Andy Jamieson: Entrepreneur

I was impressed, really impressed, by the service i received from Apple the other day. I had high expectations and yet these were still exceeded.

The Scenario
One faulty power cable for my Apple MacBook Pro circa six months old.

The Experience
5:41 i enter Apple store and walk up two flights of glass stairs, past a cleaner polishing the metal wall for hand prints!
5:43 (after getting lost in the accessories department for a minute or so) I ask a staff member, a light blue shirt wearer, “who I talk to about a faulty power cable?”. He directs me to an orange staff member, the concierge, who stood in front of the Genius Bar and managed the engeaments between customers and helpers. He told me that they were “fully booked….however, he would see what he could do to fit me in….”.
5:44 I took my seat as directed and waited. No time expectations were set by the orange staffer, however, i had said i will give it 15 minutes.
5:45 The man in orange gets questioned from kids on how to perform specific actions within a game that is running on a Mac down the end of the shop… “excuse me, in that game, how do i jump?”. I chuckle, he responds polietly with “i am not sure, have you tried hitting lots of the buttons?”. Satisfied kid walks away, armed with knowledge.
5:46 Kid returns… “Excuse me, in that game, how do I run?”…. concierge is getting a little frustrated, it must happen all day remember!
5:48 I wait, still no time expectations set, this was the one area for improvement.
5:50 Still waiting, not sure how long this will be, the list of the 12 people who will be next does not include my name.
5:53 I think i have seen the revolving adverts / brand messages about how supperior my faulty machine is about 5 or 6 times by now.
5:54 I get called up to meet Glenn, “who will be with me for the next 15 minutes”
5:55 He takes down more personal details; email, postal, phone number etc… to tie me to my previous purchase.
5:56 reviews power cable, suggests a replacement and goes on the hunt for one.
5:59 returns and contineus filling in paper work, to ensure that the transaction is recorded properly.
6:03 more paper work or at least that is what i was told as Gleen looked deeper into his computer screen.
6:04 I sign said paper work, receive my power cable, thank Glenn for his time in response to him thanking me for my time.
6:05 leave Apple store in just over 20 minutes and am feeling pretty good about the whole experience.

Thoughts:

Great experience, they did what i wanted, replaced my cable.
Glenn was nice and actually helpful
Paper work was a little over the top

Follow up email with 5 key feedback questions that were easy to answer closed the loop for me as a marketer. It was easy to do and after a positive experience I was happy to complete it.