When I was younger I used to think of 60 as being old. Now I’m nearly there I know how wrong I was. I don’t feel it and I don’t think it. One of the things that proves to me that I’m not old is when I feel delight for things shiny, new and from the modern world of younger people.
In recent months I’ve been having a bit of an issue with the battery on my beloved iPhone 7. Yes I know it’s far from the latest model but I bought it outright a few years back, it’s all set up how I want and works perfectly well – except for the battery.
Last week I had a spare hour in London and inevitably thought I’d use the time to play with my phone. To my horror I sat and watched the battery life count down from about 40 to 20 in around 10 minutes. I closed the apps, flicked over to low power mode and got my battery pack out.
Customer service journey
I also thought I’d see if there was anything I could do to sort the problem and here began the most wonderful journey of customer service that could only happen in today’s high-tech world.
The battery health setting on my phone confirmed that my battery needed replacing, a few clicks through to the Apple Support app and I’d booked a phone consultation. They were available pretty much any time I wanted and the support guy rang at precisely the appointed time.
He was able to access my phone, confirm what the problem was and book me into my local Apple store to get the battery replaced. The app confirmed put the date in my diary and prompted me to update and back-up my iPhone.
A couple of days later I went to the appointment feeling like I would before a medical procedure where there was a minor chance of a complication leading to death or in the case of my iPhone total data loss.
I was greeted by a bright young woman in her mid-twenties so keen, so engaging, so unlike most of the rest of Britain. Where do they find them? Do they grow these people in an Apple lab?
The worst Samsung year
We talked for a while she carried out the pre-op checks. She was a maths graduate who was, of course, an Apple devotee who confessed to once having a Samsung phone which she said “was the worst year of her life”.
I proudly watched as it passed the various tests which included a clean of the lightning jack and an audio check.
Then, off it went to the operating theatre, where I waited nervously in the store. Just 19 years after the first Apple one opened on May 19, 2001, at the Tysons Corner Center shopping mall in McLean, Virginia, near Washington D.C there is still no other shop like it.
The engagement and diversity of the people who work there, the excited hub-bub, the layout, the knowledge sharing, the beauty of the products married to the great customer service almost made me feel emotional.
All was fine, the phone was returned to me on time and in full health. I know this is how things should be and many will think ‘so what’ but to me who experienced retail life before Apple it is such a wondrous, positive feeling.
By way of thanks I rewarded Apple Inc. with another purchase. I am now the proud owner of an Apple Airpods 2.