Apple Tops Consumer Reports Tech Support Ratings
by Evan Shamoon, posted May 6th 2008 at 1:47PM
According to a recent Consumer Reports survey, Apple took the top spot for "technical support offered by computer makers" -- for both laptop and desktop support. The feedback came from owners of more than 4,500 laptops and almost 5,600 desktops computers who contacted manufacturer with technical difficulties.
On the 100 point scale, Apple scored an 83 in the laptop survey and an 81 on the desktop side -- both of which translate to "more than very satisfied"; according to Consumer Reports, Apple was the only manufacturer to top 80 in either category, beating out Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, Sony and HP.
A large part of Apple's success came from the on-site service that customers receive when visiting Apple stores: Genius Bar staff provided "the best troubleshooting by far," according to the report, solving problems 90 percent of the time. "The only drawback is if you're living somewhere that there isn't a store close by or if you're in a big city where the Genius Bar is likely to be really crowded," said Donna Tapellini, associate editor at Consumer Reports.
And while there's still room for improvement at Apple, which limits its phone-based tech support to 90 days, they're fixing ass and taking names. "Apple should continue to build out the store infrastructure," Gartenberg added. "And they should continue to invest in customer training. They're doing many of these things in the store at little or no cost. Apple is becoming the Nordstrom of customer service in terms of technology."
Which actually makes us think Apple could actually sell designer jeans, and people would buy them. Apple Bottoms, perhaps? [Source: MacWorld]
