iPod touch my first experience with the Genius Bar

[PowerFullMac]

When my first genoration iPod Shuffle broke, they replaced it streight away no problem, and I even had a chat with the guy about programming for Symbian phones and C... He was impressed I knew all this too (I was 12 at the time) and I also had a chat with another Apple Store guy (not a genius though) and we had a chat about Classic Mac OS and vMac... This was at the Bluewater Apple Store in Kent, UK by the way.

 

[godisjustpreten]

The Mac Geniuses are certified. To be certified they have to pass yearly tests. Yes, not one test but a few tests. And it's not some BS questions either. Even curren Mac Geniuses sometimes fail these tests and have to retake them.

They do have access to the whole apple data base, but unless Apple has it as an issue, they cannot act on non-official knowledge (such as Macrumors). Well, maybe if you are REALLY nice.

Listen, I understand that tech support is tough. While I'm a currently a software developer, I did spend some time in the trenches, so I know it can be a thankless job. I'm not rude to them (unless they repeatedly insult me or give me a difficult time). And I realize that they cannot *act* on non-official knowledge coming from Macrumors. However, the Touch's initial screen problems were such a huge problem, there is hardly a person living in the US that didn't hear about it - *especially* someone who is supposedly hired to support said products. I suspect that they're extreme ignorance of the entire matter can *not* be real. It has to be some kind of "just pretend you've never heard about it" order.

In addition, due to the pace of changing technology, it's a lot of stuff to keep up... Just report the issue. If it's not fixed, do it again. Or try a different way. Personally I have better luck at the Genius Bar, but looks some people have better luck by phone.

Again, tech support is tough, but the people I talked to on the phone were as helpful as calling my 80 year-old grandmother. Not only did they pretend that they had never heard of the original (or continuing) screen problems, they didn't even know what I meant when I would say something like, "my iPod Touch is not rendering dark images correctly". I literally had a woman ask me what "rendering" meant.

I have to admit that I have not had experience with any Apple products in the past. I have assumed, however, that the loyal fan base Apple enjoys was partially a result of a well-trained, informed, helpful support process. I was mistaken.

 

[gnasher729]

I brought my week 43 iPod Touch to the bar, and waited for 30 minutes past the scheduled appointment.

Yes, that happens. When it is your turn, you don't want them to rush and don't give you good service because they run out of time. That means on the other hand that they also won't rush for the customer in front of you, and the one in front of that one, but take their time. And that means things can get later.

 

[acfusion29]

Mine was horrible. The guy kept telling me that the dead pixels I had and dust under the screen on my week 39 were SCRATCHES!!!!!!!!

I got pissed off and asked for the manager, and she was as stupid as this genius.

I sent it in to Apple, and they did find the problems and sent me out a brand new/refurb. unit. I'm not sure, but it was in mint condition, and I immediately put on a BSE skin and it's still in mint condition with no scratches on the back

 

[BigCanoe]

My headphone jack is only playing in mono. My screen is perfect. I bet I end up with a stereo unit with a bad screen

I have a appointment today, now I am wondering if its gonna be worth the hour drive.

 

[iMikeT]

Update on my situation with AppleCare:

Well, I received my box to send my iPhone back to Apple and my temporary (service) iPhone this past Wednesday. Though the color (white balance) was way off with the service iPhone, the screen did not exhibit any of the negative black rendering problems.

Yesterday, I sent back the defective unit back to Apple via FedEx and hope that they see the problem and hope to resolve the issue with a brand new, never been touched, virgin iPhone for me.

 

[Jack Flash]

yet another unrequested update:

I did go back and they gave me a new Touch from their sales stock (rather than the refurb exchange units they have). However, this was also a week 43. The rendering of blacks was slightly better, and I was trying to convince myself to keep it. Then I noticed that the screen flickered at lowest brightness setting. I browse the web at night in bed, so it's not a rare occasion for me to have it set to the lowest setting. Note that I did not have the auto-brightness turned on. My first 2 devices didn't have this problem.

Anyway, I'm so fed up with the apparent lack of quality control, that I think I may just return it for a full refund this weekend. Then I'll have to monitor the situation - maybe they'll have resolved most screen issues in a few months. Otherwise, I'll have to see what gen 2 brings.

Listen, it isn't Apple's fault you're having second opinions about owning an iPod Touch.

It sounds to me like the "quality control" isn't the problem.

 

[godisjustpreten]

Listen, it isn't Apple's fault you're having second opinions about owning an iPod Touch.

It sounds to me like the "quality control" isn't the problem.

Nice try. Like I told my local Apple store rep today when I returned it for a full refund, it's an amazing device and I will miss it. I just don't have 5+ hours per week to keep exchanging it. Each new unit I received fixed the previous problem, but introduced a brand new one.

Being concerned about quality is not have second opinions about owning an iPod Touch. Just remember what fan boy means. It's a pejorative term for a reason.

 

[godisjustpreten]

my final unrequested update:

Well, I've done it. I completely returned my Touch for a full refund. I am missing it already, but I just don't have the time to keep exchanging. I'm going to monitor the boards, etc for reports on how the quality control issues are coming along.

Anyway, the guy I dealt with at Apple didn't realize he was talking to a software developer, and thought he could get pseudo-techie on me. After a rather heated exchange, he authorized the refund.

good luck all....

 

[Jack Flash]

Nice try. Like I told my local Apple store rep today when I returned it for a full refund, it's an amazing device and I will miss it. I just don't have 5+ hours per week to keep exchanging it. Each new unit I received fixed the previous problem, but introduced a brand new one.

Being concerned about quality is not have second opinions about owning an iPod Touch. Just remember what fan boy means. It's a pejorative term for a reason.

Nice try? Try as you might, you won't convince me that you had anything other than an out of return period iPod Touch and second thoughts.

 

[godisjustpreten]

Nice try? Try as you might, you won't convince me that you had anything other than an out of return period iPod Touch and second thoughts.

Care to provide any evidence for your take on the situation? Let me make a suggestion - go back and go through my posts. I'm sure you'll be able to find some statement I made and spin it into something good. This would be much better than just *asserting* that I returned the Touch because I had second thoughts.

It's important to base your beliefs on *evidence*. So, if you don't want a lesson in logic and reality, keep your asinine assertions to yourself.

 

[LeaverX]

No one's perfect but I think you just had a bad luck. Apple can't just hire perfect people.

 

[godisjustpreten]

No one's perfect but I think you just had a bad luck. Apple can't just hire perfect people.

Could be that I all 12 people I had contact with at Apple were completely unaware of the "negative black" problem. Could be that most of the people I spoke with at Apple were just not aware of terms like "render" or "jpeg". I find it difficult to believe, but it *is* possible. And of course this could be an exception - maybe most Apple employees are knowledgeable and helpful. All of these things are possible. My goal, however, was to describe my experience - an experience, I must add, that ranks as one of the most frustrating technical support experiences I have had to deal with in many years.

I hope that most people have a great experience with the Apple staff.

 

[iMikeT]

Here's the latest on my situation with my iPhone's negative black issue:

I got my original iPhone back from AppleCare today and it is still exhibiting the same negative black issue that I sent it in for. It seems like all the Apple repair center did was take it out of the packaging, turned it on, look at it, then put it back in the box to send back to me.

So I immediately got on the phone with AppleCare and told them that I was still experiencing the same issue that I sent it in for and even went as far as to compare it to the loaner (service/temporary) iPhone and said that the service iPhone (week 32) has a much better display quality than the one I bought. Which they went ahead and decided to replace my phone with a brand new out of the box iPhone!

So they gave me a couple options as how to replace my phone... One was to go to a Genius Bar... I told them my experience and said give me the second option without asking what it was. Which is that they are going to send over the paperwork tomorrow for me to fill out and send back. After that, they will send me my new phone and a box to send my old phone back. Then I will also send back the service phone. So at some point, I will have three iPhones in my possession!

Hopefully the new iPhone they send me does not exhibit any of the negative black or any other problems out there.

 

[iMikeT]

Update:

Yesterday (Thursday), I received my brand new, never been out of the box iPhone from Apple. The serial number indicates that it was manufactured during week 48 and the box art has the iTunes Wi-Fi music store application.

I have yet to open it as I have been very busy but hopefully will in the next day or two. I will have another update then.

By the way, I currently have three iPhones in my possession! I'll post some pictures by Monday.

 

[Cloud9]

apple genius = i-diot

Been lied too, treated like I am unintelligent, been misinformed, and given solutions to issues that only compounded my grief and cost too much.

I will never purchase anything from an apple store unless I have too.

 

[godisjustpreten]

Update:

Yesterday (Thursday), I received my brand new, never been out of the box iPhone from Apple. The serial number indicates that it was manufactured during week 48 and the box art has the iTunes Wi-Fi music store application.

I have yet to open it as I have been very busy but hopefully will in the next day or two. I will have another update then.

Look forward to your update. I'm keep hoping week ___ will be the week that introduces a screen from a different manufacturer.

 

[godisjustpreten]

apple genius = i-diot

Been lied too, treated like I am unintelligent, been misinformed, and given solutions to issues that only compounded my grief and cost too much.

One of the great lines I got from one of the Apple reps was: "Oh, those online forums are just filled with ideologically-driven anti-Apple people who would say anything to make Apple look bad."

Just then, a black helicopter swooped over the store, a man walked in claiming he was the 2nd gunmen who shot Kennedy, and a person handed us top-secret documents proving 9/11 was an inside job.

Anyway, despite his conspiracy theories, this Apple employee/fanboy did end up giving me a refund. Just make sure you state your case and stay calm. You'll eventually leave the store with what you want (an exchange or refund).

 

[godisjustpreten]

Update:

Yesterday (Thursday), I received my brand new, never been out of the box iPhone from Apple. The serial number indicates that it was manufactured during week 48 and the box art has the iTunes Wi-Fi music store application.

I have yet to open it as I have been very busy but hopefully will in the next day or two. I will have another update then.

By the way, I currently have three iPhones in my possession! I'll post some pictures by Monday.

How did everything work out with this replacement?

 

[ohthevoices]

genius experience

I have had many dealings with the genius bar at my local apple store and have never had an issue with them. They have always been extremely nice and helpful. When I had my g4 powerbook I had issues with my power cord over heating. they exchanged it for free. not once, not twice, but three times. So at least on my end awesome experiences with apple.

 

[samh004]

Is it possible that Apple employees know less about the products they sell then the average user? Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it smacks of some kind of directive not to even entertain the idea.

Your on a geeky forum, with Apple-fanatics, so I don't think your really the "average" user, as due to rising popularity, there'll be many users who just don't know anything, and wont do anything even if it looks a bit odd.

 

[iMikeT]

How did everything work out with this replacement?

Sorry for the delay in my update. I have been extremely busy with work that I haven't had the time to really do anything else. I have been using my defective iPhone and I still haven't opened the new (week 48) iPhone Apple sent me.

Anyway, I hope to finally get around to it tomorrow or sometime by the end of this week.

 

[3nm]

i've visited various genius bars no fewer than 10 times in the previous 1.5 yrs (mostly due to mb rss). i've always found the geniuses helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. unlike other tech support, the geniuses don't BS you and they do try their best to get your apple product working asap. there was one time that i had to wait 30 mins w/ an appointment. but otherwise they will usually get to me within 5-15 mins (i had procare, but i doubt it made any differences). out of all my visits, there was only one instance where the store manager was very rule. but overall i'm satisfied w/ the services at the genius bars i've visited.

sorry about what you had to deal with. from my experiences, you might get better services at a flag ship store.

 

[newyorkmets212]

i have had horrible experiences at the genius bar. my first being with my old school black and white click wheel 20 gig ipod. the harddrive broke after about 6 months or so (i think) and claimed it was my fault when i had never dropped it etc so they replaced it with a refurb with a lot of hastle. a month later, hard drive died so i yelled and screamed and said that i wanted a brand new one so i recieved a brand new 20 gig ipod photo. that broke after a year and claimed they could do nothing about it because it was not under warranty. a year later i "revived it" and finally got it partially working and i had to buy a new mp3 player but refused to buy from apple because of their surly help and constant hastle. unfortunately i will be buying an ipod touch which i really do not want to do (afraid of durabillity) however its the only larger flash memory device

 

[ohthevoices]

hmmm

I think that it depends on the store, like I said before I never had a problem with my genius bar at my local store. as for the touch its durable. Ive had mine for awhile now and have had no issues whatsoever. I love that little device!