What not to do with an iPhone

[jt2ga65]

Out of curiosity, what changes would you make to the Apple Store so that you wouldn't have had to wait 25 hours?

My suggestion is to have someone there to deal with returns, and schedule service. While I was there, there was a genius that took about 35 minutes to tell this woman that she needed to leave her computer there for someone else to look at. Maybe it was the wizard, I'm not sure. The genius didn't even look at the woman's computer. Why did this need to be 35 minutes? I'm not sure. I was more concerned about the genius that was attempting to help me.

Also, at this store, all the geniuses were multitasking. Mine was trying to recover the student's hard drive (which he ended up erasing instead) and calling out the next appointment's name so he could try to serve three people at once. I think that's because they only allot ten or fifteen minutes per appointment, and both of us were a little longer than that.

I have no idea how you return something you bought at the Apple Store. I'm not sure if you have to snag someone that's trying to get a commission, or if you have to make an appointment with a genius. That whole concept seems a little weird.

They should have someone there that's dedicated to simple quick things, like processing returns and taking items in to be sent off for repair. I certainly didn't need a genius to tell me that my iPhone was scratched and that it would have to be sent off for repair. That was obvious. Even a moron could have seen that. Maybe Apple is afraid that having someone to do that in the store would seem like they are admitting that they hardware isn't perfect and immune to damage. To me, it's more like saying that they don't care.

If I dropped my phone, I WOULD suck it up and move on. In fact, I've dropped several phones previous to my having the iPhone, and it caused cosmetic damage. I sucked it up each time, because *I* dropped it, it's my own stupidity that caused the drop to happen. It sucked that the phone didn't look so pristine anymore and there were blemishes, but the phone still worked, and I was thankful for that.

I AM sucking it up. I'm not begging people to help me fix it, or asking for charity. I'm not even asking Apple to replace it for free like I have seen other people that have scratched them. I guess you would also suck it up if the iPhone stopped working without any physical damage? That seems to be what you are saying.

My point is that since I damaged it, I wanted to PAY FOR THE REPAIR, and the customer service at the Apple Store sucked so badly. Should I just suck it up for the poor customer service? Would you? If I were to call you all kind of nasty names, would you just suck that up too? I'm not saying that I'm going to call you names, just pointing out that there are two issues here. I dropped the phone. I'm dealing with that, ie paying for it to be repaired. I have absolutely no problem with that. It's my fault for picking a case that didn't protect the phone well. It's my fault for continuing to use the case when I saw that it was getting loose. The price I have to pay for this is the cost of getting it repaired, and being without the phone for a week or so.

I suppose that if your car slid on some ice into a phone pole, and the repair shop took 10 times longer to get your work order written up that you would be happy to suck that up too. I figure that normally takes about 25-30 minutes, so you're gonna be there all day. That OK with you?

Really, if you think I should just suck this up, ask yourself, is that universal for you? I value the sleekness of the iPhone. I want it fixed. I'm willing to pay for that. Why can't I express my aggravation with the process of getting it into service, when it's SO much easier to do at almost any other computer store.

This is also a serious problem to consider when thinking about my next computer. Along with all the other reasons for not buying a Mac, here's another one. And... Apple charges a premium for their hardware. I've always liked the Mac OS better than Windows, and since OSX, I think it's as good as a Unix user interface, but... Is that enough to make up for all the reasons for NOT getting one?

Listen, I like my iPhone, and if the price of having one is that I have to put up with this type of customer service, then so be it. Maybe I'll try Apple Care phone support next time, but I'm guessing that they would be even less helpful. Phone support usually is.

And if you don't like my gripe about it... Well, I guess YOU just have to suck it up.

-jt2

 

[jt2ga65]

I think that, instead of writing on a users' forum to tell everyone how horrible your experience was, you might want to try contacting Apple's Customer Service department. Tell them what happened with your holster (maybe if they get enough valid complaints, they'll stop selling it) and how the Genius wasn't as helpful as you'd like (maybe the system needs to be revamped or perhaps they need more training) and how you had to wait so long to get service (maybe they need to hire more staff).

Well... Maybe I should call Apple about my experience. I seriously doubt that they will care. One thing for certain is that talking to Apple would not share my expereince with the users.

I posted to the users forum for a reason. That's to let all the users know of my experience and to be wary of it. The guys at the store were surprised that I wanted them to send the phone in for repair. I suspect that most people would just piss and moan about how they dropped their phone and thing that they had to buy a new one. I wanted to let people know that they could get it fixed, and what the price of that would be. And also warn people to be aware of the case, and be careful not to drop their phone as I had done.

I also wanted to see if other people were disappointed at the setup of the genius bar.

I really wasn't expecting people to be hostile about me saying that my experience at the Apple Store was less than I expected. I'm uncertain that the hostility is called for. Maybe someone thinks that I'm calling them idiots for liking Apple, or something. That's certainly not the case, as I like Apple as well. I wouldn't have my G4 still if I didn't.

Who knows. The phone if off for repair. Hopefully they will repair it to my satisfaction and I won't have to deal with the Apple Store again. When I finally decide to buy a new Mac, I'll do it either through the online store, or from Micro Center. Either way it's beat having to deal with the crowded Apple Store. Insurance on the card may cover it, but they may not. Either way, that's already done.

-jt2

 

[aristobrat]

I have no idea how you return something you bought at the Apple Store. I'm not sure if you have to snag someone that's trying to get a commission, or if you have to make an appointment with a genius. That whole concept seems a little weird.

Apple employees don't earn commission. They don't even earn a bonus if their store "does well".

If you wanted to do a product "return", anyone on the sales floor could have helped you. You didn't even need to walk all the way back to POS as most folks on the floor have an "EasyPay" PDA that allows them to do returns/make sales from anywhere in the store.

They should have someone there that's dedicated to simple quick things, like processing returns and taking items in to be sent off for repair.

Mac specialists are trained in most simple, quick things, like the 5 R's of how to bring an iPod back to life.

But if something has to go back to the Apple depot for repair, it needs a little screening, no? And how would you suggest they implement a policy that says "if you have something simple, quick, go see Billy", when you know that 1/2 the people walking in thinking their problems are simple and quick when they're not. As someone whose done Unix software and hardware support, you should know how *that* works. So now the "simple and quick" guy has 5 people lined up because the guy who thought his phone needed to go back to the Apple depot really only needed to have iTunes do a software restore, but the guy doesn't know how to do that, so now Billy's walking him through that. I don't think your solution scales with the thousands of folks that walk into an the average Apple store every day.

And the thing is, if you had made half the stink about how disappointed you felt about the service to a manager while you were in one of the two Apple stores, I'd be very surprised if they didn't pull the the Genius working on other peoples computers on the bench in the back (sorry to ruin the magic that happens "behind the curtains" for you) to help you.

 

[jt2ga65]

But if something has to go back to the Apple depot for repair, it needs a little screening, no? And how would you suggest they implement a policy that says "if you have something simple, quick, go see Billy", when you know that 1/2 the people walking in thinking their problems are simple and quick when they're not. As someone whose done Unix software and hardware support, you should know how *that* works. So now the "simple and quick" guy has 5 people lined up because the guy who thought his phone needed to go back to the Apple depot really only needed to have iTunes do a software restore, but the guy doesn't know how to do that, so now Billy's walking him through that. I don't think your solution scales with the thousands of folks that walk into an the average Apple store every day.

I don't think that it's that extreme. Have you ever went to a car dealer for service? The service manager doesn't fix your car, but if it's chimp simple, they will often take care of you right there. If it's as simple as pushing a button, then then they usually do it, and send you on the way. It it's a little more complex, like an oil change, then they send your car to the back and have you wait. If it's down for the count, and needs some serious repair, they either schedule an appointment for you, or send you home in a courtesy car. Sometimes you only get a ride home in the courtesy car.

Why couldn't the Apple store work out like this. There's no commission, so what difference does it make if someone is selling stuff, or helping people with their problems? Considering that many people come in to the store, and are told that they need to schedule an appointment on one of the computers there, I don't see much difference there. Someone could be the screener, could be the service manager. When I walked in for my appointment, I had to wade through about 25 people that were standing around for the three geniuses that were at the store. I have no idea what the deal was with them. No place to check in, or know if they called my name already and I missed it. No idea what you are supposed to do. Lucky I was there a couple minutes early, but I WAS the first listed on the board.

I did just about loose if with the wizard guy when he told me it was $50 more than the first guy. I really don't know what was up with that. But since it took 40 minutes to get to that point, I decided that I'd just deal with it, and count my blessings that it was handled and I wouldn't have to deal with it any more.

I'm sure there could be plenty studies of efficiencies that could be done. I'm not one to do those types of studies.

And, you are right. A lot of people think thinks are simple and call me. Some times they are. Some times they are not. I have a process for all of them. And if it isn't a 10 second fix, I tell them that they have to send an email to a role account and someone will help them. I love telling directors and VPs that. And if they don't follow the process, they don't get helped. But I'm more than happy to tell them how the process works. And it's a well published process. Every employee gets it the moment they walk in the door. I don't know if that is true with the process at the Apple Store.

Whatever. It's done now, and hopefully I won't have to deal with it. And if I do, I now know what to expect, and will probably call the apple care people instead.

-jt2

 

[aristobrat]

It's $199 to repair the 4gb model and $249 to repair the 8gb model. That's the $50 difference. And chances are that they're going to send you a brand new unit back instead of repairing it.

I think you're being overly simplistic by suggesting that basically everyone in the store should be a Genius (since that's what it'd take to implement your idea that everyone "should be able to help with their problems". Like I mentioned, the sales folk (Mac Specialists) are trained in triaging the most common issues (to prevent filling the Genius Bar up with needlessly simple problems).

Like I said, had you expressed your dissatisfaction with the service to one of the managers, they probably would have acted as the "service manager" and called "the guy behind the curtains" out to help you.

I think it's funny you mentioned that you have a process, and you don't give directors or VPs any preferential treatment. Apple's had these processes of "if your equipment needs to go back to the depot, it needs to be screened by a Genius" and "Any work with a Genius needs an appointment" policies for several years now. It seems to be that you're feeling rather much like a director or VP that was just denied immediate service to.

Glad your issue is being fixed and you'll know to avoid the stores in the future, though.

 

[jt2ga65]

I think you're being overly simplistic by suggesting that basically everyone in the store should be a Genius (since that's what it'd take to implement your idea that everyone "should be able to help with their problems".

I don't think that I stated that. What I have stated is that there should be someone there that can do the triage. Is it a random sales person? Is it the guy at the cash register (which I haven't found in the closest Apple Store)? I don't know.

I certainly never suggested that the sales people need to be able to make all repairs. Someone that is able to schedule a repair and take possession of your Apple device... I don't see how that takes a genius. And considering that Genius had to go get the Wizard to determine if the phone needed to go into service... Anyone in the store could have done that. BTW, the Wizard was in a red shirt. I'm unsure if he was a upper level in-store repair person, or someone that does software installs, or the manager. He wasn't any older than the rest of the people in the store, but he definitely knew their systems better. I'm not curtain how you manage to find a manager. They don't seem to be around on the floor.

I think it's funny you mentioned that you have a process, and you don't give directors or VPs any preferential treatment. Apple's had these processes of "if your equipment needs to go back to the depot, it needs to be screened by a Genius" and "Any work with a Genius needs an appointment" policies for several years now.

It could be true, but not according to the sales guy that finally showed me how to make an appointment. He said that they just recently changed it so that you HAD to have an appointment.

Glad your issue is being fixed and you'll know to avoid the stores in the future, though.

Indeed, the door bell rang this morning, and I decided to actually answer it. I hate doing it on Saturday mornings, as it's almost always nobody that I wants to talk to. I was surprised to see the FedEx guy with a Saturday delivery. It was the iPhone returned from service.

Now, I think this one is likely new, but only due to there not being enough time to have a large stock of refurbished units for exchange. I'm sure that in the future months, the exchange units will be refurbished. I've had 3 different refurbished Garmin GPS PDAs in the past, and they have all been excellent, and I was not able to tell the difference from new. Most manufacturers stock their depots with refurbished units. My old one is likely to end up in someone else's hands after it's been completely checked over and the cosmetics have been repaired.

I haven't seen the charge for the repair yet, but I'll likely see it on Monday. Amex is usually pretty quick about posting charges to the card, but Apple might not have batched it yet.

While I was not happy about the format of the Apple store, the quickness of the repair depot surprises me, and is a positive point on the side of Apple.

-jt2

P.S. The repair phone came in a cute little black iPhone box. I took pictures, but I'm sure they have been posted before.

 

[koobcamuk]

dont be pissed off at other people who may not know how to do their job correctly because you dropped your iphone.

That is what they are there for. Some of the Geniuses really are retards and I know more about Macs.