iPad Why does Apple still use appointments for fixing????

Who are you?

Really? So how many other companies allow you to go to one of their many store locations to get your device looked at on the spot for free? Oh I suppose they should just cram more people into the already stuffed Genius Bar because you can't follow instruction?

So go ahead tell me how many of those other manufacturers you buy products from have superior support than apple.

Ricky Smith said:

Really? So how many other companies allow you to go to one of their many store locations to get your device looked at on the spot for free? Oh I suppose they should just cram more people into the already stuffed Genius Bar because you can't follow instruction?

So go ahead tell me how many of those other manufacturers you buy products from have superior support than apple.

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The comparable to Apple's Genius Bar, Best Buy's Geek Squad doesn't require appointments.

Last I checked they charged to fix your computer and don't just repair every manufacturers computer for free. Also it's safe to say geek squad isn't even close to comparable with the Genius Bar. The genius bar guys may not be rocket scientists but they are by far more intelligent than the geek squad kids I've seen

thread starter got burned so quick. Dont you know we dont allow disrespect of Apple store in here?

And I don't think they would fix it for you. If within warrenty, they will replace a new one in case you dont drop or soak it in water.

The OP is one of the dumbest posts I've read today. Appointments keep things moving regardless of the amount of genius bar staffing. I'd rather see better store geniuses than more of them, and retain the appointment system.

OP just be grateful you have access to a Genius Bar at all. Here in ireland we have NO official apple stores and genius staff so if our items need repairing its often a protracted send them off and wait a week or more for it to come back. This is despite the fact that Apples European HQ is based here.

hreyhrey said:

Walk in to get my ipad 3 fixed and guess what?

The worlds biggest company with over 100 billion in cash reserves doenst have enough employee's to help me?!?!?!?

So now I had to make an appointment and come back the next day...

I've never seen this before in other companies

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While annoying when you do have a fault (says a veteran of the Genius Bar ) there's pretty much no other way to do it. On a normal day at most of the Apple stores in London all appointments are booked up long before the start of the day. Can you imagine what would happen if you had a 'just turn up' system in place, especially in the evenings and on weekends? It'd be absolute chaos and there's no way you'd be able to accommodate all those requests in the space they have, even if they did have the staff. Service would be awful, queues would be full from early morning onwards and the store would be unusable.

Sadly there really doesn't seem to be any other way to do this effectively. Remember Apple are selling 50 million devices a quarter at the moment (likely a fair bit more in the coming quarter) and that's just new equipment. Add in the hundreds of millions of devices already out there and you start to get some idea of the scale of the support problem Apple faces. Off the top of my head I can think of no other company that even comes close to providing support for that many units in a retail environment. All the big boys in the PC industry run either return to base or huge fleets of service guys depending on your warranty level, most cellphone service requests are handled by the networks and a network of resellers... The fact Apple's support model works at all is a minor miracle but the trade-off is this system of booking appointments.

I love the fact that you have to make an appointment for service. Think it is awesome! No waiting in lines and you get right in. Not sure what can be bad about that???

Ricky Smith said:

Last I checked they charged to fix your computer and don't just repair every manufacturers computer for free. Also it's safe to say geek squad isn't even close to comparable with the Genius Bar. The genius bar guys may not be rocket scientists but they are by far more intelligent than the geek squad kids I've seen

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I'm not sure about the intelligence but the genius staff is FAR more committed to getting you a satisfactory outcome than the geek squad. I've never left a Genius Bar unsatisfied.

hreyhrey said:

Walk in to get my ipad 3 fixed and guess what?

The worlds biggest company with over 100 billion in cash reserves doenst have enough employee's to help me?!?!?!?

So now I had to make an appointment and come back the next day...

I've never seen this before in other companies

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Apple's appointments are every quarter hour. I don't know what time you went in, but figure out how many quarter hour appointments were ahead of you and that's how long the line would have been if there weren't appointments. Now add to that additiional people who instead of making their appointments for later in the week would try to walk in.

I agree with the OP, except I have admit I've had similar experiences at other businesses too. For example, I went to the airport the other day and Delta had the nerve to tell me I needed a reservation. So I gave them a piece of my mind and decided, screw it, I'll drive. So I went to Avis and they had the nerve to tell me all of their cars were reserved. I mean, WTF!?! So I walked down the street and decided I was tired, went into the Waldorf, and they asked me if I had a freaking reservation! What is going on with the world? Whatever happened to immediate satisfaction?

It never would have worked this way if Steve Jobs were...wait, what?

My guess is that they do this because of the number of idiots who come in asking how to download apps.

hreyhrey said:

Walk in to get my ipad 3 fixed and guess what?

The worlds biggest company with over 100 billion in cash reserves doenst have enough employee's to help me?!?!?!?

So now I had to make an appointment and come back the next day...

I've never seen this before in other companies

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You must not get out much.

MacRumorUser said:

OP just be grateful you have access to a Genius Bar at all. Here in ireland we have NO official apple stores and genius staff so if our items need repairing its often a protracted send them off and wait a week or more for it to come back. This is despite the fact that Apples European HQ is based here.

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That's because your country is potless.. and you have cheap corporation tax

You should have stayed part of the UK, then you'd have Apple Stores.

HarryWarden said:

The comparable to Apple's Genius Bar, Best Buy's Geek Squad doesn't require appointments.

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Geek Squad: PAID computer support
Genius Bar: FREE computer support

Are people really not seeing why they use an appointment system or the difference in quality between Apple support and others? Having FREE one on one support in the consumer market is rare so where is this sense of entitlement coming from?

BREAKING NEWS FROM 2006: Apple requires you to have a Genius Bar appointment to get your device troubleshooted and fixed.

They have been doing this for over 6 years now and they do it so that you get the right expectations set as well as the best possible solution for you. The average Apple Store takes 300+ Genius Bar appointments daily, some of which can be walk-ins. They do this with a staff of about 20-25 that have been specifically trained.

GeekSquad isn't even free if something has to do be done to the machine. It is $100+ just for an OS reinstall....I've upgraded at least 50 people to Snow Leopard to sync their iPhone 5 and guess what, all for free.

OP - My best advice is get a clue and also, no one is forcing you to buy Apple.

GDF said:

I love the fact that you have to make an appointment for service. Think it is awesome! No waiting in lines and you get right in. Not sure what can be bad about that???

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Are you serious? Get right in? Most of the time when I make an appointment I have to wait close to an hour and a couple times close to two hours before being helped. What they need to do is space out the appointments to 20 minutes apart, at least. The current system sucks. I loathe having to go in for any kind of Genius service appointment.

HarryWarden said:

The comparable to Apple's Genius Bar, Best Buy's Geek Squad doesn't require appointments.

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Yeah but the one and only time I needed BB to take a look at something resulted in them fondling my old MP3 player for 2 minutes then telling me to come back in 7 business days. It was tossed on a shelf and deemed fine, 7 business days later.

Have you seen how busy the store usually is? Do you really want to wait in line until the next tech is available? I certainly wouldn't want to wait for hours on end to get service.

Have you seen how not busy Best Buy's Geek Squad is? No line, no one is there. So no appointment required. Could be that they're imbeciles, or it could be their prices, but either way... there is never a line for them when I go into Best Buy.

hreyhrey said:

Walk in to get my ipad 3 fixed and guess what?

The worlds biggest company with over 100 billion in cash reserves doenst have enough employee's to help me?!?!?!?

So now I had to make an appointment and come back the next day...

I've never seen this before in other companies

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No they cant! It helps them manage the load. Its better for the user experience if Apple does have people sign up.

Would you rather have to make an appointment or walk into the apple store and get in a line that looks similar to the DMV?

Sure Apple runs behind sometimes but you'll still be seen and can sit down and browse the net on their MacBooks while you wait!

I agree with the OP, 99% of the time I see " genius " just standing around and twiddling there fingers, even the ones that do repairs standing around. No reason they can't do simple fixes right on the spot. Btw I tried going to the apple store to buy a new adapter for my Mac, they told me I had to make an appointment for that ! I ordered it online received in less than 24hrs, horrible service from a multi billion dollar corporation that relies on repeat business. I guess minimum wage gets minimum effort?

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Not sure which apple store your at but here in Canada only time it's busy is at a product launch.

bogatyr said:

Have you seen how busy the store usually is? Do you really want to wait in line until the next tech is available? I certainly wouldn't want to wait for hours on end to get service.

Have you seen how not busy Best Buy's Geek Squad is? No line, no one is there. So no appointment required. Could be that they're imbeciles, or it could be their prices, but either way... there is never a line for them when I go into Best Buy.

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If there is a better system or company out there for free walk in service I'm sure Apple will study it.

Tech support isn't fast food.