Why I Still Dislike Apple and a Lesson to All Solution Providers

While I usually use this space to analyze recent industry news and provide insight as to what it means to solution providers, I am going take a little bit of a left turn and tell you why I am less than fond of Apple as a company because of how it mistreats its customers, namely me. I will also make a shallow attempt to tie this into the channel.

Disclaimer Alert: These are my views and not that of The VAR Guy, so yell at me, not the editor or The VAR Guy himself if you disagree.

In the spirit of complete transparency, I was never a big Apple fan. I’ve always been a PC guy and after covering the channel for as long as I have, I’ve thought Apple’s programs have always been misleading and competitive. Maybe that has tainted my views but the die was cast a long time ago.

For the longest time I resisted becoming an Apple robot. I used a BlackBerry for years and started with a basic MP3 player for music. But over time, Apple got its hooks into me.

It started with my daughter and a simple iPod. Then I got an iPod for running. Then my wife wanted an iPod for working out. Then one Father’s Day my family upgraded my iPod to an iPod touch. Then my daughter upgraded to the iPod Nano. Then, to be part of the mobile media revolution, I got an iPad to read news and answer emails during my commute into New York City. My wife loved it so much that I ended up getting a new iPad and giving her my old one.

It didn’t end there. My BlackBerry crapped out last year and I finally gave into buying an iPhone. My wife liked what she saw again, so I upgraded her phone to an iPhone.

So for a guy who has been resisting becoming just another Apple sheep, I found myself as the proud owner of three iPods, one iPod Touch, one iPod Nano, two iPads and two iPhones. Well, as you may have guessed, it didn’t end there.

For Christmas my boys wanted the new iPod Touch. Kids on the bus were making fun of their old MP3 players and they wanted cool games that they can play multiple players over the Internet. I caved and bought them each one. And finally my daughter, who was also clinging onto her BlackBerry, gave in and requested the new iPhone for her birthday.

So at current count I have three iPods, three iPod Touches, one iPod Nano, two iPads, and three iPhones. I would consider myself a loyal Apple customer at this point. But do you think Apple cares about all the business I have given them? I can honestly say it doesn’t.

So 95 days after purchasing my boys their iPod Touches, the screen on one of them cracked badly. I’m a bit of do-it-yourselfer, so I ordered a new screen from Amazon and went to replace it. Well, that didn’t work and I got the white screen of death. I put my ego aside and made an appointment with one of the “Apple Geniuses.” After finally getting an appointment I explained the situation and he told me since I tried to install an after-market screen Apple wouldn’t service the broken iPod Touch. I asked him if he knew how much business I did with Apple over the last three years and he said sorry, there was nothing he can do.

I ended up getting a third-party shop to replace it for $60 and my boy was happy again. Then, one week later, the screen on my other son’s iPod cracked. Since I was past the 90-day mark (by one week, mind you) there was nothing Apple would do. So again I paid the $60 to have the third party replace the screen.

Fast forward two weeks later, and my youngest son comes home from school saying another kid changed his password, they don’t know what it is and now his iPod Touch is locked. I called Apple support and the rep rudely told me that unless I buy a warranty package there is nothing Apple can do because it was past the 90-day mark.

Are you kidding me? Three iPods, three iPod Touches, one iPod Nano, two iPads, and three iPhones later, and Apple wouldn’t even walk me through how to restore the device to its factory settings (which I found through a simple search on the Internet and it took me just 20 minutes)?

I wasn’t fond of Apple 25 years ago because of the way it treated its reseller partners and I am less fond of the company today because of the way it treats its customers, again namely me. I will never buy another Apple product again. Solution providers take notice: Take care of your loyal customers and don’t nickel and dime them.

You see, I told you I would make a shallow attempt to tie this into the channel.

Knock ’em alive!