YouTubers vs. Apple Tech Support (Power of Online Video Community)
This collaboration video by YouTubers (in which I’m included) is a great example of the power of YouTube’s community. When Xgobobeanx was given the runaround by Mac, her frustration led to this video.
As I said in my clip (which appears at the end of this clip), “Apple has an obligation to treat every customer well even if they don’t know they’re dealing with a viral video queen that has the power to harness the collective power of YouTube to bring them to their needs.” I urged Jill to call Apple’s PR group and tell them she had reached boiling point, and that they could avoid this video by simply helping her.
Meanwhile, I love my Mac. But I’m really sad to see how poorly Apple is doing in the consumer-generated media space. The first consumer-generated ad I ever saw was for Mac! But they seem to be ignoring this medium — as evidenced by poor HappySlip never getting a thanks for her Mac Beautiful video. If I was an Apple employee, I would have sent her a Powerbook in about an hour after seeing this.
Having worked in the IT industry for over 10 years I can honestly say that this is not an uncommon story. When it comes to customer service I think the IT industry is one of the worst, its populated by geeks and dorks (of which I am both) who are typically more interested in the products they sell than in the people they sell them too.
It’s also one of the most rapidly evolving industries i have seen and a lot of companies need to start making decisions on how they will move forward in their customer service relationships. …. (cont)
(cont)…… Every employee of an organization needs to be made aware that every single interaction with someone outside the organization is a marketing opportunity and that each interaction will have a positive or negative impact on the organization.
Amen to that! I agree with your statements, and your assessment at the end Kevin: Apple should have sent something to happyslip for her bright, warm, and nearly spiritual praise of Macs.
I don’t know of one computer company that really cares about consumers. They just don’t need your business and they are correct, someone will replace you when you quit, at least until the market drops. Dell used to be the best for Customer Service, but since the struck a deal with Wal-mart you just don’t exist. It’s really the only consumer market I have dealt with who seem to dislike their customers.Apple is the worst.
I was so happy to hear she got a new computer, she deserved it after the last two months of BS.
Apple would do well to hook themselves up with online video sites like YouTube, the fit would be very good and they would definitely be able to grab more market share.
Way back when their focus was on education, the general idea being that if kids grew up using Macs in school, then businesses would want to use Mac since everyone knew how to use one. Didn’t quite work out for them that way.
Now it seems to be that Apple is trying to position themselves as the ‘hip, trendy’ computer company. They’ve got a good start with iPod and now iPhone, the trick will be seeing if they can bring some of those customers around to the Mac side of things.
Matt, have you ever seen an Apple TV or iPhone? They are both VERY hooked up with YouTube. Granted, you can’t watch everything on YouTube (yet) on either of these devices, but the amount that you can see is growing rapidly every day.
And, while I certainly feel for anyone who gets the runaround, the first problem was dealing with Micro Center and not with Apple directly. If you deal directly with them, typically you’ll get at least half-way decent service. That’s been my experience anyway… especially when I took my wife’s Macbook in to have the stained white hand rest replaced.
Secondly, that video was just a bit uncomfortable to watch because I felt bad for everyone in that video. It was kinda dorky, and when a dork like myself thinks that… then that’s saying something. Sorry.