Apple Hilldale — Attraction in Madison

Apple Airpods, or how I learned that Apple's Customer Service went the way of the headphone jack.

My wife got me Apple Airpods for Christmas. I was stoked. I made sure they were charged, opened my iPhone 7 Plus, opened the case as instructed and waited.

Nothing.. hmmm. Tried again. Nope. Instructions show there's another way to sync through Bluetooth.. no dice.

I reached support on Apple's website via chat, they were super nice, but were unable to help. After multiple attempts, the rep advised that it would be a $207 deposit and they would send a replacement unit, and I would ship the defective unit back.

Wait a minute. 207 dollars.. the product retails for $159. This was unacceptable. The rep assured me that it wouldn't actually deduct the amount from my credit card.. I explained I understood how it works, and that's not the issue. The issue is that I got a gift and it was defective. I understand that a deposit would be required, but I'm not paying more than retail for the deposit. The rep explained that it's three separate pieces and the left pod, right pod and charger are $69 each. He advised the other option is to head to the Apple Store. I let him know that would be the best option.

I knew it was time to take the hour trip to the Apple Store, but I wanted to coordinate it with another task as to avoid a second trip just to swap out a defective product. So a few weeks later, time came to head to the swanky new Apple Store in Hilldale.

I made the drive. Excitement began to swell as it does when you enter an Apple store.I walked in, it was fairly busy, there were 2 Employees handling a customers by the iPhones, and 2 employees talking to each other by the iPads. I made eye contact with a young man (I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to names) and he greeted me with a smile. I let him know what my problem was, let him know what I had done to fix the issue and advised that online support was going to mail me a replacement but I didn't want to pay the deposit as it was more than retail. I should be good to make a return and simply repurchase (**note they DID have them in stock).

I was told that this would be a Genius Bar issue and I would need to schedule an appointment, we have no openings left today (it was 330pm) but I can put you on our schedule for tomorrow.

At this point my I'm wondering what's going on.. I've returned a product before and know it doesn't take a Genius to handle a return. They assured me they wanted to ensure the product was faulty.

I explained I was from out of town and would not be able to easily return, and asked if there was anything they can do, which he replied that I'd be put on a wait list and slotted in as people cancel or as time allows. I said that was fine.

After about an hour of waiting, another customer came in, same as me, without an appointment. She needed her Mac serviced and was frantic, almost in tears. The rep put her on the waiting list and she sat on her cell phone. About 45 minutes went by and they called her name, she went up to the bar and was helped.

That's not cool.. but okay.. maybe there are separate techs that handle only Macs.. I just grit my teeth. After another hour of waiting, almost 3 hours after I made that initial eye contact with the rep, the Geniuses were ready for me.

They asked me the same questions the guy on the phone did. I reminded him I had already done this. He explained he would need to test another way to connect and held the button and tried to do the Apple witchcraft that seems to always work. No dice. They were able to confirm it was faulty pods and the case was fine. I asked how replacements worked, the Genius advised that they sell them for $69 apiece, left pod, right pod, or charging case, but free for me. I let him know that online they wanted me to pay the deposit for all three, which was much more than retail, he didn't have much to say.

I left with replacement pods and a bad taste in my mouth. It eludes me why they refused to simply return and buy a new a pair and let them figure out the issue...

Apple Intelligence sucks False Advertising! Siri literally awful how it wastes our time! The voice to text engine is horrible! Creates Reminders other things never asked for!!

I went to the Apple Store to exchange an item get credit for a trade-in and also upgrade a previous purchase.

A security guard was great. I was greeted properly by one of the managers. She was very nice made me feel welcome.

I was directed for the exchange. It was awkward from the get-go. I asked if I could go on the same side of the table or they could come over by my end so I didn’t have to keep kind of speaking up I didn’t wanna share too loudly publicly. I was told no it was just awkward.

Fortunately, another gentleman an employee got involved that was very nice professional and I was grateful for. Then I had my items all taken care of in a professional manner returned, exchanged, and credit given on my trade-in all as expected.

However, after that I was walking around the store looking at new products, I looked for some additional customer help with employee. I saw one guy leaning up against the wall, talking to I think a different employee. I raised a hand to ask if he could give me some help he came over. I asked him about the genius bar. He’s like why do you wanna know about the genius bar and then I said well I had a few different questions and just want to know where they meet then he says well. Tell me what you need and then I started to explain that I was wondering about my Apple Account, maybe changing an email. I had a different couple questions and I said could you just verbally tell me a sketch of what I do I told him I’m a geek and I just want some information that was it… Well the guy went out of his way to ignore me when I asked a couple times if he could just give me directions and he kept telling me push this then push this, but he wasn’t like just telling me where to go and I could get there myself or just giving me the outline like I asked for-then he asked me if I have a VPN on. I told him no, and I showed him in the connected devices section what was connected and I said it says VPN disconnected I don’t have it connected. I don’t have it automatically connected then he navigated me to the same thing to look at the VPN in a different part of the phone and he kept telling me now push this now push this and I’m like could you just tell me please you know like an outline of what to do is. Then we get to another section of the iPhone that also points out that the VPN is disconnected and then he says oh I see you have Surfshark well do you mind uninstalling that and I’m like yes I mind uninstalling that and I told him the VPN wasn’t connected. Then he says to me abruptly you could’ve just told me no! I’m not gonna work with you! He copped a big attitude like a prima donna, like he was doing me some kind of a favor, instead of being a paid employee to treat me nicely and he didn’t acknowledge or realize that he wasn’t listening to me And I had to show him twice the VPN was disconnected and then he wanted to know if I could uninstall it or would be willing to; but he still wouldn’t give me the outline of were we even going with this. Then like I say he just abruptly acted like I mistreated him And then he walked away and said he’s not going to work with me or help me— it left a very-negative impression and I have to say I’m wondering why they’re even paying that guy or if he realizes that he’s being paid to not only help Apple customers but make them feel good and welcome that they’re in the store so that we continue to purchase things and tell other people how great it is not only that store but Apple.

There was another employee that actually was nice to me was helpful. Gave me an idea where to go and then I only had to collect a couple things on my phone and he understood that I wanted to keep it simple and then I even commented on once you’re in the Apple Account I did notice there was a plus symbol to add additional emails and then he just politely verbally explained to me, which is what I...

I’m writing to inform you of a sickening amount of racism I incurred in an Apple Store over the last two days. The store I visited was in Madison, Mississippi. I’ve been having issues with my iPhone 5S, so I took the phone in to get it checked out. This was yesterday, May 11th, 2017. As I walked in, there were three people ahead of me. Two of these people mentioned that they were “walk-ins” and had no appointment. These two people were African American, and I am white - I only mention this because it will become relevant as this story progresses.

Anyway, as the line continues, I finally get a chance to speak with the attendant at the door. I tell her that I’m a walk-in as well, and mentioned that I was having the same issue the two other people who were in line (random iPhone crashes). She then tells me that they are not accepting walk-ins at this time, and that the closest appointment she had was later that evening. I told her I wouldn’t be able to make it back in the evening, and asked why the two people in front of me were being helped as walk-ins, but I was being turned away. She mentioned that these two people had appointments, though, as I mentioned previously, these two people were walk ins - I heard them say it, and I heard her confirm that they would be treated as walk-ins - so she lied straight to my face. I continue to ask her for immediate assistance, but she denies it and suggests I return “in the morning around 9:45” before they open so that I can be put on a waiting list.

At this point, I give up and agree to come back tomorrow. However, as I am leaving the store, more people come in, and are accepted as “walk-ins”. Once again, these people were African American. At this point, it was painfully obvious what was taking place.

I come back the following morning at 9:45 and have my name added to a list. However, one odd thing I noticed when adding my name to the list is that everyone in line was asked for a phone number, except me. This information will be relevant in a moment.

As the store opens, I am greeted and a man checked me in. He told me to wait at a table, and that I would be assisted shortly. 30 minutes go by, and I am still not assisted. I have noticed multiple (African American) people who I was in line with outside come and go, and even more come in from outside later on, that are assisted and leave very quickly.

At this point, I approach someone and ask why so many people have been helped, yet I was not. He asks for my name, then tells me that I was never even added to a wait list, or checked in for that matter. I explain to him that I added my name to the list before the store opened, and that a man checked me in. He then asks if the man asked for my phone number. I told him “no”, to which he responded, “then you were never checked in”. At this point, I was beyond angry. I was the only white male in line, and the only person to incur this type of “mistake”? Hard to believe that is a coincidence. But after about 15min, I was placed with someone who replaced my phone.

However, as this man is replacing my phone, I notice something. Every white customer was placed with a white Apple Representative, and every African American customer was placed with an African American Apple Rep. With this in mind, realize that there were about 15 African American Reps, and only about 3 white Reps. Because of this, Every African American customer was being assistance, while white customers were having to wait. Also, every poster in the store that is advertising a product, features an African American. Also, I would like to restate that African Americans were being accepted as “walk-ins” and white people were being turned away.

I am absolutely baffled at how a company such as Apple can employ people who exhibit this type of racially biased behavior. I’m not even sure how to proceed at this point,...