Hi people. Tomorrow will be my 1st Visit to a genius bar

[Troon]

Hi.

I bought my first MBP 15" last November and love it. Yesterday my charger decided to die. So i phoned Apple, gave him the serial number of my MBP. So tomorrow lunchtime i have an appointment to go to the Apple Genius bar in Glasgow. They will change the charger free of charge obviously.

My question is this. What should i expect? What sort of questions should i ask? Will i have to pay for the time i spend with the person at the Genius bar?

I am not that good with computers, but love my MBP and will never go back to windows.

I know i am asking a bit of a stupid question as at the end of the day i am the only person that really knows what i want to know..............if you know what i mean?

But i'd like to get little tips and tricks off Apple because i probably only use my MBP to about 5% of it's capability. So any bits of info you guys can give me etc is most welcome

Thanks in advance, i'll keep an eye on this thread till tomorrow and then write a wee report of my first ever personal experience of a Genius bar

 

[gorjan]

What is your question actually? You should expect a new charger... What more would you want? A new MBP because your charger died?

 

[Troon]

What is your question actually? You should expect a new charger... What more would you want? A new MBP because your charger died?

No not at all.

I want to learn a wee bit more about what the actual computer can do. I know there is a million little things that they could teach me that will make my experience with the laptop a lot better.

I know it's a kinda hard question for you guys to answer LOL.

 

[alphaod]

I know it's a kinda hard question for you guys to answer LOL.

Why don't you try us?

 

[aristobrat]

I want to learn a wee bit more about what the actual computer can do. I know there is a million little things that they could teach me that will make my experience with the laptop a lot better.

As you'll see tomorrow, the Genius Bar is a very high-volume place.

In the past, each Mac appointment was for 20 minutes, so by the time the tech gathers your replacement part and logs all of the information, there really isn't much extra time for the tech to give you general tips and hints.

With the new method Apple is trying for the Genius Bar, the techs are supposed to work simultaneously with several folks, so I'm not sure how that works out with you being able to get some tips and hints time.

If you're looking for someone in the store to give you advice on how to best utilize your Mac, your best bet is to look for someone towards the front of the store. If they're not busy, and you have some specific questions, they're typically able to spend more time with you.

Your local store should also offer free workshops, which are great ways to find out more about what Macs can do.
http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/buchananstreet/

Also, if the AppleCare telephone support folks booked this appointment for you, do yourself a favor and call your store either tonight or tomorrow and verify that the appointment was booked correctly. Sometimes the telephone support folks do something wrong and the appointment doesn't book correctly, which throws a huge monkey-wrench into the experience if not discovered before you walk into the store. At least in the US it can.

You def. need to bring your old, broken charger to the store, and I'd probably recommend you bring your MBP too, in case like CW Jones says, they want to test something, or in case the telephone person didn't jot down your serial number correctly.

 

[CW Jones]

Glasgow Scotland? Sorry just wondering lol Haven't heard that since the Celtic FC came to Fenway!

On a side note, you will not have to pay for time or anything like that. Your 1 year warranty covers all that as well. Same with AppleCare (from my understanding at least).

Just tell them the problem, they might run some tests, take your serial number and grab you a new charger for it. They will also check your battery to make sure its still working correctly too.

Also if you want to learn more... Do a little searching and ask some questions to the fine folks on here and I bet you will learn a LOT. That's how you can learn the general stuff at least.

 

[Troon]

Thanks people.

I just found out in the last hour my friend from years ago is the manager of the store so i'll hunt him down

I have my laptop bag next to me right now. I'll take all my laptop parts with me. IE. My 2 externals, the power cable, the MBP.

I know i can ask people on here for advice, and have done in the past and got the answers i needed. But sometimes it's better face to face with people, i'm sure you know what i mean by that.

It's my first visit to a big Apple shop so i am actually looking forwards to the experience. If they have made a mess of my appointment i would hope someone can get me a new charger, it can't be that big an issue can it?

Incidentally. The charger is now working, sort of. The red/green light is not coming on. But earlier i got the "not charging" at 34% on the battery on the MBP, but it was not charging, just powering. I went out for a while there, and came back and the battery is now at 76%. Yesterday it did nothing at all, no charge, no powering, dead as a Dodo

Strange

 

[HLdan]

Thanks people.


I know i can ask people on here for advice, and have done in the past and got the answers i needed. But sometimes it's better face to face with people, i'm sure you know what i mean by that.

Then you should now ask yourself why did you start this thread?

 

[Troon]

Then you should now ask yourself why did you start this thread?

This is why i don't actually post on here that much. I am not as smart as most of you on here unfortunately, and i get reminded about that by people like you any time i post a message.

I sometimes wonder if the stereo type that Apple users get is actually warranted

 

[Jaffa Cake]

In terms of tips from the Genius in how to get the best out of the laptop, I'm not sure if they do that at appointments – I imagine they're busy folk with a lot of people coming in with faults and problems, hence the need for an appointment rather than just rolling up.

However, some Apple Stores offer free workshops showing folk how to get the best out of their computers – and looking on the Apple website Glasgow do this. You could ask the Genius what they've got coming up and get yourself booked in for a tutorial or two if any take your fancy. EDIT: Sorry, as aristobrat has already mentioned – but we offer such sound and sensible advice you can do to hear it twice.

Good luck tomorrow, hopefully you'll get yourself sorted out with a new charger and some new knowledge too.

 

[Troon]

In terms of tips from the Genius in how to get the best out of the laptop, I'm not sure if they do that at appointments – I imagine they're busy folk with a lot of people coming in with faults and problems, hence the need for an appointment rather than just rolling up.

However, some Apple Stores offer free workshops showing folk how to get the best out of their computers – and looking on the Apple website Glasgow do this. You could ask the Genius what they've got coming up and get yourself booked in for a tutorial or two if any take your fancy. EDIT: Sorry, as aristobrat has already mentioned – but we offer such sound and sensible advice you can do to hear it twice.

Good luck tomorrow, hopefully you'll get yourself sorted out with a new charger and some new knowledge too.

Cheers mate.

I'll post in here tomorrow how i got on.