[techweenie]

I sold an old MacBook Pro to a friend who had never had an Apple product. He screwed up downloading an OS update (by not plugging in the power supply) and ended up with a brick. He called me as he was driving to Best Buy where he had been told it would be at least $250 to do an OS install. I told him to drive to the nearest Apple store, walk in and speak to someone at the Genius Bar. He said: but I didn't buy it there, I don't have a receipt; it's 4 years old... I said just go.

He called me an hour later, literally stunned at the quality of treatment he got. They did a fresh OS install while he waited. Charged him nothing. It's hard to communicate with people who haven't experienced it just what that kind of service can mean.

Be prepared to be called an Apple fanboy for telling people of your successful dealings with the company, BTW.