Karthik Kastury

A Tale of Customer Service : Apple vs Nokia

A little over a month back, a friend of mine, had her brand new Nokia E5 suddenly go blank at her face. The Nokia E5 was her first smartphone, which is also the fastest growing segment here in India. One fine evening, the Nokia just stops working.

The next day the Customer Service Executive at Nokia Care, say’s its an issue with Water Logging. Keep in mind that the phone is only a month old, and something like Water Logging is absurd, because there was never a moment when any kind of Liquid came in contact with the Nokia E5. 

The Executive went on to say that the standard Nokia procedure does not cover Water Damage, and in a very rude tone also suggested that escalating the issue to Higher Authorities in Nokia Care wouldn’t help either. Nokia wanted my friend to pay out Rs. 4000(~100$) for a Rs. 10000(~250$) phone. The phone was just a month old then. 

What followed was an hour of Chatting up with the Nokia Customer Service Executive in New Delhi, who like a discourse kept repeating the same one thing, “Water Damage isn’t Covered”. He just wouldn’t listen to my friend who insisted that there was no way that could have happened. 

When the call got transferred, a 2nd Level Guy said the same thing. He was definitely more polite, but there seemed no way that, Nokia was willing to budge. No way Nokia wanted to keep a honest customer happy with the product that she purchased only a month back. 

He also suggested that if Nokia gave my friend an exception, and performed the repairs for free, hoards of customers would expect the same from Nokia. I don’t understand how that makes any sense at all. Customers are intelligent, not folks who’d spend their valuable time arguing with Customer Service Executives. 

Now the phone lies in dust, waiting to be serviced by Unqualified Technicians in random streets of Chennai. This seems to be a problem affecting not just Nokia, but the entire Consumer Electronics industry.  

Fast forward a month later, the Trackpad on my 2008 MacBook Pro stopped responding. After a few hours of research, I found that the culprit was the Battery that had bulged indirectly affecting the trackpad. Apple Support forums suggested that a replacement of the Battery and the Trackpad was necessary. I placed a call to Apple Support in India, totally expecting the replacement costs to burn a hole in my pocket. 

The guy I spoke to, was extremely polite, listened to whatever I had to say, and spoke only when I was done describing the problem. He said the bulging battery was a safety risk and that it needed immediate replacement. 

I already knew my Mac was out of Warranty, and had no Apple Care on it either. He said that the repairs would take around Rs. 20000 (400$), and since my machine was out of Warranty I’d have to pay for it. At the point, he told me to hold on for a minute, while he checked up on a few things. 

Five minutes he reappeared on the other end, and this is what he said “Hi Karthik. Sorry to have you on hold for so long. But you must be feeling really lucky today. Me and a bunch of other guys debated on your issue, and we are happy to replace the battery and the trackpad for no charge. Once again extremely sorry to have kept you waiting for so long”.

I’d not even asked for a free repair, not even asked for a discount of any kind. Apple was just open, and suggested it without even asking. I was extremely impressed by the kind of support that they had to Offer. 

The comparison my MacBook Pro which is more than 2 years old with a month old Nokia E5 seems absurd. The key point is the differences in the Customer Support. I can’t think of anything better than to say : 

Apple is in the business of making Customers Happy, while the rest of the industry is in the business of making money. 

The past few years, have been anything but indicative as to who is winning. If you are building a product today, what you are really selling is the Customer Service, not the product in itself. 

Nokia, and the rest of the industry, please get in the business of keeping of your users Happy, and not treat like them piece of shit. Apple needs some serious competition. 

Disclosure : 

1. I use an iPhone 3G and a 15” MacBook Pro.
2. I also used a Nokia before the iPhone, and the Nokia went under the knife a good 3-4 times in its life of a little more than a year, and the iPhone hasn’t yet, in its two years of usage. 

Cheers :)