This is a bit off topic from the usual fare here. I wasn’t going to write about this on the blog, but since Scott Laird must have reinstalled his blog, causing this old post about getting his iPhone fixed to show up in my feed reader. I took it as a sign that maybe I should. It’s a bit of a rant.

If you don’t care, just move along. I’ll be back with more Ruby stuff soon.

I had two experiences with customer service last week. One left me decidedly less happy than the other.

The Apple Genius Bar

I have a late 2007 white MacBook. During the first year, it exhibited a problem common to these machines. The top plastic surface which contains the keyboard and track-pad started to show cracks near the edges, and eventually some small pieces came off.

I made a Genius bar appointment, and they replaced the whole assembly, called the top-case, complete with the keyboard and track-pad. At that time, they needed to order the part, so it took a pair of trips and a short wait.

Before the warranty expired, I purchased AppleCare. Normally I don’t go for extended warrantees but for a laptop they are a good idea.

A few months ago the top-case started cracking again. I held off taking it back, but finally did last week. I also noticed that the bottom case also had a crack on the right side right behind the screw in front of the DVD drive slot. It has been reported that Apple has been fixing these cracks for MacBooks even out of warrantee.

This time they had the top-case in stock, but that replacing the bottom case would involve sending the machine to a repair depot. Since I really can’t lose use of the machine for a week right now, I had them replace the top-case while I walked around in the mall. I’ll figure out what to do about the bottom case eventually.

All in all, it was a fairly satisfying experience.

OptimumTV/Cablevision

Now for a completely different experience. I travelled up to Connecticut for the Easter weekend, and to be with my mother for her 86th birthday this past Monday.

On Saturday she asked me what to do about a letter she’d gotten from her cable TV company. They’d taken several of her favorite channels off of her service. To get them she’d need to get a new set-top box which they would give her, along with a “free” year on a new plan, before adding $10 or so per month to her bill.

I called the cable company for her, and explained that I was visiting, and that I would be happy to get the box and install it for her while I was there. The rep told me that all I needed to do was to go to an Optimum Store, with her account number and the letter, and they’d give me what she needed. I asked what I needed to bring, and was told that the letter and account number would be enough. The nearest store was closed on weekends, but there was another one which was open on Saturday. Google maps estimated an 18 minute trip. So I hopped in my sister’s car and headed up I-95 to Norwalk.

Due to a heavy rain and traffic congestion, it turned out to take more like 45 minutes.

I walked into the “store” and found a dimly lit room, with a teller counter, and a equipment cage in the back. Not so much a store as a place where people go to pay their cable bills before they get cut off. The “store” employees were all seated behind the counter. None of them were wearing name tags.

I went up to the first available employee and explained what I was after, to be told that he only took payments. Shortly another lady was free, and when I told her what I needed. I showed her the letter and she said “Are you Joseph?” Joseph was my dad’s name. Dad died just short of 7 years ago, and Mom had never been able to get the name on the account changed. I explained this and she said. “Well I can’t help you your mother has to be here, or you need a letter from her.”

I explained the situation, that another Optimum/Cablevision employee had assured me that all I needed was the letter and account number. The response was astounding. I was informed that I was “breaking their rules,” which were posted at either end of the counter.

I asked if I could speak to a supervisor, and was told that there wasn’t one. I then asked if there was a number I could call, and while I was waiting her to get the number, I called the number I’d previously called. I got another on the phone who told me that yes, all I should need was the letter and the account number. When I told him about the “breaking the rules” remark he expressed astonishment, but when I asked if he would talk to the “teller” he said he couldn’t, there was nothing he could do to help.

By this time, the teller lady was getting upset, she said “You have to understand, we provide a service for your mother, for MONEY.” I told her that yes I understood, and that my mother’s payments partially paid her salary, and I was just trying to get those services for her. She then said “I work for a living, and have children, and you are jeopardizing my job by breaking our rules.”

I realized that it was hopeless, and gave up.

I’ve been a customer of DirectTV for twenty years or so here in North Carolina, almost since they started. In all that time, I can’t recall them ever removing channels from a package, and many times, they’ve added channels without raising the prices.

I’m trying to convince my mother that she should switch, that she (and I) shouldn’t have to put up with such inflexibility and obvious disregard for customers. But Mom’s a bit set in her ways and resistant to change.

Of course this is what companies like this prey upon, which is pretty sad if you ask me.