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    Wearing my tinfoil hat Archived Message

    Posted by scrabb on December 28, 2019, 6:30 pm

    I had a glitch with my MacBook two days ago which wouldn't allow any emails and buggered up my TLN link as well (I've had to re-register as "scrubb" for that reason). It wouldn't let me create a new password to send and receive emails so I rang the Apple support line (this was yesterday). The phone was answered within 2 rings. No 5-digit options, no piped music, no waiting, no delay -- a human voice (he sounded US-Japanese or Chinese) asked what was the problem and after we'd done the usual security checks he took me through several steps without success. Then he asked if he could share my screen, which I allowed. 20 minutes later no success, but this bloke was no quitter, he tried two or three other options and still we were getting nowhere. I was in conversation with him for maybe 80 minutes. He said to give it an hour and then try again. (I did, this morning, and I created a new password without any problem)

    This is the bit I can't get my head around (even wearing the tinfoil hat). Apple has millions (billions?) of customers. There must be millions of people with internet/device problems every hour of the day. Yet on the half-dozen occasions I've had to ring them with a problem they have answered within seconds, with a human being, who has then spent upwards of two hours on the phone, without charge, trying to sort it out. Sometimes they've done it on the spot, or talked me through it, other times (like yesterday) they've graciously admitted defeat and offered alternatives.

    How -- when every other business and institution keeps you in a long line of recorded music for 10, 15, 20 minutes -- can Apple do this? The sheer volume of manpower on standby is staggering. I know they want to keep their customers happy, but the human logistics of this operation defy explanation. So can anyone explain it?

    My other thought arising out of this disruption to service is that there is a fault buried deep in Apple software that doesn't allow very simple operations (such as changing the password) to take place. Even the experts who try to help over the phone have to try different options, and you can sense their frustration when the system takes you back in ever decreasing circles. There is something sinister in all this, and I am keeping this tinfoil hat firmly on my head till I know what it is.








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