I’m considering whether to leave my position as well. Vent incoming.
I started working on computers for Apple because I loved repairing electronics. I still do, but it’s become a much, much smaller component of my work as Apple computers have condensed down from separate modules to a few complete assemblies. My focus then shifted toward customer service. Fixing computers for the individual and finding enjoyment in their reactions.
But its become much harder to find individuals who appreciate your work. I turned around repairs in 3 days on average. That was reduced to 2 days. Now, customers sometimes become irate when their repair isn’t performed same day, on the spot. It places pressure on workshops and technicians to perform beyond their limitations. Sometimes I start early in the morning before work hours, and sometimes forego breaks just to ensure a computer leaves the workshop on time, scrambling to reassemble and test computers between customer walk-ins and phone calls.
Mistakes happen. It’s inevitable. Customers get mad. I shouldn’t let it bother me, but it does.
It was such a simple error. A SIM card was presumably left in an iPhone before it was sent to Apple’s repair facility for service. Apple’s policy is to automatically remove and discard any SIM cards left in an iPhone sent in for service. So this iPhone was returned without the customer’s SIM card, and I had the pleasure of serving them and delivering the good news.
They went off. I’m a p*ss poor excuse of a technician, and my colleague is an arrogant pr*ck. Am I stupid? Am I incapable of following a simple procedure? And why the f*ck am I just standing there? MOVE!
As if there were anything else I could do. I had no control over the situation. Someone boxed the phone, Apple discarded the SIM. They held the cards, smirking as they berated me, becoming harsher and more personal with each remark, waiting for my composure to crack. I walked out, consequences be damned.
And in that moment, I realised that the last enjoyable aspect of my job was gone. Customers don’t care about the work, time, effort and care that went into a job anymore. The repairs are never done fast enough, or cheap enough, even though they’re certainly done well enough.
Sometimes there are good customers, and the exchanges are civil. But it’s the anger and hatred that becomes seared into your memory over time, or at least for me it does.
But that’s customer service for you. I’ve persisted for 8 years this year. I needed the job, the money. As some would say, “you need an income to live”. I have an income. But I’m hardly living.
~ M.