How Apple lost me as a customer after 18 years

[Luba]

Ex-retailer here.

When a cardholder disputes a charge, the credit card issuer first temporarily removes the disputed amount from the cardholder's monthly account balance. Next, the merchant's credit card processor investigates the charge. Usually this entails telling the merchant to prove the transaction took place legitimately and properly. If the merchant cannot provide sufficient documentation of the transaction, the credit card processor deducts the disputed amount from the merchant's account. That's a chargeback. The credit to the cardholder's account then becomes permanent.

Beyond individual transactions, an excessive number of chargebacks, as determined by individual card processors, can lead to a merchant losing its ability to accept credit cards for payment.

-----------
Related note: in the US, federal law governs the dispute and chargeback process for credit cards. That's why it's usually better for consumers to use credit cards over debit cards, online money transfer services, and direct bank account withdrawals for purchases. These other payment methods are much more lightly regulated and in the event of a disputed charge or fraud, a lot less favorable to account holders.

In the above case it sounds like OP encountered a vengeful Apple employee that decided to exercise their power. It doesn’t seem in Apple’s interest to ban him. Whereas I’ve read American Express has banned some of their cardholders for “gaming their system” of reward points. Basically, it’s Amex’s policy that you can’t outsmart their rules. Banning these cardholders and the news of them doing so sets a deterrent for others.

 

[iHorseHead]

Try Linux. It’s fantastic.

Totally support your decision. Having issues myself and was a customer for decades.

I still don't understand the people who recommend Linux. I work in IT Support and believe it or not I wouldn't be able to work with Linux at all due to lack of software support.
I tried Ubuntu on my MSI laptop, and Windows 10 is a lot better and faster and has more software support + I can play games on it. What benefits does Linux have?

 

[Altis]

I still don't understand the people who recommend Linux. I work in IT Support and believe it or not I wouldn't be able to work with Linux at all due to lack of software support.
I tried Ubuntu on my MSI laptop, and Windows 10 is a lot better and faster and has more software support + I can play games on it. What benefits does Linux have?

I mean, that's true of Mac, too. Almost none of the software we use in engineering is available for macOS, nor many other scientific or business applications. Seems like more of it is available for Linux than macOS, even.

As for Linux, depending a bit on your distro, it's very secure and stable, with incredible flexibility for customization. It tends to be fast and lightweight, can run on just about any computer, can run most Windows software via Wine. The crazy part is how polished it's become in some distros, where things "just work" (the way they once did with Mac). And of course, it's pretty much all free, in terms of cost and principle.

I'm rather platform-agnostic, if you will, as I run all three. My main daily driver is Linux Mint Xfce, which has run flawlessly since day 1 and I didn't have to fuss around about a single driver (even my sketchy unbranded USB dongles). Next-most-used is Windows, for software that I need it for (games, FL Studio, Photoshop), and while I really dislike Microsoft's new approach to their update schemes, it actually works well and is fast. And finally, there's my Mac on Big Sur, which is enjoyable in some ways, particularly on a laptop, but it definitely has enough faults these days and the UI lacks some workflow functionality I like. It has neither the software availability of Windows nor the reliability of Linux. The hardware is top-notch though.

Also Ubuntu sucks -- had to say it

 

[MhaelK]

Honestly, Reading your post made me think of two things (not trying to offend you)

1) Either you have acted in a way, where you should have realised that you have spend/could loose a Big chunk of money - And/or/then regretted you decision afterward, when the money was gone. Then the chargeback is correctly seen as frauduldent of nature.

2) if that is not the case. Then I would advice you to compose a brief summary/documentation of what happend and the reach out to some tech/Apple focused news-site to see if they agree with you that something is wrong with apple’s handling of your case. Protecting consumers and exposing risks is always of high interest to such mediums and media coverage could help put some pressure on Apple plus ensure that it doesn’t happens to other people in the future.

Good luck.

 

[NotTooLate]

Can you please specify what support would you expect to get from windows if this happened to you in the PC world ? as someone else mentioned , after 18 years you had a scenario in which you were disappointed with Apple CS , not even considering it might be also your fault somewhat.

Can you warn the forum and post which App that was ? so we can avoid the scammy SW developer in the future , give us this courtesy before you jump ship!!

 

[Phone Junky]

Honestly, Reading your post made me think of two things (not trying to offend you)

1) Either you have acted in a way, where you should have realised that you have spend/could loose a Big chunk of money - And/or/then regretted you decision afterward, when the money was gone. Then the chargeback is correctly seen as frauduldent of nature.

2) if that is not the case. Then I would advice you to compose a brief summary/documentation of what happend and the reach out to some tech/Apple focused news-site to see if they agree with you that something is wrong with apple’s handling of your case. Protecting consumers and exposing risks is always of high interest to such mediums and media coverage could help put some pressure on Apple plus ensure that it doesn’t happens to other people in the future.

Good luck.

Can you please specify what support would you expect to get from windows if this happened to you in the PC world ? as someone else mentioned , after 18 years you had a scenario in which you were disappointed with Apple CS , not even considering it might be also your fault somewhat.

Can you warn the forum and post which App that was ? so we can avoid the scammy SW developer in the future , give us this courtesy before you jump ship!!

OPs post was made back in September and they haven't been on the forums since. I guess they held true to their word. ?

 

[NotTooLate]

OPs post was made back in September and they haven't been on the forums since. I guess they held true to their word. ?

LOL , that will teach me not to just read a "trending" thread and reply like it was still active , sorry about that.
I was trying to be nice as well in asking for the App , because I bet he wouldn't post it as he didnt do it the first time , probably some extremely shady app , if it was a known app it would've been all over the news.

 

[Mousse]

I still don't understand the people who recommend Linux. I work in IT Support and believe it or not I wouldn't be able to work with Linux at all due to lack of software support.

The problem is Linux has an inconsistent UI, unless you use CLI.? That's the beauty of OSX, a consistent UI no matter what version, no matter which Mac. Linux UI changes with the wind.?

It's maddening as hail, but once you get used to its quirks, it becomes quite usable. For serious work, use the CLI. CLI uses the same Unix commands I've learned decades ago.?

 

[iHorseHead]

OPs post was made back in September and they haven't been on the forums since. I guess they held true to their word. ?

I didn't look at the date either and thought it was posted here recently.

 

[I7guy]

It's something that's interesting to note as one deals with large companies.

 

[allan.nyholm]

WARNING: kind of a whining/complaining rant thread. I don't even know what it will accomplish. Just want to vent, really. So, you've been warned.

I bought my first Mac, a G4 iMac that I remember fondly, in 2002. Since then I've primarily used Apple computers and iPhones. I've spent thousands of dollars on iMacs, Macbook Pros, iPhones, accessories, and software over the years. I've been kind of an Apple fanboy, to be honest--I joined this forum in 2003 and have followed Apple pretty closely over the years--but for the foreseeable future I'm going to try switching to Android and Windows. In fact, I've already ordered the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.

I was soured by a bad customer support experience. I recently spent a pretty big chunk of change on multiple in-app purchases for an app that stopped working two or three days after I made the purchases. I reached out to the developers but they stopped responding to my emails. I made a refund request with Apple, but they refused to refund most of the money. An Apple associate on their support chat read my explanation of what happened and said I could explain the situation to the "account security" team member on the phone and they would be "sure" to refund the money. When I did that, the person on the phone flatly refused. He said the chat support was wrong, with no other explanation. I did a chargeback on PayPal which went through, and then Apple disabled my account. I was not able to download any apps, even ones I had already purchased. Reaching out to Apple support, they said they would reenable the account, but that in the future if I did more chargebacks, they could decide to disable my account permanently. They said it was "for security" but to me it sounded more like a threat. It also made me realize that Apple is a single point of failure for my entire computing experience: locking me out of my account would not only disable my phone apps, but many of my critical Mac programs as well.

tl;dr: After a bad support experience, I don't believe Apple has my back as a customer, and I don't trust Apple not to permanently disable my account arbitrarily if a dispute over a bad app happens in the future. I'm kinda bummed, but also interested in seeing the state of Android phones and Windows laptops.

I understand your frustration and you do what you have to do to get satisfaction elsewhere.

I would like to comment on your experience with Apple Support and their seemingly threatening attitude. I once called, not long ago in fact (perhaps two months ago), to get an explanation on a amount that was credited to being a payment to Apple for 9Kr (danish kroner) I would equal this amount to ~$1 - it was a payment that noticed was upcoming as a monthly recurring payment as well as having been paid many months prior, but I had no idea what I could have paid for that $1

I then called Apple Support and spoke to a dane (thank God - speaking in english is not my greatest passion, because when I get overly exited I tend to stutter and become incoherent in speech and then an english-speaking would get some danish words mixed in) on there who said it was probably nothing and I shouldn't contact my back to stop the transfer because it would put me in bad standing with Apple as a whole. The solution was to see if the monthly payment would eventually go away.. I haven't checked recently to see if I continue to pay $1 for nothing?

The mention of being in bad standing with Apple, a company I support in thick and thin, took my breath away a little and I felt hurt a little. For all the applications and developers I've paid so many $$ just to being taken up the wazoo, but the company that ought to give me a little more insight than just telling me "we don't understand what you're talking about".

Edit.. just read about the thread date, insert ? emoji

 

[MBAir2010]

guess i can try to answer for the OP-(U might know me)

This year has been a horrible apple experience for me.
maybe using windows and the simplification of everything
and installing a new ssd drive on the Dell XPS was a marvelous experience compared to the apple walled garden.

what really bothers me is Apple insists i need a credit card and phone number to use MY iPad, IPhone and itouch now.
both phone and bank account are now closed, i tried telling them, NOPE they insist i keep anything in that slot.
why?
the back account is kaput and some fake lady has our landline # now, NOPE  still wants that info
why again?
well, they think they control what i own- i have no idea?

my windows account does not need a phone number or even a credit card.

then nothing  i own works as well any more.
my ipod nano that worked great until 2019, then worked great until tuesday when the apple logo stuck while i tried playing music for my 13 mile bike ride home. i plugged that into my macbook air, nothing, into the Dell XPS voila! it worked again and can now functions, unless i am 13 miles away from home, i fear.

while organizing photos via Flickr on my Ipad app, the photos are very graining
but on the Dell XPS and macbook air they are very good. now all my photos on that ipad flickr app are grainy .
this never happened until recetly, before that 14.5 update.

someone here purchased an brand new $2000 IPad and saw fingerprints on the screen.
that is inexcusable and an indication of how the company cares about their customers now.

i smell a rat in their company and vowed never to buy anything  again months ago
(and was ridiculed by a random fanboy staring i needed to educate my self over the word, "invest")

that is my take on 
i will still TRY to help those tying to fix their macbooks here like i did physically years ago at a tech shop.
and post photos but will stop these expressing my displeasure with the company,
since they dont practice what got them this successful anymore.

 

[johnalan]

I eventually had to email the executive team. They refunded me and the new machine doesn’t have the issues.

macOS as so many little inconsistencies and bugs it’s crazy though.

I could give you steps to Kernel Panic your machine M1 or Intel, without using sudo.

 

[allan.nyholm]

I eventually had to email the executive team. They refunded me and the new machine doesn’t have the issues.

macOS as so many little inconsistencies and bugs it’s crazy though.

I could give you steps to Kernel Panic your machine M1 or Intel, without using sudo.

You're too kind. Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[allan.nyholm]

@MtLoin2020 You're on to something here. I smell something too. It's that time again when Apple has too many products in their lineup?!

Who's going to clean house this time? How many model iPhones are out currently, the same with their MacBook line-up and let's not forget their iPad line-up.

I do however also believe that in this world and time of tricksters and scammers/phishing-types, security is of the essence. Apple just happen to fall flat with their latest endeavour in security in Big Sur and latest iOS releases. Sometimes I don't think any one inside Apple ever uses anything but their own applications, like the poor man's Word(Pages) and such.

I recently wanted to switch credit cards for my AppleID .. could I do that inside Big Sur?? nope.. could I do it via their AppleID website? yes.. ?

 

[zakarhino]

It also made me realize that Apple is a single point of failure for my entire computing experience: locking me out of my account would not only disable my phone apps, but many of my critical Mac programs as well.

This is the real kernel of truth in your post and it's one of the most important statements made on this website in a while. It's important that everyone remembers this. The benefits of having a 'perfect union of devices' under one core system has an extreme downside. This is exactly why we need to pass laws to ensure users of these devices retain REAL ownership and gain additional freedoms to prevent Apple from dictating what we can and cannot do with our devices.

 

[zakarhino]

I still don't understand the people who recommend Linux. I work in IT Support and believe it or not I wouldn't be able to work with Linux at all due to lack of software support.
I tried Ubuntu on my MSI laptop, and Windows 10 is a lot better and faster and has more software support + I can play games on it. What benefits does Linux have?

"Linux is free only to those that don't value their time"

It's kinda true, that's why I use macOS moreso than Linux at the moment: I don't have the time for maintenance and software workarounds. I wish macOS would adopt some of the design principles of Linux though (in terms of its ability to swap out core modules, change fundamental OS functions, and disable aspects of the OS that you don't want).

 

[One2Grift]

guess i can try to answer for the OP-(U might know me)

This year has been a horrible apple experience for me.
maybe using windows and the simplification of everything
and installing a new ssd drive on the Dell XPS was a marvelous experience compared to the apple walled garden.

Well, after all, Apple is a huge mega company simple from “smoke and mirrors”. How could you not expect a bad experience with Apple while having a great time with the other mega, non smoke and mirrors companies?
(A Poster’s past messages can be read to gauge their true POV you know?
Windows simplification of everything? Oh my…)

 

[MBAir2010]

One great aspect of Linux is they do not demand a telephone number and Credit Card like Apple insists.

 

[R.T.J.]

WARNING: kind of a whining/complaining rant thread. I don't even know what it will accomplish. Just want to vent, really. So, you've been warned.

I bought my first Mac, a G4 iMac that I remember fondly, in 2002. Since then I've primarily used Apple computers and iPhones. I've spent thousands of dollars on iMacs, Macbook Pros, iPhones, accessories, and software over the years. I've been kind of an Apple fanboy, to be honest--I joined this forum in 2003 and have followed Apple pretty closely over the years--but for the foreseeable future I'm going to try switching to Android and Windows. In fact, I've already ordered the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.

I was soured by a bad customer support experience. I recently spent a pretty big chunk of change on multiple in-app purchases for an app that stopped working two or three days after I made the purchases. I reached out to the developers but they stopped responding to my emails. I made a refund request with Apple, but they refused to refund most of the money. An Apple associate on their support chat read my explanation of what happened and said I could explain the situation to the "account security" team member on the phone and they would be "sure" to refund the money. When I did that, the person on the phone flatly refused. He said the chat support was wrong, with no other explanation. I did a chargeback on PayPal which went through, and then Apple disabled my account. I was not able to download any apps, even ones I had already purchased. Reaching out to Apple support, they said they would reenable the account, but that in the future if I did more chargebacks, they could decide to disable my account permanently. They said it was "for security" but to me it sounded more like a threat. It also made me realize that Apple is a single point of failure for my entire computing experience: locking me out of my account would not only disable my phone apps, but many of my critical Mac programs as well.

tl;dr: After a bad support experience, I don't believe Apple has my back as a customer, and I don't trust Apple not to permanently disable my account arbitrarily if a dispute over a bad app happens in the future. I'm kinda bummed, but also interested in seeing the state of Android phones and Windows laptops.

Your experience is the fear I have as well... Now with the M1 chip it is impossible to fix a mac, many shops will be out of business and if you have any problem you would have to go to an Apple store and paid the $1000+ they want for a $50 repair.

We are going there. Remember when they switch from Final Cut Pro 7 to Final Cut X... they ditched everybody. FCP7 used to be use in TV networks... no any more. People went back to Avid or Premiere.

I support your decision and trust me... Apple is walking a thin line. I am aware of that situation you experienced and that is why I am very conservative when buying Macs or Apple products.

 

[philip456]

Apple was right to say excessive chargebacks.....

I thought that it was just one chargeback. How is that excessive chargebacks?

 

[AnnonKneeMoosee]

I ran across this old thread after googling, "how apple lost me as a customer". Quite interesting.

My own experience is different, yet similar. In 2010, I bought my first Mac, a MacBook Air. After learning I could use Windows on it if I didn't like using it as an Apple computer, I figured I had nothing to lose. Besides, Apple sells "refurbished" devices that are literally good as new, with full warranty and the works. Cool!

After a few weeks, I found myself never using Windows again. It wasn't a conscious decision—it just happened by itself. Note that I had used Windows since version 1.0. (Yes, one point zero!) At that time, Windows was literally silly. The box even said it was a temporary OS, a stopgap until IBM released OS/2.

Back then, Apple charged for OS releases. Going from Snow Leopard to Lion was huge. The windows could now be resized from any corner; what a concept! Many, many other big improvements as well. I was sold on Apple Computers. They were so much better than any Windows computers available at the time. Fell in love with Apple's trackpad, and still love it. Upgrading to Lion was painful though, as my little MacBook Air overheated and crashed whenever I tried. So I pulled out my trusty little screwdriver and checked out the internals. WOW! A computer designed without double-stick tape, jumper wires, and weird connectors in weird places. Also, could be opened from the bottom, rather than tearing the whole thing apart like other notebooks at the time. Impressive! Replacing the thermal paste did the trick, and was easy to do. Cool!

I recall several calls to Apple tech support back then. Most reps were intelligent and talented. They seemed to really know their stuff. I was impressed. Then I discovered there was an Apple store a few miles from me, one of the first Apple originally opened, in fact. Wasn't as impressed by their "Geniuses", but having a store close by to help me out was fantastic. There was nothing like it for Windows computers.

Fast forward to 2016...
Was still loving my iPhone 5s, with its 64 bit processor. My (refurbished) 2011 MacBook Pro was still running strong. I was in tech heaven! But was dismayed to learn Apple removed the headphone jack from the new iPhone 7. WTF?!! Next, my trusty MacBook Pro bit the dust. Unbeknownst to me when I bought it, the thing had been recalled, and Apple sued for selling overheating MacBook Pros. Was rather upset to learn Apple had sold me what they knew was a faulty product, but didn't mention it. OUCH!!!! Next time, I'll do more research. This was my first impression that Apple wasn't as good as it was cracked up to be. Was getting the impression they were sneaky and underhanded. Was this a sign of things to come? Since Steve Jobs had passed, Apple seemed to be returning to the greed they were known for before talking Mr. Jobs into taking over again in 1997.

Here's a list of notable a few things that happened to me personallysince 2016...
* Upgraded from my iPhone 5s to the look-alike iPhone SE. Got a pretty good deal, and it was LTE and 4G compatible. I figured I was set for years to come. It was much faster than the 5s, and still had my beloved headphone jack as well.
* Was still getting by with my MacBook Air, but wanted to get something better.
* I had grown displeased by Apple's recent Mac offerings. No more magsafe. No more standard USB plugs. And those new "butterfly" keyboards had no chance of lasting, imo. That was obvious to me from seeing their initial design. One piece of flexing plastic just isn't going to last. As it turned out, the keyboards were even worse than I imagined. But Apple kept making them, year after year. WOW! I smelled planned obsolescence, big time!!!
* In mid 2018, just before Apple discontinued the 2015 MacBook Pro Retina models, I splurged and bought myself one. IMO, Apple was going downhill, so I wanted to get myself one of the good ones before they stopped making them.
* In early 2019, Apple closed both nearby Apple Stores, so they could avoid getting sued by patent trolls in my federal district. BUMMER!
* I cancelled Apple Care Plus on my new MacBook Pro, since I could no longer take it to a local Apple store for help.
* In 2021, the battery on my MacBook Pro was bulging so badly the case wouldn't close. Was cursing myself for cancelling Apple Care Plus, until I realized it would have expired by then. Learned Apple would replace the battery for $200. (less than my refund for Apple Care Plus) Seemed high, but I'd had bad experiences with aftermarket batteries. When I learned the battery replacement would also include a new keyboard and trackpad, $200 didn't seem so steep after all. I was grumbling Apple wouldn't replace the battery for free, since they knew many MacBooks were having the same issue. Grumbled less after learning they replaced those that were so bad they literally caught fire.
Note: These batteries were all made during the same time Samsung phones were catching fire. Apparently, the Chinese companies making them were cutting corners. Samsung's fiasco helped Apple hide the fact that their products suffered similarly. Lucky for them, I guess.
* Upon getting my battery replaced, Apple said I needed a new screen. It would cost $800. But the screen worked just fine when I gave it to them. After a rather heated discussion, Apple agreed to replace the screen. They said they were doing it as a favor, since I was a long-time Apple user. This didn't sit well with me, since they obviously broke it when replacing the battery. So they were "doing me a favor" to cover their own incompetence.
* Shortly after getting my MacBook repaired, the screen of my iPhone SE was popping off. Another bad battery! Apple would replace it for a reasonable fee, as I still didn't trust third-party ones. Then got an email that other parts in my iPhone were broken, and the repair would cost well over $100. Again, there was nothing wrong with the phone when they got it for repair; just the screen slighly bulging on one side. Called Apple support to discuss this. The guy said that the trouble occurred when removing the screen to replace the battery. So the screen coming loose was the problem, hence I would have to pay for all repairs. When I pointed out the screen would have had to be removed regardless, no matter what the problem was, the guy lied to me. "Apple has special techniques for replacing batteries that didn't involve removing the screen", he said. OH REALLY? The iPhone SE case is solid aluminum. The only way to open it is to remove the screen. There is no special technique to replace the battery without removing the screen. He wouldn't budge, though. Insisting I would have to pay the cost for all repairs. I finally got a supervisor who agreed to charge only the initial battery replacement fee. BUT, he repeatedly made the point this was being done as a courtesy to me. Apple had not made any mistakes when opening my iPhone to repair it. Apple doesn't make mistakes—their technicians are too well trained to make mistakes. (Apparently Apple employees aren't human like the rest of us!)

This is much too long a post already, and I've not mentioned my many other problems dealing with Apple support.

tl;dr Apple is not the company it used to be. They now prioritize profit above all else. Screw the customer whenever it's convenient. Make excuses for incompetence. etc. etc. Claim removing features are improvements for the good of the product. blah, blah, blah
Apple even has an official policy of not fixing old bugs. Google "apple bugs no regression" to see for yourself.

The one good thing I can still say about Apple is THEY'RE NOT AS BAD AS EVERYONE ELSE. Perhaps that should be their new company slogan. "You think we're greedy and uncaring? Try dealing with Microsoft or Google!" <sigh>

 

[MacsRgr8]

Reading this thread (not all posts I must admit), I do realise what others have realised by now:
Being an Apple-addict, your precious data is centred around an Apple ID.
Photos, music, purchased movies, paid apps, (iWork-)documents, what have you.

I used to make sure I'd have an offline backup of my most important stuff, but, that won't work with everything. Thinking of music I purchased through iTunes Store, for instance.
Were Apple to decide to disable my Apple ID, (or what if Apple even ceases to exist...), so have no access to iCloud Drive, purchased music, etc. I would indeed panic....
Might soon be looking into a large storage unit...

 

[compwiz1202]

I ran across this old thread after googling, "how apple lost me as a customer". Quite interesting.

My own experience is different, yet similar. In 2010, I bought my first Mac, a MacBook Air. After learning I could use Windows on it if I didn't like using it as an Apple computer, I figured I had nothing to lose. Besides, Apple sells "refurbished" devices that are literally good as new, with full warranty and the works. Cool!

After a few weeks, I found myself never using Windows again. It wasn't a conscious decision—it just happened by itself. Note that I had used Windows since version 1.0. (Yes, one point zero!) At that time, Windows was literally silly. The box even said it was a temporary OS, a stopgap until IBM released OS/2.

Back then, Apple charged for OS releases. Going from Snow Leopard to Lion was huge. The windows could now be resized from any corner; what a concept! Many, many other big improvements as well. I was sold on Apple Computers. They were so much better than any Windows computers available at the time. Fell in love with Apple's trackpad, and still love it. Upgrading to Lion was painful though, as my little MacBook Air overheated and crashed whenever I tried. So I pulled out my trusty little screwdriver and checked out the internals. WOW! A computer designed without double-stick tape, jumper wires, and weird connectors in weird places. Also, could be opened from the bottom, rather than tearing the whole thing apart like other notebooks at the time. Impressive! Replacing the thermal paste did the trick, and was easy to do. Cool!

I recall several calls to Apple tech support back then. Most reps were intelligent and talented. They seemed to really know their stuff. I was impressed. Then I discovered there was an Apple store a few miles from me, one of the first Apple originally opened, in fact. Wasn't as impressed by their "Geniuses", but having a store close by to help me out was fantastic. There was nothing like it for Windows computers.

Fast forward to 2016...
Was still loving my iPhone 5s, with its 64 bit processor. My (refurbished) 2011 MacBook Pro was still running strong. I was in tech heaven! But was dismayed to learn Apple removed the headphone jack from the new iPhone 7. WTF?!! Next, my trusty MacBook Pro bit the dust. Unbeknownst to me when I bought it, the thing had been recalled, and Apple sued for selling overheating MacBook Pros. Was rather upset to learn Apple had sold me what they knew was a faulty product, but didn't mention it. OUCH!!!! Next time, I'll do more research. This was my first impression that Apple wasn't as good as it was cracked up to be. Was getting the impression they were sneaky and underhanded. Was this a sign of things to come? Since Steve Jobs had passed, Apple seemed to be returning to the greed they were known for before talking Mr. Jobs into taking over again in 1997.

Here's a list of notable a few things that happened to me personallysince 2016...
* Upgraded from my iPhone 5s to the look-alike iPhone SE. Got a pretty good deal, and it was LTE and 4G compatible. I figured I was set for years to come. It was much faster than the 5s, and still had my beloved headphone jack as well.
* Was still getting by with my MacBook Air, but wanted to get something better.
* I had grown displeased by Apple's recent Mac offerings. No more magsafe. No more standard USB plugs. And those new "butterfly" keyboards had no chance of lasting, imo. That was obvious to me from seeing their initial design. One piece of flexing plastic just isn't going to last. As it turned out, the keyboards were even worse than I imagined. But Apple kept making them, year after year. WOW! I smelled planned obsolescence, big time!!!
* In mid 2018, just before Apple discontinued the 2015 MacBook Pro Retina models, I splurged and bought myself one. IMO, Apple was going downhill, so I wanted to get myself one of the good ones before they stopped making them.
* In early 2019, Apple closed both nearby Apple Stores, so they could avoid getting sued by patent trolls in my federal district. BUMMER!
* I cancelled Apple Care Plus on my new MacBook Pro, since I could no longer take it to a local Apple store for help.
* In 2021, the battery on my MacBook Pro was bulging so badly the case wouldn't close. Was cursing myself for cancelling Apple Care Plus, until I realized it would have expired by then. Learned Apple would replace the battery for $200. (less than my refund for Apple Care Plus) Seemed high, but I'd had bad experiences with aftermarket batteries. When I learned the battery replacement would also include a new keyboard and trackpad, $200 didn't seem so steep after all. I was grumbling Apple wouldn't replace the battery for free, since they knew many MacBooks were having the same issue. Grumbled less after learning they replaced those that were so bad they literally caught fire.
Note: These batteries were all made during the same time Samsung phones were catching fire. Apparently, the Chinese companies making them were cutting corners. Samsung's fiasco helped Apple hide the fact that their products suffered similarly. Lucky for them, I guess.
* Upon getting my battery replaced, Apple said I needed a new screen. It would cost $800. But the screen worked just fine when I gave it to them. After a rather heated discussion, Apple agreed to replace the screen. They said they were doing it as a favor, since I was a long-time Apple user. This didn't sit well with me, since they obviously broke it when replacing the battery. So they were "doing me a favor" to cover their own incompetence.
* Shortly after getting my MacBook repaired, the screen of my iPhone SE was popping off. Another bad battery! Apple would replace it for a reasonable fee, as I still didn't trust third-party ones. Then got an email that other parts in my iPhone were broken, and the repair would cost well over $100. Again, there was nothing wrong with the phone when they got it for repair; just the screen slighly bulging on one side. Called Apple support to discuss this. The guy said that the trouble occurred when removing the screen to replace the battery. So the screen coming loose was the problem, hence I would have to pay for all repairs. When I pointed out the screen would have had to be removed regardless, no matter what the problem was, the guy lied to me. "Apple has special techniques for replacing batteries that didn't involve removing the screen", he said. OH REALLY? The iPhone SE case is solid aluminum. The only way to open it is to remove the screen. There is no special technique to replace the battery without removing the screen. He wouldn't budge, though. Insisting I would have to pay the cost for all repairs. I finally got a supervisor who agreed to charge only the initial battery replacement fee. BUT, he repeatedly made the point this was being done as a courtesy to me. Apple had not made any mistakes when opening my iPhone to repair it. Apple doesn't make mistakes—their technicians are too well trained to make mistakes. (Apparently Apple employees aren't human like the rest of us!)

This is much too long a post already, and I've not mentioned my many other problems dealing with Apple support.

tl;dr Apple is not the company it used to be. They now prioritize profit above all else. Screw the customer whenever it's convenient. Make excuses for incompetence. etc. etc. Claim removing features are improvements for the good of the product. blah, blah, blah
Apple even has an official policy of not fixing old bugs. Google "apple bugs no regression" to see for yourself.

The one good thing I can still say about Apple is THEY'RE NOT AS BAD AS EVERYONE ELSE. Perhaps that should be their new company slogan. "You think we're greedy and uncaring? Try dealing with Microsoft or Google!" <sigh>

This stuff is ridiculous with lots of companies now, but this scenario seems a bit worse. Some companies will screw customers but do something if called out. But the great majority never know or care. But you had to fight tooth and nail, and they still didn't admit guilt. How many would just take it up the tailpipe and pay?