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There are some geniuses out there that are total jerks. The Apple Store in Charlotte, NC (South Park) has one. He is short and bald and just cocky and rude. He helped me one time and was just mean, rude and tried to put all of the problems back on me. I care for my Apple products as well as I care for my spoiled dogs. My anxiety goes up every time I see him especially when I am waiting on a genius to help me out.
 
It does work as advertised. Show me the advertisement that says "you can put your iPhone in a vice-lock and the signal won't drop a bar even when your palms bleed" please.

Sure.

hey-apple-youre-holding-it-wrong.jpg
 
I was in a similar situation as this genius. I was a field rep for major car company in a very prominent area of the country that had high market share. It was a high end car; read Lexus, MB, BMW category.When we brought out the a new series in 98 or so, it was a software nightmare. We ended up buying a lot of them back. I was instructed from corporate to do exactly what the customer wanted, and give him his money back if he wanted out. All of it. I had a company checkbook and could write the check on the spot, and did many, many times.

And yet I had to listen to several customers harangue for hours how it should be built, how other mfrs did things, how the car was not worth it, etc.

I sat and listened and reiterated again, I was sorry, and did he want his money back, I could not redesign the car as we sat there.

It did not matter, some would go on for an hour and work themselves up into a frenzy while I just listened.

I know how this genius felt...he may have handled it wrong but these guys are in a bad position, particularly since Apple corporate has been rather nebulous as to the problem...

Get your money back and move on...life's too short for both involved.
 
As a former genius, I'll try to give you his P.O.V

All in all, just try to remember this guy is at the front line taking a lot of blame, criticism, and harsh words from a lot of angry customers for something he has no control over. So maybe try to take a step in his shoes before calling him a bald douche bag.)

Waaaaahhhhhhhhhh! YOU (or HE) chose the job. If he can't take the heat he should stay out of the kitchen. You (generic you, not you personally) knew very well what the job entailed so no one should feel sorry for you.

By the way, when someone is no longer a Genius, what is he? :confused:

I can see Apple sending this letter to some poor quality "Genius" telling "Sir, do to poor performance you are no longer a genius, from here on your just a dumbass bald douchebag."

I think that was the biggest mistake Apple ever made in their retail marketing. Using that "title." It has made so many people a laughing stock either deservedly or not.
 
Did they offer to replace the phone for you? Under these circumstances, how could they not? And if they didn't, why didn't you return it right then and there? Why did u need to return to the store to exchange it if it was already restored in the store?
 
I read the first line of the OP's post and have a hard time believing he did not go in there with a nasty attitude. Then thinks everyone has to cater to him and goes farther off when they don't.

Sorry no sympathy here, and the reason is I've done the same thing myself only I didn't post it on the internet later so everyone could see how dumb I had been. It take two people in a conversation to go down the road you went. Either one can stop it. The only thing the Genius is really guilty of is not using his training to stop it from his end.
 
Waaaaahhhhhhhhhh! YOU (or HE) chose the job. If he can't take the heat he should stay out of the kitchen. You (generic you, not you personally)

No, no, tell it like it is. Your invective is a reply to his post; you MEAN him personally.

And be aware: Someone's gotta do the job, because people like you and me insist on going to the Apple store to be helped immediately. If that weren't the case, you'd never set foot in there to deal with them, when you can just deal with apple support over the phone.

This seems to be pretty textbook of how retail interactions go: when you denigrate the person with the job of serving you, they tend to serve you badly. And I don't blame them.

If you hate them so much, don't contribute to their jobs: return the phone. Atop buying Apple products.


By the way, when someone is no longer a Genius, what is he? :confused:

No longer dealing with people like you. ;)
 
this is exactly the problem. lots of people have completely over blow the antenna problem in the hope for a free bumper, its got national press and now apple have their backs against the wall.
so when someone has a genuine issue with the phone like the OP does, it will get overlooked.
my iphone has been perfect so far touch wood, so i hope you get it sorted mate.
 
How can you say that when a "Genius," at the apple store tried tricking a customer...

Wow dude you should report him - such terrible customer service.

I agree. This is the kind of person who shouldn't be in a customer service job. He taints everyone who does that kind of work. Write Steve Jobs... maybe he will respond. Ask him why his customer service genius turned the wifi on your phone and tried to trick you into thinking the factory reset fixed your problem. Ask him if that is SOP!
 
I agree. This is the kind of person who shouldn't be in a customer service job. He taints everyone who does that kind of work. Write Steve Jobs... maybe he will respond. Ask him why his customer service genius turned the wifi on your phone and tried to trick you into thinking the factory reset fixed your problem. Ask him if that is SOP!

yep, thats right, and steve jobs will make it his sole mission to find out who did it and fire them on the spot. some people need to realise that most people working for apple, let alone the CEO could care less about you.

he brings it on himself by replying to emails. all im saying is that people need to stop being so arrogant as to think that mr jobs actually puts any thought into anything you email him.
 
Now before you go thinking I am trying to say you're wrong for being upset at the genii, hold on. I'm not saying his troubleshooting technique was correct (although, a reset would be the first step :)), nor am I saying that he didn't try to "trick" you by turning on wi-fi. But, you must understand that he's not going to just hand you a new phone right off the bat without trying to troubleshoot the issue.

A reset is the first step? So, if I walked in with a Magic Mouse that I had just purchased last week, and complained about having problem when trying to use it on a shag rug, would you re-flash the firmware in that scenario too? Then, maybe give me a mousepad with a picture of a shag rug for me to try it out :D?

No, the correct thing to do is to say that the Magic Mouse is not designed to work on a shag rug, and ask if I'd like to return it. Every iPhone 4 in that store exhibits the same problem as mine (you must first go into the settings and disable wifi). Especially since this guy was so busy, the correct thing to do is simply state the iPhone 4 is not designed to operate while being held.
 
Did they offer to replace the phone for you? Under these circumstances, how could they not? And if they didn't, why didn't you return it right then and there? Why did u need to return to the store to exchange it if it was already restored in the store?

Every phone in the store had the same problem. I didn't return it because I didn't have the box, charger, headphones, etc. with me. My wife has upgraded from the first iPhone to my 3GS, so I need to downgrade her back to the iPhone before I can restore my stuff to my previous 3GS.
 
I was in an AT&T store today in Tallahassee and three of the demo phones have wifi on. I turned wifi off and the signals dropped to one bar while holding them normally.

I wonder if they have been told to turn wifi on for the iPhones? Or is that standard policy with all demo phones?

Edit: nevermind. I think they had wifi on to demo facetime.
 
I was in an AT&T store today in Tallahassee and three of the demo phones have wifi on. I turned wifi off and the signals dropped to one bar while holding them normally.

I wonder if they have been told to turn wifi on for the iPhones? Or is that standard policy with all demo phones?
All the demo phones I've seen for the past three years have always been on wifi.
 
Every phone in the store had the same problem. I didn't return it because I didn't have the box, charger, headphones, etc. with me. My wife has upgraded from the first iPhone to my 3GS, so I need to downgrade her back to the iPhone before I can restore my stuff to my previous 3GS.

I guess it is very "Store Dependent". My Apple Store (Carlsbad, CA.) replaced my iP4 with a brand new, sealed retail boxed iP4 and I didn't have my box or any of the other peripherals that came with it...they told me not to worry, just keep the old ones, we want you to be happy...in fact, the store manager (Shaun) called me the next day to make sure my new iP4 was working properly and that i was satisfied with their customer service...obviously, I was...
:)
 
Don't buy a first generation device if you're not prepared for some hick-ups along the way...
 
The "genius" who came up with the idea of calling them "geniuses" is a numbskull.
 
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