Apple Staten Island — Attraction in New York

My first-time walking into this store (Maybe my 3rd time in any Apple store in total) was extremely disappointing. What I wanted to do was straight forward and simple: to learn more about the massively hyped-up Apple Vision Pro with genuine interest. However, the response from the security personnel, followed by the store manager's justification, was not only wildly disproportionate but extremely condescending.

I’m a Google and Android user through and through for years and it would be tough to get me to make the switch to Apple, but the thought crossed my mind after seeing and reading about the Vision Pro. Often the first touchpoint with a new product could possibly pivot loyalties, however, I was taken aback by the approach of the security.

I was met with an immediate and unwelcoming reaction for merely expressing interest in a high-value item and grazing the head band with the very tip of my forefinger. Security’s senses heightened in a flash by this touching reacted as if I was diffusing bomb and cutting the wrong wire. “You can’t touch that!”. He then told me to talk to the manger if I didn’t like it. This, in itself, could be chalked up to some over eagerness on the part of security. However, what happened next was a clear indicator of deeper issues.

The store manager's response to my understandable frustration was to deflect and diminish, suggesting that the fault lay not in their overreaction but in my actions, under the guise that “Ordinarily someone who worked there was supposed to be there directing me what to do but wasn’t there” and “The security is working for a third party, not Apple” (The latter excuse employed by many retailers to allow a never ending circle of blame if an issue arises). These excuses not only sidestep the issue I had but also cast me in an unwarranted almost criminal light. The manager not only failed with a spoon-fed opportunity to lead but chose to hide behind a broken policy and misplaced blame.

The treatment I received was not just a failure of policy but also of management. An opportunity to engage with a customer, to genuinely apologize and then, showcase the brilliance of the Vision Pro was lost in a mire of misunderstanding and mismanagement. It serves as a reminder that the core of retail experience lies not only in the quality of the products on display but in also the quality of human interactions. In this day and age, why else walk into any store?

As someone who works in tech and values the innovation and hardware designs of Apple, it was disheartening to see how a lapse in judgment completely dissuaded me from any future engagement with anything...

I have apple care++ on my iPhone 16 pro max and on my MacBook Air m4 and on my AirPods even though I barely I use it because I take care of my things, but when I really needed it, it came to no use at all. It was not useful. I feel like I wasted my money on something that doesn’t work Like a façadeon Just a decoy that tells you pay me for what am I paying? Basically nothing ,I came in the Apple store at State Mall to fix my AirPods because they have a robotic sound when I talk to people. The man kept looking at it and opened it closed it then He said he was gonna run a diagnostic test in the back. He took it to the back and he came out then he went back to the back then he came out then he gave me the same exact AirPods and he told me that he switched the side that doesn’t work I thought Since it’s a defective part, obviously they would change it for me. I’m paying my AppleCare. I’m paying for AppleCare. I think I paid the price of this AirPod four times over if not more Then I tell him OK he sure it’s good now one side was bad. The other side was no good so I replaced the other side trying to act like he’s so professional like he knows what he’s doing obviously, you don’t know anything buddy you’re just trying to save the products like it’s coming out of your own pocket. Not realizing that I pay AppleCare and I have so many Apple products and I run my small business on Apple productsthen I’m like OK thank you that was a cheap move by the way, but I was like OK. I go home the first phone call I make the robotic sound is still there basically nothing was done. This is the outcome. I wasted my time at Apple Store number two. I went there and got no solution number three. I’m paying AppleCare for nothing so I’m wasting my money and there’s number four and number five and I can keep going Apple. You did so bad I’m really upset. I wanna tell everybody not to get AppleCare because it’s nothing but a scam Thank you Apple From Your...

I thought the people I dealt with were very nice when I brought in my Macbook Pro for a repair of the spacebar, only, on the keyboard. But then some things happened:

I was called by a store rep 2 days later, who said the repair required a part, and the cost would 188 USD. It was supposed to be ready in 5 days.

Two weeks later, I called the store asking what had happened to my Mac because I had LOTS of work on it from my job. I never heard back and was getting nervous.

At that point, the store rep stated, "They had to order a screwdriver because my laptop was old. (their go-to saying) But it just came in and the laptop would be worked on today."

The next day, the store rep called back. They told me, "The screw they needed to take out was stripped, and they could not fix it. So, they would not charge me."

I go back to the store on a Saturday morning, where the lines were huge with people waiting for the new iPhone. I waited about 30 minutes.

I get my Macbook back. BUT NOW.....The trackpad did not work, too!!!

So, I realize they must all think I know little about Apple with having an old macbook, but here is what I believe happened:

Someone tried to fix it with the wrong screwdriver. Someone stripped the screw. Someone ordered the right screwdriver. And decided to wait til someone else found the damaged screw Whoever it was left the laptop in the store two weeks. Me calling the store brought attention to my repair again. Someone took the correct screwdriver and honestly tried to make the fix to the keyboard. He/she found the stripped screw, and told me about it.

Because I HAVE NEVER opened up my Macbook Pro in the 9 years I owned it.

Yeah, it is old. BUT IT CAME BACK MORE DAMAGED THAN WHEN I LEFT IT!

I don't recommend this Apple store. Old or not, they damaged my laptop and tried to hide it from me.

It would be nice if Apple addressed this and refunded some money for the new Mac...