Even with the iPhone 4 debacle not entirely forgotten, around 500,000 consumers ran to their nearest Apple (AAPL) Store on March 11 to purchase a shiny new iPad 2. It was amazing to watch the twitter-verse explode with chatter about the new iPad. It has been said that nearly 70% of these customers were new iPad users and not upgrading from their iPad. This just goes to show the level of satisfaction that comes with being an Apple customer– and how quickly they are adding to their ranks.
So how does Apple do it? I remember that during the aftermath of the of the Great Antenna Mishap, Apple brought us into the (permissible) depths of 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA. They demonstrated the extensive tests that their devices go through before they go to distribution. It was actually quite remarkable to see the level at which they vigorously test their devices– and this recent release was no different. Despite the issues that have surfaced regarding the newly produced iPad 2, Apple has striven to ensure that the Antenna Catastrophe of 2010 does not happen again.
The issues that have come up regarding the iPad 2 are ‘common’ when discussing this type of device released by Apple. Many of the issues, minus the antenna, were seen on the iPhone 4 release. The yellow tinge on the screen of the device has shown up again, along with some issues with wifi antenna, the microphone, and a few software bugs as cited by @reneritchie from tipb.com. But it’s not the issues that arise which set Apple apart; it’s how they handle them.
When you have an issue like this with one of their devices, they painlessly swap you for another one until you have a fully functioning device– one customer swapped devices 4 times before he was able to land one a fully functional device. Apple’s customer service is stellar and this is what truly keeps them as a favorite for the consumer. An article from Geek.com truly displays the softer side of Apple when a customer returned their mint condition, fully functioning iPad 2 with a sticky note that said, “wife said no” attached to the face. A few of Apple’s VP’s heard about this and intervened, giving the man back his iPad 2 with a note on the face of the device that simply said, “Apple said yes.”
