Mobile phones & tablets thread

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Originally Posted by Daniel

The only reason Apple can do that though, is because they've charged you enough to cover the cost of replacing units rather than repairing them.

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I doubt very much that they've charged enough on the initial product that they can afford to replace rather than repair.

When I go to Apple shops its clear they acted on the initial market research they did just after they launched the iPod. That showed that people liked the iPod and were willing to buy it but weren't keen on the rest of the Apple range and weren't interested in buying iMacs etc because they weren't familiar with the OS. Apple stores are almost singlemindedly designed to address this single issue. There are always loads of Apple computers on display free to play with and there's internet access. Noone hassles you to move on from the machines if you decide to surf for a while on them. It gives customers time to familiarise themselves with the OS without thinking about it, the incentive is free internet access.

The good service is part of the expansionist grand plan. If your competitors, most of whom don't have direct outlets themselves on the high street, build up a reputation for being difficult when machines go wrong then if you simply replace or repair quickly under warranty then your reputation improves rapidly via word of mouth.

As for Apple assistants trying too hard I thought so too until I met one who happened to be American. Then it all clicked into place, they've just introduced American ideas of service into a European shop. Thats why they feel strange. I don't think thats a bad thing personally, I prefer American customer service to British any day.

I seem to recall in the dim and distant past Apple were not good at customer service when the first iPods came out if people had problems e.g. with the battery they would use excuses such as a scratch on the case to get out of repairing it.

It seems they did learn from that experience.

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Originally Posted by Malbec

I doubt very much that they've charged enough on the initial product that they can afford to replace rather than repair.

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They just repair the faulty unit and resell it as a refurb online for what is still a fairly expensive price. This is how they cover the cost of giving people new phones :)

By the data that I've read from places like Consumer Reports and All Things Digital, one thing that is consistent across all Apple product lines is their tendency to garner very high customer satisfaction and customer retention levels. Initial quality, versus industry standards, tends to be in the higher percentiles - so that means they typically don't malfunction early on as often as certain other brands. But when they are faulty, Apple seems to have a greater tendency to address the problem to the satisfaction and expectation of the consumer. You have to first give people a well made product, whether it's a computer or a car. But when there is a problem, if you address it to their reasonable expectations, you'll probably retain that customer for quite some time to come. And if word spreads, you'll probably pick up more new customers just based on word of mouth, if not independent data studies.

More usually the repaired units are the very ones which are given to users as replacements. This isn't specific to Apple, it's standard industry practice.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

The only reason Apple can do that though, is because they've charged you enough to cover the cost of replacing units rather than repairing them.

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Normally when you send a phone off for repair, you end up with a full refurb (ie new case, new battery, new screen overlay, new keyboard where applicable). It costs peanuts as the circuit board, processor and memory are the expensive parts; and consumers can't tell the difference. Indeed I've seen refurbs which were built to a better standard than handsets off the factory production line! Most manufacturers and their agents make you wait a few weeks for this process. Apple cut out the delay and gain a great reputation, which makes sense, but it's still a refurb in the majority of cases.

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

By the data that I've read from places like Consumer Reports and All Things Digital, one thing that is consistent across all Apple product lines is their tendency to garner very high customer satisfaction and customer retention levels. Initial quality, versus industry standards, tends to be in the higher percentiles - so that means they typically don't malfunction early on as often as certain other brands. But when they are faulty, Apple seems to have a greater tendency to address the problem to the satisfaction and expectation of the consumer. You have to first give people a well made product, whether it's a computer or a car. But when there is a problem, if you address it to their reasonable expectations, you'll probably retain that customer for quite some time to come. And if word spreads, you'll probably pick up more new customers just based on word of mouth, if not independent data studies.

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But it could also bee that someone who bought a very expensive phone are less reluctant to admit that they don't like their purchase.

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

By the data that I've read from places like Consumer Reports and All Things Digital, one thing that is consistent across all Apple product lines is their tendency to garner very high customer satisfaction and customer retention levels. Initial quality, versus industry standards, tends to be in the higher percentiles - so that means they typically don't malfunction early on as often as certain other brands. But when they are faulty, Apple seems to have a greater tendency to address the problem to the satisfaction and expectation of the consumer. You have to first give people a well made product, whether it's a computer or a car. But when there is a problem, if you address it to their reasonable expectations, you'll probably retain that customer for quite some time to come. And if word spreads, you'll probably pick up more new customers just based on word of mouth, if not independent data studies.

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Completely agree. Its a tried and tested formula for succeeding in breaking into a new market. Its reflects exactly how Japanese and later Korean car makers broke into Western markets. Offer a decent product and clobber the opposition on aftermarket service.

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Originally Posted by Dave B

Normally when you send a phone off for repair, you end up with a full refurb (ie new case, new battery, new screen overlay, new keyboard where applicable). It costs peanuts as the circuit board, processor and memory are the expensive parts; and consumers can't tell the difference. Indeed I've seen refurbs which were built to a better standard than handsets off the factory production line! Most manufacturers and their agents make you wait a few weeks for this process. Apple cut out the delay and gain a great reputation, which makes sense, but it's still a refurb in the majority of cases.

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It's been a while since I've sent a phone off for repair to be fair.

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Originally Posted by BleAivano

But it could also bee that someone who bought a very expensive phone are less reluctant to admit that they don't like their purchase.

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Yes, it could be. But that explanation doesn't seem very plausible. If true, then why didn't 1980-90's Jaguars have industry leading customer satisfaction and initial quality scores??? At $60K-$70K per pop, it seems that a purchase of that magnitude would generate higher (false) scores than a $700 phone. In fact, Jaguars of that era had very low customer satisfaction and initial quality scores. Jaguar also struggled with customer retention... which led to rather horrendous depreciation after a couple of years. So, how would that explanation account for Apple's industry leading customer retention ratings? If someone didn't like their initial purchase within the first 30 days (when the device could be returned, I believe), why would they keep it... and especially, why would they then buy another one a couple of years or months later???

The data points to Apple having higher than industry average customer satisfaction and customer retention scores and higher second hand market values on most of its products. Explanations for why that is are probably wide ranging. But I doubt that it has anything to do with people feeling any sense of shame or wanting to hide their true feelings. I know of no objective data which has found such a thing to be true.