it for free, if I were in the US.

On Apple Discussion Boards I read that US customers are given free iBooks in case of a few motherboard replacements. I call Apple US about it. They refer me to Apple UK. Apple UK says it is a different policy here in Europe. They don't replace iBooks, while they sometimes do in the US. I call Apple US again. They say I would maybe get a new one, if I were a US customer.

I could lie, make use of my American friends and maybe get a free iBook but I want to be honest. I call Apple again, hear the same story and get a promise that European Customer Manager will contact me soon. I have never heard back from them. I was almost a year ago. Of course I sent a few e-mails. No answer.

I don't use my iBook for professional purposes anymore, I am afraid to lose all my data again.

In the meantime I got a new iPod shuffle for my birthday. About a year later, it started to hang up my PC when I connected it to USB. Now it doesn't do it anymore but nor my iBook (which still gives me shocks, gets hot, etc) nor my Pc recognizes it.

In total, it took Apple about 12 weeks trying to repair my iBook and it is still not working well. I still like Apple's design and I would love to give lectures in Keynote rather than Powerpoint but as I said. Apple is just not reliable.

Not only Europeans have to pay higher prices for Apple products (compare prices at UK APPLE STORE and US STORE) but also European Customer Service is far worst than US one. Not to mention that Apple products are always released first in the US.

When will finally Apple start to treat its' customers equally no matter where they live?

To contact me send an e-mail to:
xy@gmail.com

x=mike
y=blackbird

Disclaimer: I may be slightly wrong with the dates, I don't remember them exactly. My Apple experience has been found true by other European customers as well.

My European Apple Experience