Tim Cook Gets Involved

We all have heard a lot of issues and stories about Apple’s customer support experience. They may not have all been positive, and some of the consumers may even be really irritated, but at the same time, we are given proof that Apple is way beyond other ordinary companies. Just the other day, I came across a story about a customer, sending a personal email to Apple’s main man and CEO, Tim Cook. We all know that the late Steve Jobs had a tradition of answering customer emails, and Cook made sure he followed through with this. This particular email led to AT&T making a “special one-time exception”.

This customer was previously refused the service that he was seeking from AT&T, which was the reason he decided to send an email to the CEO himself, hoping he might be able to help. Here is the personal email that was sent to Mr. Cook:

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Hi Tim,

My family is immersed in the Apple brand. All 4 of my children (aged 2 to 8) have been using iPod touches, iPhones, iPads, and iMacs since they were a year old. Our television is a 27” iMac using EyeTV. My kids talk to their grandmother every second day via video Skype on the iMac. All of our computers are Macs (we have 4 in the house). Apple has touched every aspect of our lives and made it richer!

My company recently moved me to Canada for a work assignment for a few years. My wife’s iPhone 3GS had finished its contract with AT&T so I bought her an iPhone 4 the day we moved to Canada. I took her iPhone 3GS and I contacted AT&T to see if I could have it unlocked so that I could use the phone with a Canadian carrier with a “pay as you go” plan for casual use (I’m forced to use a Blackberry for work, but I hate it so I’d like to use the iPhone for phone calls). This is where my problems began.

Basically AT&T told me that they couldn’t unlock it, only Apple could. I called Apple (but was routed through Apple Canada) and they told me “ask to talk to a supervisor at AT&T because the customer service rep won’t know the process, but AT&T definitely can unlock it.” So I called them back and the supervisor was adamant that they couldn’t help me. “Just jailbreak your phone” was their advice.

I didn’t want to jailbreak my phone, I like Apple’s curated experience and I don’t want to stray from that. However after several more calls to both AT&T and Apple, I made no progress. So I’m turning to you for a final plea.

I love Apple and will continue to buy your products regardless of what happens with this situation. However, I did pay $600 some odd dollars for this device (even though I bought it on contact and they say its subsidized, I’m basically paying for the device in my monthly payments) and I’d like to be able to use it.

My thanks to the Apple team, keep innovating!”

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Although this man never received a direct reply from Tim Cook himself, his email, however, made AT&T take action. AT&T Partnership Operations got a hold of him and informed him that it received his email from Tim Cook requesting to unlock his iPhone. An AT&T representative informed him that the carrier made a one-time basis exception to unlock his phone. He was then given instructions on how to complete the process. Later on, he received an email from his wife saying, “Um, Tim Cook’s special assistant just called and she wants to know if AT&T has unlocked your phone yet??? Why does Tim Cook care about your phone?”

I guess that says a lot about the current CEO of Apple. Good job there, Tim Cook. This only goes to show that he deserves to be where he is right now. Apple is lucky to have a front man that takes action, and makes sure their followers provided with exceptional service.

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