Apple retains top spot on Laptop's tech support rankings for third year straight

AppleInsider

For a third consecutive year, tech publication Laptop has once again awarded the best score in its Tech Support Showdown to Apple, commending its support via phone calls, online chat, and social media accounts.

The company scored 93 out of 100 overall, Laptop said. It managed 56 out of 60 for its Web score, and 37 out of 40 for phone support, with an average call time of just 6 minutes in undercover investigations -- over 2.5 minutes faster than second-place Acer, which actually scored 38 on phone support but only 50 on the Web.

Apple's website and support app are "loaded with helpful, step-by-step tutorials," and backed by "knowledgeable and friendly" workers on phone and chat lines, according to Laptop. The company also reportedly replied to Twitter messages "quickly and accurately."

The worst companies among those ranked included Asus, Samsung, and MSI. Asus' chat and website were described as "especially disappointing," while staff at Samsung were said to have kept mistaking the Notebook 7 for the Galaxy Note 7. The very bottom company on the list, MSI, had representatives that were "shockingly unfamiliar" with products.

In gauging Apple's phone support, Laptop made three separate calls in which it tried to test staff's knowledge of more recent Mac technology, including Siri, iCloud Drive, and the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro. Only in the iCloud Drive call did an Apple representative make a tangential mistake, claiming there was no way of turning iCloud Desktop and Documents off without disabling iCloud Drive.

To improve support, Laptop suggested only that Apple should make sure workers learn about all new features, and provide direct answers on its Twitter account, rather than linking elsewhere. In November, @AppleSupport picked up a Twitter #Customer award.

Apple has often counted on its support as a selling point, including not just phones and online but Genius Bars. A person with a faulty Mac or iPhone can get first-party help if there's an Apple store in their city, whereas people with a Windows or Android product are usually dependent on remote or third-party support unless they have Microsoft hardware.

rayz2016

For the folk who don't know what Angela Ahrendts does… She does this. 

macxpress

And for anyone who wants to continuously bitch about the price of Apple's laptops...well you get what you pay for here. Support like this isn't cheap and its just one of the things you get with the Apple experience. 

wood1208

macxpress said:

And for anyone who wants to continuously bitch about the price of Apple's laptops...well you get what you pay for here. Support like this isn't cheap and its just one of the things you get with the Apple experience. 

Chilled brother, we know that apple provides the best service for it's products. but, Apple needs to expand it's bottom consumer base(highschool and college students and casual users) to become the largest segment of laptop users attracted by decent performance and at price point that it becomes no brainier to buy the Macbook Pro. All bells and whistles and high price upgrades to be targeted to business, enterprise and pros. For example, Macbook Pro 13"(without touch bar) should have decent performance and price between $1199-$1299. And don't cripple that low end with only 2 USB Type-C ports.

edited March 2017

soli

wood1208 said:
For example, Macbook Pro 13"(without touch bar) should have decent performance and price between $1199-$1299. And don't cripple that low end with only 2 USB Type-C ports.

You would like ≠ should have or anything else you think Apple should be obligated to give you because it's what you want. If you don't like the Touch Bar with all its expensive components and lengthy R&D, then don't buy it. Chances are the price will come down dramatically with the next MBP update just as we've seen in the past, like with the Retina display (4x the number of pixels and an IPS panel with an LED backlight) where people said Apple "should have" sold it for less money because they didn't want to pay more for the MBP because they didn't need that many pixels in a display when 1080p would've been sufficient for them.

lkrupp

wood1208 said:

Apple needs to expand it’s bottom consumer base (highschool and college students and casual users) to become the largest segment of laptop users attracted by decent performance and at price point that it becomes no brainier to buy the Macbook Pro. 

No, no it doesn’t. Apple is doing just fine by staying out of the race to the bottom. You are flatly wrong, and frankly, repeating the same gibberish that analysts have been spewing for decades about Apple and how it should go low-end..

edited March 2017

chasm

People who advocate for Apple to compete for the budget-obsessed bottom feeders in the market should bear in mind two things: 1. If they did that, they would indeed acquire a lot of new customers -- who, according to every report I can find, require more than twice as much customer support as traditional Apple buyers. Low-end buyers are the computer illiterates, largely, and the poorly-educated. They need more help and can't articulate their issues well, requiring much more time to resolve. 2. This would seriously degrade Apple's ability to provide high-quality customer service, and trying to build in preventative technologies so that those customers don't call so much would degrade the entire Apple experience (SEE ALSO: Disk Utility), to say nothing of the fact that profit margins needed for R&D and essentially everything that makes Apple great would be severely reduced. So be careful what you wish for.

wood1208

chasm said:

People who advocate for Apple to compete for the budget-obsessed bottom feeders in the market should bear in mind two things: 1. If they did that, they would indeed acquire a lot of new customers -- who, according to every report I can find, require more than twice as much customer support as traditional Apple buyers. Low-end buyers are the computer illiterates, largely, and the poorly-educated. They need more help and can't articulate their issues well, requiring much more time to resolve. 2. This would seriously degrade Apple's ability to provide high-quality customer service, and trying to build in preventative technologies so that those customers don't call so much would degrade the entire Apple experience (SEE ALSO: Disk Utility), to say nothing of the fact that profit margins needed for R&D and essentially everything that makes Apple great would be severely reduced. So be careful what you wish for.

I think we all are looking wrong. First, spending $1200 macbook pro is not for bottom fiddlers. They are under $700 laptop segment. Second, college students will end up into corporations and if they were using windows laptop in college than they will prefer windows in work place and Apple will have less business from corporations. Didn't you see lately Macs/MBP having market % drop. Once Windows laptops were less attractive, less reliable and less likable but that has changed lot. So, time will tell whether at sky high price, if Macbooks/Macs market is expanding or contracting. Apple got lucky with iphone and if you take iphone away(means including app store revenue) than there is tiny Apple left behind And my stock price too. I want Apple to have at least 25% of laptop market share so every time those people move up the chain buying expensive MBP, Apple makes money. My point was keep expanding bootm base so overall revenue keep increasing for R&D of next best products. Dummer/bottom fidder people likes Apple products because they are intuitive and just work so these so called bottom fiddlers don't need as much service as we think.

edited March 2017

rayz2016

wood1208 said:

chasm said:

People who advocate for Apple to compete for the budget-obsessed bottom feeders in the market should bear in mind two things: 1. If they did that, they would indeed acquire a lot of new customers -- who, according to every report I can find, require more than twice as much customer support as traditional Apple buyers. Low-end buyers are the computer illiterates, largely, and the poorly-educated. They need more help and can't articulate their issues well, requiring much more time to resolve. 2. This would seriously degrade Apple's ability to provide high-quality customer service, and trying to build in preventative technologies so that those customers don't call so much would degrade the entire Apple experience (SEE ALSO: Disk Utility), to say nothing of the fact that profit margins needed for R&D and essentially everything that makes Apple great would be severely reduced. So be careful what you wish for.

I think we all are looking wrong. First, spending $1200 macbook pro is not for bottom fiddlers. They are under $700 laptop segment. Second, college students will end up into corporations and if they were using windows laptop in college than they will prefer windows in work place and Apple will have less business from corporations. Didn't you see lately Macs/MBP having market % drop. Once Windows laptops were less attractive, less reliable and less likable but that has changed lot. So, time will tell whether at sky high price, if Macbooks/Macs market is expanding or contracting. Apple got lucky with iphone and if you take iphone away(means including app store revenue) than there is tiny Apple left behind And my stock price too. I want Apple to have at least 25% of laptop market share so every time those people move up the chain buying expensive MBP, Apple makes money. My point was keep expanding bootm base so overall revenue keep increasing for R&D of next best products. Dummer/bottom fidder people likes Apple products because they are intuitive and just work so these so called bottom fiddlers don't need as much service as we think.

You've fallen into the analyst trap. Apple can still have a decreasing market share and expand the user base at the same time. 

avon b7

macxpress said:

And for anyone who wants to continuously bitch about the price of Apple's laptops...well you get what you pay for here. Support like this isn't cheap and its just one of the things you get with the Apple experience. 

Price has nothing to do with it. If it did, they wouldn't be able to offer it and still make billions hand over fist. 

And the last time I tried phone support, after typing in my serial number, I was was quickly I informed how much the support call would cost. That's when I abandoned because the problem was caused by Apple in the first place and I didn't see why I should pay to get information about what action to take.

Lifetime support. Now that would be nice, even if it meant making a few millions less.

rayz2016

avon b7 said:

macxpress said:

And for anyone who wants to continuously bitch about the price of Apple's laptops...well you get what you pay for here. Support like this isn't cheap and its just one of the things you get with the Apple experience. 

Price has nothing to do with it. If it did, they wouldn't be able to offer it and still make billions hand over fist. 

And the last time I tried phone support, after typing in my serial number, I was was quickly I informed how much the support call would cost. That's when I abandoned because the problem was caused by Apple in the first place and I didn't see why I should pay to get information about what action to take.

Lifetime support. Now that would be nice, even if it meant making a few millions less.

Price has everything to do with it. I tried the Apple support app yesterday. I was linked up with someone within a minute of making the request. One minute, on a Saturday afternoon. That level of support doesn't come cheap, and this why Apple focuses on the targeting high value customers., rather than those who try to tell the company how much money it is allowed to make because they want a cheaper iPhone. 

avon b7

Rayz2016 said:

avon b7 said:

macxpress said:

And for anyone who wants to continuously bitch about the price of Apple's laptops...well you get what you pay for here. Support like this isn't cheap and its just one of the things you get with the Apple experience. 

Price has nothing to do with it. If it did, they wouldn't be able to offer it and still make billions hand over fist. 

And the last time I tried phone support, after typing in my serial number, I was was quickly I informed how much the support call would cost. That's when I abandoned because the problem was caused by Apple in the first place and I didn't see why I should pay to get information about what action to take.

Lifetime support. Now that would be nice, even if it meant making a few millions less.

Price has everything to do with it. I tried the Apple support app yesterday. I was linked up with someone within a minute of making the request. One minute, on a Saturday afternoon. That level of support doesn't come cheap, and this why Apple focuses on the targeting high value customers., rather than those who try to tell the company how much money it is allowed to make because they want a cheaper iPhone. 

Of course not. It's anything but cheap and that's entirely the point. If, even with the support setup, they can make billions in profit, high prices are definitely NOT the reason.

You are not paying a high price for it. You are paying high price because Apple sets its margins that way and support is covered. Exactly the same support could be covered at lower margins.

The OP tried to justify the high prices Apple charges by suggesting that was why their devices were so expensive. I simply added a little more colour to that claim.

rayz2016

avon b7 said:

Rayz2016 said:

avon b7 said:

macxpress said:

And for anyone who wants to continuously bitch about the price of Apple's laptops...well you get what you pay for here. Support like this isn't cheap and its just one of the things you get with the Apple experience. 

Price has nothing to do with it. If it did, they wouldn't be able to offer it and still make billions hand over fist. 

And the last time I tried phone support, after typing in my serial number, I was was quickly I informed how much the support call would cost. That's when I abandoned because the problem was caused by Apple in the first place and I didn't see why I should pay to get information about what action to take.

Lifetime support. Now that would be nice, even if it meant making a few millions less.

Price has everything to do with it. I tried the Apple support app yesterday. I was linked up with someone within a minute of making the request. One minute, on a Saturday afternoon. That level of support doesn't come cheap, and this why Apple focuses on the targeting high value customers., rather than those who try to tell the company how much money it is allowed to make because they want a cheaper iPhone. 

Of course not. It's anything but cheap and that's entirely the point. If, even with the support setup, they can make billions in profit, high prices are definitely NOT the reason.

You are not paying a high price for it. You are paying high price because Apple sets its margins that way and support is covered. Exactly the same support could be covered at lower margins.

The OP tried to justify the high prices Apple charges by suggesting that was why their devices were so expensive. I simply added a little more colour to that claim.

So your beef is that you think you should be the one to set the price of Apple's products. Well guess what. You do. We all do. Apple is subject to the same laws of price elasticity as everyone else.  If you think Apple charges too much then don't buy their kit. It really is as simple as that because no one is holding a gun to your head. 

And by the way, the invididual buyer decides whether or not Apple charges too much, not you. 

edited March 2017

avon b7

Rayz2016 said:

avon b7 said:

Rayz2016 said:

avon b7 said:

macxpress said:

And for anyone who wants to continuously bitch about the price of Apple's laptops...well you get what you pay for here. Support like this isn't cheap and its just one of the things you get with the Apple experience. 

Price has nothing to do with it. If it did, they wouldn't be able to offer it and still make billions hand over fist. 

And the last time I tried phone support, after typing in my serial number, I was was quickly I informed how much the support call would cost. That's when I abandoned because the problem was caused by Apple in the first place and I didn't see why I should pay to get information about what action to take.

Lifetime support. Now that would be nice, even if it meant making a few millions less.

Price has everything to do with it. I tried the Apple support app yesterday. I was linked up with someone within a minute of making the request. One minute, on a Saturday afternoon. That level of support doesn't come cheap, and this why Apple focuses on the targeting high value customers., rather than those who try to tell the company how much money it is allowed to make because they want a cheaper iPhone. 

Of course not. It's anything but cheap and that's entirely the point. If, even with the support setup, they can make billions in profit, high prices are definitely NOT the reason.

You are not paying a high price for it. You are paying high price because Apple sets its margins that way and support is covered. Exactly the same support could be covered at lower margins.

The OP tried to justify the high prices Apple charges by suggesting that was why their devices were so expensive. I simply added a little more colour to that claim.

So your beef is that you think you should be the one to set the price of Apple's products. Well guess what. You do. We all do. Apple is subject to the same laws of price elasticity as everyone else.  If you think Apple charges too much then don't buy their kit. It really is as simple as that because no one is holding a gun to your head. 

And by the way, the invididual buyer decides whether or not Apple charges too much, not you. 

My beef, no. My opinion.

My original point still stands.

"It really is as simple as that because no one is holding a gun to your head."

What you are saying is that I have no grounds to voice an opinion because I shouldn't have bought into Apple in the first place. And no. It is nowhere as simple as you make it out to be. 

edited March 2017

lakorai

Does this survey also include enterprise products or just consumer level stuff from Best Buy, Office Depot?

Because if it included enterprise grade products, such as Dell Latitudes, HP Elitebooks and Lenovo Thinkpads I would think that Apple's support would fall far short of HP, Dell or Lenovo. All these manufacturers offer next day on-site service on all their enterprise grade machines. They also offer 24x7 USA based 1-800 tech support with answer times that are less than 5 minutes. Apple has yet to offer anything remotely close to that level of service at all. There is a huge difference between consumer grade and enterprise grade products from these manufacturers. 

Now if we are comparing garbage Geek Squad, Office DepotMax (or whatever they are called now), then yes Apple is definitely better. Apple pays their employees better and even offers health insurance to part time employees. Of course if you are paying someone what they are worth and respect them as an employee then you will have higher quality employees who give a rats ass about their work. Best Buy pays their Geek Squad employees something like $9 or $10 (if you are lucky) and very few employees get health insurance. A good comparison is Sam's Club vs Costco. Costco's employee turnover is one of the lowest in the industry, where Walmart/Sams's Club is atrociously high. Costco front end lead cashiers can make 45K a year, where Sam's will pay $8-$10 an hour poverty wages. 

Lesson learned. Never buy consumer grade computers and the good stuff is never sold locally (you cannot buy a Dell Latitude locally). Always buy enterprise grade and get the 3 or 5 year on site plan. You will get awesome service and you will pay lower prices for arguably (depending on the make and model and the specs on the machine) a far better product.