[ad_1]
It takes a lot of patience.
/ Getty Images
I’ve had some pretty good luck with my Apple devices over the years.
They have rarely been the source of abject disasters. Well, except when my MacBook Air liked its butterfly keyboard – and I didn’t.
Oh, and then there was the moment my iPhone wasn’t charging and an Apple Genius told me my charging technique was faulty.
But with so many people stuck at home all day – and night – addiction to our gadgets has perhaps never been more extreme.
So I decided to spend some time observing Apple Support Twitter feed. What kinds of problems did people have? How did they express themselves?
After an hour or more of scrolling and scrolling, it’s easy to believe that Apple’s devices really aren’t too good. Until you remember, there are billions of them now out there somewhere.
Yet there is something teaching about how vast the range of problems really is.
Especially when it’s cold.
Customer sample: “Why are iPhones so sensitive to cold? Why doesn’t @Apple fix this problem? My phone battery drained and the phone shut down when I walked in today. It is only -5 centigrade. ”
The response from Apple Support was a bit cold: “Use iOS devices with an ambient temperature between 0 and 35 degrees C (32 to 95 degrees F). Low or high temperature conditions can cause the device to to modify its behavior to regulate its temperature. ”
Emotions can be very high. A customer called Dominic, who claims to be a champion at spelling, tweeted: “My AirPods are garbage now, they’re not loud anymore. Apple is a scam.”
As if he realized that it might sound untimely, he sent a follow up: “Sidebar. I left them in my car last night, would the cold have something to do to affect the volume? Thanks to help @AppleSupport. ”
A word of advice. Don’t call someone a scam and ask for their help. It is certainly the wrong order.
Angry, meet help. Where to meet Robot?
Aggression appears to be the primary mode of communication for many clients. Threats too.
One customer was unhappy that his iPhone 11’s battery only lasted six hours. He tweeted: “MY PHONE IS NO LONGER WORKING … yo whag [sic] if I chase Apple … @ Apple, is that you? ”
Oh, I think Apple attorneys are quite familiar with prosecution.
It’s not just iPhones that bother people. “@AppleSupport my macbook air 2020 won’t turn on. he’s been doing this for over an hour. What am I supposed to do? i bought it in november lol. ”
A remarkably reasonable lol under the circumstances I felt.
The list of alleged inconveniences was remarkably long.
“It’s amazing that I can’t update an expiration date for a card registered with Apple. I can’t even remove and re-add the card. It’s so frustrating!” shouted a customer.
Some don’t know who to blame: “@Apple @ AppleSupport just updated iPhone 7 to iOS 14.4 and it keeps rebooting and can’t use @Verizon cellular data. Is that some way to force me to upgrade my phone. WTH @VZWSupport. ”
For some, their phones rang in silence. A man asked, “Why did my iPhone 7 just electrocute me through the torch on the back.”
For others, Apple Music was not working. And the number of people complaining about Big Sur, if they simultaneously jumped on Highway 101 in Big Sur, would have sent the causeway crashing into the ocean. (It just happened without them – Ed.)
There was a MacBook that wouldn’t connect to Wi-Fi and an iPhone 12 Pro Max with a flash that turned orange in front-facing images. iOS 14.5 apparently prevented a man’s CarPlay from playing.
There were customers who went to harsh language. Well, it’s easier to get angry on Twitter, rather than face to face, isn’t it? Example: “Apple and AT&T have to come together and figure out they’re going to make me pay my money for that shitty 12 Pro ass.”
Somehow, however, I couldn’t find any correlation between extreme language and unresponsive Apple.
There were clients who went to extremes: “Example:” I am losing the will to live by solving case # 101318982224. 3 hours online and 4 hours on the phone chatting with 6 different advisers and still not rectified. Unacceptable service. ”
And: “I bought 2TB of storage and my problems still won’t go away. @Apple Do you want me to die?”
I’m sure Apple wants you to live and spend more money on other Apple products, actually. I was less sure, however, whether the answers came from humans or robots. Many felt robotically formulated.
For example: “We will be happy to help you. What error message are you getting exactly? Please send us a DM and we can continue to help you.”
Or: “We would love to help you with the performance of the Apple News app! What device and what version of operating system are you currently using? Let us know via private message and we will be happy to help you. discuss this issue with you. ”
No, they’re humans, right?
The more I looked, the more I needed a pacifier. A glass of something alcohol-free, maybe.
If I needed a pacifier, I can’t imagine what the humans on the other end must be thinking and feeling. They’re real people, aren’t they? It’s not always that easy to say.
For all the answers that seemed entirely fabricated, there were a few that probably weren’t.
This to a customer who has persistent keyboard issues: “Thanks for contacting us! We’re sorry to hear that this has happened again. Without a keyboard, our computers are virtually worthless.”
But I thought Apple products still had great resale value.
Or this to someone whose computer just won’t turn on after updating to Big Sur: “Hi Solomon! Thanks for signing in! It’s much more useful when we can turn it on.”
You see? Dry mind.
How much can a person tolerate at a time?
I asked Apple how many real humans work on the Twitter support team. I also asked how long each shift is. I didn’t get a response, from a human or a robot.
So I sent a DM to Apple Support and asked: If I had a problem with my Mac, would a real human respond? I had a quick response: “Rest assured, there are only human beings on the other side of the DM! We are really here and always happy to help.”
As to how they manage to tolerate really angry customers, the person from DM suggested, “We all appreciate our customers.” A touching exaggeration.
Homework has been difficult for many. If your job is to deal with frustration and anger, it really can’t be easy. It is as if you have been hounded all day long by political opponents.
So many people in tech customer service have shown unusual patience and strength in trying to help the frustrated, angry, and ashamed – the staff at the Verizon store have certainly faced this last.
I want to believe the Apple support staff are used to all of this and just brush it off. But given the tone of many complainants, I finally see a positive reason for artificial intelligence. Robots don’t feel anything. Well, not yet.
Still, some customers try to use the charm: “Hi my beautifulliesssss @Apple, I think I definitely lost one of my AirPods how to get the recovery to find this one? I can turn on the location but I am not getting any suddenly … not even on that in the case … (I think the next set .. also needs an external sound) now what? Tk u. ”
Greetings my beautifulliesssss @Apple , I think I definitely lost one of my AirPods, how can I get it back? I can activate localization but I don’t get any hits … not even on the one in the case … (I think the next set .. also needs external sound) 🤔 now what? Tk u pic.twitter.com/qqAf54VAdR
– FaceTheCuban © 🎈 (@FaceTheCuban) February 10, 2021
I haven’t seen any evidence that (this attempt at) charm prompted a more favorable response from Apple.
[ad_2]
Source link