Unexpected Disappointment – A Trip to the Apple Store
Posted on 26 April 2009, at 9:44 pm, by Christopher Gavula
My day today can be summed up with only one word – disappointing.
I had a couple of problems I needed managed, and I needed to take care of them at the Apple Store. Usually I enjoy trips to the Apple Store because of the excellent customer experience. Today, however, that was not to be. My experience was, as I said, disappointing. Read on to see the details.
I had two different problems with my Apple devices crop up recently.
First the ringer mute toggle snapped off on my iPhone 3G. That was completely unexpected. Then, night before last, I notice the battery on my 2007 MB Pro coming out. I turned the unit over only to discover that the battery was swelling up and had cracked it’s shell. Worse – my battery wasn’t the model that had formally been recalled in 2007. But online research showed that Apple had been replacing batteries with my model number too, so I was hopeful.
So I got online to the self-service Apple site and it told me ”Contact Apple Technical Support or take your iPhone to an Apple Retail Store near you. AT&T stores do not provide service.” So I took my phone and my swollen battery and I headed to the nearest Apple Store – 2 and a half hours away in Metairie, LA (suburban New Orleans).
The battery I know had been old enough that they might not be willing to swap it, but the iPhone was under warranty so I figured I had a good chance of having it simply swapped out for a replacement. The staff at the store had other ideas:
“Do you have an appointment?”, the staffer asked, as I showed her my broken iPhone 3G.
“What?”, I replied.
“Do you have an appointment?”, she repeated.
“The website said to bring the device to the store.”, I informed her.
“You need an appointment.”, she informed me. ”I can set you up for tomorrow.”
“I just drove 2 and a half hours to get here – I have to work tomorrow – I can’t come back tomorrow – how about on Saturday?”, I Asked.
Before she could answer, a gentleman, who appeared to be a manager, interrupted and offered me his card, telling me I could set up an appointment by going to the address on the card. I politely informed him that I already knew the address and that I had simply followed the instructions on their website which said NOTHING about making an appointment first and I repeated that I had driven a great distance to get there.
They just stared at me. So I informed them that they were completely unhelpful and I left the store.
This is so atypical of the experience I usually have that I found myself completely nonplussed. I felt like I couldn’t have any further discussion with them without shouting, so I chose to have NO further conversation. If appointments were policy why not say so on the website – everywhere where it might be appropriate?
I also could understand that they were following some kind of policy, even if it wasn’t clearly stated where it should have been, but did they have to be so brusque about it – bordering on rude? They didn’t offer to squeeze me in or have me wait to see if someone didn’t make their appointment, or explain to me that they only have appointments at certain times – nothing. Just a completely brush off. They didn’t even apologize for my wasted trip! Unbelievable – and not what I expected based on dozens of previous experiences at Apple Stores all over the country.
I don’t know if it was some new attitude at Apple, or simply this particular store’s staff/management, but I was, as I’ve said, disappointed – and unexpectedly so. Like being slapped by a friend. I just sometimes we just have to learn the hard way.
What have your experiences been with Apple Stores, and computer retail support in general?
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April 26th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I don’t allow store employees to shove me around. It would have taken the police and a threat of arrest to get me out of the store without my gear at least getting looked over.
April 26th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
This has been the process for some time now. It is ridiculously arrogant and pretentious, so it fits Apple perfectly. When I go into my local Apple store, they are standing around doing nothing until an “appointment” comes in and can only schedule appointments in the mean time. Well… That is not entirely true. If you ask about a product they spend the first 15 minutes bashing Windows and then ignore your questions with more bad mouthing. Try asking about the benefit of OS X over Linux
They should be doing what Verizon does – You sign in and they get to you in turn.
April 26th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
When I went to the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago I had missed my appointment, but they were very friendly and just gave me another one on the spot. They also got my computer fixed the same day.
April 27th, 2009 at 12:28 am
You have to make an appointment with the Concierge website. That’s the way it used to be. You used to be able to walk right in and use one of the store Macs and set one up that day. Not any more.
This is why I don’t buy many Apple products any more.
April 27th, 2009 at 4:19 am
They need to be much more clear on their web site about this. I’d have been way upset about this as well.
April 27th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Looks like they need more employees. The increased consumer base would suggest there are going to be more service jobs from more customers now, so the overall service level is suffering.
With all this talk about Apple Retail having shed 1600 ‘full time equivelant’ employees over the first quarter (probably temporary xmas contracts IMO), it looks like they should have kept a few of those empoyees on the books.
April 27th, 2009 at 5:52 am
I don’t think you always have to make an appointment. It may have been that they were booked up for that day, though. I know we’ve taken to making appointments in advance because even our store is often very busy.
I do agree that it sounds like they were very rude about it, and if they were booked up, it doesn’t seem like they communicated that very well. That may just be a symptom of the store. Most people I’ve encountered at Apple stores were pretty helpful.
April 27th, 2009 at 8:04 am
I had been very fortunate with the Apple store in the Boston suburbs when we lived there … I don’t even know where there is one now! But I wouldn’t drive that far and leave completely blown off … not without having been kicked out of the mall!
April 27th, 2009 at 8:06 am
I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience. My last trip to the Apple Store was not too long ago, and was the result of some not so great customer service. I had purchased my new MacBook, and had asked the store if they would swap the 320GB drive out of my OLD MBP for the 250GB drive in the new MacBook. They said no. A day or so later, I got a survey solicitation e-mail and filled it out. That day, I got a call from the Apple Store, and they offered to make an appointment for me, and swap the drives. Very much the opposite of what you experienced. I think it just depends on who you get and which store you go to…
April 27th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Yikes…sorry you had such a bad experience! I think the appointment rule depends in large part on how busy they are. There’s an Apple Store near me that is ALWAYS packed with people, and they run separate appointments for macs and iPods/iPhones. I’ve heard of people around here needing to make appointments 24hrs in advance.
They do need to fix the system, though, as it’s unrealistic to expect that every customer is going to know to make the appointment…and as a former manager for Borders I would have fired or severely disciplined an employee who treated you like that. Good customer service=happy customers…bad customer service=angry customers and bad publicity. I had a boss once tell me that a happy customer tells one person, and an angry one tells 10. I think you’ve pushed it way beyond 10, but it certainly highlights that lesson!
April 27th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Last time that I went in I had an appointment – it was pretty clear to me that I needed to make one ahead of time, I think based on previous shopping visits when I noticed the appointment board. They were taking appointments for later on that day for people who walked in without them.
I’m not sure how to react to this – do you expect them to bump everybody else who has made an appointment just because you drove a long distance? If you drive 2.5 hours to a restaurant and find that without a reservation that you will not get a table, do you expect them to give you a table anyway?
That said, I am frankly shocked that mentioning the phrase “swelled battery” did not get you a replacement on the spot, as Apple just let you walk out with a fire (and liability, to them) hazard. One of those guys should have walked behind the counter and got a new one stat.
Also, doesn’t Apple let you leave your stuff for them to look at later if you drop it off without a reservation? I thought that they did this.
Oh, well – I understand your frustration, but imagine that you had made a 10 am appointment and some guy “drove in from a great distance” and they made you wait an additional half hour while they took care of his computer? I’m sure that we’d have had a slightly different griping post instead.
April 27th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I think you misread my concern. I did NOT expect them to violate their policy for me, but I did expect them to acknowledge my concerns and maybe even apologize for lack of proper direction on their website. Their disinterest in recognizing that I had a valid concern is what makes for poor customer service and I do not plan to return to that store.