Apple Coconut Point — Local services in Bonita Springs

Update: When that genius bar guy said my card got declined for the apple care portion, it didn’t! I went home and tried to call apple care and they said I have apple care already! He just had to embarrass me in front of everyone. Poor customer service at this store. Please go to the Naples branch or better yet just buy your phone online or at T-mobile. Old post: The genius bar is not so genius. I come in with an appointment, but the guy squeezes an old lady after he did not believe me when I said the phone died with 80% charge. He plugs it in to try to charge it and helps the old lady behind me who also had an appt. He could have asked me or told me what my options are instead of making me wait there. I told him the phone will not charge it’s already charged and so he plugs it again to check if something was fried and continues to work with the old lady. Meanwhile, I am just standing there and he could have asked me a while ago would you like to shop for a phone while waiting or at least took care of me first. He was rude for doing that to me but makes rude remarks about everything I say. He told me my phone was fried and I asked him if there was warranty. He said it was expired in 2021. I told him can I get my phone exchanged and he said no because it’s fried. So I said ok what is the cheapest one and he showed me the phone in front of me. I said ok let’s get that. He asked me if I had apple card I said yes but it’s in my apple pay and my phone is dead. He keeps smirking even though I was already having an awful day. He said there’s no way you can pay for your phone without apple pay unless you have your physical apple card. I told him I will just pay in full with a different card. He goes back to the old lady instead of having someone to help me get the phone and start helping me. He told me to then look around for other phones. I came back and said I only want that same one. He asks me to enter my Tmobile pass key which I could not remember and says I cannot help you if you cannot remember that. All he needs to say is, Ma’am you have the option to purchase the phone now and go to T-Mobile later to get help with your access. He just made me feel stupid over and over again. He could have said you can purchase the phone there as well if that makes it easier. Instead he mocked me and smirked and when my card did not go through for apple care, he said your card declined. So I panicked because my card should work and my phone was dead so I could not call the bank. Then he said it worked for the phone but not for apple care. I said it should go through it should have a lot of money. He said I cannot help you that’s between you and your bank. He could have just whispered that or be subtle about it but it’s like he likes embarrassing his clients. I said well can I just buy that later? He said yes but he could have told me that before or just been extra kind about it. Also I was wondering maybe it would have worked with my apple card but that was not the card I used so maybe that’s why it got declined because apple care would need to renew? Anyway, I think I will switch my phone next time to Google phone. I have had so many devices from apple and even after taking good care of them they always die after a certain amount of time. I asked him while waiting if I could get my apple watch fixed and when he found out it was the 2nd gen he said just donate that ma’am it won’t work anymore. If he just cannot be kind enough with his responses he should not be working...

I changed my earlier review from one star to four stars. Everything that I said in my initial review below happened, and is still true. However our feelings were changed when we made a follow up visit to the same location a few days later. During our ensuing visit the staff could not have been any more attentive or helpful. The issues remaining were handled quickly and easily, and all of our interactions were pleasurable. In fact, the very same salesperson who my wife and I found to be rude on our first visit, was there and cheerfully helped in the solution process. This was to us a complete turn-around to our earlier experience. As an possible explanation, but not an excuse, our first visit was late on a very busy Sunday, and our second visit a much quieter weekday. I'm thinking the staff was frazzled by the time we got there late on that Sunday. Based on all of my dealings with Apple, over many many years, my conclusion is that the first visit was an aberration of sorts, and the second visit more of the norm. Old review below: My wife and I are long time Apple users. We have have had Apple phones, iPads, laptops, and watches for many, many years. That said, we have been to a lot of Apple stores over this time with mostly favorable experiences. In the past we have always gotten proper attention and help from the Apples staff at whatever store we were at. Not yesterday, however. We bought a new Apple watch for my wife from a salesperson named Anthony, and he was very helpful in guiding us to the right product. After the purchase he sat us down at one of the available tables to first download the latest Apple software, and said he would be back to help us sync the new watch with my wife's iPhone. He informed us that he would check back periodically to see how the download was going. Well, that didn't happen. Not only did he never check back with us, we came to find out he went home for the day while we were at the table waiting for the software to download. Apparently he just forgot about us entirely! During this time we were having trouble with the new software in that it was taking an inordinate amount of time to download. When I then asked a nearby sales associate if he could help he was rather curt and obnoxious while telling us that he was a salesperson and not a tech person and that we would have to make an appointment with the Genius bar if we wanted tech help. I do understand policies and procedures in business. That said, what was irritating is that he didn't bother to apologize for our rep leaving, and he didn't offer any help of any kind. My wife and I are not overly sensitive people, however we both found this person to be dismissive and rude. We ended up taking the watch home and syncing it ourselves, which was no big deal. What was a big deal was the non-caring, non-professional way that my wife and I...

TLDR: Mistakes Happen. Some employees care and some do not - this store most did care.

4 Star Breakdown: 1 = Mike Genius Admin (no sense of escalation) 2 = Manager (high EQ but I didn't get her name...) 3 = Grant (who turned around a mistake with grace)

More Details: I had a logic board failure in a top-of-the-line Mac M2 Ultra Studio. These things happen but what's not normal is the Genius Bar not listening to the customer (or reading Apple notes from the hours of phone based support prior) on activities already performed by Apple support.

I was returned the machine with them merely reviving then rebuilding it. Something I've already done 3x with Apple online support and communicated that it isn't a long term fix. So I told them I doubt this is the fix but would take it home and see..... Of course 24 hours later... orange "SOS" lights on the front of it with no booting.

2, When returning it - the Genius Bar Admin (Mike) had little customer service DNA and even after hearing that the techs did not fix correctly - I had to wait over 2 hours for an slot to just hand them the machine back to fix correctly. I repeated my frustrations and he simply did not care. Eventually Raul helped shortening my wait by I'm sure a couple of more hours. The drop off process took 2 mins. The lack of escalation for a recurring issue was surprising.

When I got the machine back the 2nd time they said they swapped out the logic board. Good - they did a hardware change which is what I was expected. Took it home, booted it up and was surprised that my 192 GB of memory machine was now 64 GB prompting another trip...

I go back to the store and ask for the manager (didn't catch her name) and told her of the experience and she a) got right on it and b) grabbed the tech (Grant) who worked on my machine. Both of them talked about how they would fix it, the steps and the priority given. They wanted to fix the problem and was empathetic to the pain in the butt of all the back and forth required.

I go to pick the machine up a couple of days later (they overnighted the correct logic board) and fixed it asap. Grant comes out and hand delivers it, apollgized for the previous issue but said it was done correctly. I go by the manager and thank her for helping to get it done quickly and how professional Grant was during the process.

I now sit here writing this review from the fixed machine and (crossing fingers) it seems to be working great.

After-action: Sent a note to Tim Cook to systemize the escalation process. Online support even stated that it's unfortunate that even if the Apple Store makes the mistake - you have to wait days for a time slot or go in person and wait hours for the possibility. That should be fixed with some reserved slots for recurring /...