Apple Summit Mall — Local services in Fairlawn

Very disappointed in my overall experience during my visit to take care of my defective display issue. Was greeted right away by the people upfront and was checked in and given very clear instructions! They showed a willingness to help and also sympathy for my concerns! Gregory my apple genius was very compassionate and did everything in his power to get me taken care of! Gregory was great and is clearly a seasoned expert there at the summit mall location! I came in the store because my display was going out and flickering. My iPhone was under warranty and also had no physical damage and was no event that made it do this. Requested from Gregory that my phone be swapped out and warranties and that I was even willing to pay my $99 deductible through Apple Care+ as I was in a hurry. Gregory tried to get this approved by a supervisor but she explained that it was protocol to try a display replacement. Being in the mobile phone industry I knew there was a very good chance that the display replacement would not work. Agreed to this solution even though I was in a hurry and knew there was a chance it didn’t take care of my issue and was told it would be done in an hour. Paced the mall for an hour as I could not leave because my iPhone is also the car key to my Tesla. No mall stores were open until 12PM so couldn’t even utilize my time to shop. Come back to the store after an hour and am now taken care of by Tannita. Already wasn’t super satisfied with having to wait and miss my god daughters birthday party and this employee was very uneducated and made matters much worse. She tells me that they tried a display replacement and that it did not work so they were swapping my phone out under warranty. This was fine but she showed 0 interest in taking care of my issue or showing sympathy for the time I had just wasted in my day. I am an AT&T corporate employee and asked if I could use my discount to get a screen protector as my old one could not be transferred. She had no idea what I was referring to and instead of flagging a co-worker down for help I had to have one of the other associates ring me out and add my discount! Throughout the process there was just a visible attitude in assisting me and Tannita grabbed my new phone that I was setting up out of my hand numerous times without asking which I thought was very unprofessional! Asked if my Apple silicone case could be swapped out under warranty as it was only a few weeks old and was already coming apart and she responded with “You didn’t want to take it back to AT&T?” After setting up my new phone, (which I did with 0 assistance) I asked her if my old phone was factory reset and she said yes that’s what I was doing on the MacBook. Come to find out when I got home it was still attached to my Apple account and had to remotely request my sensitive data be erased. Not to mention when leaving I had to ask the greeters for a bag as she never offered me one for my case and protector that I just purchased. All in all, I was very disappointed in the professionalism with not only Tannita but her direct supervisor. Which is upsetting as I drive out of my way to come to this Apple store because of the great customer experiences I’ve had previously! Clearly this specific representative was not prepared to be on the floor and instead of having a willingness to learn had a very bad attitude which she made very well apparent! My phone was ultimately swapped out and my issue was resolved but lost a lot of unnecessary time in my day and missed something that was very important to me. Really hope I don’t run into this issue...

If I could give this store 0 stars I would. I went to the store after speaking with support online because I was having an issue with my iphone. I had been texting a friend when a black spec appeared, it then began to grow to the size of an icon and eventually to a perfect circle the size of 2 icons. The black spot also would move across the screen. In the place where it had been before it would go back to exactly the way it was before. Anyways, the technician made me an appointment at the summit mall store, and my email confirmation said between 5:20-5:30. I tried to be right on time at 5:20, but was a few minutes late due to some traffic arriving at 5:25 assuming I was fine because I was within my appointment window. Upon finding an apple person I said I had an appointment. They looked it up, said it was at 5:20 and I had missed it, and to go sit at a table and wait in line and someone would get to me when they could. About 30 minutes later a woman who had been helping the man next to me and about 5 other people, in between helping everyone else asked what was wrong. She looked at my phone and said a technician needed to look at it. About 2 minutes later the technician pulled her aside. When she returned she said the inside screen was cracked and that it would be $270 to repair because it was accidental damage. I tried explaining to her that I hadn't dropped my phone. Her reply was that, "Well I'm not saying YOU did, but someone did." I explained that I have no kids, or other adults around that could have dropped it. She did not seem to care and just said well if you had had apple care it would be $80. But since you don't its going to be $270. I left the store feeling defeated, with my still broken phone.

The next morning after thinking about it some more I decided to call apple support to discuss my lack of service at the apple store and the problem with my phone. The store had left little to no notes on my case file that could assist the people on the phone, and nothing to indicate that anything was broken internally. After speaking with the person on the phone he indicated based on my description that it was unlikely a cracked LCD screen, as the summit mall store had indicated. He said unfortunately I would have to return to an apple store to get a replacement phone, but that he would make a note in my file that they were to give me a new one for free. Not wanting a repeat experience, I decided to head over to the store in Woodmere off Chagrin blvd.

Upon arriving early for my appointment in Woodmere (not wanting a repeat cancellation) I was asked to take a seat and someone would be with me soon. About 5 minutes later, I was helped and explained the situation. They asked if they could take my phone back to the techs to look at it. When they returned 15 minutes later he did swap me a new phone, and indicated that the techs had found NOTHING wrong internally. Also, that there was no damage that would suggest that the issue was caused by me or anyone else dropping the phone. If I had to guess I would say the techs at the apple store at summit mall never even took the phone apart to see if there was something wrong!!

Moral of the story DO NOT TRUST the techs at the apple store at summit mall. If you know you've done nothing to cause damage to your phone, do not shell out the $270/$80 depending on if you have applecare. The people on the phone were BEYOND helpful, I'd suggest calling before heading into any apple store. Also, just in general the store in Woodmere was nicer, less crowded, and...

Usually coming in to an Apple Store, I've had a pleasant experience and haven't wished for anything to be different (case in point the Crocker Pk location that in and of itself could not be any better). My sister bought an iPhone 7 the day it was launched at this very store. Activated it and all was well. The screen started glitching as well as the storage space not allowing for more photos to be added, so we brought the phone in for a replacement (was in the case since day one and was clearly just a bad unit). The first Apple Store genius confirmed that this was the case, and offered to replace the phone under warranty. A woman walked out from the back of the store, and offered to restore the phone. We reiterated we did not have a backup nearby (as the computer with the backup is where she lives) and we would appreciate the opportunity to backup the phone VIA iCloud.

After this exchange, Jennifer walked to one of the other geniuses, and then was "consulted" by the original one that I talked with. She tried to tell us that we had the iPhone 6S and we didn't know what we were telling her (no headphone jack on this unit). Talked to my original genius and told him that I would leave if they felt necessary. He told me that it was fine and he would replace my unit. Jen then tried to restore the unit again. She also tried to download a baseband and software from an outside website (as she had her macbook turned toward us as we were sitting there) (as I'm someone with somewhat of an IT background, I was not comfortable with her doing it this way, rather then install from iTunes). She actually said she knew more than I did about this and started to try and restore without a backup again, this time actually wiping the device.

Got the device replaced finally and was left on my way to leave. However, I feel the experience could have gone SOOO much better. Not only did we lose contacts, photos of my deceased grandfather, and countless appointments stored in the device, we were told we didn't even know what model of phone we purchased, despite being in this location 2 months previous for the purchase of this device. I told her that I knew what my item was, that I had experience in computers etc, and I didn't feel as though I was treated fairly. She stated I came off as condescending. I guess if by asking politely to let us backup the device first is condescending, then I have a lot of people to apologize to.

I will never be back to this establishment UNLESS the management teaches any genius that works here how to actually approach and satisfy a customers needs. I've been in the wireless and technology trade for 5+ years now, and even though conversations and dealings with some customers can become stressful, there is no need to tell the customer basically that they don't know anything and that their concerns are unfounded. The worker should have found a solution, and didn't. I will take my business to Crocker Park where I'm actually treated as a customer and my needs are tended to. Dealing with customers may sometimes become stressful, but everyone should learn to keep their cool and make a plausible solution so that both...