Day: January 18, 2009

apple, customer service, technology

More love for Apple

Christa Avampato

Amidst all of the anxiety around Steve Jobs’ temporary leave from Apple, there is a lot of reason for rejoicing about the company. I gush so much about the company you’d think they were paying me. This latest anecdote is precisely the reason I bought a Mac a year ago. 


I must have placed a bit too much pressure on one of the corners of my laptop. The casing cracked a little – hairline but I noticed it was steadily getting worse. Mind you, this crack was entirely my fault, not Apple’s. I bought the Apple Care Plan that extends my warranty an additional two years. I called Apple, they made an appointment for me at the Fifth Avenue Apple store, and I took my Macbook over there. 

They took my appointment 10 minutes early and sent me on my way in 5 minutes. I had to leave Mac behind to get fixed. I felt like I was leaving my child at the doctor’s office. I returned home and did some email on my old IBM (and by old I mean 3.5 years.) Clunky and clumsy and past its prime, I really missed Mac. I’d be without him for 5-7 days.

Much to my surprise, Mac was ready for pick-up in less than 24 hours. Perfectly repaired. For free. With a smile. Steve Jobs and anyone associated with Apple has many reasons to be proud of this company. I’m a customer for life because Apple is a company that believes in service above all else. Their service and concern for customer delight are head and shoulders above that of any other company. 

I hope Steve Jobs quickly and fully recovers from his recent health issues. In the meantime, he should rest assured that the company will be just fine, left in the capable hands of his team members who take such great care of customers.  
community service, hope, Seth Godin, social entrepreneurship

My Year of Hopefulness – All the ways you can serve

Christa Avampato

I am thrilled to see that MLK Day is being made into a holiday that celebrates and promotes service. (And it’s shocking to me that all Americans do not have that day off – I hope that will change.) Seth Godin published a list of ways to give back that day, and every day for that matter, that covers a wide spectrum of time investment. By no means is it definitive – it gets the creative juices flowing. There a lot of ways to give and a lot of organizations who need the help. 

From Seth’s list, I love the idea of creating a Wikipedia page for charities that we care about that may not be so well known. That’s what I plan to do. I will also dig in and do some research on social entrepreneurship in the hopes that my transition to that field and to building my own business is not all that far away. I know that it’s possible to do well and do good at the same time, with the same efforts, and I’m going to find a way to do that.