Apple Ridgedale — Local services in Minnetonka

I had an excruciatingly negative experience at this store Sunday, 7/20/25 from about 1:15pm until about 6:00pm. All I needed was a battery replacement in my iphone. It actually started out well - Ibra checked me in, I spoke with the technician, Nathan, who'd be doing the battery replacement, and they told me the work should be done in an hour. No worries - I was flexible & just walked around the mall while they were doing the work. I came back in about an hour, phone wasn't done - I heard a technician tell Ibra the phone needed about 10 more minutes to charge the battery - no worries - I walked the mall some more & came back. Then was told by a different person that diagnostics were being done on the phone & he said it'd be ready in about 15 minutes - no problem - I walked the mall & came back again. Now D' Quan (I'm told they call him DQ), the store manager, gave me my phone & the home buttone wasn't working properly. I told him so and he insulted me by saying it was working properly, which was not correct. I told him I was upset as not only have I been flexible & come back to the store multiple times without complaint, but now you've given me my phone without a properly working home button AND at the same low battery charge level present on my phone when I brought it in. D'Quan & I went back & forth a bit then he told me to have a seat & move out of the way! Finally he took the phone to the technician in the back to check the home button issue then came back out & admitted it wasn't working properly and he said it needed a home button engine. So now he needed my phone for another 20 minutes or so to replace this home button engine. AGAIN I was flexible, came back about 20 minutes later and now D'Quan says they don't have the part they need to fix my phone so now he's going to comp my battery replacement charge & give me a new iphone. I asked a different store employee a few minutes later if they give the customer a new phone or a refurbished phone when they say they are giving them a new phone. The employee emphatically said "brand new phone". I'm thinking "OK, this is good news - all this trouble may at least lead to a good ending." So this takes another 20 minutes or so. I came back, received my phone, then I sat for about 30 minutes while the icloud transfer to my new phone took place & the phone was simultaneously charging. Of course it seemed great that this work was done for free & I got a new phone, but after I got home, I realized this is NOT A NEW PHONE as I had been told! The warranty on this "new phone" expired 3 years ago! Now I'm thinking I've been given a refurbished phone. During multiple calls to Apple support to try to ascertain whether this is a new or refurbished phone, they talked about refurbished phones, remanufactured phones, I was told the store reset the warranty on this "new" phone back to the warranty period of my old phone, and so on and so on. Needless to say - this location definitely earns its low ratings. I will never go back here and I will not purchase another Apple product. It is obvious Apple does not respect its customers and they do not honor what they tell customers. This entire experience was deceitful and...

First time in an Apple store, went in for a battery replacement. Made an appointment online near and it said it should take an hour. Easy enough.

Walked into the store 15 minutes early for appointment and stood around for a couple minutes looking for an employee. Never been to an Apple store before this and didnt realize you're supposed to stand at the entrance like cattle until someone walks up to with their ipad to direct you. Its just tables with tech and some weird wooden box chairs. There are no counters with people behind them or easily identifiable employees. Look for the blue shirts.

Speaking of the employees they were nice enough. The lady checking me in had an uncomfortable amount of that fake positive energy you often get from employees that have to deal with people all day. Cheering me on like a toddler when I entered in my phone password, because I said it's been forever since I used my apple password. She then points to wooden boxes and says sit there, someone will come help you. Im 10 minutes early for appointment at this point.

25 minutes later, sitting on the box, another employee calls to me and says to follow him. We walk 15' to a table and the employee tells me to sit down and someone will be with me soon.

10 minutes later another employee walks up. same high energy. My energy at this point is the complete opposite. I'm more halfway through my appointment timeframe and Ive just being the phone to be fixed. Guy says it'll take an hour to replace, I say ok and leave to walk around the mall.

70 minutes later I come back, stand at entrance until someone wanders up to me. Give them my info and they say they will check status of phone. They come back in a couple minutes and say it will be 7 more more minutes. Oddly specific but ok. I walk some more.

10 minutes later I return, stand at entrance until stone wanders up, and give into. They say they will check status, they come back and say it'll be 15 more minutes because they're running diagnostics. Again I leave and walk around.

25 minutes later I returned, stood in entrance until some wandered up, and gave into. This time I was asked to stand by a wall while they went to get phone. I stood for 5 minutes and then someone finally came with the phone. Paid for the new battery (its $97 after taxes) and left.

Came 15 minutes early, left an hour a half after original appointment time. The employees were fine, less indifferent than most employees in retail but borderline creepy with the forced optimism. The waiting was terrible, very bad seating (Lovesac is next door to you just get normal seating), forced to listen to the employees sell older folks phones and listen to younger customers have conversations on speakerphone.

Battery was fixed and phone works great, plus got over 10k steps in. Next time I will replace the battery myself to avoid going back here and wasting an extra two...

It started off well but then...

I went in to get audio issues fixed on my iPhone. The first person I talked to got me into the queue and said it would be a 45-minute wait. I would get a text message when they're ready for me. He confirmed the wait-time by showing it to me on his device -- it said 45 to 55 minutes. He was helpful and nice.

I come back exactly 45 minutes after I was put in the queue even though I didn't get a text yet, just so I don't risk missing my appointment. The intake person at the door looked me up in their system. She said I need to wait 45 minutes. I told her I've already waited 45 minutes -- I was confused. She said she doesn't see anything in their system about my waiting time from before except now it's a 45-minute wait. She checked the time I was put into the queue (45 minutes ago) and said all she can tell me is that I have to wait 45 more minutes. It just felt really weird because she was dismissing and ignoring everything else that had already happened beforehand. I asked a couple more questions. Turns out they had the service I needed wrong, so she changed it to "audio issues" but that's all she did.

She said things like "If others don't show up for their appointment, you might get to see a technician sooner. Appointment times fluctuate a bit...10-15 minutes. You'll just have to wait." I reminded her that I'm on time for my appointment (why is it that others have to miss their appointments for me to see someone for my scheduled appointment?). I also mentioned 45 minutes is different from 10-15 minutes. She just kept saying she doesn't see any info about me waiting 45 minutes to begin with when I was placed in the queue.

I came back a few minutes later and asked her if it's guaranteed I'll get help if I wait another 45 minutes (since it didn't work the first time). She eventually said it's not guaranteed unless we schedule ahead of time. I asked what that meant and how I could schedule ahead of time (isn't that what I just did 45 minutes ago?). She said she can schedule me right then for tomorrow. What a game...I don't think so. I ended up saying no thanks and decided to leave.

It seems like they messed up and didn't want to do anything about it. Or, they just have a terrible system. I'd understand if I need to wait another 10-15 more minutes or if they were pretty busy, but that experience was so confusing and frustrating. We've gone to this store a couple of times in the last few months to get help but never ended up staying because they were booked or it would take 2-4 hours. I was hoping that this time when I can wait, it'd be worth it. Not returning to that store of course. That...