iPad Stupid Apple Genius

I've never had any issues with the Genius Bar staff at any time I've taken a device in to them.

Thanks for ... sharing, though.

That was one long sentence

For a long time I had nothing but very pleasant experiences with Apple (brick and mortar) staff. I thought people were being overly dramatic or whiny when they went on about the decline of Apple customer service, but I recently had a couple of bad experiences of my own. Had an iPhone 4 still under warranty with a home button that was often non responsive. The tall lanky Genius said it was probably just grime and attempted to clean out the home button with the inside of his shirt. Then speculates that maybe I'm not pressing on the home button hard enough. I'm grown man who in part swings a hammer for a living. I think I have the strength to press a home button. Story ends without receiving any help for home button.

Then last week went into the same store asked if any 3rd gen 32GB iPad's with cellular in stock. Bespectacled hipster genius checks inventory on his device and confirms they do. I say great I'll take one. Says someone will be out shortly with your iPad. Wait around about ten minutes comes back out and tells me with deadpan delivery that they don't have any after all.

I know these problems aren't the end of the world, but such experiences do make me think twice before taking a trip to the Apple store.

End of rant

PaulyD said:

That was one long sentence

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LOL I'm out of breathe.

I don't go into Apple stores any more unless I absolutely have to. They're far too busy, and you have to make appointments for simple things. I've also bumped into staff that does not care about the customer one whit.

The last time I went in was for a problem with my iPhone 4S. People on the other end of the call started hearing an echo when I would talk to them. If you wiggled the earphone connector just right, the problem would go away.

I went into the Apple store just to ask if they'd heard of that and if it was a problem with the earbuds or the phone itself. The first thing they asked was 'Do you have an appointment?'. The store itself was mostly empty (this was mid-week during the day), and I said that I didn't. He grabbed my phone and looked into the headphone port, informed me that the water sensor was tripped, and then told me to make an appointment to come back.

I was taken aback, as my phone has never been near water in its life. They turned a simple conversation and question/answer/possible help time into a really horrible customer experience.

I left and made an appointment to come back at a later date. The following time, I went in, waited until a half hour after my appointment (they were PACKED), and met with a really nice young lady who told me it was more than likely the earbuds. She exchanged them and I was out of their hair in 10 minutes. I did let her know about the awful experience from the last time, and she told me if that ever happens again to contact the store manager.

So when I see that Apple Geniuses are being jerks to other people, I'm more tempted to believe them.

And yes, my problem was fixed with new earbuds, and the water sensor WAS NOT tripped. The first guy was just trying to ditch me.

Philalbe said:

Had an iPhone 4 still under warranty with a home button that was often non responsive.

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I had an out-of-warranty iPhone 4 with an unresponsive Home button. For nearly a year I used the Assistive "soft" home button but then I read a suggestion to spray a *tiny* *little* *bit* of WD-40 around the Home button and work it underneath by repeatedly pushing the button. I tried it and in about a minute it worked perfectly! My "broken" Home button now works as well as the day I bought it -- and it has for three months now. YMMV and I won't be held responsible if this trick damages your iPhone!

eRondeau said:

I had an out-of-warranty iPhone 4 with an unresponsive Home button. For nearly a year I used the Assistive "soft" home button but then I read a suggestion to spray a *tiny* *little* *bit* of WD-40 around the Home button and work it underneath by repeatedly pushing the button. I tried it and in about a minute it worked perfectly! My "broken" Home button now works as well as the day I bought it -- and it has for three months now. YMMV and I won't be held responsible if this trick damages your iPhone!

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Ha,ha! Don't worry. I won't hold you responsible. In all seriousness, thank you very much for the tip. I appreciate it

If you really want to insure quality service, call the Apple Care hotline, ask to speak to a TIER II rep. Tell them about the situation and ask them to call a store to get service. The phone reps actually hold sway over the store reps and can actually have them fired if they don't comply.

So much thread necromancy.....

I have no problems with Apple Store Geniues. They are great people!

Badrottie said:

I have no problems with Apple Store Geniues. They are great people!

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In fairness, things might have changed in the 3.5 years since this thread was created.

ZombiePete said:

In fairness, things might have changed in the 3.5 years since this thread was created.

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oh ok

I've always had bad experiences with the Apple Store near where I live. They refused to replace my iPad mini that was discoloring on the back after a week, an iPhone 6 with a broken fingerprint sensor, and an iMac with permanent burn-in on the screen in less than a year. The manager was always rude to me (he would roll his eyes, and make nasty remarks) Of course, the phone staff is very good and they resolved every issue I had. I called apple care through the phone before and they even got angry at the manager at the store. The phone staff was urging the store to replace my product, but they refused to. They escalated the issue with my iMac and made THEM send it in, which I thought was funny. I avoid the store now. I go to a different store.