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The technical support call center for Apple portables is located in Canada. That means they handle the tech support calls for portables, which was formerly notebooks but now includes the iPhone.

I know one of the managers at this call center very well and they know I am extremely interested in the iPhone (I drove to the US last week to play with one at an apple store). This person told me some interesting information...

Because this call center is in Canada they need to train the support people on how to troubleshoot iPhone problems. The employees had never even seen a real iPhone when it went on sale, but they received a batch last Wednesday. The phones are obviously running on the Rogers EDGE network, but additionally they have Rogers sim cards in them and they say "Rogers" at the top of the screen instead of AT&T.

The employees have been given strict instructions not to make calls with the phones (not sure why). The person I talked to also said that the YouTube application was not working on their training units, and suggested the network/data connection is still not entirely ready for the iPhone.

This at least tells us that the ball is rolling (Rogers branding in the UI), but also that it might be some time before all the kinks are worked out (issues with the YouTube app). Anyway, I just wanted to share this info with all of you since I'm sure many of you are as excited as I am for it to make it to Canada.

 

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Meh, not a big deal.

Maybe not a big deal that the phone works on Rogers (it should), but it may be news that the YouTube app does not.

 

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Good news to hear, but your thread title is HORRIBLE!!!

What title should I have used that would not have got you so excited?

 

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I find it weird that the call center for Apple is in Canada

There are at least two Apple call centers in Canada that I know of. Peterborough ON and Saskatoon SK. I'm sure there are others outside of Canada too.

 

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I hate to raise this issue again, but am I the only one who things that it is strange that a new member to ehmac would make this their very first post?

DataGridDotRedraw if you are a legitimate new user, my humblest of apologies and a very big welcome. I think I've become skeptical because we've seen a rash of new users who pop in, post some rumour about the iPhone, and then disappear. Hopefully you will be a contributing member for a long time.

Your comment is fair, no offense taken. I am a new member. I have been scouring the web for information about using the iphone in Canada and discovered this board. I figured I had some info to contribute so I signed up.

 

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Hmmm....I need to be careful here, don't need to put my shoe in my mouth; it will ruin my lunch.

How about "Apple iPhone Tech Support Operates in Canada"?

Any takers?

That's a good title, but I thought there was more to my post than the fact that apple has call centers here. My title is accurate and I offer my sincerest apology for causing you such excitement; it was not my intention for you to interpret the thread as an iPhone fix for Canadian subscribers.

 

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I met someone that was a manager in a call centre for a US carrier based in the Cambridge ON area I believe. When I asked why they were located up here, she said one word: "accents". Americans refuse to deal with someone who sounds 'foreign' to them. She said that she's even been accused herself of having an 'accent' and her speaking voice was as WASPy sounding as you can get.

In addition to accents, turn over at Canadian call centers is lower than American call centers (while still being high compared to other industries of course). Also, the people who will work for slightly above minimum wage in Canada are, on average, better educated than the same income demographic in the US - generally meaning your call center is going to offer better service from people who are more reliable and make better decisions.

It's not as cheap as India, but the quality is a lot better. Another person I know works for a big consulting company who sets up a lot of call centers in India and a big problem there is a cultural norm to take an afternoon tea break... everyone, together... Nobody is on the phones! "We're sorry, wait times are above average. Please remain on the line and your call will be answered in priority sequence."

I was surprised, I called Bell yesterday at 6pm to see when my current contract is up and there was no wait at all. The iPhone will likely be out before my contract is up, so it'll cost me an extra $240 if I want an iPhone right away. I'll still be first in line.

 

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OT: Is this serious? I'm from Toronto, study languages, and haven't heard anyone say aboot.

The way we say it doesn't sound funny unless you listen closely to the way they say it. It almost sounds like we say "a boat". We don't generally notice the difference between how we say it and they say it, but they do... and of course their way is right.

The accent also applies to words like: out, shout...etc.

They also use different words than we do for somethings... trash (garbage), atm (bank machine), restroom (washroom), grill (bbq)...etc. ATM is fairly popular here, but if you say "Bank Machine' there they look at you like an alien.

 

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I hear people say "aboat", "oat" (for out), and "hoese" (for house), every single day.

Ya, after living in California and returning to Canada I hear it too. I had to change the way I said many words while I was there because I couldn't get through a sentence without somebody laughing or asking me to say that word again.