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I'm a Windows laptop user but keep thinking about switching to a mac, maybe next year. So for me the Genius Bar at Apple stores was something that I never paid enough attention to, again because I'm not a mac user. Today that changed as I made my first visit to the Genius Bar and it left such a positive impression on me that I thought I'd share my experience.

It all started this morning with my iPhone. For some reason the bottom 1/4 of my screen would not respond to any touching. Powering off/on, restarting, using various applications - nothing changed. It got to a point that in the dialer I was unable to hit the call button. The entire horizontal area across the bottom simply became a dead spot- not cool.

So I called at&t and they told me to call Apple iPhone support. 5 minutes later I was talking to a rep at Apple and after explaining my situation he told me to go to an Apple store and talk to someone in the Genius Bar to get more help. So I hopped in my car and drove to downtown San Francisco and walked over to the Apple store there. Walked in and was immediately greeted by one of their new concierge people (wearing the blue shirts). I quickly explained what the problem was and he escorted me to an Apple store employee (Dan) who then took me upstairs to the Genius Bar. He talked to them and got me on their standby list to be helped. During this time I felt like a VIP but you know what, I was just some customer who came in with a problem with my iPhone and they treated me as a friend - amazing.

Waited 15 minutes and then was able to speak to one of the knowledgeable Genius Bar reps. I showed her the problem on my iPhone and she then asked if I had everything backed up. "Yep, go ahead and do what you need to" I told her and then she reset my iPhone. After the reset it still was showing the dead spot behavior on the screen so she said "no problem, we'll swap this out with a new one." 10 minutes later she handed me my new iPhone (took out my SIM card and verified with at&t through iTunes that this was my new iPhone) and had me sign a receipt. Signed it and off I went with my new iPhone with the entire screen working, as it should ;o)

Got home, connected to my laptop and opened up iTunes. It connected to at&t to verify my device and asked me if I wanted to restore my settings and I said yes. About 10 minutes later my iPhone was ready to be synced so I synced my contacts, calendar, photos, video and music - this took about 30 minutes total (lots of music).

Guess what, in about 3 hours I went from having a semi-functioning iPhone to a brand new one with all of my settings and files the exact same way. Even my wallpaper, SMS messages, recent calls and voice messages are all there. The fact that this all worked and barely put a dent in my day is fantastic.

What I'm really impressed about is the level of service and attention to personal touch that the Apple store employees and Genius Bar team have. Now I know that if I did have a mac laptop that I would get the same, professional level of service. Honestly I can't think of too many other stores or brands that have that level of customer satisfaction. Kudos Apple!

Labels: misc

Couple stories:

1. When I went to go buy Leopard (in store, mind you) ... there was a huge line outside (Apple Store, Chestnull Hill mall). The store then opened and people proceeded to enter the Store.

What was unusually, was, that the employees at the door were actually giving out "high-fives" (to those who would accept them).

Talk about employees loving the product!

I later found out that this wasn't a world wide store directive, but rather just something the reps decided to do at the store! Talk about loving your customers. :)

I can't remember the last time someone high fived me for buying a copy of Windows at product launch! ;)

Also, once I was in store, they had their reps positioned around the store to take orders on their handheld devices. They do this when things get business so lines don't get too annoying. It's a great strategy for product launch days.

Pretty sweet. I can't recall what device they use ... but what is sort of neat is that they have the UI branded so part of it looks like OSX ...

Even when you sign it, it's got a bit apple aqua button button to accept. :)

Now that I think about it, maybe they should adopt a custom iPhone to do the ordering, now. That would be cool. :)

2.) If you go mac, it's worth it to get Applecare, especially the MB, and MBP's.

A lot of people I know debate this, and it's really a mistake.

It's worth the $300 or so dollars.

I had a 15" display go completely dead once.

Now, they didn't swap my macbook out like an iPhone such as in your case, but it was only like a 3-5 day turn around to get my machine back in pristine, working order.

If I didn't have AppleCare, I would have had to worry about the screen not being covered (I don't know if it is with no protection plan!).

Anyways, that is another positive customer experience.

3.) I don't know what kind of training one has to go through to become an Apple rep, but it's pretty clear to me they hire optismitic, energentic, highly personable people, who are passionate about Apple and it's products.

I don't even think they make a good wage ...

But it's probably a blast to work there, especially if you're a young professional just getting into software, computers, and now mobile devices.

8 comments

By Scott Janousek , at Fri Nov 23, 07:59:00 PM PST

I received the same great attention on a MacBook that wouldn't start up. I walked out in an hour with a new laptop. It would have been quicker, but I didn't have a backup so they transferred all my files onto the new machine.

By Partners in Grime , at Fri Nov 23, 08:35:00 PM PST

A couple bug fixes. :)

>What was unusually,
What was unusual,

>They do this when things get business
They do this when things get busy

Sometimes I hate blogs. No editing. :)

By Scott Janousek , at Fri Nov 23, 10:38:00 PM PST

I covered the details on this recently on iSights, but agree that the Apple store in general, and the Genuis Bar in particular, probably has more to do with Apple's current level of success than the often mentioned "halo" effect.

They stepped up to a new level with One to One, which gives you personalized training on any number of Apple's products and solutions.

I've lost track of the number of people I've seen there getting instruction on iPhoto or iMovie. Which, from a purely practical standpoint, is a very, very smart move on Apple's part. The more photo books and calendars and home movies people do with their machines, the more of a "lock" Apple gains on them.

Which in turns means that their next computer will probably also be a Mac, as will their daughters and sons and so on. Further, a lot of people give those projects away as Christmas presents.

Which means that when the recipient asks about how they did them, the "Oh, I used my Mac" line becomes even more effective.

By mlong , at Fri Nov 23, 11:07:00 PM PST

I hope you didn't go to the Genius Bar on Black Friday! I was at the SF store for a few minutes and it was a complete madhouse!

That aside I've had mostly great experiences with Apple Support and the Genius Bar - they are far better than any other company I've dealt with. I had a similar issue with my iPhone about a week after I got it, and they swapped it out on the spot for me as well. I've had similar service with my MacBook Pro; can't wait to welcome you to the cult, Bill!

By david , at Sat Nov 24, 10:42:00 AM PST

A lot of people say the iphone is overpriced and it has features a lot of other phones have but what other phone backs itself up - how much is that worth to nokia or moto users? Or that for the phone or the Mac you can go to a store where they don't just give you the repair rates or just claim it's an OS problem (and if you call MS, they claim it's a hardwre problem) ... now how much is that worth to you?

By Anonymous , at Sat Nov 24, 01:16:00 PM PST

Next time you want to visit the Genius Bar, call ahead (or log onto the Web Site) and make an appointment. You can skip the line.

I second the vote for AppleCare. It's worth it. If you get Pro Care, they practically kiss your feet the whole time you're there. It's like buying a luxury car.

The Genius Bar is great. Just don't make the all-too-common mistake of thinking ALL Apple Store employees are Geniuses. I see geeks make posts all the time about how stupid "Geniuses" are when it's clear from their story that they were asking the SALES staff highly technical non-standard-use questions.

The GOOD/BAD salespeople ratio at the Apple store is only slightly better than anywhere else in retail, but the good ones are worth the hunt.

Try this: Go into the store and start doing some actual work on the display machine. As long as there is at least one open display, you will never be asked to get off the machine.

Last Christmas, I was taking up TWO MacBook Pros. I was racing them in a 15 minute render in iMovie. Other than mild interest in what I was rendering (wondering if it was an indie movie or a home movie) they left me to my tests.

By Anonymous , at Sat Nov 24, 07:57:00 PM PST

I'm thinking about a MacBook Pro for my next laptop ... but I need to justify the extra cost and smaller hard drive space compared to a comparable Dell. Working on it ...

As for the Genius Bar. Sounds fantastic. But if you don't live in a city that has an Apple store, then you will be left with plain old telephone support. I've always had great luck with Dell's (although I preferred it when I was still in the UK and dealt with beautiful-sounding Irish girls ...) phone support. How does Apple's *really* compare?

By Steve , at Mon Nov 26, 07:45:00 AM PST