Apple Stanford Shopping Center — Local services in Palo Alto

This is going to be a bit long. So if you are impatient, just read this:

WORST customer service EVER.

During an earlier trip to an Apple authorized repair shop, I learned that my iPhone's screen adhesive was non-standard.

I had never had the phone serviced before and I got the phone directly from this Apple store. So I was quite concerned about the fact that an Apple store would hand me a phone with non-standard part.

So today when I was at the store trying to get my battery replaced, I decided to ask about the glue.

I informed the guy who helped me that I got the phone from this store but somehow I had non-standard glue in it. He immediately said if I had a third party battery, they would not change my battery. I patiently replied that I was talking about the glue, not the battery. I then informed him I had the original Apple battery since I never changed it.

Things went south from here really fast. He claimed that I was bringing in a device that could be a danger to the technician since it had a 3rd party battery. I re-iterated that he could see in his system that I got this phone from this store and I had never had it serviced by a third party. He submitted he can't see the service I had done by a third party. Then he went on saying that I kept bringing up the battery issue and it made me sound very suspicious and he believed I knew I had third party battery and was lying about it. Then he added if he found out I have third party battery in it, I would be in big trouble.

I had no idea what he was talking about since I was asking about the glue, never the battery. The GLUE!

I also asked him what would happen if they brick the phone during the battery replacement. He said no, they just don't do that. I shared the fact that my phone was bricked last time I came in for a battery replacement. He repeated again that they don't brick phones.

I finally asked the guy to send someone else to help me since it would seem nothing I said was getting through to him and he wasn't answering any of my questions. He flat out refused to get someone else and told me to leave if I didn't want the repair done. I refused to leave and he just said, and I quote, "just sign the service agreement and you can get out of my hair and we won't have to see each other ever again."

I eventually spoke with Sheldon, who was the leader on duty. He promised to follow up and address the employee's attitude problem. Sheldon was courteous and professional.

But still, it's really not worth your sanity if you encounter one of the rude employees there. So perhaps it's best to get your service done elsewhere.

Oh yeah, I never got my answer on why a phone directly issued by this store had incorrect screen...

Walked in looking to upgrade from an iPhone 11 to a 13. I was assigned to someone who was obviously new and had little knowledge of Apple products. I told the employee I wanted a pink phone and I asked him how much the monthly payments would be under the upgrade program, but he said the system would tell us later on in the process. Another young man came to help and even removed the screen protector from my current phone, which I was trading in. The first employee continued, even did a credit check, then he accidentally closed out the window and had to start all over again. I was patient and finally about an hour in, he showed me the prices. I couldn’t afford the 512gb phone, which he tried to sell me on, and the 128gb was too low. I told him I wanted the middle option and that’s when he told me it wasn’t available. I was a bit frustrated that I wasn't told this before starting this process and especially before the credit check. He simply told me to go home and order it online. I thanked him for trying to help me, but told him I didn’t feel comfortable leaving without my screen protector, which they had removed. He asked the young man from earlier who was a couple feet away with what looked like a manager just waiting for us to leave. The young man joked that he could get it out of the recycling bin for me if I wanted. I tried to tell him and the manager that I really needed a screen protector because my case was damaged, but the manager was pretending not to listen and didn’t even make eye contact. I was really disappointed that they couldn’t check their stock before initiating the process, that nobody offered to just give me a screen protector or at least help me order the iPhone online. They all seemed ready...

I took my elderly mother with me to pick up her exciting new Airpod Pro 2 which are going to have a new clinical grade hearing aid function for the first time. My mother's increasingly worse hearing problems have greatly decreased her quality of life and well being so I'm so excited and thankful that Apple has added this life changing feature. I hope it works when the firmware gets rolled out soon!

I am here to thank Apple and encourage them to continue creating these solutions that help improve quality of life for so many, but I'm also here to equally say how wonderful the Apple employee named Kaho was to me and my mother. Kaho was helping us pair the new Airpods but as I suspected they would cause problems, my mother's old ipad and old iphone were not making that simple. Not only did Kaho and Jeff solve our pairing issues but they made the experience truly wonderful. Kaho turned out to be Japanese like me and my mother and switched to Japanese for my mom who does not understand English very well and Kaho instinctively talked loud enough as well for my mother to hear her and talking to Kaho made my mother smile. Most people ignore people who can't hear and will talk to the one who can, but Kaho went out of her way to engage in conversation with my mother. Kaho was truly a Godsend to us! Jeff was also incredible and while Kaho had to help others, he filled in seamlessly and they successfully got the new Airpods connected for us while also being very pleasant. Now we just can't wait for the new hearing aid firmware to be released in a few...