Genius bar appointments no longer easy to get?

[atotic]

Are genius bar appointments for hardware problems only now?

I've just had an unusual problem with adding a CC as my iCloud payment method, and thought about getting a genius bar appointment, since I needed to go downtown anyway. I have AppleCare+ too.

I could not figure out how to schedule one! It looks like the only way to get a genius appt was to fake having a hardware issue, otherwise the option to schedule one was nowhere to be found on the support app, or web site.

Is "genius bar appointments are for hardware problems only" a new thing? I loved having the peace of mind knowing that if things really go south, I can always get in-person help. I've only done it <5 times in 20 years, but still it was nice to know it was there.

I ended up on phone support for longer than an hour, and have been currently escalated to engineering. At genius bar, they would have had me at engineering in 10 minutes.

 

[kagharaht]

Yeah it's kinda been like that for awhile. Those guys don't do software help anymore. They direct you to call instead even when you do a walk in.

 

[joeblack007]

I ended up on phone support for longer than an hour, and have been currently escalated to engineering. At genius bar, they would have had me at engineering in 10 minutes.

The Genius Bar has nothing to do with Apple Engineering. The only way to have an issue escalated to them is when a Senior Advisor at Apple Support is not able to resolve the issue. It’s just the process, no way around it.

 

[joeblack007]

Yeah it's kinda been like that for awhile. Those guys don't do software help anymore. They direct you to call instead even when you do a walk in.

100% correct. They literally direct all software issues to Apple Support and anything to do with your Apple ID, password, back-charges, etc.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

At this point there's not a lot of reasons to even go to the Genius Bar anymore. The Genius Bar has become a joke compared to third party shops especially after they got caught by consumer watchdog investigations about lying about damages and trying to get you to buy new devices instead of fixing it. They even overcharge for a simple battery swap too.