Blog #8: China Receives Their First Apology

     On April 1st China heard their first apology, but it wasn't regarding the month long accusations on cyber espionage.
     Instead the apology came from Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive.  It was a surprise to Shanghai and the apology was deemed a sign of respect.
     Timothy Cook took the unusual step of apologizing to Chinese customers over a faulty company warranty policy.  Not only did Mr. Cook apologized but he also took initiative to find a resolution beginning with improving customer service in the country.
       The problem began with China's biggest state-run television network when they broadcasted, at International Consumer's Day, investigative reports on how companies (operating in China) are cheating and mistreating their consumers. The bad part was that these reports were about Apple.
      Soon after several other Chinese critics made comments of their won. The China Central Television criticized the American company’s iPhone customer service in China. It was mainly because they gave only a one-year warranty, while in China the law is two years. They also said that phone owners had to pay about $90 to replace a faulty back cover. This was not good news and it spread to People's Daily who published a series of articles about the Apple catastrophe.  One paper was titled "Defeat Apple's Incomparable Arrogance."
      Apple did not reply immediately to these accusations, but after two weeks of criticism they final decided to speak up. Apple responded saying, "We realize that a lack of communication in this process has led the outside to believe that Apple is arrogant and doesn't care or value consumers’ feedback...We sincerely apologize for any concern or misunderstanding this has brought to the customers.”

     This was defiantly bizarre for many but an associate professor at  law, Anna Han, explains how Apple made a smart move. They were accused of something and they did something about.


0http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/technology/apples-chief-tim-cook-apologizes-to-china-over-warranty-policy.html?hpw&_r=0

Melanie Maldonado
4/5/2013
4:23pm