Genius Bar Waiting Times

In debuting its new Concierge reservation system on Nov. 16, 2005, Apple hopes to improve in-store service experience. But exactly how crowded are the lines and how long do you have to wait? I performed thorough but necessarily limited and unscientific analysis of Genius Bar waiting times shows they can range from just one minute in rare cases to over 4 hours or longer at many stores, especially during busy weekends.

In general, average waiting times were over one hour, but varied widely by location. Stores with extended waiting times seemed to always have extended times. Stores with mid-length times seemed to vary up and down, while the quiet stores were almost always quiet.

And if you think the new Concierge system is working, just know that they've included a screen to tell you there are no more slots.

With a salute to the store staffers who are working to help solve customer problems, here is the good and the bad:

Bad Boys

  • SoHo (NYC) - The Genius Bar is open from 6 a.m. until midnight weekdays, but on a weekend appointments can frequently disappear by noon, 8 hours before closing.
  • Glendale (S. Calif) - Like SoHo, the store can run out of appointments by noon on any day of the week.
  • Fashion Center (Ariz.) - Wait times range from 4 to 7 hours on any day--if appointments are even available before closing. The Biltmore store in the same region isn't much faster.
  • Cambridgeside (Mass.) - Busy store, even week-day appointments disappear by 5 p.m.
  • Legacy Village (Ohio) - Seems like a quiet spot, but 3-hour wait times are common.
  • Cherry Creek (Colo.) - Two stores in town but 3-4 hour waits are possible here.
  • Arden Fair (N. Calif.) - An outpost store, it must have lots of customers since 2-hour waits are possible on any day.
  • University Village (Wash.) - Weekends are tough on wait times, ranging up to 5 hours.
  • La Encantada - Weekends strain the system, with 1+ hour waits almost all the time.
  • Manhattan Village (S. Calif.) - The store is barely 4 months old, yet consistently generates 1-hour wait times.

Bright Side

  • Northbrook Mall (Ill.) - They're moving quick at this store, apparently, since wait times were 16 minutes at the most.
  • Bridgewater (NJ) - Walk in and walk up--a 3 minute wait isn't uncommon.
  • Jordan Creek Town Center (Iowa) - An outpost store, but it handles visitors within 25 minutes consistently.

Wild Variations

  • Washington Square (Ore.) - Times ranged from 1 hour down to just 2 minutes.
  • Pioneer Place (Ore.) - Another store in the state, had times just over 1 hour down to one minute.
  • Third Street Promenade (S. Calif.) - Wait 5 minutes or over an hour...can't tell.

Most Consistent

  • Fashion Show (Nev.) - Hey, nothing changes in this town...times were consistently just a tad over 20 minutes.