Is this how an Apple "Genius" handles your phone?

[surfer17]

1) Those nicks on the left in the picture are small but noticeable, but I honestly don't really see a ding. If it's just in that one spot, I'm not sure how it would have happened from being slammed down flat on it's back, unless there was something on the table that hit it (would have to be an extremely small piece of something though).

2. I have to agree with Applejuiced, how did no one else in the store notice this? Surely other employees would have at least noticed it. I know I would have immediately turned to look at what noise I heard in an Apple store (or maybe I'm just hoping to see expensive stuff break every once in a while)

You do know he didn't give it a rock bottom slam, right? It was a slam on the table from about 12 inches. And yes, another employee who was standing right next to him working on his mac did notice it. And as I said in the first post, I asked him for help and he was the one who said I should go try another store perhaps.

Look guys, if you don't believe me, I really can't do much about it. It's like a deja vu for me right now. Trying to talk to a couple Apple "Geniuses" to get my issue sorted out. It's sad that you don't believe me but as I said before, I do understand why you don't.

Anyway, I have had enough responses for my initial question, "Does this happen often?" and that's motivating enough for me to go back and have my issue resolved.

I'm glad though that not every user on this forum is unfriendly like a couple of you because otherwise it would be impossible to get any help from such paranoid users.

 

[brentmore]

I know where you're coming from. I don't take offense to that because I have always believed that half of Apple's stories are planted by Apple haters. But if I had to, I'd plant something bad about the iPhone 5 not their employees. And in this case everyone knows that the black iPhone 5 is plagued with scuff issues. Any how, I'm attaching a pic showing the damage done by the employee to my device. Not that this would convince you (not my intention), because an Android user can always find a black iPhone 5 with nicks and dings.

I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Seem like folks are poring over their phones for the slightest indication of imperfection. I expected a giant fissure in the glass or scrape after reading your account.

File a complaint. Reputable retailers take them very seriously.

 

[surfer17]

I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Seem like folks are poring over their phones for the slightest indication of imperfection. I expected a giant fissure in the glass or scrape after reading your account.

File a complaint. Reputable retailers take them very seriously.

Just to clarify, my phone's issue was not that it was damaged cosmetically. It was the static lines showing up in the app store. So I wasn't just "pouring over" my phone to apple for a small nick. And if you read my entire post, I'm sure you would know what exactly was the point of it.

 

[F123D]

I can't tell if dust or not but I see some scuffing on the top right aluminum band right above the glass..

 

[boomhower]

It's a new phone release so of course new people are going to come in with complaints. Not everyone out there surfs the forums, they come here when they have problems.

OP: You need to go back and speak with the manager to have it resolved. I would call ASAP before the tapes/HD space are recycled. Sounds like he lost his cool. It also sounds like you certainly aren't the first one to have this problem. I'd say that's the reason he said all of them are affected, they've already been through all of them. And why he kept bringing them from the back. Everyone else reporting replacements the reps bring out white box phones and open them in front of them.

 

[LoloBond]

I call bs on this 1st post newbies story.
Sure, he slammed your phone infront of everyone inside a busy Apple store near the iphone 5 launch.
And nobody else saw him so he can get in trouble or there is no cameras

agree, I also call this bs.... There is no way something like this would happen without been noticed.

 

[brentmore]

Just to clarify, my phone's issue was not that it was damaged cosmetically. It was the static lines showing up in the app store. So I wasn't just "pouring over" my phone to apple for a small nick. And if you read my entire post, I'm sure you would know what exactly was the point of it.

Surfer17 - relax. You've gotten several good suggestions to file a complaint. Excessively crying about it here isn't going to help your situation.

PS - when you quote a phrase in an attempt to be snarky, make sure your usage is correct. Pore (poring), not pour (pouring).

 

[vastoholic]

You do know he didn't give it a rock bottom slam, right? It was a slam on the table from about 12 inches. And yes, another employee who was standing right next to him working on his mac did notice it. And as I said in the first post, I asked him for help and he was the one who said I should go try another store perhaps.

Look guys, if you don't believe me, I really can't do much about it. It's like a deja vu for me right now. Trying to talk to a couple Apple "Geniuses" to get my issue sorted out. It's sad that you don't believe me but as I said before, I do understand why you don't.

Anyway, I have had enough responses for my initial question, "Does this happen often?" and that's motivating enough for me to go back and have my issue resolved.

I'm glad though that not every user on this forum is unfriendly like a couple of you because otherwise it would be impossible to get any help from such paranoid users.

I do apologize for implying that you were lying. But if none of the other employees stepped in to take over once they saw him becoming agitated, then that is truly a poor store and need an employee overhaul. I know you didn't mean that he body slammed your phone, but dropping/slamming it from just about any height on one of those wooden tables would cause a nice loud thump in the store. Anyway, back to the point, I'm just not sure how the ding could have gotten there from the employee in the position that it is in, unless the phone hit something on the table. I don't doubt that those scrapes could have been caused by him though.

 

[surfer17]

It's a new phone release so of course new people are going to come in with complaints. Not everyone out there surfs the forums, they come here when they have problems.

OP: You need to go back and speak with the manager to have it resolved. I would call ASAP before the tapes/HD space are recycled. Sounds like he lost his cool. It also sounds like you certainly aren't the first one to have this problem. I'd say that's the reason he said all of them are affected, they've already been through all of them. And why he kept bringing them from the back. Everyone else reporting replacements the reps bring out white box phones and open them in front of them.

Interesting that you say that. Yes he did bring the white box with just the phone in it, but both times he brought it from the back, it was opened from before. And I asked him about why he wouldn't take one out of the pull out drawers behind the Genius bar, he said that these that he was bringing from the back had just come in and hadn't been arranged in the drawers so far. I'll keep this in mind too when I approach them tomorrow.

And thank you for pointing out the common sense of being a new user. I'm surprised how paranoid a few users are here.

 

[Breaking Good]

Hello. Macnewbie here.

I've read quite a few comments and online stories about the new iPhone 5's arriving damaged. It is really a shame. It seems that Apply may have pushed their supply chain for more than it could deliver. I hope they get their problems worked out.

I was in one of the local Apple stores yesterday evening while I was waiting for one of the kiosks in the mall to apply a clear protective film to the refurbished iPod Nano I bought recently. I was looking at the demo model of a black iPhone 5 and I assumed that it would have been beat to heck and back by now. Aside, from a bunch of finger smudges, I could not find any damage to the phone.

Not sure if that helps anyone or not. But apparently at least some come without any damage.

The store wasn't extremely busy. But I believe that was because they had sold through their stock of iPhone 5's.

 

[5enohpi]

You do know he didn't give it a rock bottom slam, right? It was a slam on the table from about 12 inches. And yes, another employee who was standing right next to him working on his mac did notice it. And as I said in the first post, I asked him for help and he was the one who said I should go try another store perhaps.

Look guys, if you don't believe me, I really can't do much about it. It's like a deja vu for me right now. Trying to talk to a couple Apple "Geniuses" to get my issue sorted out. It's sad that you don't believe me but as I said before, I do understand why you don't.

Anyway, I have had enough responses for my initial question, "Does this happen often?" and that's motivating enough for me to go back and have my issue resolved.

I'm glad though that not every user on this forum is unfriendly like a couple of you because otherwise it would be impossible to get any help from such paranoid users.

Bro, unfortunately no one on this forum is going to take you serious since you just signed up like I did. God forbid you recently signed up and bought an iphone 5 that has issues you immediately become a troll or an android user who came on here to start posting BS. You will get some useful tips but the bulk of it is garbage. So do yourself a favor and ignore these nerds. Call apple and let them know the situation. I did when I had an issue with my phone and I was able to walk right into apple and swap out my phone.

 

[surfer17]

I do apologize for implying that you were lying. But if none of the other employees stepped in to take over once they saw him becoming agitated, then that is truly a poor store and need an employee overhaul. I know you didn't mean that he body slammed your phone, but dropping/slamming it from just about any height on one of those wooden tables would cause a nice loud thump in the store. Anyway, back to the point, I'm just not sure how the ding could have gotten there from the employee in the position that it is in, unless the phone hit something on the table. I don't doubt that those scrapes could have been caused by him though.

That's okay. I realize I might sounded like a prick there, but it gets annoying when you're saying the truth and someone calls that a lie or implies it. Everyone knows how that feels.

About the store, it was insanely busy and loud there, even though it was a Thursday. So whether it was a poor store or their staff was like this, I'm not sure. And precisely why I started the thread.

About the ding, yes, I have given it a thought too as to how that happened. But I'm sure it wasn't there before I gave the phone away for replacement because that's one reason that made me apprehensive on exchanging the phone for what I thought was a software issue. And thinking that it was a software issue, I was ready to take it back and live with it until an update was released addressing the issue.

 

[Want300]

Sure, he slammed your phone infront of everyone inside a busy Apple store near the iphone 5 launch.
And nobody else saw him so he can get in trouble or there is no cameras

No offense to the OP, but I agree with AppleJuiced...

A while back (iPhone 4 days) I was looking and MacBook Accessories while I was waiting for something (cant remember). I had my phone out for whatever reason, and an Apple employee tried to slip by between me and the accessory wall.

They ended up knocked my phone out of my hand and it ended up cracking the glass. My natural reaction was "WHAT the ****?!?!?". The employee was very quick to apologize and own up to what happened. I left the store with a brand new iPhone 4, not a refurbished one.

I have had nothing but great experiences.

 

[matttye]

No offense to the OP, but I agree with AppleJuiced...

A while back (iPhone 4 days) I was looking and MacBook Accessories while I was waiting for something (cant remember). I had my phone out for whatever reason, and an Apple employee tried to slip by between me and the accessory wall.

They ended up knocked my phone out of my hand and it ended up cracking the glass. My natural reaction was "WHAT the ****?!?!?". The employee was very quick to apologize and own up to what happened. I left the store with a brand new iPhone 4, not a refurbished one.

I have had nothing but great experiences.

So because your Apple store employee replaced your phone for you and owned up, that means all others have to be the same?

People are DIFFERENT you know.

Words fail me that people are actually calling out the OP as being fake. Sometimes even Apple can give shoddy customer service. DEAL WITH IT.

 

[Want300]

So because your Apple store employee replaced your phone for you and owned up, that means all others have to be the same?

People are DIFFERENT you know.

Words fail me that people are actually calling out the OP as being fake. Sometimes even Apple can give shoddy customer service. DEAL WITH IT.

I was agreeing with the fact that it was suspicious because no one else seemed to notice or care. Did you read what comment I quoted?

Then I gave an example of one of my experiences... One that could have been awful, but they rectified the situation.

EDIT1: I should have deleted the part where he said "I call BS"... but my point still stands
EDIT2: Now its deleted.

 

[ideal.dreams]

OP, I don't understand why you left the store after being treated like that. I would have demanded to see his superior and then raise hell.

 

[iUser4Lyfe]

I just got my phone yesterday.

It was delivered to the wrong address. Luckily the address they sent it to(which was not the address on my AT&T account) was 4 streets down and an acquaintance I had met a few times before. He brought the phone to me once be realized it was for me.

Then as I activating the phone I was happy to notice there was not a single scratch, ding, scuff at all however there was an even bigger issue. The home button was completely dead. Literally did not work at all.

I drove 20 miles to my closest apple store (which was packed and absolutely crazy) to get a replacement.

Luckily the second phone works perfectly however there is a "ding" on the metal band by the connector. I only noticed it this morning and I can assure you I did not cause it.

Doesn't bother me because I'm not OCD about my phone however it does show that the QC in apples production process is simply not as stringent as it used to be.

I am extremely happy with my phone though. Best iPhone yet.

Oh btw I ordered Saturday evening after launch and had a oct 5 ship date. Got it way earlier so I'm pretty happy. All in all I'm satisfied with my purchase. Minor cosmetic issues are not a big deal in the slightest.

 

[matttye]

I was agreeing with the fact that it was suspicious because no one else seemed to notice or care. Did you read what comment I quoted?

Then I gave an example of one of my experiences... One that could have been awful, but they rectified the situation.

EDIT1: I should have deleted the part where he said "I call BS"... but my point still stands
EDIT2: Now its deleted.

Applejuiced is putting words in the OP's mouth. The OP never said that nobody saw or cared that his phone got slammed. Some people might have been disgusted but didn't say anything. I don't think I would say or do anything if I saw that happen, not my place. I'd find it quite insulting if someone stepped in to help me; I can fight my own battles!

 

[aajeevlin]

OP, while I feel your pain and I do find some of the "Genius" pretty stupid. My question is why this week? why now? So you went in because you have a static line on your screen that is an obvious internal issue, and as far as I know Apple will replace it for sure. Why must you go in now when you have up to a year to get it fix? If you just live with it for another 2 month and let the heat die down, you could have walk into the Apple store and have all the selection you want (by then they will have ample supply) and possibly getting the second batch of better quality phones. At least you have an iphone compare to the most of us.

I seriously don't understand people's EXTREME urgency to fix the problem right away on their iPhone. Frankly I bet lots of you have some issues with either your car or your house that you have neglected for years. But OH NO when it coms to my phone, I GOT to have it perfect. I'm sorry to say but people have too much time.

 

[Want300]

Applejuiced is putting words in the OP's mouth. The OP never said that nobody saw or cared that his phone got slammed. Some people might have been disgusted but didn't say anything. I don't think I would say or do anything if I saw that happen, not my place. I'd find it quite insulting if someone stepped in to help me; I can fight my own battles!

If a fellow employee didn't say anything... I would be surprised. Whether to the person who did it, or the manager.

I would do something about it as a fellow employee, as a patron... I agree with you, but I might have said something to the victim like "I'd get the manager over here if I were you"...

 

[who-dat]

, how did no one else in the store notice this? Surely other employees would have at least noticed it. I know I would have immediately turned to look at what noise I heard in an Apple store (or maybe I'm just hoping to see expensive stuff break every once in a while)

every apple store I've been in has been very noisy and busy....

 

[matttye]

If a fellow employee didn't say anything... I would be surprised. Whether to the person who did it, or the manager.

I would do something about it as a fellow employee, as a patron... I agree with you, but I might have said something to the victim like "I'd get the manager over here if I were you"...

Instead of speculating why not give the OP the benefit of the doubt? Why would somebody take time out of their day to post a fake story just to discredit Apple? Are people really that sad?

 

[vastoholic]

every apple store I've been in has been very noisy and busy....

Yeah I keep forgetting about some stores being relatively large sometimes. All the stores I've been to have been single floor plan like this:

And even when they are packed full, you could still hear something like that.

 

[chakraj]

I had the static lines problem with my new iPhone 5. So I went in for a replacement at the Apple Store. They asked me to come back the next day to get my phone replaced. I went back the next day and an Apple employee gave me a replacement that had dings and scuffs on it. I told him that my iPhone was perfect out of the box. He agreed with me after he had a look.

So he went back in and got another replacement and told me that all the iPhones were bound to have some scuffs but he found one for me that didn't. He took my phone and gave me the new one. I was setting up my new replaced iPhone when I removed the sticker of the front screen and saw a nice big scratch at the bottom.

So I asked for the same Apple employee once again and asked him to give me something without any scratches or dings. Or give me a white one, if possible. I told him that it wasn't fair that I was getting something that was cosmetically in worse shape than my original faulty device was.

He got pissed and said he couldn't help me any more as all iPhones had the scuff marks. So I asked him if I could have my original iPhone back as at least I could live with a software issue that occurred infrequently rather than live with a permanent scratch that I would have to look at every time I picked up my phone. He got even more pissed, went back in, brought my phone out and slammed the phone on the table. I lifted it off the table and looked at the back and there was a small ding, and a small scuff mark from the recent phone slamming. I asked him why he did that and from then on he denied it was his fault that the phone had those marks. I asked another Apple employee if he could help me, he said I should go to another Apple store if I was looking for any further help.

This was my first experience with Apple's customer care and it was terrible.

Does this happen often? Because I had only ever heard good stuff about Apple's customer care. And here, they ended up damaging my device rather than helping me out.

While I don't have a problem with the phones having scuff marks out of the box, I do have a problem with Apple asking me to settle on a damaged $800 device. Unfortunately for me, I don't like any other phone either so returning the phone and getting some cheap plastic wasn't an option either.

You only hear good stuff because none of the faithful want to blaspheme.

 

[jk4lebron23]

agree, I also call this bs.... There is no way something like this would happen without been noticed.

Paranoid much? You guys are freaking crazy!

----------

Surfer17 - relax. You've gotten several good suggestions to file a complaint. Excessively crying about it here isn't going to help your situation.

PS - when you quote a phrase in an attempt to be snarky, make sure your usage is correct. Pore (poring), not pour (pouring).

Since when are people not allowed to complain on here?
Because lately that's all i see here so why can this user not?