Apple Upper East Side — Attraction in New York

I arrived at the Apple Store at 12:53 PM for a 2:30 PM appointment to get my phone fixed. When I first approached the counter, I was directed downstairs. I waited there briefly—no one acknowledged me—so I went back up. I was sent back down and told to look for someone in a blue shirt. A staff member finally signed me in and told me someone would be with me in 15–20 minutes. He assured me I would not need to wait until my original appointment time.

I sat down, opened my book, and waited.

Nearly an hour passed. I noticed an Apple associate helping a customer in front of me and politely asked if he could check where I was in line. He looked at the list and immediately responded with a harsh, condescending tone: “Your appointment isn’t until 2:30. There are people ahead of you. You have to wait your turn.”

I calmly explained that an associate told me I wouldn’t have to wait that long, and that I’d already been sitting for almost an hour. He ignored that entirely and told me I had three options: • Go to another location • Reschedule • Come back another day

I told him none of those were realistic—I needed my phone fixed today. I mentioned I hadn’t eaten and just wished someone had communicated better so I could’ve stepped out or gotten lunch instead of sitting for an hour under the wrong impression. He responded dismissively: “Well, let me know which of those three options you want to go with,” then repeated them and walked away as if I didn’t matter.

I was so humiliated I started crying. Even the customers around me were shocked at how I was treated.

Desperate, I asked another staff member if I could speak to someone higher up. He pointed me upstairs. I spoke to a supervisor and explained everything. The supervisor confirmed that was not Apple’s policy and I should not have had to wait that long. He immediately bumped me up to the next customer and was kind about it—but the emotional damage was already done.

I left the store in tears, shaking, and said I’d return at my actual appointment time to calm down. When I came back, the rude floor lead was no longer on the floor. I was helped by a different associate with a cast on his arm—he was kind, respectful, and professional. So much so that I ended up purchasing another iPad, even though I genuinely didn’t want to give Apple another dollar.

But this entire experience has shaken me to my core. I’m nearly 40 years old and I have never experienced such blatant disrespect and racial profiling in a retail setting. Out of the entire store, I was one of only three Black customers. That associate looked at me like I was beneath him—like I didn’t belong there—and he made sure I felt it.

Let this be clear: his name is Josh, and if you’re Black, I highly suggest avoiding him at all costs. And please, do not send your children into that store without an adult present.

Apple—your employee made me feel less than human. For a company that claims to value inclusivity and customer experience, this was a complete and utter failure. I’ll be seriously reconsidering my loyalty to Apple moving forward. I hope this message reaches someone who actually cares about customer retention and the emotional well-being of...

I went to the Apple store on Madison Avenue with my twelve year old MAC keyboard, that just stopped working. My tech savvy daughter had tried to revive it and was ready to pronounce it “ dead “ but suggested that as a last resort, I should see if the folks at Apple might be able resuscitate it. After walking into their store, which was, once upon a time, a very elegant bank, I was directed downstairs to meet with a technician. I was very doubtful that the keyboard could be saved and had prepared myself to w it and spend $100 or more for a new one. The gentleman that came over to assist me explained that if indeed my keyboard was kaput and I were to purchase a new one, I’d be throwing away my money since all new Apple computers come with high tech keyboards. However he took my keyboard and said he’d run some tests and be back in ten or fifteen minutes.

While waiting, I struck up a conversation with another customer, who actually had an appointment she had made prior to coming to the store and had apparently been sitting patiently awaiting assistance for help with her Apple Watch. She wondered if the staff at these Apple stores were less engaged with customers since Apple products keep selling and they really have a monopoly on the market. I explained my philosophy that regardless of how successful the company is, it comes down to the individuals who work at these stores . And if you engage with them in a personal way, you’re likely to be treated with warmth and respect.

After ten minutes, my tech returned ( I wish i could recall his name)and explained that while my keyboard had indeed died, he was giving me one of the used ones that they had sitting around ! He made sure it worked a d then wished me a good day! Wow! I was delighted that I would get another year or two out of my old Mac before investing in a new one!

I know this is a long review but I wanted to talk about Pico, the manager of the Apple store. I felt bad for my friend who had been waiting and felt she needed an advocate! I asked to see who was in charge and Pico appeared and realized that Pam, my new found friend had indeed been inadvertently passed over ( possibly by me!) and then spent over two hours helping resolve her issues. I left the Apple store with my faith restored not only in the Apple products but in the kindness and empathy that their staff devotes to...

I've been to this location twice in the last week and experienced really low customer service compared to any other Apple Store I've visited. During my first visit, I was there to test headphones. They have too many bluetooth headphones connected to the same 3 iPods so I couldn't connect any of them to my phone to try it out with the music I actually listen to. It's very hard to get a sense of how headphones are going to sound with different genres of music when they only present an option to listen to pop or hiphop.

I asked one of the "geniuses" if they could explain to me why the headphones couldn't connect to my phone and that person had to ask two other people for an answer. Once discovered that it would be insanely difficult, I asked if someone could temporarily disable the guided access so that I could go to youtube and look for some types of music I listen to instead. That person clearly didn't understand what I was trying to say. It's pretty sad if you know more than the "expert."

Today, I went back to exchange the headphones I purchased. The Beats Studio wireless headphones are too big for my small head and end up sliding down to my neck as I listen. When I returned them, the guy asked which kind I wanted to exchange and I said I'd like the wireless Solos instead. He told me to choose a color so I picked a beautiful set of blue headphones that were displayed along with the other 17 wireless models on the wall, only to get home, take them out of the box, and realize the guy gave me the wired version.

Needless to say, I'll have to make yet another trip there just to get the type of service I should've gotten in the first place. I have never seen an Apple Genius with such little knowledge of the product and no attention to detail. It's unfortunate that this is my local store. I hope I don't have any computer issues in the future and need to visit...