Apple Providence Place — Local services in Providence

This location is by far one of the worst stores I have ever been to for service, Apple or otherwise, and is not even worth the one star Google forces me to give. I have had nothing but poor experiences each time I've entered this store, whether for support or to buy a product. Knowledge of employees and their level of commitment to helping customers varies greatly and, while I've dealt with it in the past since it is the closest Apple Store location to me, I will never again look to this store for any sort of sales or service. Indeed, during one of my visits an employee highly recommended I try the authorized Apple Service center w/in Best Buy of Warwick & I will do that any time I need any Apple service or support. While I've had poor experiences and less than helpful service each time I've been to this location, my latest experience has brought me to take the time to review: I recently went to the store with a cracked 128GB iPhone 6s Plus. This is a phone I actually purchased at this location, with AppleCare, for $1000.00+ a few years ago. I made an appointment to see an associate (I learned on a previous visit not to ever expect service here unless you've made an appointment) & saw a technician. I explained my situation & she said no problem, we can have it taken care of ASAP. She runs a few diagnostics, resets my phone & takes info. Great. Looking at her info she informs that my ApplyCare (conveniently) ran out just a week prior. Now, I've dealt with Apple direct before, as I'm an IT professional supporting a myriad of products and installations, including Apple products, & I've had devices that have been years out with expired Apple Care that Apple Direct fully serviced. However, I didn't argue this point, as it was expired. She explained my options, the first being an "Out of Warranty" repair would cost me about $350.00 for a replacement iPhone. I agreed, but the sales pitch came in & she suggested I take advantage of the store's leasing program & get a new iPhone 8 Plus for around $15/month. When I questioned her about the leasing program, she said I can just give a credit card and my card would get charged each month until the device was paid off. Great. We go over to the demo table where I compare models. Deciding on an iPhone XR Max over 8, she says she will send sales person over (apparently Apple employees are not cross-trained. Probably a reason why there is always an enormous line of unhelped customers in abundance, but I digress). I waited at this table for 25+ minutes for someone to come over to me. I caught the eyes of several Apple employees who quickly looked away from me when I gave them an inquisitive look. Finally perturbed that I needed to wait so long to again give the store $1000.00+ for a device, I stopped someone & asked if he could send someone over. Lacking space, long story short I did the out of warranty repair, since I was misinformed about the leasing program. I was given a phone from a non-Apple box, informed I had a 90 day warranty and sent on my way. Less than 24 hours later I noticed the screen had scratches that almost passed for dirt, but cleaning did not help. I made another appointment to be seen and got to the store at my earliest convenience, only to be curtly turned away since the "scratches weren't that bad" & only offered a screen replacement for $130. Frustrated with the horrible service I called Apple directly & explained the situation. While the store told me the replacement phone was "brand new" Apple stated they are refurbished and very likely came scratched. They called the manager, who refused to help, then advised I call the manager. I did as I waited in the mall (since it is not easy for me to get to this location) and spoke to Al, who sounded less than helpful, but agreed to look at the phone provided I get there quickly, as he was off the floor at 4:15. I arrived back at the store at 4:08 (exactly 3 minutes later) & was told Al went home for the day. I will never use this store again & rethink my dedication to Apple...

My husband bought a MBP in 2012. Never had an issue until we were forced to download to Yosemite. So he downloads it from the Apple website. All of a sudden, the computer has more issues and we couldn't diagnose due to it barely turning on. So we get the OS disc for Snow Leopard that came with the laptop, but it wouldn't accept it because the laptop just kept rebooting and didn't let anything actually start up. Couldn't even back up anything that was there.

So we make an appointment at the Genius bar. We live about an hour away. We waited over 30 minutes for an appointment that we made 4 days prior, and arrived earlier than the scheduled time. They said that the Yosemite software was corrupted and we just needed a clean copy. So, we bite the bullet and restore everything on the laptop to factory settings, then install a clean copy of Yosemite and send us on our way. We come home, within 30 minutes, the same issues popped up.

So we go the next week, about the same time with an appointment. This time, we only waited about 10 minutes past our time. They ran a hardware check to find out that our hard drive is fried. So we spend 160$ between hard drive, bracket, and labor. After about 5 hours we get the laptop back, boot it up in store, everything looks good. Once again, until we bring it home. then the same issues keep happening.

The 3rd time I went to the store, I went alone. I waited over 30 minutes for my pre-scheduled appointment, and spent the time being approached by 2 employees over and over about if I was good and if was interested in anything and if I needed anything. I finally saw the tech and explained what was happening. I even showed him a detailed text from my husband in case I had missed any issue. He saw that we had been there previously and checks the hardware again, and the software, and concludes there's nothing wrong with it. but does acknowledge the fact that it's not booting correctly. So, he goes to check the RAM. "It'll take a couple hours. come back at 2:15". I tell him I wanted Mavericks on the laptop, since Yosemite was giving us such a hard time. "Ok, no problem" So I go shop for a little bit, and come back at 2:30, figuring that it they're late, it would give them time. I check in and tell the employee that I'm picking up. "Ok, You're all set, it'll just be a few more minutes." After an hour of being approached by employees asking if I needed anything" I was mad. I saw people that had come in after me, leave before me. All I wanted was my laptop and to leave. Once they knew I was mad, my laptop came out right away. The rep just gave me my laptop, had me sign his receipt, and just walked away. I had to chase him down to figure out how the diagnosis had gone. "They didn't do a RAM diagnosis, they saw your hard drive was new and fine, so they just installed a clean copy of Yosemite." "Why is Yosemite on here? I specifically said I wanted Mavericks due to the issues that Yosemite has been giving us" "I don't know ma'am, I can find out, but it'll take a few minutes" At that point, I just wanted out of that store, so i told him as long as the laptop works, it's fine. Get home, laptop isn't working, again.

I may try 1 more time, but this...

Great store. They were busy when we went there, because the new phones had just come out. So we did have to wait, but it was definitely worth it IMHO. They were so busy that the person who waited on us wasn't even a regular sales person. He was from service. But was really great, and very helpful. This store is just gorgeous too BTW. It's really an experience. You could easily just go in there to play around, and have a great time. They have pretty much every current Apple product on display. Including the accessories. So you get to use what you're considering buying.

We went there to get my 72 year old mother a new tablet. She's had an Amazon one for a while, and it was getting long in the tooth. I felt like she should start using Apple products, because they're much better IMO for people that aren't very tech savvy. And while I found them to be fairly complicated. I still feel this is true. Especially since there's plenty of books, and help out there for their products. Because they are so popular. The salesman was great. He actually recommended the basic iPad, and he was right. It really was enough. But my Mom is fancy, and wanted the 10.5 inch. We also got an Apple keyboard case, and the Apple Care 2 year plan.

I'm an Android guy, and a bargain hunter. So we went there just to look, but we were so impressed with the whole experience. We just decided to grab it right then, and there. And have zero regrets doing so. It was a lot of money, no doubt, but you seem to get what you pay for. The keyboard cover just works, and works well. Feels great too. Many of these are horrible, at least the ones I've tried on Android/Windows tablets in the past. This place is classy, and well thought out. The sales guy stayed with us the whole time. He had what I think was an iPhone, with an attachment to it. He ran our credit card on it, and ordered our stuff on it. It was all brought over by someone else. They offer classes there on a regular schedule, and they fix your stuff there too. If you need help with anything. You can go there, and they'll fix you right up. If I get a new tablet. I'm getting an iPad, and I'm getting it there. Highly recommended. It's not easy to get 5 stars out of me, but they got it....