Everybody's Job

With a title like "Everybody's Job," I bet you think I'm going to talk about saving the planet, or the children, or something. No, not at all. I'm going to ask, "Why do I know how to do everybody's job better than they do?"

So for the past couple weeks there's been a little crack in the topcase of my MacBook. Aspreading crack. Now, I already knew MacBooks are prone to this. It was just a matter of when to get to Knoxville to have it repaired, for free, of course. So, after some of my past experiences is dealing with the Apple Jeenyuses at the Genius Bar, I called AppleCare. I was hoping they'd be able to check inventory at the store (for the needed part), and let me know whether or not the Knoxville store does repairs onsite, since I can't really afford to have my computer missing for days and days. The AppleCare guy was good, but they can't check store inventory. He did take down everything that happened, and assigned me a case number, so the store would know what was going on when I got there. And they'd know that I'd already contacted Apple.

So I called the store- because I wasn't going to drive to Knoxville if the part wasn't in stock. She gave me the canned answer that no one was around to check the stock and that even if it were in stock, the repair would take 3-7 DAYS because I'd be placed in a "Repair Queue."

First instance of me knowing a job better than the person doing it: When someone calls to ask if you have a part in stock, because they live two hours away, and it costs $20 in gas to get there and back, you find someone who CAN check the stock, and then you might even ask if there were a way to get the repair done quickly. And if there's no one around to answer those questions, you get the customer's number and call them back. I don't care HOW you've been trained to brush people off. It makes a difference, and even if your manager doesn't recognize it, I promise that the manager above that recognizes it- especially when they get letters and emails saying what a good job you did.

So I decided to risk it and went to Knoxville. I knew that if they had the part in stock I could get it fixed. The repair itself only takes a few minutes, and I've read numerous forum posts from people saying they got theirs repaired in no time. And if they didn't have it in stock, I'd ask them to order it and call me when it came in. And if they wouldn't do that, I'd resort to the tactic that I've had to use to get good service at that store before- throw a fit and fight with them until they do what they ought to do just to get rid of me.

Here's a little story about that- Eric bought a MacBook there about a year and a half ago. When we got to the car, we opened it up and discovered there were two dead pixels in the screen. So we went back in to exchange it. The manager told us that a couple of dead pixels weren't reason enough for an exchange. I said it was. That went on for a few minutes, during which I told her that I understand pixels go dead sometimes- however it is perfectly reasonable to expect a pixel or two to die over time- but there's no reason to expect dead pixels to begin with. Back and forth. When we got to the point of "If you opened a new monitor to put it out on the floor as a floor model, and found it had two dead pixels, would you leave it on the floor as an example of what a new monitor should be?" When she said that no, she wouldn't, she agreed to exchange the computer. We opened it right there in the store to verify the monitor. The whole exchange took three-quarters of an hour. And I knew she only did it to get rid of us, as my voice carries quite well in a small store, and customers were leaving in droves.

Anyway, so I took it in to the store at my allocated appointment time. The guy pulled up the stock, discovered they had four topcases, then went to the back to ask if they could fix it right then. Guess what!? They COULD! He said it would be an hour, and they'd call me when it was done. So I walked around the mall for an hour. An hour and fifteen minutes. An hour and a half.

So I went back to the store, where I was greeted with Smiling Smug Apple Lady.
"Hi!!!!!! Can I help you?!?!?!"
"Yes, I'm here to see if my repair is done."
"Did they call you?"
"No, but they said it would be about an hour, and it's been over an hour and a half now."
"Well, if they didn't call you, it's surely not done yet. They're very, very good about calling as soon as repairs are done!"
"Well, I was thinking they might have gotten busy and forgotten to call, or it might have gotten lost in the shuffle."
Instance number two of me knowing a job better than the person doing it: When this happens, you get on that handy high tech headset you're wearing, and ASK IF IT'S DONE.
She said, "well, if you really want to be really sure..." she said this as though I'd asked her to vote for Hitler for President... "you can go back and ask one of the people in the blue shirts at the Genius Bar."

So I went to the back, sat down, and looked at the Genius Bar for a few minutes, knowing that eventually someone would come to ME to ask if I needed help, because I didn't want to fight my way through the crowd.

Dude said, "Are you waiting for something?"
"Yes, I wanted to see if my repair is done."
"Did we call you?"
"No.
"Which repair was it?"
"Cracked topcase."
"What was the name on that?"
"Curtis Y."
"Let me go check."

Guess what? It WAS done. They'd put it on the top shelf and the person who makes the phone calls NEVER NOTICED IT.

I made sure to tell Smiling Smug Apple Lady that on the way out. Her smile faded.