Cleaning Up My Crumbs

I know I've professed my love for Apple before, sang their praises, and declared Mac my religion. It's no secret that I'm a devotee.

And I know that, by posting this, I'm either preaching to the choir (hello fellow Mac-lovahs!) or about to be pish-poshed by PC-users who cannot understand why anyone could ever possibly want to make out with a computer behind the bleachers. But, here goes a story about a MacBook user who lost a cupcake in her trackpad and then got a free battery. Or something like that.

So here's what you need to know about Apple: when something breaks, you get to talk to a real-live person. And not just some dude at a 1-800 number who has no clue what you are talking about, but an Apple Genius. You can make yourself an appointment and walk right into the Apple store and the Genius will listen to your whole tragic story and ask lots of questions and then they fix the problem.

A few months ago, my Apple started acting kinda funny, doing this bizarre ghostwriting thing, so I went on down to the Apple store and, as it turned out, there was a lot of "debris" in the keyboard. I know exactly what this "debris" consisted of--cupcake crumbs and scone crumbs and brownie crumbs and maybe the occasional bit of pancake syrup or droplet of Coca-Cola--and I'd venture that the Geniuses at Apple could tell what was going on, too. But did they blame me for the cream cheese frosting that was sticking the Shift key down? No. No, they did not.

Instead, they just went ahead and replaced the top case for free.

(Note: I was under warranty, which they totally hooked me up with despite my failure to sign up for it promptly as required.)

Fast forward three months: I take a trip to the Apple store on Sunday to talk to a Genius about the Bar Exam. You see, I was kinda worried about the whole cupcake in my keyboard situation and, in my state of complete computer-hypochondria, I was absolutely certain that an entire chocolate-chip scone had somehow slipped into the keyboard, one crumb at a time, and I was going to, thus, fail the Bar Exam.

(The Bar Exam makes you crazy. Yes.)

Anyway, the Genius looked at the computer and the prognosis was good--no scones under the Caps Lock key, no Junior Mints hidden under the trackpad.

BUT THEN. He said, "you know what? Why don't we just go ahead and replace the top case and you won't have to worry? Come back in 45 minutes and you'll be set."

AND THEN, when I came back in 45 minutes later (with a new Ann Taylor necklace and Forever 21 leggings), not only had they replaced the top case, they also went ahead and replaced the battery so that I would be super set for the Bar. For Free. Freeeeeeeee.

WHAT COMPANY DOES THAT?

This is not to say that nothing bad could possibly happen, but I think it's pretty great that the folks at Apple are nice enough to clean up my cupcake mess (or feed me a placebo, anyway) and then toss in a battery for good measure.

I Heart Apple.

Comments

[Kimberly Flower]

They totally TOTALLY replaced my failing iMac with a brand-new computer.

"oh, ms. flower, this is going to be a bit of an upgrade from your current computer since we don't make that size, is that ok?"

"no. totally not ok...YES!"

apple, is awesome.

[Maria]

I just went to the Apple store THIS MORNING AT SIX THIRTY AM b/c the one on 5th ave in nyc is totes awesome and open 24/7. my brand new iphone (her name is Audrey!) was "chirping" for lack of a better word when i pressed the hold button to lock it. my genius fixed it in five minutes.

also, what company fixes laptops overseas? when i had the first generation white macbook (since stolen, now replaced with the new 13" macbook pro as a wedding gift woo!) i had the palm prints problem and chip on the palm rests. not only did the apple store in osaka fix it in A DAY, they even had an english speaking genius (though i was totally prepared to talk about my problem in japanese, i prepped for that. the genius there was pretty astonished when i opened my mouth and wrote down everything i needed to fill out on the form in japanese).

[Leah]

I love Apple too! They always say they'll charge you for something, but I never got charged under AppleCare. I too got a new top case (mine was because I had an original macbook that did the yellowing wrist-wrest thing). I also got a new battery when my macbook wouldn't hold a charge for more than 45 minutes, even tho the tech said I'd been through too many cycles and this was just normal.

My macbook is now 4 years old and works just the same as the day I got it. Okay, this winter, I did replace the hard drive. But it was super simple to do, and the computer gave me enough warning of trouble that I was able to back up my drive.

I am definitely a macbook enthusiast :-)

[A Classic Pearl]

It is so refreshing to have a company that believes in great customer service. It makes such a difference in brand loyalty and yet so few offer it. Loved this story. I have to clean out my keyboard at work with the keyboard spray about once every 2 weeks and so many crumbs fall out.

[jen]

I too heart them. I somehow lost the cds that came with my new laptop. They got lost somehow when I was moving and obviously need them to install windows on this bad boy since apparently the bar exam hates macs. They sent me a new set of cds, for free, and they should be here this week.

Hooray! I love my macbook pro!

[lesli]

I heart Apple too! And also cupcakes, Junior Mints and brownies. My favorite party of the story is when you came back with a necklace from Ann Taylor & leggings from Forever 21.

[Melissa Oklahoma]

That IS pretty amazing...

[lori.smith[email protected]]

Amen. I've had similar experiences, not involving crubs of any sort. That Genius Bar goes the extra mile. Every. Single. Time.

[michelle]

I think the only company that is as good as Apple as is with customer service and replacing thing is LL Bean. This is why I will always and forever shop at these two companies - more companies need to get this!

[Sarah]

Apple is awesome and more and more people seem to be finding this out. I went on and on about how great Apple is so much during college, that my roommate bought a MAC when she started law school last year.

[Ms. Olsen]

Someone convert me.

Have any of you ever used PC? I have approximately ZERO experience on a Mac but I am currently HATING my PC laptop more than I can express in words and need something newer, faster, just all around better. Did any of you start out on PCs and convert later in life? lol. What's the difference?