[competentone]

I see things haven't changed!

Years back I tried to call Apple Customer Service to ask a simple general question about the computer I owned, and was first asked for the serial number of my computer. I didn't have that and didn't feel like climbing under the desk to find it.

Telling the "customer service" representative that my question was just a general question about the system and nothing that would require specific information about my computer was fruitless. He ended up sounding like a broken record, just replying "Serial number for your computer?" to every comment I made. I guess he had some format he was told he was supposed to follow and didn't have the capacity (or wasn't allowed) to deviate from it!

I still think Apple creates some nice stuff, but concluded from that call that they are not "customer friendly" in their practices. My experience could help explain why they have such a small share of the personal computer market. I know my experience sure left me disgusted with them -- which is not something you want to happen when someone calls customer service, if you're concerned about the long-term success of your business.