iPhone 11 I've Lost Faith In The Genius Bar

[ian87w]

Dang!! I just recently left my job at an  store and went with two of my former coworkers last night one whom is a genius and they literally told me verbatim what you told is going on at the store.

Telling customers that phones that are two years or older are obsolete and to position trading it towards and upgrade. This is unacceptable and shows just how greedy  is. Steve Jobs saved  after their greedy downturn over 25 years ago, looks like they’re headed down the same path but this time Steve won’t be around to save them.

I wonder if it's the leftover policy of the Genius/support division having to focus on profit. I believe that was the Burberry lady's doing, but she left the job already. But I guess Apple liked the profit part too much to change anything.

 

[luvmymbp]

I have repeatedly said on here that in recent years Apple retail and services staff has declined more and more in terms of knowledge, competence, and politeness. Some people don't see it, or refuse to, but I am glad more people are beginning to voice their discontent here. No one is saying that all customers are having bad experiences, just that there are too many instances of them. This is yet another example.

So true!! I've had a couple of unpleasant encounters recently with retail staff. The Apple "retail experience" definitely isn't what it used to be.

 

[ian87w]

There are great Apple Stores, and there are terrible Apple Stores. Depending on the location one might have a completely different experience with the Genius Bar than a store that is a few miles away. It all depends on management, customer base, etc.

I first worked in a large Midwestern Mall Apple Store where the nearest store was over 140 miles away - to the northeast and northwest. To the South, next store was 300 miles+. The staffing never felt adequate and we were always a half hour behind schedule. We constantly had an abundance of walk-in customers, and the Genius Bar had no more appointments for the day. Worse, we had customers who would make a 90 minute trip for a 20 minute appointment, bringing 2 hours’ worth of questions they would have banked; plus they were always late….. If we strictly stuck to the schedule and ended the appointment on time, we get an explosion of anger. As the only repair option for 10 million people, consistency was crucial for us, meaning we set a standard that we had to live by. No one wants to hear that Apple gave a different experience to a friend who went in for the same reason. I would consider the set standard was a little bit more restrictive than what it should have been, but nobody really had a experience to compare it to. It was just us.

I transferred to the largest (non NYC/LA) US region, where I was surrounded by other store options. Being at a Flagship, we had a plethora of extra help available and the work was ten times easier. I also had a 45’ genius bar to spread my customers out at, and a iPod bar to boot! Coming from a 20’ Genius Bar with 5’ dedicated to checkout, extra space really made the difference between me hating work and me enjoying my job. It was the most empathetic store in the world as we made the highest number of exceptions worldwide, a trend that carried over to an additional location a mile away. We had supportive management that trusted our judgment, which was always to lean towards the best possible outcome for the customer.

As we were well surrounded by other stores, I got to see what it was like to work in different areas with vastly different customer bases - the only thing that was similar was that all were pretty affluent. Over time occasionally working on loan for a week here and there, I discovered that there were some stores with outstanding local clientele, and others that seemed like they forgot what it meant to treat people like humans.

One side of the region was dotted with high paying union jobs staffed by the lion’s share of the country’s advanced manufacturing workers. I volunteered often to help their local mall store when needed… was a place exists that I would be treated with dignity and respect. It was a store frequented with the kinds of people who were grateful for the help, and would even send thank you cards after the appointment. Everyone was happy to be there, even employees.

On the opposite side of the region, I had to work with some of the most awfully entitled people I had ever had to work with. The employees hated their jobs and everyone wanted to quit. Employees who had worked elsewhere had a visible aura of regret in transferring there. Every customer needed to have their own Karen moment in an attempt to get us to meet their unrealistic expectations of what the Genius Bar was for. I got to experience this personally, if just for the week. I had one customer demanding I replace both his Core Duo iMacs because they wouldn’t run Lion…. He asked (even though I reminded him his Mac was 6 years old) “How could Apple just dump the most loyal customers like that? I want two new computers today!” He left with his two Core Duo iMacs and left me with the threat that he was going to get me fired for being an *******. The same day, Karen #55 spit on a coworker, which Store Leadership failed in attempting to pressure the employee to drop it… nope, he got a nice settlement out of her.

After working in a total of 10 Apple stores in 3 states, in Indoor Malls, shopping districts, Major Flagship stores, and a significant store….. what have I learned? Bad Apple Stores where I hated working at tended to have really bad customers, and bad management. The experience I witnessed delivered was reflective of what one would expect from being burned out by bad customer experiences day after day.

My advice? Try a different store if possible.

I almost feel there needs to be a wiki on crowdsourced data on which Apple store is good or bad apples.

I mean Apple is big and profitable enough to be concerned about inconsistent customer experience, or they should be.

 

[R_Allonce]

I remember taking a 2009 17" MacBook Pro to Apple because of graphics issues. They replaced the entire logic board for free and I never had an issue.

This year alone I'm on repair number 3 for my AirPods Max. The service and reliability of some products is abysmal.

I'm sorry you purchased the AirPods Max. Wishing you the best

 

[shaown]

I've always had good experienced, but the wait time estimates have been mediocre

 

[snyp1193]

I haven’t stepped into an Apple Store in over 5 years for a genius appointment for this very reason…Express Replacements all the way. Don’t have to leave my house and it’s significantly easier to get a replacement over chat versus getting anything resolved at the store.

 

[mizzourah]

So true!! I've had a couple of unpleasant encounters recently with retail staff. The Apple "retail experience" definitely isn't what it used to be.

I agree with this sentiment and the theme of this whole post - well, most of it. Going to the apple store - to shop, to repair, to browse - used to be enjoyable - I don't know if this is the downward impact of the pandemic, but it is no longer this way and the Genius Bar experience lacks in almost every way. It's sad, because I do love my apple devices and this was all part of the total impact, but it's just not the same anymore.

 

[Rafterman]

Genius Bar emloyees are no different than any other job. Some are good, some aren't.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

Some people don't see it, or refuse to, but I am glad more people are beginning to voice their discontent here.

It would be far more beneficial to the customer to "voice their discontent" to the manager of the Apple Store that the phone was taken to


Edit: spelling.

 

[AppleB]

It’s been 13 years since I had a Genius Bar appointment. It was for a 3GS with a failed speaker. They replaced the phone.

As far as service what exactly does Apple offer for out of warranty devices? Is it just screen and battery replacement? Do they offer the same repair and service options as a 3rd party repair place?

 

[iphonehype]

Went Apple Store today, trillion dollar company. Why not hire more staff? All I wanted to see is the Midnight Apple Watch but they are so busy its almost impossible just to speak to someone without waiting for 20 mins in the sales queue.

 

[_Refurbished_]

I’m not sure why anyone expects better with an apple grunt or “genius”. Apple is about getting you to spend money. He did his job as apple wants him to.

I used to work in the company closest to Apple, Disney, for about 10 years. Disney cares more about their branding than anything else, 100%. I’m sure Apple shares that goal. They love money and their money comes from trust.

 

[Mikeske]

The last time I had a issue was when I bought my 2017 iMac 27" 5K that I have. For some reason when I was buying it I decided to set it up at the apple store and they had no issue with doing it. I then discovered a issue with the first computer as the speaker did not work. The genius takes one look at it never does a tear down just goes get another one and we do the setup on that and I walked out with the iMac that worked.