I recently met a very helpful dude online. I was trying to debug some snazzy Javascript at Mike Manor Music and I was hitting a wall. I posted a plea for help at MooForum. Troy replied on the forum that he was willing to help. He provided the code that I was using for free. He also offered to give support for the code for free. We used GTalk and Pastie to narrow down the code. Troy patiently taught a newbie (me) some basic methods for debugging code. When we finally found the bug I was ashamed. The bug was something I introduced into the code. It ended up being a simple fix. I thanked Troy and offered to pay him for his time. He declined and we parted ways. With the internet being mostly anonymous it was nice to meet someone willing to step out and be a real person. More than anything, it taught me to never underestimate the power of unconditional service. If you get the chance, or you need a web developer, you can find Troy at consider: open.

It has been several months since my last post. I’ve been typing on the latest MacBook Pro line. You are probably asking, “What’s up with the ‘Goodbye Apple‘ post?” Everything. I believe that post helped Apple actually listen.

I made one last ditch effort. I called Apple Care again and asked to speak with a different Product Support Specialist. I explained my call history again. This time I also threw in the blog. I gave the dude on the phone the link to my Goodbye Apple blog post and asked him to share it with his managers. He sympathized with me and asked if he could put me on hold for a moment.

The entire call took over an hour, but it was well worth the wait. When nice Product Support Specialist picked up my call again he said, “Here’s what we want to do for you. A 15″ MacBook Pro with a 2.53GHz Processor, 4GB of memory, 250GB HardDrive, and a NVIDIA 9400M.” All I had to do was ship back my old MacBook Pro when the new one arrived. Well, you bet your snakeskin boots that I accepted the offer. I said, “You just made an excellent customer service recovery. Would you mind connecting me to your manager so I can let him know what a great job you did?” PSS said, “Sure. Thanks.” I said, “No. Thank YOU dude. You rock!”

We parted ways and I can say that I am more than happy with the outcome. To be honest. My confidence, in the company that I love, has been fully restored. Thanks Apple.

For those of you who know me you know that I have been dedicated to Apple since birth. I’ve used Macs exclusively my entire life. I also converted several people to Macs not to mention our entire non-profit organization. In my book Apple could do no wrong—until now.

Back in May I started having problems with my MacBook. I was pleased that Apple made all the repairs at no charge. Since them I’ve still been having the SAME problems. I called Apple again. They did what they could to help, but my problem still was not resolved. I went so far as to drive four hours to the nearest Apple Store. I spent all that driving time for a sixteen year old Apple “Genuis” to tell me all the things I already tried and some things that I knew would not work. I called Apple again. They finally connected me with a Product Support Specialist named Jeremy. I spoke with Jeremy June 30, he gave me his extension, and told me to contact him if I had any more problems.

The problems did not go away. I called Jeremy several times and all I could get was voicemail. My calls were never returned. Frustration stared setting in. I finally made another trip to the Apple Store and asked to meet with an Apple Genius who actually knew how to do something other than set up a printer. I got the right guy. After two hours he was stumped. The best advice he could offer me was to delete some login items and do and archive and install. Both of which I already did. I was still getting crashes on a clean install of OS X. 

I attempted calling Jeremy several times again. Still no contact. My computer took two trips to Apple Repair, I took two trips to the Apple Store (four hours away), I wasted tons of cell minutes leaving voicemail, and my Mac still does not work! The day I finally gave up on Apple I received a call from a manager at the Apple Store in Albuquerque. I told him my problems with my computer and my problems with Apple Support. He said he would make some calls and get things fixed for me. I waited a couple of weeks and he never called me back. I left messages for him twice and I still have not heard from him. So much for getting things fixed.

I work for a non-profit organization. We are in the business of capturing the hearts of the next generation. We don’t have time to mess with computer problems. That is why we went with Macs. As it stands now I’ve had just as many problems with our Mac as other people have with their PCs. In my opinion our Mac is now just a really expensive PC. Instead of spending my time working with teens I’ve had to spend my time trying to fix my computer. Too bad Apple doesn’t seem to think this is a problem.

So I am now officially saying goodbye to Apple. I will still continue to use their products, but I’ve faced the reality that the old Apple is gone. The Apple that cared about creating quality products. The Apple the loved their loyal customers. The Apple that made things right when things go wrong. Welcome to the new Apple. The Apple that is now like all the other companies (Dell, Microsoft, etc). Companies that want to make a quick buck by throwing excellence out the window. Companies that don’t care about the customer. Companies that take your money and laugh when things go wrong. Welcome to the new Apple. Goodbye old Apple.