After a recent round of computer problems I found myself in the Apple store purchasing a 30-inch monitor that I didn’t really want. I’ve got a 2½-year old Mac.
A few months ago Apple changed the monitor connections to all their computers. This meant that I was not able to simply replace my 23-inch monitor with one off the shelf. The only monitors that they had on hand that would work were their 30-inch monitors. They still had some with the old-style connection. I wasn’t too happy about this. I ended up spending $1,000 more than I had anticipated. I wasn’t even sure that this giant monitor would fit in the space that I have my computer in. I asked the sales person if I could return the monitor if it didn’t fit in my work area and he said yes. I bought the 30-incher and lugged it to my car. As I looked at the receipt I notice that there was a 10 percent restocking fee for returning the opened box. I’m always been a big fan of the Apple store, but it kind of ticked me off that he hadn’t mentioned the restocking fee. That evening, I receive an e-mail for Apple. It was a survey about how my recent experience was. I filled it out and express my slight disappointment in the salesperson. A few days later, I received a phone call from the store manager to talk about the situation. It really made me feel like they wanted to keep my business. Well, as luck would have it, I ended up returning the monitor because my old one wasn’t really dead. The video card was the issue, not the monitor. The Apple store waved the restocking fee. It was great. They restored any doubt I may have had about their commitment to their customer. So what did I learn for the experience? I learned that I need to be more like the Apple store and pay more attention to my customers needs and be more responsive to them.
No comments yet.