GreenEye Wire

I love my mac. And usually, I only have nice things to say about Apple and their products as a whole. Not this time…

I bought Quicktime Pro. No problems getting through the cart process until I actually had to download the thing. I got a friendly email saying “After initial purchase, electronic software downloads and keys are available in the Account area of the Apple Store.” and gave me a link to go to the account area.

I get to the account area and all that is there is a registration key for the software I just downloaded. Fine. I copy the registration code and make ready to plug it into the register thing in the software. But it didn’t work. I tried again. No dice. Restarted the app. Nothing.

So I went back to the fore-mentioned ‘Account Area’ and find a nice little link at the top that said “Questions? Need Advice? Call 1-800-MY-APPLE | Chat Now”.

Now keep in mind, this ‘Need Advice Chat link’ is in the area of the site *after* you have purchased something. So basically, unless you purchase something, you can’t get to it. You MUST have already made a purchase to even get there. Keep that in mind while you read the conversation I had with the Apple rep below.

So I clicked the “Chat Now” link. This is the actual conversation.

* You are chatting with Judy, an Apple Expert
Hi, my name is Judy. Welcome to Apple!

Me: I’m in my download software purchase history. How do I download or update my software…I see the key for quicktime 7 pro but when I paste the key into my quicktime reader, nothing happens.

Judy: I am sorry to hear that. For assistance you can contact AppleCare and they will be able to further assist you.

Me: I am contacting Applecare…isn’t that you? All I need is help upgrading the software I just bought..I’m looking at the cart now.

Judy: This is sales.

Me: yes..and I just bought the quicktime pro..and I see the key..

Judy: I understand, however, if you are having problems with a product you have already purchased then you will need to contact AppleCare for assistance.

….some more back and forth …

Me: It seems counter productive to me that you guys have a “chat link in the “downloads history” if you cannot do anything to help. Why would you have a link in downloadable software area if you can’t help me? Does that make sense to you?

Judy: I am sorry you had difficulty. However, since this is sales we are not able to assist you with technical support issues from here…

Me: Am I the only one who sees the craziness of this situation?

Now, to be fair, Judy did actually dig up the link from the support area to get me help. But it was above and beyond what she, as a SALES support person, is supposed to do. Poor Judy shouldn’t have to deal with tech support issues and, really, she shouldn’t…if Apple just put the ‘tech support chat people link’ in the right place.

The thing is, I feel for Judy. She’ll probably report the issue to her superiors who will shrug it off. And then Judy will have to deal with some other irate customer like me.

Tech support people get no respect. Sad, too, considering they are the first person your company will probably work with closely.