I had a blog entry half-written about network campaigning. But I don’t think that will get finished today, so it will have to wait. Instead I thought I might use this blog in the manner in which blogs sometimes seem to have been made for. To vent.
As many people know, I am rather attached to my laptop. I have a very nice Apple Powerbook, of the titanium variety. It was quite a thing for me to let it go, sending it to apple for a minor repair eleven days ago. They told me it would take seven to ten days for repair and return.
Since I worry too much about the efficiency of such procedures, I phoned them pretty much every day last week to see how the repair was going. I would have checked online, but I was informed by someone working at apple that the online ‘repair status’ facility was unreliable. They always assured me that the laptop was safely in their repair centre, and would be repaired soon.
Today, I phoned and asked my questions a little more forcefully. It had been over ten days, and I leave town at an as yet undecided time on Thursday, not to return for nearly three weeks. In return for my forty minutes on hold, I was informed that apple never received my laptop. And that investigating that would take ten days. In the meantime, I should sit back and wait.
I suggested that if they had checked when I first inquired, that that would have been reasonable, but a week on I just don’t have time to wait for the investigation to report. They said that that was their policy and I had to accept it. I suggested they lend me a laptop while I’m away so that I can actually do some work. That is not their policy. I asked to speak to someone more senior. I was told there was no-one more senior who handled these issues.
I phoned their PR department through the main switchboard (the number’s not on their website, so for reference it’s: 020 8218 1000) and asked if that was true. It’s not. I got the number of Kevin Walsh, who is in charge of complaints. His answering machine sounded awfully genuine for someone who doesn’t exist. Time will tell whether he exists to the extent of calling back.