As more glittering and well thought out electronics emerge from their competitors, and sensing that their love affair with Apple devices may be nearing its end, Chinese netizens have of late been calling Apple arrogant over apparent differences in its customer service policies over those in other countries.
State television CCTV seized the opportunity to mount its own attack, the real motives for which remain shrouded in secrecy. Some claim an attempt to dissude Chinese government officials from becoming addicted to Apple’s devices; others cite the breaking of a promise made by CEO Tim Cook to Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun that Apple would set up a Beijing R&D center and put a datacenter in Zhangjiakou.
No matter the truth, Apple has many diehard supporters, plus those who believe the state media’s attacks are simply “rotten to the core”. A report on leading media monitoring website Caixin quotes Fu Weigang, an academic specializing in property law and vice president of the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law.
“So many media resource are devoted to (bashing) a product whose customer experience is relatively good while there are many poor-quality products begging for scrutiny,” he said. “This is a misallocation of media resources.”
No matter the amount of public support, this is one fight that even Apple cannot win, a point that Monday hit home as the technology giant posted its official apology on the Apple China website. There follows a partial translation.
Dear Chinese consumers:
Over the past two weeks we have been receiving lot of feedback about Apple’s repair and warranty policy in China. We have thought deeply about those points of view and together with the relevant government departments carefully studied our “Three Guarantees” policy. We have also reviewed how we communicate about our maintenance policy and checked our management of our Apple authorized service providers. We are aware that a lack of communication during this process has led to the perception that Apple is arrogant and doesn’t care or attach enough importance to consumer feedback. We express our sincere apologies for any concerns or misunderstandings this gave consumers.
In order to further improve our level of service, we will implement the following four major adjustments:
- Improve the repair policy for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
- Provide a concise and clear repair and warranty policy statement on Apple’s official website.
- Increase the supervision and training given to Apple’s authorized service providers.
- Make sure that consumers can easily contact Apple for feedback on our service and other related issues.
Meanwhile, we also realize that we still have a lot to learn on operating and communicating in China. We hereby assure you that the commitment and enthusiasm for China from Apple is not different than any other country. Our ideal is to give the best user experience and customer satisfaction, even more it is our promise. This has been deeply rooted in Apple’s company culture. We will make unremitting efforts to achieve this goal.
We give our heartfelt thank you to everyone for giving us valuable feedback. We always bear immense respect for China and the Chinese consumer is always our top priority.
Tim Cook
Apple CEO