A V O I D the "Genius" Bar here!
I purchased the iPhone XS shortly after it came out and had an issue with the audio that required it to be swapped. Basically, calls taken on speaker I'd cut out. I'd have to toggle from speaker back to handset, back to speaker and it would fix it. The swapped device was fine until it started doing something similar except one day toggling stopped working and people just flat out couldn't hear me. Over time I also stopped being able to hear people as well, which made it extremely hard to have phone calls because on speakerphone I can hear you, but you can't hear me. Handset, you can hear me but I can't hear you. I spoke to Apple about this on numerous occasions for months and they refused to swap my device again unless I made an appointment at the Apple Store. So they made an appointment here. The Hell on Earth Inn.
The first time I came here, they ran a diagnostics on my phone and it failed pretty much every audio part. Come to find out all audio (mics/speakers) near the Face ID camera were blown. The "genius" tells me that had it been the bottom speaker/mic, they would be able to instantly swap the device, but because it's the top, they have to attempt a repair. He says they need an hour. This store is notorious for overpromising and underdelivering when it comes to quoting anything relevant to time (including appointments, repair times, etc). So I decline and explain I don't have all day to be wandering around North Star, I have AppleCare and I'm still making payments on the phone so I want to swap it. He goes and talks to a manager and comes back and tells me it's going to $99 if I do that and I'll have to use an AppleCare+ accidental claim. I explain to him it's not due to accidental damage its due to a defect I didn't cause, so why would I pay you an additional $99 on top of the over $1000 I paid you for the phone initially and $300 for warranty?
He basically says he's going to create the repair and if I change my mind I have five days to come back. Needless to say life and work happened and I didn't make it back in five days and the problem persisted. I ended up calling Apple several more times, got escalated all the way up to Consumer Relations and they dropped and ball on following up. Mind you, I can only talk on the phone when I'm around bluetooth devices, so eventually I talk myself into just paying the $99 to get this resolved. I call, speak to a senior advisor and explain this has been going on for months and I let them know I think it's crap that you're taking full advantage of me by charging me for a defective device but at this point where we stand is I have a $1600 phone (iPhone + Warranty) that does everything EXCEPT be a phone.
When they schedule my follow-up appointment here at North Star, they're running over 20 minutes behind. You get thrown on this little table with other people who you can tell have been there for a while and are at the end of their rope but at the mercy of Apple (because how else are you going to get your device working again)? So it's an interesting dynamic. For sales and people looking to buy something, we're over-staffed. For people who have already bought something we get thrown on this little table in the "already got their money" section and there's clearly not enough staffing (you even had people walking out). The "genius" (different from the first time btw) comes over and I can see on the iPad my last visit, the diagnostic results, etc. yet he does everything ALL OVER AGAIN. Isn't the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results? Nonetheless, I've been there for close to an hour and I have an appointment coming up so I tell the guy, look - I'm ready to pay the $99 and get on with life. He looks shocked and says he needs to go speak to a manager and he comes back and tells me the manager declined to allow me to pay to replace my device. YES. You heard that right. The manager. In a retail store. Refused a customers money when the customer shouldn't have had to pay anyway!
At this point I leave furious and call Apple and request a Senior Advisor I go OFF. And I ask why is it everyone's been offering me to pay $99 and when I finally talk myself into paying it, it's not an option on the table, yet it's been an option this whole time? I explain this back and forward has been going on for months and I'm still making payments on the device and warranty and it's not even working. She calls the store and speaks to the manager and relays that she's told them to set aside a device and to allow me to swap the device and waive the $99.
TWO AND A HALF MONTHS. To resolve this issue. THREE store visits. God knows how many phone calls. And they wonder why iPhone sales are down?! read more