When it comes to customer service in Thailand, Apple’s Tim Cook wins

Three and a half years ago, NBC published a post about how the then newly-appointed Apple CEO loves answering customers’ emails. The piece questioned whether this would continue or not. Today, it seems Tim Cook does still respond to emails.

The question was recently answered by a famous webboard in Thailand, Pantip. Someone by the username Monster HD (note that Pantip has a policy that everyone has to submit a copy of a passport or a national ID card in order to create an account) says he bought his iPhone 5S from Thai telco True Move, but the screen was loose.

He searched online and found that people with similar problems were getting their phones repaired for free. Thus, he contacted a True Move shop hoping to get his phone fixed (Thailand doesn’t have any official Apple stores). However, True’s customer service responded that, according to company policy, if it’s not really “broken”, it won’t fix it. His phone screen was loose, but it didn’t come off.

The telco shop refused to fix the phone. Disgruntled, he came home and decided to contact Apple himself. He googled for Tim Cook’s email and contacted the CEO of Apple (see screenshot).

He even attached a video of how his phone was broken in the email. (See the video below)

Monster HD didn’t actually expect Tim Cook to respond. However, a few days later, he got a call from a Singaporean number. It was Apple customer service asking if he had emailed Mr. Cook. They went over the issue and the lady at the end of the line promised she’d take care of it.

A few days passed before the Apple Call Center rung back saying she had consulted the engineering team and the company would repair the phone. Long story short, he got a new phone, although it’s a refurbished iPhone 5S replacement device with a Hong Kong region code. Apple won the customer’s heart in the end, while True Move might have lost a customer.

Who would have thought Tim Cook (or his assistant) would actually read an email from an ordinary guy from Thailand? Applause to the team. But that doesn’t mean ya’ll should be spamming the CEO’s email right now.

(Editing by Paul Bischoff)