Over the last year I’ve come to the realisation that I don’t actually like going to the Apple store. I used to go weekly as it was close to work and found browsing for 10 mins to be a pleasant experience but stood in line for an already late running genius appointment I had an epiphany, I dislike getting service at an Apple store these days. It took me a while to realise it but in the last few years it’s become somewhere I dread going.
Today at Apple
At my local store there isn’t a great deal of space and in the last few months what space there was to wait for an appointment has been taken up with today at Apple spaces. I’m not knocking Apple for running courses, it’s great but not all stores have the space for it. I found I was just loitering next to the guy doing the course, not ideal for either of us.
Online and in store are two different businesses
Maybe not technically but it certainly feels like it. Over the last few years I’ve been sent to the Apple Store by online only to be turned away. Most recently I had a problem with my leather loop band and was told online to go to the store to swap it out. On turning up I was told there were no appointments and online shouldn’t have sent me to the store. If online tell you to go in store make sure you don’t or take a record of the conversation. In my experience if it’s online then stay online don’t try to get service in store.
Appointment availability
This is slowly getting worse in my area, if online try to book for you or you do it yourself then it can sometimes be two weeks before you can get something. It’s worth noting if you go early without an appointment you should be ok getting same day if it’s emergency like a smashed screen.
Running tests
Regardless of any tests run online the genius will need to run them again. If you’re even thinking about going in store just go don’t attempt to resolve online first.
Forget it if you have an Apple Watch issue
The stores can’t do much when it comes to the Apple Watch, it’s better to deal with this via online.
My advice - stick to online
After this realisation I decided that I’ll only deal with Apple support online and avoid their stores as much as humanly possible.
I’ve had a few issues with my iPad and series 4 Apple Watch and dealing with online is much easier. Often it follows this process
- Chat online with their staff
- A box is sent next day via courier
- Pack up your device and take it to the courier the same day
- It'll go to Apple that same day, be looked at next day and typically you get it the day after that. So about a 3 day turn around, which I think is great
The only exception that would get me to a store is a broken screen.
What are your experiences of using an Apple Store at the moment?
