Apple's Customer Service is the Worst

Update 2 (final word on the issue) - I received my iPhone on the last day of the initial reservation, so I am happy  that I got it on time and  that I don't have to call them again.   

UPDATE:  (9/15/16) Apple contacted me tonight and said they put in a request to send my Phone earlier.  The rep did not have a firm date, but he expected that I would get it before my first Reservation date.  I will keep you updated as to how it turns out.



As anyone that reads this site knows, I am a fan of Apple products.  I own an iPhone, three Macs, Airplay devices, Apple Watch, iPads of several generations (the iPad Pro 9.7 with Pencil is my newest device), so when I complain about Apple, it isn't because I have some vendetta against Apple.  In fact, if I didn't like Apple products, I wouldn't be in a position to deal with their customer service. (Below is the whole story, but I will get to the customer service aspect of the situation after I put it into context.)

The Midnight Pre-order

 As per usual, Apple kicked off the preorder at midnight on Friday.  That meant I had to get up an try to order the iPhone at 2:00 in the morning.  I felt pretty lucky because I was done by 2:30.  Last year, I gave up and waited until morning to order it.  

I ordered a Jet Black, 256GB, iPhone 7 Plus.  They told me I would get an email with a reservation number to complete my order.  The delivery date was already pushed back to a period between September 26 - October 3.  I was surprised that the delivery got pushed back so far in such a short period, but I guess the phone is more popular than they thought it would be. 

Trouble with a "CAPITAL T"

I woke up after a few hours of sleep and I saw that my reservation was in my inbox.  I was eating breakfast and going through the order process when the page said an error occurred.  I tried to hit the back button, but it would not reload the prior page.  

As with most of these issues, going back and starting the process over usually fixes the problem.  However, when I tried to log back in, I got a message saying that the they could not find the reservation number.

The Fun Begins

I started calling Apple on Friday morning.  Unlike most companies that give you some idea about how long you will be in line, Apple just expects you to hang on for as long as it takes.  I was on hold for two hours and 20 minutes before I had to go into a meeting.  I left the phone off the hook, but it was a dead signal when I got back.  I suspect they picked up before I got back to my desk 15 minutes later, but I don't know for sure (more about that later).

I started calling them again when I got back from lunch.  Somehow a company that owns a music business can only play about 5 songs in constant rotation over the course of several hours and it picked three of them to play over and over and over.   I work in a professional environment, so one of the songs they were playing with great frequency wasn't appropriate to have on my phone's speaker for hours on end.  

​One of the songs is a song by Sasquatch called "25th (Tanner Caldwell Remix)".  If you are curious about what I am referring to, play the song on Apple Music or your service of choice and go to 2 minutes and 38 seconds in.  If they played it once, okay, but this song was on constant rotation.     Please bring back Muzak if you are going to have people on hold for that long with only 5 songs in your arsenal.  

Promised Land

Finally, after waiting for almost 3 hours, I finally had a specialist named Bobby on the other end.  I told him about my issue and he had me send him the Apple email to his Apple address with my reservation number.  He tried going through the reservation process and had no luck.  He checked on the issue and said it was a known problem that would fix itself in 2 or 3 hours.  I asked him if they had someone I could contact if it was not successful and he said I would have to call back the main number if it was not fixed.

I checked the site several times over the next several hours and it still would not work.  I, unfortunately, had to call Apple again.  I was "only" on hold for about 2 hours this time.  The same three songs were still in constant rotation, but I had no choice but to stay on hold.  Luckily, I was home, so I was able to put the music on the speaker and try to concentrate on TV rather than the music.

I told Tim (not Tim Cook), the new specialist, about my issues.  He said he would talk to a supervisor and put me on hold.  He claimed that they were still working on the issue and they expected it to be resolved by 10 AM on Saturday.   My reservation expires at 4 PM (their time) on Saturday, so I was hoping that the issue would be resolved.

A Saturday Spent On Hold

I got up and checked my reservation, still no luck.  Their 10 AM is 12 PM here, so I waited until noon and tried it again.  It still didn't work.  I sent two emails (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) to the address Bobby had given me on Friday, but he never responded.  As a result, I checked the reservation a few more times and it still didn't work, so I had to call the main number again.

Unfortunately, they still had a similar playlist.  This time it played two of the three songs and mixed in a couple more songs.  It still played them over and over, but the "Sasquatch" was no where to be seen.   

Well, 2 hours and 45 minutes in, the music switched to ringing.  Yay!  I was finally going to get to talk to someone.  About 20 rings in, the phone simply disconnected.  AHHHHHHHH!  I felt like Charlie Brown playing football with Lucy!  

Let's Chat

With so little time left before my reservation expired, I resorted to the "chat" feature on Apple's website.   It "only" took about an hour to talk to someone.  Luckily, I had Bobby's email address, which I provided to them, and I then explained my problem.  They could not do anything about the issue, but they said they would have a supervisor call me in the next 5 hours.

Bobby is Back in the Building

Instead of a supervisor, Bobby called me back within the hour.  He said they were still aware of the issue and they were extending my reservation expiration.  He also said he would call me back at 5 PM on Sunday to help resolve the issue or see if it had been resolved by Apple.

At about 4:30 AM on Sunday morning, I got a new email from Apple.  It had the extended reservation time and it had a "Complete Order" button that I tested.  It still did not work.  I sent Bobby another email to let him know that Apple had not resolved my issue.  

At 4:44 PM, Bobby called me.  He said that the problem should now be resolved.  

You know how to take the reservation...

Well, Bobby was right!  I could now use the reservation link that Apple sent me to access all of the information I supplied.  It had my order details, my cell phone carrier details, etc.  However, the most important part of the initial reservation was missing and that was the date I would get the iPhone.  Instead of getting it by October 3rd (at the latest), the date was moved to November 1st (at the latest).

"You know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation"  Seinfeld
​

Supervisor, where are you???

Since I was still on the phone with Bobby, I explained that the only reason I stayed on hold for hours listening to three awful songs over and over was to hold my reservation date.  I could have just got online and resubmitted the order if I didn't care about when I received it.  

He said there was nothing he could do about the fact that they added a month to my delivery date.   I asked if I could talk to a supervisor.  He put me on hold for about 30 minutes and then he came back and said the supervisors were all tied up and he would have one of them call me.   That was yesterday afternoon and it is now Monday night and I have not heard from anyone.  I sent Bobby an email and left him a voicemail, but I have not heard back and I have no idea when he will be back in the office.  

That is a BAD APPLE!

I will update this post if I hear anything from Apple, but they truly dropped the ball on this one.  From the 2 to 3 hours hold time for people following up on an issue that they claimed would be resolved, to the inappropriate songs being played over and over, to the inability to have a website that performs properly, to the inability to hold a reservation when they have already reserved a place in line, to the supervisor not calling me back.  I have to say that this is the worst customer service I have had in my life!  

While I love Apple products and I have spent a lot of money in their ecosystem, it is making me reconsider my loyalty to the brand.