In the past month, a couple of incidents showed me what a tough situation Microsoft is in when it comes to growing its business. They demonstrated a phenomenon that should make Steve Ballmer fear for both his job and for the future of Microsoft: It will not matter how good Microsoft products are if consumers don't have a positive overall experience in buying and owning the product.

The first incident happened to my son, whose Macbook Pro developed a problem with the screen. Unfortunately, it was several months out of warranty, and his local Apple Store said that a repair would probably be $1,200. However, the associate at the store had the ability to make exceptions. Perhaps he took pity on a poor college student, but no matter the reason; he said Apple would cover the cost. That is the kind of service that creates customer and brand loyalty, and it's not an isolated incident. Others have noticed the quality of Apple's customer service as well, and put it on par with other legendary customer-focused companies such as Nordstrom.

Now for the dark side. A few weeks later, my daughter went to get a case and screen protector for her iPhone. Our local Apple Store (a different one) didn't have the one she wanted in stock, so she went to Best Buy. The next day she noticed that the edges of the screen protector were starting to peel, so she went back to the Best Buy. The sales associate there said that it was a "warranty issue" and she would need to take it up with the manufacturer through its website. Perhaps he figured he could put one over on a poor college student, but it outraged my wife, who went over there and set them straight. Instead of asking them to simply reapply the screen protector, which is all my daughter wanted, she got a full refund. Then she waited for the Apple Store to get the product back in stock.

I know we are not alone here. Go to Yelp and search for just about any city. You'll find that the comments for Best Buy generally are negative and Apple reviews are generally positive. The same goes for sites like PissedConsumer; the Best Buy comments live up to the site's name, but the Apple comments are pretty tame. Many of the Apple complaints were about crowded stores and products that were in such high demand that they were out of stock.

I'm sure you have a similar kind of stories, ones that make you love or hate a company forever. Fair or not, consumers and small businesses do hold a grudge, especially when they feel they were treated unfairly. My father hated Ford cars and refused to buy them for most of his life because of a serious problem he had in the 1960s with a Ford. Even when Ford improved its quality significantly, it had to try and overcome the reputation it had created over several decades. Ad campaigns with slogans like "Have you driven a Ford lately?" were intended to woo back the doubters like my father, but it never worked. Such is the power of a negative experience.