Apple TV, HDCP, and Good Customer Service
I could have simply sacrificed the $4 rental fee and chalked it up as the cost of research, but $4 is also the cost of a pair of double-espressos and is therefore real money. So I did what I imagine few people do: I wrote to Apple. It took a bit of navigating, but ultimately I ended up at a form where I could contact iTunes Store support. I explained my predicament and sent the message into what I expected would be yet another corporate email black hole.
If you read on in Jeff’s post, you’ll see that his message did not go to an “email black hole” and instead resulted in a refund for the rental price and the sales tax.
In the past, I’ve written about both of my iTunes customer service experiences. In both cases, I thought “pff, contact form — I’m never going to hear back about this.” In both cases, I did hear back and, in both cases, Apple resolved the issue to my satisfaction.
In a perfect world, we wouldn’t feel compelled to laud Apple for resolving their customer issues in a timely manner — the way Apple approaches customer service is the way all companies should approach customer service. Of course, we don’t live in a perfect world. There have been plenty of stories about companies screwing customers over with DRM issues and I’m sure most of us have had support emails go unanswered (I’m looking at you, Orangeware).
When Apple first introduced FairPlay, there seemed to be a feeling that Apple’s DRM implementation was an attempt to make the best of sub-optimal situation. It appears that Apple has extended that strategy from the technical arena to the customer support arena.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Great article.
Your readers might want to try http://www.Measuredup.com a leading customer service review website where people share reviews with other users and with companies. Companies that are involved with and value customer service read Measuredup to keep up on what people are saying and to be able to improve customer service.
It is free and easy to use.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:44 am
[…] commenting on Jeff Carlson’s quality customer support experience with Apple, I had my own comment-worthy […]
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 pm
hi i just got a apple TV and found my self not happy send how i cant see my move on my 7000$ projector with DVI 🙁 but i think i have found a solution see this it sill kill the HDCP form everything you put throw it! http://www.green-box.com.tw/products/view/id/127
best-alex
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:22 am
Alex – I want to apologize for not authorizing your comment for a month. Somehow, I missed it in the queue.