Apple tops Consumer Reports Survey

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/11/apple-tops-consumer-reports-tech-support-survey-second-place-n/

On Wednesday, Consumer Reports published the results of its latest tech support survey. Apple was on top for both laptops and desktops, well ahead of the company in second place.

Consumer Reports asked 7,000 subscribers about their satisfaction with their computer companies across categories like problem solved, phone waits, phone staff and online support. Each answer was issued a point value, with a maximum of 100 points.

Among laptops, Apple scored 86 points. The second place finisher, Lenovo, accumulated up 63 points, for an impressive margin of 23 points. The rest of the leader board includes Toshiba (60 points), Dell (56 points), HP/Compaq (53 points), and Acer/Gateway/eMachines (39 points).

Apple scored even better with desktops, racking up 87 total points and leading the field in all categories. Here the 2nd place competitor was Dell which scored 55 points among the participants, a full 32 points behind.

Of course, fanboys like you and me are convinced of Apple quality. Now we have some good 'ol empirical data to toss at our PC-thumping friends and relatives.

 

I have a feeling that this thread is gonna be another battleground... if only the writer was more objective.

 

Yup, Apple doesn't outsource their tech support to India. There's the reason.
Of course, as an Apple customer, you're definitely paying the extra money, so the support had better be good.

 

A very valid reason too. It's incredibly difficult to have someone troubleshoot your problem when they don't have a complete grasp of the English language, and they're troubleshooting from a script. I'll gladly pay more for a product that comes with professional tech support.

 

I might sound like an apple basher for saying this, but Reports like this aren't really accurate as they account for lower end PCs ($500 range) but only $1000+ macs. Apple certainly has good consumer support but compared to other PCs in the price range, especially business class PCs their pretty average. I've owned plenty of Apple products, and am a first hand witness of their exorbitant repair services. For example they once wanted $1400 to repair a 15inch macbook (6 months old) screen after it had cracked. $1400 was more than the computer was worth, and the screen sold for $200 on ebay. Now I always buy Apple care, as Macbooks seem to really need it, but even then out of store service is average at best. After my HP laptop died a year out of warranty, and talking to their online support reps, they repaired it for free (I had a 3 year on site warranty prior). I've also had a Dell Laptop fall off the top of a shelf, and Dell still repaired it in warranty even though I did not purchase any damage protection. Apple's support requires you to actually travel to an apple store, which is a hassle for me as the closest one is a couple hours away. If I had been given this test I still would of rated apple support high, as anything in warranty and covered by apple care is handled excellently. But out of warranty and on site service is still a huge factor that isn't taken into account here, I hope apple can improve in this aspect, especially in the Mac Pro desktop line where its essential.

 

I'm not at all surprised by this and I think the trend will continue.

I've dealt with HP and Dell (consumer line, not business) tech support and it's rubbish. I've had on-site technicians break things and on occasion try to hide it. Sometimes arriving with wrong or limited parts, not to mention the lengthy, almost marathon, phone support that one has to endure (yeah, it's painful) before being granted a technician. On a few occasions I was referred to MSFT (they were sure it was an OS issue) only to be told by MSFT that it's not and to contact the OEM again. And this has happened to many of my friends and family too.

Apple's one-stop tech support where they not only handle all software and hardware issues but on one occasion they even helped me when it was established that the cause was a D-Link router issue involving an outdated firmware, scores highly with all consumers regardless of their tech savvy-ness. On every occasion they went above and beyond what normal tech support does. It's no wonder they score so much higher than the HPs and Dells. My only surprise is not seeing a larger gap between Apple's score and the rest.

 

Sure the customers may be satisfied, but it doesn't change the fact that I can't run my Windows apps on OS X. If Palm received the highest rating for customer satisfaction, it would mean zilch to an iPhone or Blackberry user who's invested hundreds if not thousands of dollars in apps.

 

I guess they have better service, but for a higher price. With PC companies if something goes wrong, they replace it, and if it breaks again, they just give you a new computer. With Macs, nope, pay up buddy. I can haz your munee?

 

Weird, I've always received great support from HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Apple. On my higher end PCs, the service reps were quick to diagnose the problem, and the technicians seemed competent. I've never had to use the support on any of my netbooks or generic PCs (sager/asus) so I can judge but I'm sure its sub-par, although they were cheap. The problem I've had with Apple support, is that going to an apple store, and sorting out the problem is a significant time sink, that and if its out of warranty or outside of coverage they require a large repair fee. I'm somewhat tech savvy so if I have a problem, its most likely the hardware is busted so Dell, HP, and Lenovo support seems much more efficient to me. Although I also love the part-exchange warranty on my sager (If I ever need a new part its sent over night, so simple) so I guess I may not represent the large majority of consumers.

 

Did you own business class notebooks? Their support for those lines is always top notch. I wish these surveys looked at everything.

 

Yea business support for laptops is just excellent. My friend had a problem, Dell guy came over next day, fixed it, done. All for free. It was out of warranty too.

 

Uhm.. with any manufacturer if you are out of warranty, money will come out of your pocket. Apple is the same as any other company with in-warranty repairs.

 

Most PC manufactures will still repair conman problems outside of warranty, a lot of times if you own a higher end pc and there is some fatal hardware failure that has occurred to other customers, they will fix it for free, out of warranty. The only instance I recall apple doing this is extending the 8600mgt macbooks warranties to 3 years, however there are tons of other problems that they still will refuse to fix out of warranty. They also will not fix anything they consider "accidental damage" for example a cracked screen, even if it could be from a manufacturing defect. I had a 15 inch macbook a couple years back, where the screen had cracked from just closing the lid (maybe too hard?), and apple wanted $1400, it was under warranty.

 

Apple repairs and replaces machines under warranty as well....

 

there has been numerous occasions over the years that Apple has repaired known issues out of warranty for free... just because thats the only one you know of, doesn't mean its the only one. When you try to base your opinion on extremely limited and partial information, you can easily come to the wrong conclusions.

No company or warranty will cover damage or misuse, unless its a warranty that specifically says they do. That is NOT a normal warranty, it is a type of insurance added to your warranty. If you have a car wreck, do you have your extra insurance you pay for cover it, or will your vehicle warranty cover the repairs? Apple has chosen not to sell insurance plans like many others have started doing. You can still get 3rd party insurance coverage in various different ways.

 

Also the fact that Apple has the Apple STore probably is what helps boos their raiting. I mean nothing beats going into a physical store to have your problems addressed.

 

so this report only discusses the quality of after-sale SUPPORT.

not surprising. Apple employes Americans...and they have such little variance in their product offerings compared to a company like Dell....their support scores *should* be higher. Dell, for example, sells how many lines of laptops and desktops? maybe 30-40 different products in those segments at one time? whereas Apple sells 2 laptop segments and 1 desktop model, with varying configurations? the fact that these bigger boys stay organized at all is a feat.

as for Dell...in my experience, they've been the best when you know what you're talking about. they send people to your house to fix your machine...or they mail out parts for next-day delivery. it's been a spectacular experience for me.

with Apple...well...they aren't doing in-home service yet, are they? afaik, you still have to go down to an Apple Store or mail it to Apple for service. that fact alone drops Apple a few notches.

I'd much rather have Consumer Reports employ one person do an unbiased analysis of all of these companies where one person measures these companies responsiveness and ability to help solve problems. One person ensures commonality in the interpretation and rating and scoring relative to other companies. some people might just have low standards.

 

That is exactly where this "accurate" and "reliable" report falls apart. As usual, it does not differentiate between consumer and business notebooks. But of course, the people who actually read this are consumers buying mainly consumer notebooks. So I suppose in a sense, this is accurate for it's target audience, and only that.

 

Customer satisfaction is everything!

 

That's great if you live right next to an Apple store, for a lot of people driving to an Apple store to fix a problem is too much of a time sink. This is where next day on site service or prat exchange really comes in handy. When I have a problem with one of my computers, its usually a hardware problem, where having technicians to come repair it is a lot more efficient than dedicating time to spend traveling to an Apple store.

 

Only times I have needed repairs were back on my iBook and I just mailed it in. Got it back the same week, no inconvenience for me. Then again there were no Apple stores then. Either way my experience was positive.

ASUS tech support is great too, just like Apple I shipped it out and got it back same week.

 

Okay, I hate to bust anyones bubble, but you should be clear about what "empirical data" implies.

What you are reading is a survey of subjective opinion on satisfaction.

This survey is not actual data on number of breakdowns, frequency of problems, time taken to solve them, etc. Suc measures are objective and leave no room for branding or image to influence the numbers. And we do know how much money apple spends on branding, plus time and effort on influencing opinion makers, dont we?

To make an analogy, there have been tests done on wine buyers, and they consistently show that people are more "satisfied" with the wine they taste when they know the price and it is a high price. However, in blind taste tests, the satsifaction or percieved quality is entirely different and does not correlate to actual market price of the wine.

Or to put it differently, this is not really an "empirical" or objective survery, because it leaves all too much room for infleunce by those who have drunk the wine - or the kool aid - and know the price.