Lessons Learned: Getting Help at the Apple Store
Posted on 01 July 2009, at 9:07 am, by Christopher Gavula
A few weeks back, I wrote about a poor experience I had trying to get help for my broken iPhone 3G (the mute toggle switch broke). The staff was seriously hung up on their process to the point that they wouldn’t even let me show them where the process was broken.
This past weekend, I tried again, but with a different Apple store. This time I went to the Partridge Creek store in the Detroit suburbs. The experience was totally different.
From my side there was one important difference – I made an appointment for the Genius Bar. But note, I didn’t do it the last time, because the support links didn’t specify that I needed to make one first.
I went into the store early on Saturday, checked-in, showed the tech my problem, and within 10 minutes I was leaving the store with my replacement 16GB 3G. Easy.
The previous store could have asked me to wait and see if there was an opening, they could have looked to see if I was mistaken in saying the website did not indicate a need to make an appointment (when you approach through the support side rather than the specific store side), they simply could have said I’m sorry, but we aren’t able to help you today, but they didn’t. This store, however, helped we quickly and efficiently AND thanked me for coming into the store AND apologized for the inconvenience of my phone having been broken. I left the store feeling good about my experience there.
Note however, I learned they are supposed to replace like with like. They were not even supposed to change the color of my phone. There also was no option to pay a fee and upgrade the phone to the latest model. If they had not had a 16GB Black 3G in the store, I suspect they would have had to send my unit way and I would have had to wait for a re placement to be shipped.
Lessons Learned: Always make an appointment if you need service at an Apple Store. Also, each store may be managed a little differently. If you aren’t pleased with the result to obtain at one store, you may want to try a different store (if possible) or take up your concern with Apple support directly.
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lebloggadget Says:
July 1st, 2009 at 9:15 amLessons Learned: Getting Help at the Apple Store:
A few weeks back, I wrote about a poor experience I had tryin.. http://ping.fm/RjCwM
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July 1st, 2009 at 10:02 am
I’m glad that this experience was better than the last!!
July 1st, 2009 at 10:53 am
It is unfortunate that customer support experiences can vary widely even within the same company. I have gotten service at Apple Stores many times, and rarely had a poor experience, but clearly that is not true for everyone.
I think it’s hard for the Apple corporate page to say that you must make an appointment in advance (and I suspect the original person was incorrect that you absolutely must do so or perhaps it is a policy for that store in particular), because that experience seems to vary a lot between stores. However, with the popularity of Apple products these days, it never hurts to make an appointment, and Apple’s support page should probably do a better job making that clear. I’ve learned that through less painful experience. We are only 15 minutes away from our favorite store, but after a few occasions where I showed up on the spur of the moment only to find no appointments available, I started making appointments as a matter of course.
It really does sound like there was a breakdown in communications with your first experience. They may well not have been able to fit you in (often they are booked solid and waiting around on the off chance someone doesn’t show up may be a waste of time), but they could have at least explained that in a more polite and informative manner. It’s good that you were able to find a more helpful store in the end.