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12 inch Macbook 1.3GHZ Crash & Fail

Dear Apple Team,

I am a loyal & an Apple enthusiast for the last 12 years. I own 4 new Macs, bought 8 Iphones & 12 Ipads for personal use & gifts. As great as these products are, I can't see the logo or hear the name Apple/Mac anymore without associating that with extremely unpleasant experience I had at the Florida Mall Apple Store. The worst part that the mistreatment & hostility came from the managers (the ones with the headsets and expected to lead by example) rather than the Geniuses. I felt as if they were ganging up on me.

My story begun in April 2015, when I purchased the new 12" MacBook 1.3GHZ, 500GB model from the U.S online store. I am originally from the middle east, where there are no Apple stores except in one country (UAE). Apple authorized shops claim they can not fix the new macbooks nor have the parts for them.

My machine started acting up mid December (worst time ever for a Sales Manager, and we were closing the year). It was crashing upon running outlook or Excel. It would also crash if I run a High Def youtube video. Sometimes it restarts immediately, loop restart &/or some other times it would just die for the day & work another day. so I was not able to use the machine properly which really affected my business.

On a business trip to Dubai in January, I managed to book an appointment and visit Apple store. That time, the machine started fine & did not die. The genius said if he cant see nothing is wrong, he will not intervene. Just ran a diagnostics and that's it. I explained how computer issues can be periodical & begged him to check the log and see how many times it crashed, but he did not do that.

So the problem continued until Feb 6 as I am visiting Orlando for business. I thought in the U.S, I would get the outmost support. Not knowing that I was about to embark on the worst retail experience in 35 years of my life. There was a mixup with the Tech Support on the phone when they booked my appointment to 15:45 on Feb 6. Then I checked my email, and saw the appointment at Feb 12 on different branch. I called again to verify & the tech support was not able to verify my Florida Mall 15:45 appointment. After I explained my situation that I am here on business & leaving early on the 9th, he asked to hold so he calls the store & see if they would take me. He came back few minutes after confirming that if I go before lunch time (maximum 1 o'clock), one of the 2 lead Geniuses will be able to accommodate me. So I rushed a business meeting to be at the store on time. I arrived 12:15. Explained the appointment situation to the guy at the front, who relied the message to "Casper", who started looking at me from far as he registers the walk ins. as I approach, I did not get the warm welcoming smile & greetings like the people ahead of me. Rather grumpy arrogant face asking me if I have an appointment. As I explained, he continued to interrupt me in a loud disrespectful manner that I am a walk-in and I have to wait at least 2 hours & when I referred to the phone arrangement, he said "The tech support on the phones don't know what they are doing sometimes". I asked to see one of the 2 Geniuses who were contacted on the phone and approved me coming, he said he is one of them & denied being contacted by Tech Support & confirmed they will not look at my machine, I have to sit-down & wait for what could be 2 hours. I asked to see the manager, he arrogantly said "I am the manager & no one will do anything further than what I just told you". He even failed to verify my 15:45 appointment. 5 minutes after I sit down, he walks just right out of the store

As I sat down & waited for like 30 minutes, I asked if there is any Manager available, & this is when "Kevin" was called. Kevin already had a conversation with Casper on my issue. Kevin was not as rude, but before I open my mouth I knew I won't get any help. They are just defensive & listen to defend rather than listen to the content of the problem, understand the situation & empathize with the customer. After insisting on Kevin to open my case ID, he did open it and looked at the calls & notes, then returned the same answer "you have to wait" in a very cold, careless manner. At this stage, I could not take it anymore, so I went outside the store.

I called Apple Support from my international phone twice (each call 45 minutes) & got disconnected twice. I had to explain the issue several times to tech support who referred me to Senior Customer Relation advisors "Tanjy" & "Tim". Both were extremely polite & listened to the issue. Then put me on hold to contact the store on both occasions. Then got disconnected also on both occasions & they did not call back (because my cellphone is international).

I went back to the store after 1500 to wait for my appointment. I identified myself to one of the managers so if Tim or Tanjy contacted the store, the store managers would know who the customer is. Nothing changed. 15:20 I was greeted by Stiffanny who saw the computer dead & said it has to be sent for repair & my only option is 3-5 days. I explained that I am here on business, leaving on Feb 9th early morning. She was not able to do anything. I asked if I could speak to the manager. This is when she called "Cristopher K.", the worst of them all. Chris was so rude that he was spitting on my face as he yells because of how loud he was. Suddenly, the 3-5 days became 5-7 days. At that time, the situation was really overwhelming. I feel like the whole store is looking at us. he was standing & I was sitting on the chair the whole time. When a security guy passed by, Chris grabbed him right infront of everyone and asked him to stay around me. The security guy was assigned to me until I left the store. I never felt more humiliated in my life. They kept repeating, its almost a year since you bought your computer. as far as I understand, AppleCare is 1 year & 1 year is 1 year. Does Apple have something called "Almost a year" ?

They over exaggerated a dent, (normal wear/tare for any use of any laptop). Chris left without helping me & he said I either accept this shipping option or no help. He said he has to move on to other customers & walked on me. Kevin came out 5 minutes later (I guess he was spoken to by customer relations, because his demeanor changed). I can see a change in the attitude, but it was super transparent they don't want to help me. So he came out, & just repeated what Chris said "calmly" instead of shouting & spitting on my face.

I appreciated that from Kevin & had to accept it since it was the only choice. I know Store managers have lee-ways to help customers. They have high authority for exchange or fast repair & they can do it. But as I said, they are colleagues in one group & I am considered the annoying customer. So they were all on the same page not to do anything to help my case.

Very painful experience associated with Apple now. To me, Apple is no longer the brand I appreciated & defended for so long. This experience switched me from an Apple advocate to "what laptop & phone would make good replacements for my current apple products". I no longer have anticipation for the new products.

I just want to highlight that the issue is not the technical problem. It is the treatment, the manners. I felt like I am asking for charity. Furthermore, assigning a security guard to me?!!!! That was very uncalled for & offensive beyond limits. I asked myself "would I have a security guard assigned to me if I was not of middle eastern descent" ? I never said one disrespectful/offensive word or even moved from my seat. But Chris wanting to make a scene & have a security watch me infront of all customers as if am a dangerous criminal. It maybe his way of disrespecting me the most without doing it directly.

I hope this complaint can reach someone & do something to future store customers as you have great products. Such representatives with such behaviors would really make negative & sometimes unforgettable impact on the customers, which is destructive to the brand that Apple invest millions to maintain.

I feel like I am breaking up with Apple even though I'm still in love with Apple. But this is the outcome that is out of my control. I can live without a Mac or Iphone, but I cannot live without my dignity.

Thank you for reading the message if you reached this far.


<Personal Information Edited by Host>

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), null

Posted on Feb 6, 2016 4:46 PM

Reply
1 reply

Feb 7, 2016 12:01 AM in response to Alhazmimar

Hello, and Welcome to Apple Support Communities!


Because of the nature of your situation, one may contact Apple more directly than

here in these user-to-user or 'peer to peer' technical discussions that often are just

volunteers who are helping other users, in their own free time.


While I appreciate the situation you outlined, and see the intense difficulties you face

when traveling international and also while trying to solve a product issue, there are

questions (to my mind) that should directly be addressed to Apple. Perhaps someone

may be able to contact you, but they do not necessarily say they will, if you use the

Apple Feedback and select one-each of all that may apply. You may find some will not

accept the submission of a duplicate issue; however note the choices and see if any

may work for at least this simple idea. -- And they may, or may not contact you in return.


Apple Feedback

Tell us how we’re doing. Select the appropriate feedback option

(we read everything, but can’t always respond):


• Support Feedback

• Product Feedback

• Website Feedback

• Search Feedback

• Developer Feedback


• Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple:

http://www.apple.com/contact/


• Locate Apple authorized retail sales, service etc:

http://www.apple.com/choose-your-country/


• Choose Country or Region - Apple Support:

http://www.apple.com/support/country/


The Feedback report selections are a place to suggest better ways

to resolve issues such as yours, and help solutions to situations as

you found them from being duplicated by accident or over-sight.


I'm sorry to not be in a position to directly affect your recent issues or

change how you were treated in a retail experience or any humiliation.

Although I'm distant from much of those issues, I'm apologetic to you;

hopefully you can get feedback direct from Apple on your experience.


Good luck in this matter! 🙂

12 inch Macbook 1.3GHZ Crash & Fail

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