Quote:
Originally posted by competentone
The mark-up on clothing is normally closer to 100%.
When a manufacturer sells directly to the public, they are in the retail business -- even if their margins are lower, they have to expect customer returns/exchanges to be part of their business.
"campbellcj" does imply that he would have been willing to pay a restocking fee too. With a restocking fee and a new purchase of another machine -- which Apple would make a profit on -- your economic argument from Apple's perspective loses strength.
We're also not really talking about "economics" on this particular sale -- we're talking about "marketing and product image."
This one transaction -- and dissatisfaction with an Apple customer service experience (whether right or wrong) -- has now been read by more than 100 people. I don't know how long the thread will last, but this one dissatisfied customer could now influence the potential purchasing decisions of hundreds or even thousands of people.
Your suggestion that adding RAM now makes it a "custom machine" and that Apple has to "draw the line somewhere" demonstrates a lack of understanding of the trends in customer service.
Current trends are all about NOT "drawing lines." The goals of customer service are about having thinking customer service representatives who will look at the circumstances of the individual case they are dealing with and try to make a decision where the customer will be satisfied.
"campbellcj" was not satisfied. Apple can spend the millions of dollars on their very cute advertising campaigns, but if they "blow up" on the customer service attempts and do not try to work with customers for a satisfying conclusion, they are probably wasting their money on the advertising end.
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Sorry, I was thinking "gross margin" but wrote "initial markup". 50% GM = 100% IMU.
Apple is in the retail
computer business but that doesn't mean it can or should match the return policies of the retail
apparel business where customers can buy and return items all day long. The economics are totally different, as I explained.
(By the way, ronin, it is not right that Apple's cost on laptops is "pennies on the dollar". That's quite wrong, whether you're talking marginal cost or fully loaded cost.)
Of course, the economics of accepting returns can be made fine with a high enough restocking fee, but will anyone pay it? Was the original poster wanting to pay a 10% to 15% = $300 to $450 restocking fee? Would the typical customer be willing to pay that? I suspect they'd be
more dissatisfied - i.e. you'd do more harm than good, and the customer would go around whingeing about how you ripped him off with an exorbitant restocking fee.
(Just for fun, I did the math, comparing (A) selling a new MacBookPro with (B) selling a new MacBookPro, taking it back, selling a new MacBook instead, refurbishing/restocking the returned MacBookPro, and reselling the refurbished MacBookPro at the lower refurbished price. (B) looks about $200 to $400 less profitable than (A). They are not economically equivalent at all. So you would need to charge a hefty restocking fee.)
So, now we get to customer satisfaction. A company can always make policies more liberal to satisfy every last customer, but there's a balance between the cost and the benefit. If Apple had poor customer satisfaction metrics, that would suggest it isn't doing the balancing right. But Apple is scoring at or near the top of the PC industry in customer service/satisfaction, based on the articles I've read in Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, etc.
You said customer service reps should look at the circumstances of the individual case. Yes, but I don't see what is so unique about this particular case. A customer chose a laptop, bought it, used it, now wishes they'd chosen a lighter laptop. Take that return, and you're going to take pretty much any and every return.
Bottom-line, a company's return policies should be at least as liberal as the industry norm. It should strike a reasonable balance between satisfying most customers, and still being economically profitable. I don't really expect a company to do "more".
And I don't buy the argument that one complaint thread in the PP OT BBS could cause hundreds or thousands of people to forgo their Mac purchases. There's tons of complaining consumers and complaint threads about Apple - just browse some Mac forums. In our spoiled consumer society, it is not possible to satisfy everybody, and in our internet culture, it is not possible to avoid having negative threads in forums.