Back in the swing...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 3:09PM Time to move on.
January and February look like they're going to be incredibly busy times for me. With the unplanned downtime over Christmas and New Year I never managed to create a buffer of shows to create some breathing space and also look at some other projects I was hoping to get underway. So as well as preparing and producing the weekly shows, I need to create the 2009 DVD Archive for members, as well as as preparing my sessions for Macworld (never mind the two months worth of expenses and accounts I need to straighten out for the VAT return at the end of the month)!
Looks like I've got my work cut out for me!
First thing I applied myself too today was checking out all the Things tasks I'd neglected over the past few weeks. A bit of rescheduling managed to make the list a bit more manageable.
One thing I did get sorted was to book a repair for the Mac Pro that flaked out a week or two ago. I could have wrestled the machine down to the Apple Store but who wants to do that with a Mac Pro. So I thought I'd endure the pain of going through AppleCare telephone support. Actually, it wasn't that bad but I'd already been through the steps the guy lead me through. He eventually came to the same conclusion that I really needed a hardware repair - I think the logic board has gone myself.
No home visits available but he was able to put me in touch with an authorised Apple repair centre who will pick up the machine, repair it and drop it back.
Much more civilised!
So that's one achievement for today.
Just three more truly overdue tasks and I'll call it a day. Some news of gadgets and travels to tell you about, but I'll leave that for later in the week.
Reader Comments (5)
You know, I wish that AppleCare and other organisations did an "I'm a superuser" button which you could press if you knew what the issue was. It would cut the telephone waiting-time in half.
Worse offenders are ISPs. Our Cable modem dropped connections an hour before a live webcast. I rang up the support number and said.
"Hi! My name is Nikki. I'm afraid that your DHCP server is down. My cable modem has a self-assigned IP. I think your DCHP is no-longer serving IP addresses."
After having that diagnosis ignored and then spending thirty minutes on the phone doing all the stuff I'd done BEFORE I rang them, the tech support guy said "Well I can see your modem. There must be something wrong with your computer".
As politely as I could, I told them that it was highly unlikely that all four macs on our network had died at the same time and that, even when directly connected to it, the modem was sick. He refused and arranged for a support engineer to come four days later.
I had a phone call less than fifteen minutes later from tech support. It was the guy I'd spoken to.
"Yes, I thought I should ring and apologise. It appears our DHCP server is broken... "
*grins*
Being able to route customers who knew the product on a different line to those who didn't would make customer service experiences so much nicer. You could put the fluffy customer support agents on the line for the folks who really do need the help - and leave the power users the rude but highly trained geeks. ;)
Yes, frustrating but I'm pretty much resigned to jumping through the hoops, dropping the occasional comment that hopefully shows I know what I'm talking about.
It sometimes helps, although, not in this case!
That's 20 minutes I'll never get back ;-)
@Nikki: Well, I was working 4 1/2 years for a PC hotline and believe me: very most of the customers NEED this kind of support. Sadly enough. Well - Windows is different, of course ;) (not to mention what I really think about Windows OS > XP.
On the other hand, I also know the situation - especially with ISPs. I'm trying to get a fix IP for my ADSL line since November ;) Vodafone now give me what I want - at the end of January. Believe me - those calls where nightmares. "I have no entry of a fix IP - what the hell is that?" was the best comment I've got in the last few days.
I must say that the Apple hotline is the best hotline I rang to in the last few weeks, even if it's pretty annoying to make them understand that you - long term PC & Mac user are able to replace for example a DVD-writer on your own and are not willing to drive to the next service...
Anyway - good luck with a fast repair Don!
Ciao
Dennis
Try being a woman--and of grandmother age -- and then try to jump the hoops for getting past the tech support person who answers the phone! Because I am a very experienced Mac consultant, I will have done every test and procedure imaginable before I call. It will be a hardware problem or something that I cannot fix on my end.
I love AppleCare because they use your telephone number to track you and your computers. When they see the length of time I have worked with Macs, I have no trouble being moved to an upper level support specialist. Even if I plan to have the repair done in a local Apple Store, I make the telephone call and get a case number so that the Apple Genius in the store can quickly check the records to know that my problem IS a hardware issue!
I had my ISP because they don't keep records and they can plainly hear I am an older woman!
Don, the same thing happened to me with my Mac Pro a few months ago. My board cost $1,100 to replace.