Well, almost. When I logged in to their care package to figure out how to contact them, I was informed that I was entitled to some 500 days of support. If only I could figure out how to get that support!

I wonderful little utility asked me repeatedly to identify the source of my problem and provide an explanation. After several iterations of reading irrelevant solutions, I started searching elsewhere for a phone number.

When I finally found a number I hoped would work, the recording told me it would be 15 minutes and that I should try finding my answer online.

No way! Been there! Failed at that! Please let me talk to a competent, knowledgeable resource who speaks English!

The coup de grâce after my problem was resolved, was an email asking me to fill out a survey about Apple's customer service. They wanted to know if I was happy with the technical guy who answered the question I already knew to ask. 

They asked nothing about what had made it so hard for me to control my breathing and tone of voice when I was finally connected to a competent human being.

Ask the wrong questions and you get useless answers. If you want to provide great customer service, you need to learn about the entire customer experience. 

And maybe the customer isn't the first person to ask. If James paid any attention at all, I am pretty sure he would have been able to detect the exasperation in my voice. I didn't want to take it out on James. It wasn't his fault I had just been screaming at the recording. So I told him I was doing my best to get my frustration under control. I wonder what James would say if someone asked him what percentage of customers fall into these categories:

1. Customer expressed frustration with getting help
   
2. Customer treated badly, probably because of frustration
   
3. Customer treated me OK but was clearly exasperated
   
4. Customer was calm and happy
   
5. Customer expressed delight at getting help so easily
   

This would be a great start and would demand nothing more of the customers. Imagine if James also asked for feedback right then and there from customers who clearly fell in categories 1 - 3. Imagine if he acknowledged their frustration and promised to pass on their comments. And then imagine if someone actually did something about it!