Apple The Summit — Local services in Birmingham

The most rude & unprofessional people EVER!!. I have a store employee on video saying, you have had 4 DEFECTIVE iPhone 8's and I want to RENEW YOUR FAITH in Apple. He said let me work on getting you an iPhone XR (which is actually cheaper than my iPhone 8). After waiting 30 minutes, he comes back and asks me to stop recording him. I pretended like I stopped, but as soon as he thought he was off camera it was all just a BUNCH of LIES. He replaced my iPhone 8 with one that was broken out of the box. The phone would not recognize an Apple charging chord and it took a long time for the phone to start up. I immediately told the employee something was not right and I didn't want this one. He was full of excuses and would not switch out for another one out of the box. I got in my car and wanted to charge it. As I plugged it in my car, again the Apple charging chord was not recognized by the phone, as well as it was continuously glitching. Within a few days the battery health was down to 97%. I had him on record because I am TIRED of being lied to by Apple. Let's first preface this issue by stating that I had a warranty and all of my iPhone replacements were as a result of Apple Customer Care INSTRUCTING me that I needed a replacement. MY IPHONE 8 WILL NOT GO TO SLEEP AFTER SENDING AN IMESSAGE. My teenage nephew picked up my phone when I wasn't looking and sent a very inappropriate message to EVERYONE in my contacts. It is now March and I have tried called Apple Customer Care since August. I was sent to the Summit store and had a horrible situation where the employee saw the issue of the phone not going to sleep and that my battery health percentage is now at 96% on a two month old phone. I told him that I was going to write on a piece of paper that my issue was replicated but no one here at the store was going to help me. The employee laughed and condescendingly said let me get that paper and pen for you. I have included the pics of the incident below. I am exhausted, time and time you contact Apple Customer Care, they instruct you to go to the Apple Store and what happens ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! Who has AUTHORITY?? It is one excuse after the other and NOTHING gets resolved. I contacted Apple Customer Care, again I was on the phone for over 3 hours, the guy seemed helpful and after being on the phone with him I got cut off, he called me back and the phone disconnected again. I did not have a contact number for him, therefore I had to start AGAIN. Come to find out that he NEVER took any notes on the situation. My third call back I was transferred to a Senior Advisor (Ashai Ext 1141416) who promised me that she was going to help me, we will get this resolved, if not I will make sure that you get another phone. She diagnosed the phone and asked me to back up on iCloud and restore the phone. I did as she instructed and an appointment was set up a few days later. I also sent her pictures of the incident at the Summit store that I am including below. She never called back herself, she had someone else call me back. I told this customer care person that I would like to speak to Ashai. Guess what, they closed out my case. I left a message for Ashai and she finally called me, to inform me that she couldn't get me another phone because I have had MY ONE TIME EXCEPTION!!! WHAT EXCEPTION?? Apparently Apple keeps a STRIKE record against you for...

I will admit that after reading some of the reviews, I was very skeptical about making the drive up from Montgomery to get my son's iPhone 7 repaired for a No Service defect. We had a reservation for 10:40 on a Sat morning & arrived at the store around 10:10. Yes, the store was already crowded, BUT we were promptly greeted by an associate. I told him we had a reservation & that we were a bit early. He said that wasn't a problem, verified our reservation, told us he would get someone to help us shortly and directed us where to wait at the back of the store. Several associates walked through, calling the last names of customers waiting to be assisted. After what seemed like 10 or 15 minutes, our name was called. A young lady began helping us, but then said Deja (?) would be taking over. Not really sure why, but the transition was seamless & both were extremely professional, attentive & helpful. Deja quickly determined the phone would need to be sent off for repair that would take 3-5 business days. This was the Saturday before Thanksgiving & my son was not willing to depart with his phone (we thought the repair could be done onsite in the store & we would leave with a repaired phone) UNTIL he learned that Apple would provide him a loaner phone to use while his was being repaired!! The loaner phone has to be returned within 14 days after your phone is received back at the store from being repaired AND the loaner phone has to be in the same condition it was in when provided to the customer. We made the SIM card switch & signed to have the phone repaired & was out of the store by 10:45 (remember, our reservation was for 10:40). We received an email Monday indicating the phone had been received by Apple for repair. Friday after Thanksgiving we received another email indicating the phone had been repaired, shipped back to the store & was ready for pick-up. Our first experience at this Apple store was a pleasant one.. The only reason I didn't give a 5-star rating was because we haven't picked the phone up yet (we plan to do so this weekend) and I want to be sure the phone was properly repaired.

I am adding to this review as we have since picked up the phone. Arrived on Sat. morning about 20 minuted before the store opened. Two lines soon began to form, one for Tech Support & the other for purchases. We jumped into the short line, which happened to be Tech Support. An Apple associate was assigned to each line & was "checking customers in". Before we could get "checked in" the doors opened & we entered the store & approached the first associate we encountered. We told him we DID NOT HAVE A RESERVATION & was there to pick-up a phone being repaired & turn-in a loaner phone. He happily asked our name, checked us in & told us where to wait at the back of the store & an associate would help us shortly. Less than 5 minutes passed when a young lady approached us. asked our name (and id for verification to pick up the phone). She switched out the SIM cards, instructed us to turn the phone on & make sure it's working, then advised that Apple also installed a new battery at no cost and we were out the door & on our way. Not sure where all the negative reviews are coming from but our first experience at this Apple store was nothing less...

Update 2/14/18: The Store Leader, Jason reached out to me and resolved my issue. There were some communication issues with my repair and they apologized for everything and made it right. Overall, this store is great and they truly care to make your experience great. Everyone tries to be friendly and respectful and my final thoughts are all positive. Original 2/7/18: My recent experience with this Apple Store was a terrible experience and unacceptable in my opinion. My 2015 MacBook Air battery has gone bad and is telling me I need service. I made an appointment for Wednesday at the Genius Bar. Took it in and after about a 30 minute wait, I was told the battery needs to be replaced which is exactly what I thought. They did not have a MacBook Air battery in stock so I was told I had to wait 3 or so days to get it ordered. I agreed and before I left I asked if replacing this battery is something that could be done by the end of 1 business day when the battery comes in. He said that should be possible if I bring it first thing in the morning. No appointment necessary. The next Monday I got an email saying the battery was in. Two days later on Wednesday I returned right at opening. I waited in a line to check in and was told to sit "over there" and someone would be with me soon to take my MacBook. This was at 10:15 AM. At 11 AM, no one had come to speak to me. Everyone was very busy so I was hesitant to ask what was going on but at 11 AM I decided enough was enough. I asked a lady checking people in. She said she would take care of my repair process. They had either forgotten about me or someone wasn't doing their job. I gave them the MacBook and was then abandoned for another 10 minutes. No signature, no payment, no statement that I am good to go. I stayed around because I wanted to make sure of the completion time so I got someone's attention and asked if it would be done by closing. She said she would have to ask the technician. I waited another 10 minutes. All this time, people were passing me in line and I was being ignored. Finally she came back and said it would take 3 days. 3 Days is similar to the amount of time it would take to send the MacBook by mail to be repaired. What is the point of having a local Apple Store if they can't repair wuicker than mailing in. I am a college student and I cannot be without this MacBook in the middle of the semester for more than a day. All my school projects are on this MacBook and I need it to do assignments. So after the second trip and over a week of haggling, I still have a MacBook with a battery that dies in 10 minutes. Keep in mind that I live 60 miles away so this was the second wasted 60 mile trip. I tried to call and get an estimate about how long it would take initially over the phone but was told a person has to see it first before they could give me an accurate estimate. I am at the point where I can just do it myself. The battery replacement is simple and can be done in 10 minutes according to countless online tutorials. I simply don't understand how it could take 3 days even if they have a lot of other macs to do. I came in a week prior and should have been given priority. iPhone battery replacement repairs were being given a couple hour repair times. Why was the MacBook so...