There are no sales metrics at the Genius Bar. They may give you options which include buying a new device but there is nothing they are graded on in regards to sales numbers.
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Anyone else feel like the “great customer service” at Apple is almost mythical?
- Thread starter DaveCPA
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Perhaps I should have said "if the problem is at Apple's end". A customer with a defective computer is a customer-end problem that can be resolved by giving the customer a new computer. Apple services not working, or bugs in software, on the other hand, are Apple-end problems.
Apple maintains a high level of customer support. Not every genius has the same knowledge or expertise, however I’ve found they do check with other geniuses if they are not familiar with the solution to the problem
Overall I would have to give Apple a high rating when it comes to tech support based on my experiences
Overall I would have to give Apple a high rating when it comes to tech support based on my experiences
Yes! This exactly! When I went to pick up my iPhone, the people who showed me where to go were really friendly and checked on me again when I was in the queue. The contrast with the person who actually gave me my phone was stark.
So, it not only depends on the store, but the member of staff too.
As far as helping people goes, the store in the UK nearest my elderly father were incredibly patient with him and gave amazing support. That's why I made sure he had an iPad, because of Apple's 'amazing customer service'.
I'm based in Japan where customer service is legendary, no matter where you shop, so that's why I was so shocked about my experience. It really does seem to depend on the person and the day/time maybe.
Used to be when Jobs was alive , now it’s
boring stores, overcrowded with no imagination or identity no more
As I am not in that world I can't argue the point. Just repeating what I've been told. However, here's a personal experience anecdote that leads me to believe sales metrics are true.
In August of 2023 I tried to get a battery replaced on a 6 Plus I got off eBay. I went to Best Buy because I didn't want to deal with Apple. Best Buy told me that Apple would not allow them to replace the battery and that their system was telling them to send me to Apple.
So, I made an appointment and went. Now, the phone had a tendency to shut off under use when on battery, but not when on charger. When I got there I told the genius the phone needed a new battery. I got the usual questions about backing up, etc. I told him that this phone was in no way a daily use phone and had no personal data on it. So, he tells me that they'd have to order the battery from their depot.
Which means they have one right?
And this is where things go south. He tells me that my problem of the phone dying is probably a logicboard issue. I tell him, the phone does not die on charger. So now he's annoyed and runs some diags. Then he tells me he can't replace the battery.
Remember, this is right after he's told me he had a battery!
Aside from the fact that I challenged him on his assessment there is nothing to sell me and he isn't going to make anything off the battery. It's a busy store and lots of other people with appointments. He can afford to see me walk out - which I did.
This is only one story, I've had others. One genius tried to sell me on an iPad Pro because it could be hooked up to a mouse and keyboard or something. I told him my Mac at home has eight displays attached. There was no further discussion of an iPad.
You say there are no metrics and I can't disprove you. I don't believe that though. But I'm wrong all the time so I'll give you that.
PS. There is no genius bar. That was removed with Ahrendts. It's tables and the genius brings you over to one of the tables. The bar is gone, has been long gone and isn't coming back.
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I've dealt with Apple customer support in both S. Korea and US. My frequent travels were the reason why I started considering going back to Mac during Windows Vista era.
A lot of customer supports in Korea would refuse to take the device unless it was bought domestically and from the same vendor, which is bonkers. Apple was exception to this rule, and still is, as far as I've experienced.
I know this is a weird bar to pass, also probably a low one, but that's the service I needed and getting.
A lot of customer supports in Korea would refuse to take the device unless it was bought domestically and from the same vendor, which is bonkers. Apple was exception to this rule, and still is, as far as I've experienced.
I know this is a weird bar to pass, also probably a low one, but that's the service I needed and getting.
I would be surprised if there were no metrics. The percentage of AppleCare to unit sales alone would be a metric.
If a battery is reasonably healthy then shutting off for no reason is possibly not the battery itself. But if a device is sufficiently aged and the battery is taking longer to charge and/or not holding its charge it’s on borrowed time. This is where your judgement comes in—what are you willing to spend on a 3 to 5 or more years device to put it back in working order? A new-ish device could be worth to repair particularly if it’s under a warranty. After that it’s a judgement call.
Once it’s no longer under warranty there is no reason you can’t get a battery replaced, or a screen, or whatever other repair from someone other than Apple, as long as they’re reputable.
But people can wait too long. I had to spend time yesterday trying to make someone understand why the data on her now dead iPad was irretrievable—if it couldn’t be powered on by battery or plugged in then it was toast with nothing to be done unless she had backed up her stuff to iCloud. And it made no sense to invest in replacing the battery on a 7+ year old dead iPad when you’re going to buy a new one anyway. I learned her current 3-4 year old iPhone had much the same stuff on it as her dead iPad wherein she could transfer the data from her phone to her new iPad.
If a battery is reasonably healthy then shutting off for no reason is possibly not the battery itself. But if a device is sufficiently aged and the battery is taking longer to charge and/or not holding its charge it’s on borrowed time. This is where your judgement comes in—what are you willing to spend on a 3 to 5 or more years device to put it back in working order? A new-ish device could be worth to repair particularly if it’s under a warranty. After that it’s a judgement call.
Once it’s no longer under warranty there is no reason you can’t get a battery replaced, or a screen, or whatever other repair from someone other than Apple, as long as they’re reputable.
But people can wait too long. I had to spend time yesterday trying to make someone understand why the data on her now dead iPad was irretrievable—if it couldn’t be powered on by battery or plugged in then it was toast with nothing to be done unless she had backed up her stuff to iCloud. And it made no sense to invest in replacing the battery on a 7+ year old dead iPad when you’re going to buy a new one anyway. I learned her current 3-4 year old iPhone had much the same stuff on it as her dead iPad wherein she could transfer the data from her phone to her new iPad.
90% of the time I have been very satisfied with Apple Customer Service.
As someone else said above - attitude is everything. If you are friendly with the person and are not walking in demanding a certain outcome, things usually have a positive result. But sometimes when you are out of warranty and something goes wrong - through no fault of Apple - you are out of luck. A lot of times, however, even out of warranty - I have been provided with reasonable solutions.
There was at least one time that I had to appeal higher up the chain of customer service. I had an iPad Pro that basically turned into a paperweight during the process of doing a software update. When I took it in to get it looked at, their diagnostics said that there was a hardware problem. But it worked just fine before the software update. I had to contact higher up customer service, and they eventually issued me a replacement - but made it clear that they were doing me a favor as a one-time thing. The optics of it failing during an update in spite of working fine before the update just didn't look good.
As someone else said above - attitude is everything. If you are friendly with the person and are not walking in demanding a certain outcome, things usually have a positive result. But sometimes when you are out of warranty and something goes wrong - through no fault of Apple - you are out of luck. A lot of times, however, even out of warranty - I have been provided with reasonable solutions.
There was at least one time that I had to appeal higher up the chain of customer service. I had an iPad Pro that basically turned into a paperweight during the process of doing a software update. When I took it in to get it looked at, their diagnostics said that there was a hardware problem. But it worked just fine before the software update. I had to contact higher up customer service, and they eventually issued me a replacement - but made it clear that they were doing me a favor as a one-time thing. The optics of it failing during an update in spite of working fine before the update just didn't look good.
You used to be able to !! In the days of the iPod mini you could go on apple.com, enter a SN, and pick what you needed. Arrived next day via DHL Express. Did it all the time, sometimes just because I thought it was cool. Maybe I ruined it for the whole world.
Without going into the details, I have had some shockingly bad experiences with Apple Support. Like to the level that was so deeply infuriating that I was struggling to compose myself and attempt to be a reasonable and good person! I have had some good experiences too, but the bad ones were the type that should simply never happen, and the fact that they did tells me something- leadership, training, overall philosophy- is not what it once was.
I've only ever had good experiences. When I first bought my Mac Mini last year - my first Mac - there were a few things I couldn't get a handle on or didn't really understand, and I wasn't able to make it to the Apple Store for any sort of in-person learning (some have classes for new Mac users, for example). My recollection is that a tech support person remoted in to my computer and sat with me for almost 90 minutes walking me through different things and answering questions while we were on the phone.
That was the best service I've gotten, but everyone else I've ever interacted with has always been friendly, professional, and helpful.
That was the best service I've gotten, but everyone else I've ever interacted with has always been friendly, professional, and helpful.
My experiences with Apple service have been mostly excellent. I've only dealt with four Apple Stores (in VA, CA, CO, NYC) but in only one instance was I fed a load of stuff. That's in about 15 years. In addition I got good treatment, but a poor outcome with my mid-2011 iMac. They tried, but were unable to resolve the problem. I found out years later that MANY of that model had power supply problems that led to sudden resets, but only someone central would know of such a systemic problem. I'm sure someone did, though.
As with any big company, I imagine it varies a lot depending on who/where specifically you're dealing with. As far as my own experiences go, any issue I've had has been fully resolved to my satisfaction with a visit to my local Apple Store.
My brother had an issue with his iPad during the pandemic when stores were closed, so he ended up having to spend a lot of time on the phone and mail it in for repairs twice. When that still didn't resolve the problem, they sent him a new iPad (same model) AND a free set of AirPod Pros for all the trouble. I'd say that's really good customer service.
My brother had an issue with his iPad during the pandemic when stores were closed, so he ended up having to spend a lot of time on the phone and mail it in for repairs twice. When that still didn't resolve the problem, they sent him a new iPad (same model) AND a free set of AirPod Pros for all the trouble. I'd say that's really good customer service.
I tend to get better service calling Apple Support than going to an Apple Store.
Example: I was cleaning my Beats Fit Pro (yes, Apple owns Beats) and the tiny mesh screen where the ear tips connect just fell out and broke. I went to the Apple Store and even though I had Apple Care and they were brand new I was told nothing could be done. I asked another employee at the same store and he said “maybe try Corporate Support” so that’s what I did. Within a very short time on the phone, I got a lot more compassion from the Support rep and I was sent a replacement earbud directly to my house with fast shipping (I just had to send back the broken one to avoid being charged).
I end up calling in for support about 2-4x/year and the agents on the phone are getting much worse in every quantifiable way based on my phone calls.
Chatting with them is worse. I'll chat for a confirmation of a support question, etc. and they can't even answer or verify answers that should be available to them, but not easily found by me...
I was in an Apple Store in San Diego recently attempting to buy an SSD in-store. The store I went to didn't have it, but there was one in a different location in the county. The employee dialed the telephone number and handed me the phone and the other location was just rude. I handed the phone back to that employee and that person was rude to the employee and then hung up on both of us, such great customer service.
The employee next to me was dumbfounded, and grabbed the manager and told the manager what happened and that store manager was dumbfounded and apologized.
Fun little tidbit: while I was there dealing with the SSD a customer came in and bought a $5000 monitor and an in-stock Mac Studio... The employees were bending over backwards to accommodate this purchase 😂 vs a different location, being rude to me and one of their fellow Apple employees.
I kind of feel like that's a little snippet of society today at least in Southern California..
As usual YMMV
Chatting with them is worse. I'll chat for a confirmation of a support question, etc. and they can't even answer or verify answers that should be available to them, but not easily found by me...
I was in an Apple Store in San Diego recently attempting to buy an SSD in-store. The store I went to didn't have it, but there was one in a different location in the county. The employee dialed the telephone number and handed me the phone and the other location was just rude. I handed the phone back to that employee and that person was rude to the employee and then hung up on both of us, such great customer service.
The employee next to me was dumbfounded, and grabbed the manager and told the manager what happened and that store manager was dumbfounded and apologized.
Fun little tidbit: while I was there dealing with the SSD a customer came in and bought a $5000 monitor and an in-stock Mac Studio... The employees were bending over backwards to accommodate this purchase 😂 vs a different location, being rude to me and one of their fellow Apple employees.
I kind of feel like that's a little snippet of society today at least in Southern California..
As usual YMMV
Customer experience has definitely changed over the years.
The most extreme example of great customer service in my life was from Apple in 2012. I had a 2009 17" Macbook Pro, top o' the line model with matte display and all of that jazz, including 3 years of Applecare. It had been in the shop a few times for audio issues, always a same day turnaround and I worked about a half mile from the Apple Store. Well knowing the warranty was just about up and that I was experiencing occasional audio clicks, I figured I'd bring it in one last time to get it polished up for its after-warranty life.
The Genius looked at the history of the laptop, and said it wasn't okay that the laptop had been in three times for the same issue. Then he asked me how much the matte display mattered to me. "A lot," I replied, and he disappeared in the back room and came out with a top of the line 2011 17" Macbook Pro! "This is the only model that hasn't switched to glossy displays," he said. So I wound up leaving with a brand new laptop, and getting 6 years of usage off one laptop purchase. He even gave me the hard drive out of the old machine when I said I hadn't backed up in a while.
Meanwhile: last weekend I hit the Apple Store for a warranty replacement of my phone. Got a same day appointment. Back and front both cracked. Guy was prepared to hand me a new phone for $58 incident fee, but for some reason the phone was claiming it wasn't backed up (it was). He said to come back when I could after the backup completed, no appointment necessary.
I came back the next day and was handed a phone after a few minute wait -- but it had to update before I could do anything with it. I was pressed by the staff to approve a wipe of my old phone before the new one finished updating, and as such I had to sit there while the phone downloaded and installed the update for what felt like a half hour with nothing else to do. I flagged somebody down to ask what was up and the reply was "our wifi is kind of slow" (which is ridiculous in New Jersey -- we have good, cheap fiber everywhere). Eventually the update completed and I was able to log in -- and I sort of just left at that point.
Oh -- and during this entire interaction, an employee on a microphone was giving a demo of the latest Apple Watch to -- nobody. Nobody was listening to him, except for me and only because I was bored and sort of felt bad for the guy, having to give a partially improvised feature walkthrough to the equivalent of an empty room.
Was it good service? My self-created problem was solved completely and hassle free for a fair price, but it was weird to have to wait so long wondering if the new phone was going to actually work. It was weird to be on my own watching a progress bar.
The most extreme example of great customer service in my life was from Apple in 2012. I had a 2009 17" Macbook Pro, top o' the line model with matte display and all of that jazz, including 3 years of Applecare. It had been in the shop a few times for audio issues, always a same day turnaround and I worked about a half mile from the Apple Store. Well knowing the warranty was just about up and that I was experiencing occasional audio clicks, I figured I'd bring it in one last time to get it polished up for its after-warranty life.
The Genius looked at the history of the laptop, and said it wasn't okay that the laptop had been in three times for the same issue. Then he asked me how much the matte display mattered to me. "A lot," I replied, and he disappeared in the back room and came out with a top of the line 2011 17" Macbook Pro! "This is the only model that hasn't switched to glossy displays," he said. So I wound up leaving with a brand new laptop, and getting 6 years of usage off one laptop purchase. He even gave me the hard drive out of the old machine when I said I hadn't backed up in a while.
Meanwhile: last weekend I hit the Apple Store for a warranty replacement of my phone. Got a same day appointment. Back and front both cracked. Guy was prepared to hand me a new phone for $58 incident fee, but for some reason the phone was claiming it wasn't backed up (it was). He said to come back when I could after the backup completed, no appointment necessary.
I came back the next day and was handed a phone after a few minute wait -- but it had to update before I could do anything with it. I was pressed by the staff to approve a wipe of my old phone before the new one finished updating, and as such I had to sit there while the phone downloaded and installed the update for what felt like a half hour with nothing else to do. I flagged somebody down to ask what was up and the reply was "our wifi is kind of slow" (which is ridiculous in New Jersey -- we have good, cheap fiber everywhere). Eventually the update completed and I was able to log in -- and I sort of just left at that point.
Oh -- and during this entire interaction, an employee on a microphone was giving a demo of the latest Apple Watch to -- nobody. Nobody was listening to him, except for me and only because I was bored and sort of felt bad for the guy, having to give a partially improvised feature walkthrough to the equivalent of an empty room.
Was it good service? My self-created problem was solved completely and hassle free for a fair price, but it was weird to have to wait so long wondering if the new phone was going to actually work. It was weird to be on my own watching a progress bar.
Nope, since I hopped from PC to Mac in the late 00's, customer and Genius service has been top notch for me.
Whenever I've had trouble, they were super quick and even a couple times they covered the costs even tho AC had expired (granted neither were expired more than a month). That said, I do understand YMMV.
Whenever I've had trouble, they were super quick and even a couple times they covered the costs even tho AC had expired (granted neither were expired more than a month). That said, I do understand YMMV.
I have an Apple Store more-or-less across the street from me and they're at 0/4 for satisfactory recent interactions off the top of my head. Only times they're okay is when I walk in to buy a 3rd party item that they cant push addons for.
The "Genius" bar has *never* resolved an issue for me, though once on behalf of someone else I did successfully exchange an iPad that died in an update...
The "Genius" bar has *never* resolved an issue for me, though once on behalf of someone else I did successfully exchange an iPad that died in an update...