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Apple Continues to Provide Top-Rated Tech Support on Strength of Genius Bar
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If was a 17" it must have been pretty old? What was the issue? A refurb is sometime a better option no?
But good that you managed a rMBP!
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guess I'm the only one to have a bad experience.
It's pretty rare! Everyone I know has always had a great experience. You sometimes have to push a bit though.
I had a friend with the older white boxy iMac. He took it to the Genius bar, and it needed an onsite repair. He kept calling, and was put off. He went into the store and asked the manager what was happening. She came back and said "look, we have your machine totally taken apart and we are not sure we can put it back together...so how about I give you a new iMac (silver boxy one) and we call it a day." He was thrilled...until I left a message on his phone that I was the GM of the store and that he had to return the machine....I thought it was funny.
The main thing with that is Apple only officially supports that latest version of iOS on your device. Along with that (not in your specific scenario involving hardware, but something software related), if you haven't updated to the latest version of iOS, Apple engineers can't investigate it until you've updated, as there is no point to investigate issues on outdated software.
I do see where you are coming from when it deals with hardware though.
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Appointments in the store are always free. After evaluating your device, there may or may not be a fee, it all depends on what is going on. 90 days only applies to phone/chat support.
nothing wrong with refurbished .... I actually buy most of my computers refurbished since cheaper, same functionality and same warranty. In your case it sounds like a repair was not possible so they gave you a refurbished one, which is (almost) like a new one. Refurbished does not mean bad/broken machine. Refurbished machines are often machines where orders where canceled, that were send back for random reasons or that only needed minor repairs.
Yeah it was a 2011 but I had 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD in it (I got those back thankfully). It went in for the dreaded failed GPU - my machine was pristine, not a mark on it (always in a shell), perfect screen and keyboard. What I received was far from my machine, so no, it was not a better option. I simply demanded my machine back and refused what they sent me, period. They could not locate my machine so they offered me a fully loaded top line rMBP 2.8/16GB/1TB machine instead, for free.
While Apple did the right thing in the end, and most would argue that I got a better machine in the end, that does not change the fact that they tried to pull a fast one on me with a POS refurb which really really upset me. I kept the 17" because the screen size and resolution was PERFECT for me and with the 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD it performed quite well too. Anyway, the whole story is here if you are interested.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1862977/
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While sometimes true, my machine was as if it was never used - perfect screen (no weird lighting, light bleed etc.) and a perfectly evenly lit keyboard. My machine was most certainly fixable, it only needed a new logic board. What they sent me they tried to make it seem like it was my machine, it was not and it was awful.
I worked behind the bar as an MG for near 7 years. In that time, our goal was to make someone's life just a little bit better. No, we weren't curing cancer, and certainly not rewriting large chunks of MobileMe code to turn it into a viable product. What we DID (and what they still) do is make people's life just a little bit better by being a smiling, compassionate human being trying to help them through life's little technical problems. Nothing more or less than that. It helped that many of us were fanatical fans of Apple.
If your idea of customer service is waiting around for hours waiting on someone to help you, then Apple is great.
Everytime I go, they are way behind & I am waiting for hours after my appointment time to finally get some help.
I've never used in-store support anywhere else, but Apple's could use a lot of improvement.
Everytime I go, they are way behind & I am waiting for hours after my appointment time to finally get some help.
I've never used in-store support anywhere else, but Apple's could use a lot of improvement.
I'm my opinion they're okay but they used to be a lot better. I guess it really depends on which Apple Store that you go to. All of these manufacturers should be providing two year warranties on these expensive electronics; it's really a shame that we don't protect the consumer in this country.
are there any specific qualifications that one would need before becoming a "genius". I've been working in IT for a while and every time one of my users has a problem with an Apple product it's a fairly simple fix, so just wondering if everything they learn is training in store or what
Understaffed. Why does it take a week to get an "appointment"? If my phone is dead (their fault not mine), they get to deal with me now. Of course it took hours. And nowhere to sit in the meantime. That's ********.
Apple "geniuses" are not intended to be a legitimate IT related trouble shooting / problem solving group
They are a friendly face of Apple's retail front end. however, they, like almost all other first level support groups are not hired for their advanced trouble shooting techniques, but their abilitiy to endorse and promote the corporate image.
I've never had issues with Apple support. they were friendly and in the end helped. But no matter what, they follow a script and all their solutions are already vetted / test / approved by corporate
Always had good service at the Genius Bar....my problem has been booking an appointment! I was given a wait of 10 days for an appointment for Apple to look at a one week old Retina MacBook Pro.
When I was hired by Apple (then I promptly told them to shove it when they said I had to leave my current job if I wanted to be part time in the store) they told me that Geniuses are sent to California for a two week training course...though I don't know if that's true.
i don't know how many ways to say this. i am not you and you are not me. you don't understand what freelance work is like, with clients who could care less if you eat or drink when their outlandishly expensive campaign is riding on your timely delivery. this kind of work provides me with months off if i so choose. pros and cons to everything, friend.
clearly this comment wasn't within your grasp, as i wasn't blaming apple or blaming anyone. i told an anecdotal story based on a comment about applecare not covering accidental damage. i am not alone in being a responsible person who has been unfortunate in experiencing a spill. to go the extra mile in responding to snarky commenters who think their experiences make them a better overall person, i was not the one who spilled it.
a keyboard seal would be nice. other computers offer them. all i'm saying. judge away if that's what gives you erections..
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I can't imagine they ship all these kids to California for "training". Seems like an awefuly large expense for essentially front line helpesk support. especially when they predominantly hire part time, low / min wage students.
but maybe different regionally.
Don't have that problem at my nearest Apple Store. Their store is always crowded but they get to me exactly at my appointment time; sometimes even earlier.
Well ... to a certain extent. Recently, Apple has been more commonly enforcing a policy of not even looking at any of their products more than 5 years old. That leaves customers with older Apple products at a loss; there's very little recourse when the company that made the product refuses to service it, even for a fee.
That said, I always recommend AppleCare to people. I don't recommend it as a typical extended warranty; I recommend it because of the phenomenal technical support. Apple really is the best in the business in that regard.
You might want to consult a professional comedian about how to be more transparent because while I certainly wasn't offended by your earlier comment, I didn't see anything funny or sarcastic about it either. All I saw was proposed criticism about Apple.
Did you find this somewhere or or did you actually go to the trouble of making this animation?
Understaffed with employees? Heck no. They are overstocked with customers! That's why you can't get an appointment for at least a week. That's why I don't bother with Apple store anymore unless I'm buying something online that I can walk in a pick up asap. If I have to have something repaired then at least I prepare myself for the worst.
I try to have a 'spill distance' after I spilled on my laptop a few years ago. 2-3 inches further from the laptop than however tall the container is!