Apple Palo Alto — Attraction in Palo Alto

I usually don't prefer giving negative reviews, I have Respect for apple products and the service but I will have to rethink after this incident. I had gone to visit the Genius bar for my battery replacement and asking for a issue that i was having i.e. system disk occupying 27+GB in my iPhone. I was told that there could be issues in IOS and while upgrading it must have bloated. The only way to overcome this was take a backup of the phone, do a Factory reset and restore the backup. I followed what apple Genius bar asked me. But while restoring the phone from iTunes, I hit an error saying "iTunes could not restore the iPhone because an error occurred while reading from or writing to the iPhone". Initially i had a chat (recommended by apple) with one of the apple support guys but he just forwarded me a document where it was written how to restore your iPhone from iTunes. I already knew as i did my homework checking online and reading Apple support/Apple forums. But that did not resolve my issue. So I called apple technical support and even they could not resolve the issue. I shared my computer screen and showed the technician the entire issue. But of no help and he asked me to go to a Genius bar at one of the apple locations. For software issues customers cannot directly have a genius bar appointment, they have to talk to Apple Technical support and only if the issue is not resolved then they set up and appointment with Apple Genius Bar. P.S - I might have tried this 6-8 times but it failed every time. I referred apple discussion online and even that did not help much. So now I visit Apple Palo Alto, CA location. I still had issues with restoring my phone from iTunes. It took 10+ mins for an representative to see me even after having an scheduled appointment. The representative heard my entire issue again and noted down everything. I asked him, all this info should have been there in the Case Id attached, but he said I just wanted to re confirm everything.. FAIR enough, I support this. Then after 15+ min a technician comes and asks me everything again. I repeated it assuming he is the Genius BAR and can help me. But after hearing the entire issue he said let me check with my team and get back to you. After another 15+ min of wait he came and responded did u try to take a backup on iCloud . To this is said no, i usually take it on iTunes. He said it could be difficult to restore it from iTunes as you are having Windows PC and not MAC. To this i replied but apple does support iTunes officially on windows and i have the most updated one, so should not be a issue according to me. Can you just take a look at this and then debug as to why we are hitting this issue ( is it cos of Windows/MAC/PHONE/Software/Corrupt Files etc) He said let me call another Technician who can make you understand better. I said is there something that I am not understating here ? He said, we cannot help if it throws error. To this i reacted like, WHAT!!!? I asked him what might cause this? Why would this happen. He said let me get someone. I said Okay.

After another 15+ mins that person came ALONE and repeated the same thing. To this i got irritated. This was the point I became angry and asked him - whats the point me coming until the Apple location and having an appointment with Apple Genius BAR if you guys cannot even help me identify to what is causing the issue. Why did the technician on phone asked me to visit a Genius BAR. Where else should i go after this? To all this he just replied, if there is an error we cannot help.... THAT IS IT, I just left and decided to do it myself.

I have successfully restored the data from iTunes and yes I did it myself. It was not Rocket Science Do not have any pass code set Do not have any settings for screen lock 3.Do not have Find my iPhone turned ON Have enough space on your PC while you are doing this. - IMP

(I am not publishing the case Id and name as i don't want to demean anyone but just want a better service from apple for a customer who pays thousand of dollars buying...

Uncle Steve Wouldn’t Have Let This Slide: Where’s the Empathy, Apple? 🍏😬

As someone who has loved Apple for decades admired its innovation, and appreciated its profound impact on the world, writing this review pains me a little. My daughter and I recently visited the Apple Store on University Avenue in Palo Alto for a screen repair on her iPhone 13 Pro Max. The repair was flawless—completed in just four hours with the quality and efficiency I expect from Apple. However, the customer experience was sorely lacking—a core part of what has always set Apple apart.

From the moment we walked in, it was clear that something was off. Five Apple Store employees were at the entrance, yet none acknowledged us—instead, they conversed with each other. After several minutes of standing unnoticed, I had to actively get an employee's attention to pick up the repaired phone.

The employee who brought out the phone did so without eye contact, engagement, or explanation of the process. After I completed payment via Apple Pay on my Apple Watch, we inquired about purchasing a case. Rather than assisting us, the employee handed us off to another associate with no warmth or willingness to help. The second associate immediately checked an iPad, but still no eye contact, conversation, or acknowledgment of us as customers—just a curt, “We don’t have it; go on Amazon.” Then she turned away.

As we were leaving, my daughter tried on the Apple AirPods Max. That same associate insulted her, making an unnecessary remark about how she “went straight to the most expensive headphones Apple makes.” Instead of sharing product knowledge or enthusiasm, she focused only on price, missing a real opportunity to create a positive interaction.

Where Has the Apple Store Experience Gone?

I remember when Apple Stores were a beacon of IQ and EQ, where the experience was as premium as the products. However, this visit lacked warmth, emotional intelligence, and the basic principles of excellent customer service: acknowledgment, engagement, and care.

Apple is a brand I will always support, and I hope this feedback helps bring attention to an area that deserves improvement. The University Avenue location has the opportunity to reflect Apple’s actual values. I hope to see it return to the level of service and human connection that once defined the Apple Store experience.

I would love to see Apple shine bright again—not just in its products but also in its people. 💫

#AppleFanForLife...

Would give 0 stars if I could. Dropped off laptop to get key replaced - told it was a 24hr in store repair. Was contacted a few hours later and told it needed to ship out to repair center for top case replacement of entire keyboard and that I was told they would contact me if anything changes ; was told entire thing would take 5 days.

After a week I could not get any updates on repair - finally learned it had just gotten to repair center due to shipping delays from the weather (ok, no ones fault) - still took a week to even get tracking number to learn what was taking so long.

Laptop then sat at repair center for almost a week before it was looked at. Finally received laptop back over 2 weeks after dropping it off and all my data was gone because logic board was replaced.

Now being told by store that they do not contact for replacement of anything under apple care warranty since there are no additional customer costs. This is different than what I was originally told that I WOULD be contacted of changes.

Also being told that I was asked when I dropped it off if I had back everything up - I was NEVER asked this, I did not expect to have my entire laptop wiped just to get a key replaced.

Next time I will purchase an external keyboard from anyone besides this apple store and use that instead of waiting 2 weeks to get a blank computer back and spending hours and hours on hold with store.

They are trying to get my data back, but the constant excuses of its my fault / it sat at the factory for extra days because of bad weather in Texas (my laptop was in Tennessee) are absolutely unacceptable customer service.

Not even to mention that on the day I dropped the laptop off I had a genius bar appointment but still had to wait outside for 1.5hrs because they...