Mac Travel

Hubby needed to take his Mac in for repair, a Google search revealed there were only four facilities in the entire state.  Three in the St. Louis area and one in Kansas City.  This amazed me.  How could Apple expect to outsell other brands if they don’t provide convenient repair  locations?

I asked Google that question and found a long list of articles on the scarcity and quality of Mac’s repairs.  In one, an ex-Apple Manager wrote about his three-year headache trying to get his I-Mac repaired.  He had retired to the coast of North Carolina and the nearest Apple repair facility was over three hours away in a Raleigh shopping mall. He explained how each drop-off/pick-up required twelve hours of driving.  He did  offer some insight into the world of Apple and a hint of caution for those of us who do not live in the urban metropolises that Apple and its repair shops so obviously favor. 

After all the articles I read, I was not surprised when I called the store closest to us for an appointment and was told they don’t make appointments.  We would have to come in and wait our turn for a consult on our problem.  If repairs are needed we would have to leave it anywhere from a day to a few weeks. 

One day last week the weather was chilly but sunny and our calendar was clear so we made the long drive to the repair store.  We were told we would have to leave the item for repair.  Estimated time was several days.  After having lunch and doing some shopping we headed home.   We were ten minutes from home when our cell phone rang.  It was the repair shop telling us the problem had been a simple one and his Max  was ready to be picked up.  

Too tired to turn around and drive back to the city, we planned to go the next day.  That night it started to rain and it has not stopped for any real length of time over the last several days.  So we are now waiting for the first sunny day to  go pick up Hubby's computer.  

As much as we love our Mac’s (after all this) I seriously doubt  that I will be persuaded  to buy another one.  With every birthday, the number of miles I am willing to drive outside my town's city limits for services  gets shorter and shorter.  There are at least half a dozen computer repair shops within fifteen miles of my home (but none of them will work on a Mac) so when my mini gives up the ghost I will have to settle for something I can purchase and have repaired locally.  Somehow I don’t think my loss as a customer will change much about how Apple does business.