Weird Apple Store Experience

[blairh]

So I went to my local Apple store today and had a really weird experience. In general I find my Apple store experiences tend to be super pleasant and I also push people to purchase new iPhones in-store versus going to their carrier for this reason.

Sadly today I felt I had just an overall bizarre experience and wanted to share as I find it beyond the norm.

I went to pickup an unlocked iPhone that I had purchased on Apple's site. Usually how this goes is that I simply display the QR code to the person working the front of the store, they direct me to a table, someone brings out the iPhone and they ask me if I need help setting up, if I want to trade in my current iPhone, etc. Pretty standard, right?

Now that we are dealing with only eSIM's on the new iPhones I wanted to transfer the eSIM from my old iPhone to my new iPhone and then while transferring my data, trade-in my old iPhone to Apple. Again, pretty standard, right?

When I told the person at Apple that I was there to pick up a new iPhone and wanted to trade in my current one, she asked me if the new iPhone was unlocked or through a carrier. Not sure why this mattered but I said it was unlocked and then I said I wanted to transfer the eSIMs and data in-store and trade-in my old iPhone. She says that I can't do this because you cannot update the software on the new iPhone in-store. That it has to be done at home. This literally made no sense to me. I've done this multiple times in Apple stores with new iPhones. We have a back and forth and I keep my cool but what she is saying isn't making sense. I ask to speak to someone and she brings out a 'leader'.

The leader was perfectly nice but I explain what I want to do and he shows me some hesitation. I'm baffled at this point. He says that the iOS update on the new phone may take a long time and that they may need to download it from a Mac depending on the size of the update. I have never been told this before when updating to a new iPhone in store. I say that's fine by me.

So he starts the process with me and during some down time between steps I gently explain how this all is pretty puzzling, how I have always been helped to transfer to a new iPhone in store when desired, and how I want to trade-in my iPhone before I leave. I should also state that I told him that I didn't want to backup from iCloud with the new iPhone but rather use the 'transfer directly' option from iPhone to iPhone which takes longer but doesn't require you sign into apps, etc. He again pushes back saying both that trading in the iPhone via the mail is just as good of an option and that usually people prefer backing up from iCloud. Again, he's saying this in a nice demeanor and I'm being just as nice back, but I don't know why this person needs to push back on all these things. Apple offers you these options to choose from and he's making me feel like I'm making things more difficult for not wanting to do things in his specific ways.

I also explained how every time I've done this in the past there is always a table of customers essentially doing the same thing with their new iPhones or Apple devices. I'm not clear why this is all of sudden a big deal. Also, the store was extremely quiet. Low foot traffic. So that wasn't the issue either.

In due time we did everything but the whole thing just felt so strange. Both the person that greeted me was straight up wrong to tell me that I couldn't transfer my data and eSIM in-store and the 'leader' while being very kind seemed to be pushing back on everything I wanted to do for absolutely no reason.

I'd like to hear from others and what you all think. I'm seriously considering calling Apple and just trying to explain what happened and how this really should never happen moving forward. Thanks.

 

[blkjedi954]

Simply put, I think the “leader” was trying to support his subordinate, tacitly, mind you. After the rep made these assertions I believe the “leader” knew better but didn’t want to contradict the rep directly, so his soft push backs were his way of avoiding a direct contradiction which could lead you/customer to glean that the rep you made first contact with was incompetent or ill-trained. Optics. IMO

 

[Puonti]

It's also possible there's been a change in customer experience guidelines and the store staff is simply trying to transition customers to the new way without invoking "new corporate policy". It can be tough for the staff to navigate something like that when there's an expectation of great service. Anyone accustomed to the old way of doing things, like yourself, would naturally feel like there's something wrong or that you're getting push back when in fact it's just a new way of doing things.

I'm not sure if Apple's customer service would get into the weeds to explain something like that if it was the case, but it doesn't hurt to call them and ask if the service options you expect are still in effect.

 

[blairh]

As a follow up I spoke with Apple today. A senior advisor heard my entire store in detail and told me that I was absolutely correct. iOS updates can easily be done in-store over WiFi. I don't understand why both Apple employees made such a big deal about it. He also confirmed that everything I expected to happen in-store (having them walk me through getting everything transitioned smoothly to my new iPhone) can be done by employees and I should have received no pushback at any point along the way.

This whole experience was so bizarre and unnecessary. He said my feedback will be shared with the entire store. I stressed I wanted no one to get into trouble (I didn't provide any info beyond the name of the store), but that this should not happen to anyone else moving forward.