Page 101 - The Apple Experience

The Right Thing to Do

Apple employees are not supposed to replace devices that have been

accidentally dropped, dunked in water, or otherwise damaged due to the

customer’s negligence. But sometimes they will replace devices that were
dropped, dunked, and damaged if it’s the right thing to do. Apple employees

are empowered to make the right decision, and sometimes replacing a

computer or iPod that’s out of warranty is the most appropriate response.

However, by the time you read this, I believe that this policy will be so well

known that it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple has to become more selective

with its replacement units.

Fixing Relationships, Not Computers

Warranties are written in black and white, but Apple employees are

empowered to make decisions in the gray area. They are trusted to make the

right decision for the company and for the long-term relationship with a

customer. If a customer brings in an iPhone that was accidentally dropped in

a puddle, an employee at the Genius Bar might look up the customer’s
history, and if he feels that replacing the device will restore the customer’s

trust in the company, he will do so. The Genius’s role is not to fix computers.

It’s to rebuild relationships. In the first ten years of the Apple Store, the

company learned “a visit to the Genius Bar can fix more than computers; it

can restore a customer’s relationship with Apple.”
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Compare this philosophy to other retailers. A friend who works as an

assistant manager at a department store says she is “empowered” to give a
customer a $20 gift card if the company messed up in some way. At least