Karen Hall has been an Apple fan since 1982 and has a family fully-equipped with Apple gear. She purchased an iPhone and loves it, but after a few days discovered that it had stopped ringing when someone called her. Hall has posted an account of taking the iPhone to the Millenia (Orlando, Fla.) Genius Bar for a fix. Thirty minutes behind her scheduled appointment, the Genius tried to diagnose the problem–without success. Re-installs and resets didn’t work, but the iPhone did begin to vibrate during an incoming call. “The Genius Bar is an idea whose time has come and gone,” Hall writes. “It was a good idea back when there were 20 people on the planet with Macs. It became a bad idea as soon as the iPod was invented, because suddenly every single soul on the planet and their 12 year-old brother had a reason to be in line at the Genius Bar.” Read her account for her iPhone glitch punchline.
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Hmm, so she and the Genius both didn’t know what the ring/silent switch was? This “story” smacks of being a big, self indulgent, exaggerated fib. And even if it is true, what a total waste of everyone’s time.
I don’t believe it for a second. I have been in that store many times and actually worked with the Genius who has that tatoo (it is of his daughters hand print by the way) and they have always taken care of me or gave me a place to find an answer.
Genius Bar – more like the Geniurd Bar. I had an iPod Shuffle suffer premature failure under warranty, and the Geniurd wanted me to buy an extended warranty (for the same price I originally paid for the Shuffle) just to look at it right away. I said “It’s under warranty, can’t I just drop it off and come back, it’s broken, it died, I want a new replacement one.” No go–without an appointment, no can do, so I threw it away…
I like Apple stuff, but the Apple Stores and the Geniurds suck…
It’s not the Geniuses fault if you don’t have an appointment. He’s just doing his job, vaporland.
I’m kind of sick of everyone ridiculing the Genius name. You think the guys that work there gave themselves that name? In my handful of trips to the Genius bar (which I’ve never had a problem with actually), I’ve overheard a couple times “So are you really a Geeeeeniuuuuuuussss?” Not to mention all the clever, clever people putting Genius in quotation marks.
Oh and I call BS on this story too.
@3: If you want drop-off service for your iPod, you can call Applecare and get them to send you a mailer for your iPod.
At the Apple Stores, they need to create a repair, and have you sign off on it, making sure that you understand that there can be fees associated with the repair, and other legal ramifications based upon the state that you live in.
This requires a technician, and if they’re currently busy with customers, you don’t get to cut to the front of the line just because you think you’re more important than the current customers. Their time is important, too, and they got there before you. Why am I talking to you like you’re a 5-year old? Because you’re acting like one.
People think Geniuses should be infallible gods of technology, but they happen to be human. They happen to work an extremely difficult job for unspectacular pay. They deal with rude, pushy, belligerent customers who behave like children. They stand on their feet for 8 hours a day. They work odd retail hours in a noisy, chaotic environment with a constant barrage of 10-20 minute, high priority objectives for the whole day, then get up the next day and do it again. [IFO -- I agree.]
I emailed feedback from a post-experience survey about how iPods should be serviced by the floor salesforce rather than the “Genius” Bar because the time waiting to get a computer fixed was increased 10X amidst a comfluence of iPod exchangers/ and Windows iPod users. There i was with a G5 tower, and an appointment running late as i watched nanos and ipods getting traded in or exchanged while folks like me (with a computer that needed a MB [motherboard] replacement) wandered around listening to the Employees sell new stuff. So the Apple Store needs “iPod experts” to deal with the iPods/iPhones and leave the “Geniuses” to service the computers.
@vaporland:
I call Shenanigans — if your Shuffle failed under warranty, it would have been replaced. If they tried to convince you that you needed AppleCare, which given that the nigh-indestructible Shuffle failed after whatever torture you put it through, might not be a bad idea, it would only cost $39, as opposed to the $79 you paid for the shuffle in the first place.
Also, it’s not their fault if you can’t understand the concept of “take a number” or “make a reservation” — it’s something most kindergartners understand.
It is just like the time I went to this really busy restaurant near me. The wait was like an HOUR! I kept telling them that I had a party of five with me and that I was going to spend a LOT of money that night on food. I also told them that I had eaten there for years and that I have spent a lot of money there in tha past as well. They just would NOT seat me before the people that got there before me. I was shocked. I told them that those who were waiting before me or had reservations and were only going to eat a small amount of food should be seated by maybe the waiters or the bartender, since I was going to buy more food than them.
It was a horrible experience. I actually had to wait my turn at a place of business. I mean, I was hungry RIGHT THEN. The tables were all full of people eating and the waiters were all helping those people but I don’t see why they could not just seat me immediately. I mean I was in a hurry. And I already know what I wanted and… and… and…
mustang:
(1) They quoted me $99 for AppleCare for 1GB 1st gen shuffle it was seven months old at the time.
(2) It simply died – would not recognize the device.
(3) They said, “buy the AppleCare and you can go to the top of the waiting list, otherwise come back at 6PM (it was 1:30PM)
(4) I said, “can’t I just exchange it now” – they said “No, it has to be examined (I.E. – plug it in and see it does not work)
(5) I said “can’t I just drop it off” – they said “No, you must have an appointment with a Genius”
(6) I said “I want to talk to the manager” – and then they got snitty.
My time is worth more to me than to be hanging around some crungy mall or driving back to the Apple Store twice in one day. It’s the principle. This IS a true story. 90% of the geniurds I’ve listened to couldn’t sell popsicles on a summer day.
Check the web – a LOT of people are very unimpressed. I’ve had Macs since 1984, but the Apple Stores are good for Authorized Apple Dealers (remember those) because most people, once they get to know the product, can’t stand the salespeople/geniurds at the Apple Store – and their staff turnover is so high, you won’t see the same folks working there when you come back 6 months later anyway…
You threw away your Shuffle because someone wouldn’t help you at a Genius Bar–because you didn’t bother to call ahead and make an appointment first?
I’m sorry, are you some sort of idiot?
Let’s say you bought something high-end from a store that didn’t have in-house service–which is just about any store that’s not Apple or Circuit City or Best Buy. If you couldn’t get them to fix it right there for you, would you just throw it out? You know that, like just about any product in the world, if it’s in warranty and broken you call up, send it in, and have it replaced, right?
Just because Apple has a Genius Bar doesn’t make it so that you’ll be serviced anytime you want no matter who’s in front of you on the list, and it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any other ways of fixing your item.
Vaporland, you’re story is one of the most ridiculous I ever heard. If it is true, then you are among the least intelligent people to ever walk this planet in the modern age.
Simply put, planet Earth needs fewer people like you. You are a drain.
I think we’ve flogged vaporland enough…let’s move on to other topics.
vaporland, I think that he tried to sell you ProCare, not AppleCare. ProCare is $99 and gives you first priority on repairs and line-skipping at the genius bar when possible. AppleCare for the shuffle and nano is $39.
If I bought a stereo at Circuit City or Best Buy, I would not have to ‘make an appointment’ to just to drop it off to be repaired – I could leave it and they would call me and tell me what is wrong and how much it would cost.
Hey, even the independent Apple dealer (God Bless ‘Em) I work with will let me drop off a broken Mac in about two minutes, and they have no problem giving me a call later.
I certainly am not expected to wait around for four hours before they will even accept it for service…
Funny, they get a lot of business from the local Apple Store because of people pissed off by the Geniurds…
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