Just Show Me You Give a Damn.

OK, it looks as though — and I hesitate to even say this — it looks as though my computer problems may have been fixed. And a tip-of-the-hat to Shaun, the very smart, very conscientious and, most important, very patient representative of Apple Care who helped me. He spent over an hour on the phone with me on Saturday. After eliminating many other possible causes, we thought he had found a problem with Safari that could have been responsible for slowing down my computer to the point that it was essentially inoperable. Before he signed off, Shaun gave me his email address and urged me to let him know if the problem returned.

Well, it did. So I emailed him last night and he called this morning–a Sunday in the middle of a long holiday weekend–at precisely the time I suggested. This time around, he had me send my Safari to the trash, then reinstall a clean version from the internet. So far, everything seems to be working normally, but Shaun urged me to contact him directly in the event my Mac shows signs of slowing down again. And I will. He is The Man!
 
Pursuing the point, when you rack up so many miles on Amtrak, you get a special number to call if you have any problems or concerns. They call you by name and they do their best to solve your problem. Last year, I was in a pinch and an Amtrak rep named Celia snagged me a roomette on the California Zephyr with less than 24 hours notice. Furthermore, the revised fare was $48 less. And she even thanked me when we were finished!
 
Yes, there is still such a thing as great customer service!
 
By contrast, my wife has been waiting a full week for a shipping label to be emailed to her so she can return an expensive espresso machine that isn’t working properly. She’s annoyed at the delay and says she’s going back to square one when it comes to buying a replacement machine.
 
And my daughter has been waiting for several weeks for warrantied repairs to be made on her refrigerator, which is less than two years old. Next time around, she says grimly, her choice will be something other than a Kenmore.
 
Me? Yes, my Mac works well … but it was Shaun who turned me into a loyal Mac user. Why is that hard for so many companies to understand?