Hassle With Apple - Replacing Your iPhone Battery

[Mattymatt]

Unfortunately Apple makes the most over the concept of proprietary control of the products it makes and maintains. That by doing so, it reflects the highest commitment of adherence to product integrity, liability and all completed operations involved in repairing its own products.

A "double-edged sword" for consumers. Maintaining a sense of quality control, while also limiting their products liability in what they can consider to be their fault as opposed to that of the customer. Inviting a practice of overcharging customers, which this article discusses.

While Apple no doubt claims total corporate compliance over all its repair facilities and their employees, I can't help but wonder just how varied they may be from one place to another. Even though they all technically operate under the same brand name.

A concern that immediately comes to mind given Starfire's positive experience versus those negative experiences in the article I posted at the beginning of this thread. Even with Apple's rigid sense of proprietary operations, clearly their repair facilities are not all operating on the same page. Which well...kind of makes a mockery of their corporate proprietary mentality.

As I get older, I guess I get crankier and I am less willing to put up with this denying the right to repair, especially when it is done under the guise of a superior customer service experience. I just took my VW Jetta in for service and the experience was anything but stellar. They acted as if they don't mind and I don't matter. My Lenovo desktop, not even 12 hours out of warranty, died an ignoble death and they basically said that it sucks to be you; unhelpful customer service representative decided to launch into a sales pitch and I just hung the phone up. The cost of a replacement power supply is a ridiculous 250.00 because it is custom made to fit their form-factor case. So now, I ordered the parts to build myself a PC. Maybe the upshot of this corporate non-sense will start some economic and market forces into action? Maybe now people might venture into doing more stuff on their own? Once I complete Automotive Tech school, I will feel empowered and enabled to do my own work on my vehicle.

 

[Judge]

I suppose there are those out there who just roll over and point out that so many other aspects of business do this all the time in an institutional fashion. Especially the automotive repair industry. It's true.

I just hate to see this dichotomy of businesses who put out a decent product, but then choose for fiscal reasons not to balance product integrity with repair services. As a conscientious consumer, to me this puts out a very mixed message. One that compels me to back away from the brand name altogether, rather than "marry" it and put up with all this proprietary BS reflected in every subsequent upgrade.

I've never owned any products of Apple. Just the business itself. But then that reflected a great deal more money invested than the price of any of their products. I just feel badly...that they let us all down. But then maybe the very idea of a manufacturer with transparency and integrity no longer exists. Just another 20th century notion "gone with the wind".

That's what I really mean when I talk of different generations' feedback on such issues. To younger folks I guess this is just standard fare. To me it's heresy where nothing is sacred any more. But then admittedly there's a greater question as to whether or not anything was ever really "sacred" to begin with when it comes to business.