I-Phone Envy - Page 3

FredSnerd (Claude) · #41 31-01-2010, 09:12 AM

I would just caution against remarks like "Well you know Apple just works". A few years ago I bought my daughter an Apple iPod. She really wanted it. Cost me $600. Just before the warranty ran out it packed it in. I sent it back for repair and shortly after they sent back an e-mail (which you couldnt reply to because it was a bot) that said they were returning it cause they couldnt find anything wrong. Of course when it came back it didnt work. Went on their home page to find a Ph number to actually speak to someone to explain what was happeneing - couldnt find one. The e-mail they sent was a bot so in the end I had to go through the online repair process again. Got it back. Still didnt work. Of course we gave up in the end. A $600 gift to Steve Jobs. I dont buy Apple anything now and will never. My experiance is that its over priced and unreliable.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #42 31-01-2010, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredSnerd

I would just caution against remarks like "Well you know Apple just works". A few years ago I bought my daughter an Apple iPod. She really wanted it. Cost me $600. Just before the warranty ran out it packed it in. I sent it back for repair and shortly after they sent back an e-mail (which you couldnt reply to because it was a bot) that said they were returning it cause they couldnt find anything wrong. Of course when it came back it didnt work. Went on their home page to find a Ph number to actually speak to someone to explain what was happeneing - couldnt find one. The e-mail they sent was a bot so in the end I had to go through the online repair process again. Got it back. Still didnt work. Of course we gave up in the end. A $600 gift to Steve Jobs. I dont buy Apple anything now and will never. My experiance is that its over priced and unreliable.

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

Not hard. Never been a problem. How much more "contactable" a company do you need?

FredSnerd (Claude) · #43 31-01-2010, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

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

Not hard. Never been a problem. How much more "contactable" a company do you need?

Not Hard? Never been a problem? Never been a problem for who? Are you speaking for yourself or the rest of the world. Have you ever returned something to apple for repair?

I wanted to speak to the repair dept who were returning the ipod saying they couldn’t find anything wrong because I wanted to explain the problems we were having. I couldn’t find it. What you attached is useless (but of course has the appearance that its not) and the e-mail they sent me was a bot. You couldn’t respond to it to explain. So tell me. Why would that be. Why wouldn’t they send you an e-mail you could respond to and with contact number.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #44 31-01-2010, 10:23 AM

Have I ever returned anything for repair? Well, yes - dozens of times over the years. I use lots of Apple gear in my business - we're an ad agency/design house/software developer. Have done since 1984. We've run maybe 120 Macs and other Apple devices over the yearshere in my current business. With those numbers, on occasion they do fail - so we send them in for repair to a disk drive or logic board. Always been good service, and they're always contactable. Do I know others who have done the same? Yes - a whole advertising/graphics industry.

From that page is this one: http://www.apple.com/au/support/contact/

I ring the 1-300 number during office hours and get a human on the phone. Have done before. It works.

No, not hard and never been a problem.

On that page, are the following methods by which you can get your repair done or at least speak to someone about it.

Online

Try our online resources for Apple product solutions, tutorials and more.
Browse our support pages
Use the Online Service Assistant to request a repair or replacement part
Check repair status
Learn from fellow Apple customers at Apple Discussions
View current promotions, submit a rebate request, or check the status of your rebate

Phone

Mac, iPhone and iPod customers within 90 days of ownership are eligible for complimentary phone support — one support incident per iPod and unlimited incidents per Mac.
Technical support: 1-300-321-456
See all worldwide support telephone numbers

Email

Email support is available for iTunes Store questions.
iTunes Store: Get email support for downloads, purchases, and more.

Live Chat

Chat support is available for MobileMe questions.
MobileMe: Get chat support for billing and account questions, MobileMe Mail, and more.

Apple Retail Store

An Apple Retail Store is the best place to test-drive and explore Apple products, receive hands-on technical support and hardware repair from a Mac Genius, and get personal training on your new Mac with a One to One membership.
Find an Apple Store
Make a Genius Bar reservation
Get a One to One membership

Apple Authorised Service Provider

Contact an Apple Authorised Service Provider for Mac-related support and repair.
Locate an Apple Authorised Service Provider near you.

Choices?

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #45 31-01-2010, 10:42 AM

You could also have taken it to any of these resellers in Canberra, and they'd all have helped you out. Seems like a fair number of people that could.... not exactly a short list - even for Canberra.

Mac1 Canberra Centre (website) (email)
FF10 Upper Level North Quarter Canberra Centre, Bunda St
Canberra City ACT 2601
02 6257 2244 Canberra City
ACT 2601 Apple Premium Reseller

Mac1 Fyshwick (website) (email)
178 Gladstone Street
Fyshwick ACT 2609
02 6280 0808 Fyshwick
ACT 2609 Apple Premium Reseller, Apple Authorised Service Provider

Mac1 ANU (website) (email)
2 Hutton Street
Acton ACT 2601
02 6257 0808 Acton
ACT 2601 Apple Authorised Reseller

Myer Belconnen (website)
Westfields, Benjamin Way
Belconnen ACT 2617
(02) 6256 8300 Belconnen
ACT 2617 Apple Authorised Reseller

Domayne Fyshwick (website)
80 Collie Street
Fyshwick ACT 2609
02 6126 2500 Fyshwick
ACT 2609

Harris Technology (website)
29-31 Townsville Street
Fyshwick ACT 2609
(02) 6126 3410 Fyshwick
ACT 2609 Apple Authorised Reseller

David Jones Civic
260-262 Alinga Street
Canberra ACT 2600
02 6222 6333 Canberra
ACT 2600 iPod Authorised Reseller

David Jones Woden
Woden Valley Plaza Off Bradley St
Phillip ACT 2606
02 6202 6222 Phillip
ACT 2606 iPod Authorised Reseller

Fossil (Jonathan) · #46 31-01-2010, 10:49 AM

Don't forget good ol' Google... stacks of information there ;-)

Terry B · #47 31-01-2010, 11:00 AM

I still dont want or need one.
I went out to dinner last night for a work related welcome for a new potential medical specialist in town.
One of the people there spent about 1/3 of the time playing with a smart phone (I don't know what type but it isn't relevant).
It was just rude as far as I could see. He was not on call and it was not work related. Intrusive and not needed. They don't bring out the best in people.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #48 31-01-2010, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry B

One of the people there spent about 1/3 of the time playing with a smart phone (I don't know what type but it isn't relevant).
It was just rude as far as I could see. He was not on call and it was not work related. Intrusive and not needed. They don't bring out the best in people.

I guess that's a personality issue, not the phone's, and I wholeheartedly agree with you though - it's damned rude. For New Year's Ever this year I opened up the office for a few of our people and their friends so that they could watch the fireworks from the balcony. One bloke I'd not met before came along and sat there the whole night playing on his phone and said nothing to anyone else. I damn-near asked him to leave, the little boy.

kustard (Simon) · #49 31-01-2010, 11:07 AM

I recently gabbed an iPhone after my Samsung started to play up, a decision which was helped along over Christmas by my friends letting me play on theirs. I was always liked the iPhone but at the time couldn't justify the plan costs and was happy with a device to make calls and sms (as stated in my previous post in this thread).

Now I find it a great little device, it does work well for all that it can do and it can do a lot.

I can see here where some people have said they like a more specific tool for the job and indeed I am of that camp, but with the line between devices and their applications is becoming increasingly more blurry, something like the iPhone can definitely be a tool which gets used.

Some people like Windows, some like MacOS, some like *nix. They alll run on the same hardware these days. I like all three. But I like to choose which one I use for a certain application whether it's because of single OS support hardware (such as development tools for microprocessors), single OS support software (such as some astro software) or because I am more comfortable using say Photoshop on a Mac than I am on a Win machine. Horses for courses. But an iPhone bridges all these and allows me to access my *nix servers, login to my email, run astro software, play music etc all seamlessly, something which other multi-application devices don't do or can't do well.

As for Apple support, I'm with Chris on this. We have about 10 or so macs at work, all ranging from some old G series servers to a couple of new Macbook Air's (we also have about 25 Win machines and 3 *nix servers). Whenever we've had a problem with an Mac, support from Apple themselves or via the local Apple reseller has been good indeed.

Sorry for the wall of text.

JethroB76 (Jeff) · #50 31-01-2010, 11:37 AM

I love reading Apple fights

FredSnerd (Claude) · #51 31-01-2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

Have I ever returned anything for repair? Well, yes - dozens of times over the years. I use lots of Apple gear in my business - we're an ad agency/design house/software developer. Have done since 1984. We've run maybe 120 Macs and other Apple devices over the yearshere in my current business. With those numbers, on occasion they do fail - so we send them in for repair to a disk drive or logic board. Always been good service, and they're always contactable. Do I know others who have done the same? Yes - a whole advertising/graphics industry.

From that page is this one: http://www.apple.com/au/support/contact/

I ring the 1-300 number during office hours and get a human on the phone. Have done before. It works.

No, not hard and never been a problem.

On that page, are the following methods by which you can get your repair done or at least speak to someone about it.

Online

Try our online resources for Apple product solutions, tutorials and more.
Browse our support pages
Use the Online Service Assistant to request a repair or replacement part
Check repair status
Learn from fellow Apple customers at Apple Discussions
View current promotions, submit a rebate request, or check the status of your rebate

Phone

Mac, iPhone and iPod customers within 90 days of ownership are eligible for complimentary phone support — one support incident per iPod and unlimited incidents per Mac.
Technical support: 1-300-321-456
See all worldwide support telephone numbers

Email

Email support is available for iTunes Store questions.
iTunes Store: Get email support for downloads, purchases, and more.

Live Chat

Chat support is available for MobileMe questions.
MobileMe: Get chat support for billing and account questions, MobileMe Mail, and more.

Apple Retail Store

An Apple Retail Store is the best place to test-drive and explore Apple products, receive hands-on technical support and hardware repair from a Mac Genius, and get personal training on your new Mac with a One to One membership.
Find an Apple Store
Make a Genius Bar reservation
Get a One to One membership

Apple Authorised Service Provider

Contact an Apple Authorised Service Provider for Mac-related support and repair.
Locate an Apple Authorised Service Provider near you.

Choices?

Lets see. I want to speak to the guy whose saying he’s going to send my stuff back because there is nothing wrong and ask him not to send it back because there is something wrong. What I get is a bot that I cant reply to and that has no contact numbers. As to what you sent me of course most of it is irrelevant, giving the appearance of choices when there are not – shame on you. How was the online resource going to help me. Not at all (the so called Online Service Assistant, its what you use to get the process started and needless to say the “Check repair status” facility is also not a person). How was the E-mail help re itunes going to help. Not at all. And what of the Live Chat re MobileMe, Apple Retail Store (it wasn’t there business, they weren’t repairing it); Authorised Service Provider for Mac-related support and repair (again not their business and in any case nothing to do with them, it was already in for repair). As for the ipod 1300 number. First of all its about technical support, not repairs but I rang them of course both before I sent the unit in and after. Before I sent it in they said “Send it in”. After I sent it in they said “I’m sorry, its in for repairs your just gonna have to wait until it comes back. I wasn’t the only one having problems with iPod at the time because it was new and I believe I was being screwed around. Why else not provide a e-mail you can respond to or contact number of the person saying they cant find a problem with your unit. Isnt this the best way to give support, if its genuine.

Well that was my experience. You can choose to doubt it. Its only fair since I don’t have a great deal of confidence in what you say either. Oh yeah I expect you do work in an agency/design house/software developer business but how much you under play the fact that because you order big you will get better service (both in your private capacity and in connection with the business) then an individual, well, we’ll never really know. And really, what do you do there. Are you the Apple devices Returnerer or does someone else do that job. And finally (and most importantly since this is what my original post was really about) how often do you have to send stuff back for repairs. That’s what my post was about. Sounds like it could be pretty regular.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #52 31-01-2010, 11:42 AM

Sigh. There' no helping some - and yes, shame on me. LOL!

rat156 · #53 31-01-2010, 11:43 AM

Hi All,

Well, I am an Apple fanboy, have been so for ages. I even owned a Newton messagepad (or two) until it got stolen, I would probably still have it now otherwise.

Of course, when the iPhone came out I wanted one, even thought of buying one from the US, but didn't. I waited until they were released in Aus, lined up in the cold to get one. I love it, wouldn't have another phone. I have to carry around an old Nokia job for work as well as my iPhone, so I'd like a dual sim one, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon, so I'll just have to carry around the two phones.

I own several Macs, a couple of PC's, I don't mind Windows as much as I used to, until something goes wrong, then I find some things incomprehensible in their complexity compared to using the Mac. My MacBook is several years old, has been in for repair once during warranty, now has a pretty rough looking case, but still works well, so well in fact that although I want one of the new ones I can't think of a decent reason to go out and buy one, so I'll stick with this one until it dies completely, it does need a new battery now as this one is a bit dodgy. The repair process was seamless, I took it to an apple reseller, who fixed it and some other stuff that was on the replace it if you see it list, I didn't pay a cent.

Insofar as the iPhone is concerned, why all this snobbery about not having one. It reminds me of the "I don't watch TV" snobbery that goes about. I don't watch too much on TV, but I don't think less of people if they do, if they like the rubbish that's on TV, good on them, each to their own. But what I won't do is denigrate them for their choice like some people here are trying to do, or it at least seems that way to me.

Somehow Apple has become the "Evil Empire" for making popular products and software well. If it wasn't for Apple we would still have PC's in horrible greyish boxes and software delivered on 5.25" floppy disks. Does anyone here remember the scoffs from the PC experts when Apple released the iMac WITHOUT a floppy disk drive?

Cheers
Stuart

FredSnerd (Claude) · #54 31-01-2010, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omaroo

You could also have taken it to any of these resellers in Canberra, and they'd all have helped you out. Seems like a fair number of people that could.... not exactly a short list - even for Canberra.

Mac1 Canberra Centre (website) (email)
FF10 Upper Level North Quarter Canberra Centre, Bunda St
Canberra City ACT 2601
02 6257 2244 Canberra City
ACT 2601 Apple Premium Reseller

Mac1 Fyshwick (website) (email)
178 Gladstone Street
Fyshwick ACT 2609
02 6280 0808 Fyshwick
ACT 2609 Apple Premium Reseller, Apple Authorised Service Provider

Mac1 ANU (website) (email)
2 Hutton Street
Acton ACT 2601
02 6257 0808 Acton
ACT 2601 Apple Authorised Reseller

Myer Belconnen (website)
Westfields, Benjamin Way
Belconnen ACT 2617
(02) 6256 8300 Belconnen
ACT 2617 Apple Authorised Reseller

Domayne Fyshwick (website)
80 Collie Street
Fyshwick ACT 2609
02 6126 2500 Fyshwick
ACT 2609

Harris Technology (website)
29-31 Townsville Street
Fyshwick ACT 2609
(02) 6126 3410 Fyshwick
ACT 2609 Apple Authorised Reseller

David Jones Civic
260-262 Alinga Street
Canberra ACT 2600
02 6222 6333 Canberra
ACT 2600 iPod Authorised Reseller

David Jones Woden
Woden Valley Plaza Off Bradley St
Phillip ACT 2606
02 6202 6222 Phillip
ACT 2606 iPod Authorised Reseller

Again this post is misleading. My stuff was in for repairs sent to apple as per their instructions. Talking to these people wasnt going to help, though I remember talking at the start to them and them telling me to contact Apple.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #55 31-01-2010, 11:48 AM

Seriously Claude...

Jeffkop (Jeff) · #56 31-01-2010, 08:23 PM

Well mine arrives tomorrow morning ... Im hoping that I never have the need to decide whether Chris or Claude's opinions were correct.
My phone carked it after oh 5 years. Ive had mobile phones post brick with a curly cord days, and have owned only 3 until now.
Have to adnit, I havent ever needed all the frills with phones, as a matter of fact Ive NEVER used the camera in the last phone that had one.

Im really looking fwd to a screen I can see in the daylight and a menu system that is much easier to use than my old phone .. it was the bane of my phone life that menu navigation.

I didnt realise when I ordered it that it was going to be as useful in this hobby .. THIS is a real bonus !!!

I guess I decided to go with the Iphone on the back of all the great chat I have over heard with friends who own them and with all the positive input from this thread .... Im finally excited about a phone with frills !!!

So

Davros (Lauren) · #57 31-01-2010, 08:41 PM

Enjoy the phone Jeff, i sure am. I guess some people just cant allow other people to enjoy anything without trying to bring it down.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #58 31-01-2010, 08:57 PM

Would I buy one?? No, I don't think so.
I need to prioritise my spending.

Though I do understand why you guys would see them as objects of desire.
I'd love to see what they can do first hand.

dannat (Daniel) · #59 02-02-2010, 09:49 PM

Question: can i use an american iphone in australia no problem..ie do the wirless netwroks run on the same frequency..have you seen the US pricing

Jen · #60 02-02-2010, 09:55 PM

Sounds like you had a bad day Norm

I dont have one of those phones but i have played with one and they are fun but my Wii is for games and stuff and a phone is for calling and texting i think