Apple vs. Samsung: Customer Service quality - there's a clear winner!!

Submitted by user7231 t3_zu65uh in iphone

Today, I want to give a shout-out to Apple for their seamless, consistent & quality customer service. I personally have never had a bad experience with their employees, never once walked away feeling disappointed or frustrated. I've always found their staff to be efficient, helpful & kind, and even if they don't know the answer straight away, they've made an effort to make some calls, do some research and get back to me with some solid information.

Today, I had to deal with both companies' customer service teams. My new Samsung SSD T7 external storage device had a hissy fit whilst connected to my Mac laptop, and is unfortunately now corrupted & has wiped itself. This has been pretty heart-breaking because I've essentially lost thousands of dollars worth of files, countless hours of my life & many treasured files. It was a bitter blow, but I'm going to persevere with data recovery options. I'm just praying that I can find some smart expert who can resurrect my files!

I'm pretty devastated, but I don't blame either company - it's just the nature of the new SSD technology, and it's also my fault for ordering a backup SSD too late (it's arriving in a couple of days). I only just moved my files to my new SSD yesterday. My laptop was wigging out because it was so full, so I decided to take the risk and delete the files off my laptop after transferring them to my SSD, thinking they'd be safe for just a couple days until my backup arrived in a couple of days. Guess I just wasn't expecting this unfortunate event to happen so soon - that's totally on me, I'm not blaming anyone else for this. I do, however, have something to say about how each company made me feel today after speaking with their customer "support"!

My call with Apple was incredibly smooth. I was linked up with the right person instantly, and even though my question were quite technical that even he didn't know the answer on the spot, he made me feel calm & supported, and did his own research and quickly gave me the answers I needed, and more. I walked away from our conversation feeling much more confident, and was given more answers than I had questions.

My call with Samsung, on the other hand, left me feeling frustrated, disheartened & upset. I was on hold for 20~30 minutes, getting bounced between phone operators, many of whom talked so fast that I struggled to understand them, or even get a word in. I had to cut one operator off mid-sentence to tell her something that I'd been trying to say for the past 5 minutes, and that I had to go. She was just about ready to hang-up too after speed reading Samsung's "condolence" offers to me. I can tell you, that I would've been more satisfied with just a few comforting words, rather than the discounts they offered to try and keep me satisfied. It just felt like another sales campaign - "buy more stuff". I understand these Samsung employees who I spoke with must be very busy, it's not necessarily the employees' fault that they're passing their workplace stress onto customers - I think that's on Samsung!

As a concerned & confused customer, who was feeling pretty heart-broken about losing her life-time collection of treasured (& expensive) files, all the conversations I had today with Samsung's "support" team did not make me feel supported at all. I walked away feeling frustrated & dismayed. For one operator in particular, I honestly would've rather spoken to a bot! Pretty disappointing customer service today, especially considering how much money they makes from us customers.

I've had a Samsung phone for years, but lately I've been considering swapping to an iPhone. I miss the ease of their technology, and the easy integration with all my other Apple devices, and my family's Apple devices and libraries. I definitely think some of Samsung's features are better, and they don't corner you into buying their products like Apple do. But based on my personal preferences, Apple's products still hold-up well. I've been umm-ing & arr-ing for about 2 years now, I know both companies have their pros & cons. But today's experience has cemented my decision - I'm going to give iPhones a whirl!

#shout out to nice people

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mtlurb t1_j1i4dbb wrote

I’ve never dealt with a company that has better customer service than Apple. Even if not satisfied, I politely explain why I am not and they will actually try to accommodate me. This is the reason why I keep coming back to them.

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SUPRVLLAN t1_j1klj6z wrote

I don’t ask politely, I demand satisfaction!

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Squinkius t1_j1hcyvt wrote

I’d rate Apple’s customer service as near the top (if not the very top) of every business I’ve ever dealt with. Samsung’s customer service, on the other hand, is truly appalling and quite possibly the worst of any company I’ve ever dealt with.

Samsung really need to improve, but I can’t imagine it happening.

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Lunafreya_NoxF t1_j1j059a wrote

If you think Samsung’s the worst wait until you deal with Google’s.

Scratch that, hopefully you’ll never have to deal with Google’s.

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[deleted] t1_j1hnldc wrote

May I ask why you don't have a backup of said lost files.? All my important files/photos etc are backed up on multiple devices and in cloud accounts as things can break.

Just another view but both my wife and I have experienced absolutely teribble customer service from Apple, my wife's complaint even ended up with her getting a lawyer involved. Apple quickly backed down at this point.

Samsung customer service I had to deal with once and it was very professional and satisfactory, so I would say it's just the luck of the drawer what customer service you receive.

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user7231 OP t1_j1hrf3d wrote

Yes, the sad thing is, my backup SSD is arriving in the mail in a couple of days. My laptop was wigging out big-time. It was burning up & wasn't working properly from being overloaded with thousands of large, high-quality files that are too much for cloud, and don't work with fast-paced functioning that I need them for. It's totally my fault for not it addressing the storage overload sooner. But to be fair, the degradation happened pretty quickly.

Since my backup SSD was arriving in a couple of days, I decided to risk it and delete my laptop files after transferring them, thinking they'd surely be safe for a couple of days until the backup arrived. Guess I just wasn't expecting this to happen to soon. But hey, that's on me - I'm not blaming anyone else for this.

And yes I hear you - it's definitely luck of the draw who you speak with on the day, hence I made sure to carefully choose my words, making sure to use phrases such as "in my personal experience".

My current perception is simply the reality of the sum of my experiences over the years with both companies. It's been the case consistently, so I've chosen to form my personal opinion based on what they've shown me.

It was never my intention to sway anyone else's opinion. To be honest, I couldn't care less which company or device people prefer! I just wanted to give a shout-out to good customer service ;)

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fortean t1_j1htzyc wrote

> thousands of large, high-quality files that are too much for cloud

Truly don't understand what that means. Onedrive and icloud work perfectly well for backups and are relatively cheap. Onedrive as part of Office is an insane deal, in fact.

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user7231 OP t1_j1i0z1v wrote

My prior understanding and experiences with trial and error using cloud storage for my Rekordbox music library, which has over 4,000+ large audio files, with new ones added constantly, is that is wasn't very compatible with Rekordbox/Pioneer software. Pioneer also doesn't recommend it. Rekordbox does offer cloud storage these days, but it's the most expensive subscription they offer and hasn't been affordable for me.

However, thanks to your comment, my curiosity was sparked about the developments in recent year and I stumbled upon a few interesting threads. No doubt cloud storage has come a long way in recent years, and it has been a couple of years since I tried it. There were too many issues for my liking back then, but I think I'll give it another crack, possibly using a similar method to what this man below has suggested, I'll just need do some more research.

I also think it'd be a good idea to back up my music collection in a cloud service, as well as my on my external drives, even if I decide it isn't ideal to use as my main Rekordbox database, just so it's there as backup to prevent something like this happening again. I'm constantly on the move and am often in places where I don't get the good internet connection, so the later option may be a go-er for me. I honestly just hadn't thought about it for a ages, but this experience has been a good kick up the butt.

Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/xdeyphbngw7a1.png?width=1662&format=png&auto=webp&s=fb40a8d4d5ace049317ec001db35402f3bdeecea

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[deleted] t1_j1hsa52 wrote

Since my backup SSD was arriving in a couple of days, I decided to risk it and delete my laptop files after transferring them, thinking they'd surely be safe for a couple of days until the backup arrived.

Guess I just wasn't expecting this unfortunate event to happen to soon. But hey, that's on me, I'm not blaming anyone else for this!

Dear lord, what an idiot 🤣

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Bhaelros t1_j1hssds wrote

Why are you not using cloud storages? It is much more safer than saving locally. For example use iCloud for storage, and Backblaze for backup?

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user7231 OP t1_j1ic39k wrote

I tried using cloud storage a couple of years ago, but it was no good as my Rekordbox database, and not recommended by Pioneer. I'm going to look into it again now though, after reading some of the responses in this thread. Won't make this mistake again. Thanks!

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Vladivostokorbust t1_j1iitdz wrote

Our network security director at my place of work recommends backing up with traditional hard drive, secondary backup on flash and if possible and practical, a tertiary backup in the cloud

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Bhaelros t1_j1ie7nj wrote

What about Onedrive, iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox?

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user7231 OP t1_j1ieosu wrote

Yeah, I'll be looking into all of those options, I'm just not sure which is best for Rekordbox use yet. I'll do some research and then decide what's the best option for me.

All my other digital files are backed up in cloud services, just not my enormous music library yet!

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Bhaelros t1_j1if733 wrote

Backblaze has unlimited space, maybe you can use it as backup?

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user7231 OP t1_j1igt4q wrote

Awesome, thank you! I'll check it out.

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Theblackroze t1_j1iw6jz wrote

How secure is backblaze? Like last pass secure or actually spends money worth a damn on their security ?

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Bhaelros t1_j1j06gt wrote

https://www.backblaze.com/company/privacy.html and https://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-to-make-strong-encryption-easy-to-use/ might answer your question.

Also, not related to privacy, they have versioning system. Normal accounts have 30 days of versioning of every backed up file and you can upgrade it to unlimited time versioning. I think it was extra 15-20 USD per year for that

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Theblackroze t1_j1jxhmx wrote

Also thank you for the reply and links. Appreciate it. Not many back their responses

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Theblackroze t1_j1jxfbq wrote

This is on their $7 per month plan? It is hard to believe that for $7 monthly you have unlimited cloud storage .

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moni11811 t1_j1hz2s3 wrote

There’s a rule when backing up that you should always have 3-4 backups of important files: local, external, offsite, and/or cloud.

You could’ve spent $100/year for 1TB with Microsoft, or $130/year for 2TB at Apple, or have multiple external drives. Sure, its expensive, but as a professional, these are the costs some times…

Any Storage you actively own is inherently just unpredictable…

Thats why I have a Purge + Cloud policy on most of my devices…

In terms of support, any company, aside from Apple, will try to sell you some solution. Apple doesn’t give a shit and wont try to sell you anything because they know ultimately you will buy it. Their support is at least 10-20% worse than most companies while trying to make you feel “special”.

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Samsuckers t1_j1i6csh wrote

Awesome customer service experience when I had to contact Amazon or Apple.

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gamr13 t1_j1i4yxr wrote

Apple support is really good, but I've had a good experience with Samsung support as well, they replaced my phone for a minor defect on the display, with relatively no trouble, literally just a 25 minute live chat with their support team, sent a few pictures of the issue, and that was it.

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Ramm94 t1_j1heb3b wrote

Hello. First off, I'm sorry about your data loss. Your point is well-taken in that a reliable and quality customer service is invaluable to a company. Particularly for a company like Apple, whose products integrate their own proprietary, integrated hardware and software solutions. This point is more of an aside (and I realize quite wordy) rather than related directly to the central theme of your message, however some important points I believe, nonetheless. I'm not familiar with your level of expertise, and thus I don't mean for any of this to come off in the wrong way. My first question is, if you had valuable files such as these, did you have a backup (or two backups?) I would also recommend a cloud-based backup solution in addition to a personal storage device for future, because cloud-based storage probably has its own backup and is enterprise-level hardware with great reliability. In addition, given the value of your data, it is probably worth looking into hiring a data recovery expert. Samsung is reputed to be a reliable producer of solid state drives, and a brand new solid state drive should be a very reliable data storage solution. I'd love to hear more details about how the data became corrupt.
With regard to the phones, I (like you) have been on a Samsung phone for probably the last 10-ish years. I (fortunately) have not had to deal with customer service. However, a phone switch will come down to software. Android vs. iOS. Both phones are very capable and quality hardware. In general, Apple software is well regarded for its ease of use and stability, as it's based on Unix (as is Linux, and Android for that matter). So the question becomes, what programs are you currently using on Android and how easy will you be able to migrate over. In general, I have not had a lot of experience with Apple products, but I have come to realize that their software platforms play well together (mac to iphone to ipad etc) but are not particularly reliable when it comes to switching between systems. I'm talking about "Move to iOS" and "Bootcamp". Now, I can understand with Bootcamp, because it is a program designed to create a dual-boot setup on a Mac, ie, adding an additional operating system that can be used on the same computer. I can understand that the Apple ecosystem is predicated on using their software platform and they're not particularly invested in accommodating others. However, you'd think that they'd like to capture more market share with a quality program that transfers data completely and reliably from Android, but that does not seem to be the case. Go to the Google Play Store and check the reviews for "Move to iOS". That is my current dilemma, as I'm looking to try out an iPhone, yet, I've tried Move to iOS twice and it failed both times. It fails if you sneeze or look at it the wrong way.

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Stephen_NM2022 t1_j1huzgt wrote

So is there anything here besides a content free sob story about laptops and SSDs in an iPhone subreddit? You haven't said a thing about Samsung support (for an accessory) other than you were unhappy, and have not said much more about Apple laptop support beyond someone being nice. Yes, Apple support is generally quite good for phones and laptops and Samsung support is middling. This all falls in the realm of Captain Obvious but it also has NOTHING TO DO with iPhones. You made poor decisions and it sounds like your Apple laptop combined with those poor decisions cost you your files not the drive itself. Even if the drive did fail (less likely since the laptop was already having issues), there was nothing Samsung could do for you other than offer a replacement or some incentive. It sounds like that is what happened so what more do you expect? As for Apple, did Apple support point out that there are numerous, not very expensive, software options to recover lost files from the laptop to a third device (provided it is still working)? Did they tell you that you will lose everything if you send your defective laptop in for service? What exactly did they do that was more than read a better script?

Seriously, everything here is on you, not the two companies involved even if one or the other device failed. You did not back up when you should have backed up. You waited until a device was having issues to protect your precious memories which I guess were not that precious until now. You seem to think an external drive manufacturer can offer you something more than a replacement. You think Apple hand holding is superior support when you have not defined a single thing they said or did to help. You have not laid out (nor asked for help with) recovery options. Again, if it is running then there are options. Last, but not least, you posted this in the wrong subreddit for group hugs.

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user7231 OP t1_j1iawsv wrote

Indeed, you're correct! I'm a fool, I made poor decisions! It's really sweet that you felt the need to go out of your way to make that crystal clear for me, even though I mentioned my awareness of my poor decisions multiple times in my post. Thank you ❤️

To answer one of your questions, the only thing that I possibly thought was a reasonable thing to expect from Samsung, being one of the richest corporations in the world, was slightly better customer service?

I never expected anything else from them, I simply asked them very nicely if they knew anything that could help me solve the problem I'd created for myself. I feel that was a fair thing to ask, after spending hundreds of dollars on SSD drives? I then asked Apple the exact same question - nothing more, nothing less.

My experience speaking to Samsung turned out to be a waste of time for both myself & the five different operators that I spoke with. One the other hand, my call with Apple was over & done with in 5 minutes, and I walked away feeling much better about my situation, with a few different options of how I could solve my problem, which I'm currently working on.

I would respond all your other questions, but you've rattled off quite a few there and I'm about to head-out for group hugs.

Why don't we just leave it at that, there's no need to explain ourselves further. Let's both just learn from each other's hypocrisy in publicising our negative opinions. I started it, so I apologise that it got you a little worked up. Seems we're both a bit sensitive today. Would you maybe like a group hug too? ;)

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[deleted] t1_j1hwd2o wrote

As a none native English speaker I enjoyed reading your thoughts of the idiot that posted in the first place.

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user7231 OP t1_j1ibli7 wrote

I'm really happy that my stupidity brought you joy! It must be a good feeling knowing you're far more intelligent than a silly, little girl like me.

Gosh, I have a lot to learn. How embarrassing!

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I800C0LLECT t1_j1k5l4q wrote

Hrmm. Interesting. Was the drive NTFS?…only ever used on windows machines? If so…you’re praising Apple when macOS didn’t even fully support it. You lost your files because of macOS

Macs use HFS+ or APFS format, whereas Windows computers employ NTFS. FAT32 and exFAT are recognised by both Mac and Windows devices but those aren’t commonly used anymore. You can check the formatting by going to the Apple menu at the top of the screen and following About This Mac → Storage…i think?

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