Impossible to get Genius Bar appointments?

[Chicane-UK]

I'm in the UK and, for the first time in years and years of owning Apple products I've got a problem which I'd like to talk through at the Genius Bar - except having checked the Apple site consistently for the last week it's literally impossible to find a single free appointment at my nearest Apple store, or any within about a 70 mile radius. It only shows 8 days and every store, is continually booked out, all day long.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

 

[keysofanxiety]

Basically you'll have to make an online booking just after midnight or some other time -- pretty much as soon as the 8 day advance bookings become available. It's a real pain, I know.

 

[Chicane-UK]

I did wonder if this is what it was going to come down to. They should at least have separate Mac and iOS device Genius Bar appointments as I'm willing to bet 99% of Genius Bar appointments are going to be twits with broken iPhones.

 

[akash.nu]

I did wonder if this is what it was going to come down to. They should at least have separate Mac and iOS device Genius Bar appointments as I'm willing to bet 99% of Genius Bar appointments are going to be twits with broken iPhones.

The Genius Bar appointments are separate for mac and iOS devices.

 

[Chicane-UK]

The Genius Bar appointments are separate for mac and iOS devices.

Oh :/

 

[maflynn]

For a company that prides itself on customer service, I'm shocked that it takes so long for them to look at a defective product.

 

[Chicane-UK]

Well, quite. I mean people were rattling on about the high price of the Google Pixel, and saying that one of the reasons why Apple charge such high prices are because you can walk into a bricks and mortar store and get support - and that you can't do that with Google. However I didn't realise that actually getting that support in a store would be so challenging!

I just checked the site again and can find an appointment on Tuesday 1st October at an Apple Store about 10 miles from me. But not exactly convenient as it would mean taking time off work.

 

[aristobrat]

Well, quite. I mean people were rattling on about the high price of the Google Pixel, and saying that one of the reasons why Apple charge such high prices are because you can walk into a bricks and mortar store and get support - and that you can't do that with Google. However I didn't realise that actually getting that support in a store would be so challenging!

I just checked the site again and can find an appointment on Tuesday 1st October at an Apple Store about 10 miles from me. But not exactly convenient as it would mean taking time off work.

This is location dependent. I just looked and both of the Apple Stores in my area have a couple of Mac and iPhone openings for today (and a lot for the rest of the week).

In regards to the iPhone, I usually get AppleCare+ which allows for free overnight replacements (through Apple Support online or telephone). Skip the store entirely.

Ironically, it seems like every time that MacRumors announces a new (or expanded) Apple Store opening, so many folks here bitch about how stupid that was for Apple to do, since products aren't being updated as quickly as they used to. Seems like those folks forget about the support aspect that stores offer, and how crowded some existing stores are.

 

[jgelin]

For a company that prides itself on customer service, I'm shocked that it takes so long for them to look at a defective product.

I literally waited 6 days for an appointment, to be told to come back in 3-5 days when they had a replacement in stock. It's 2 hours round trip. It really sucked. Then I tried to cancel a reservation and it wouldn't even let me. Maybe that's why they are always so booked, their support portal never lets people cancel appointments!!