Apple Crabtree Valley Mall — Local services in Raleigh

I have never had such an abysmal experience at an Apple Store. I have gone to Crabtree for a few repairs through AppleCare and I’ve never had a problem, but, this time when I went to get my watch repaired, it’s been nothing but problem after problem. I dropped my Apple Watch off on October 1, 2024. On October 5, I called and asked for an update because I had not received any information since dropping it off. I was told that they had to send it a special way, and that it was for the safety of those who were moving the product, which was understandable. I thanked them for letting me know, and asked when it would be sent out. They said it would be sent out Monday, October 7. On October 6, I get a phone call from the Apple Store saying that they need me back in the store to take pictures of the watch on my wrist. I was out of town for work and was unable to come back in to take pictures of the watch on my wrist. I’m spoke with the manager and was informed that they actually got the request for the pictures on October 2, they had just forgotten to reach out to me. They informed me that my watch also would not be shipping to the repair center on October 7, but it would likely be later than that and they are not sure why I was told that it would be October 7. It was finally shipped out on October 8, and was at the repair center until Friday October 10. Then it was sent back to the Apple Store at Crabtree, and was supposed to be ready for pick up on Monday. The entire time I never received any text messages regarding my repair, emails regarding my repair, or any calls regarding my repair. For all communication we had, I had to be the one who reached out first. I asked them to send me updates so I did not have to keep calling back in, they continued to be negligent in doing so. I spent over four hours on the phone with them total. On Tuesday, October 15, I called and asked for an update because I had still not heard anything and it had been two weeks exactly. I was informed that my watch had been returned on Monday, October 14, and would be ready to pick up later in the day. I informed them of my concern of receiving the exact same watch that had caused burns on my skin back with no repair, and I was informed by the manager that they could either do a complete refund and allow me to buy a newer Apple Watch, or they can escalate the repair. I told him I definitely was interested in doing the refund since I had already been without my product for two weeks, and to let me know how it would all work, and he told me that he would call me back that day. After receiving no call back by 5 that night, I called the Apple Store to see what was going on. I was told the manager left and would not be in contact with me, however, a different manager spoke with me and said he would honor the refund and to come in at 6:30 PM. I went in and when I got there, spoke with the same manager that I had spoken to at 5 PM, the second manager, and everything was different. He told me that that offer was no longer on the table and I could either take the watch as is, or they could give me $135 for my watch towards a new one. I then asked him what had happened to the deal, or if we could even escalate the repair again, and he told me no and refused to work with me. I did not sign off on receiving the repair back from the Apple Store, however, he walked away from me, and left the watch on the counter, with no signature from me and no acceptance for me after I told him I refused to accept the repair as is. He then pushed something through on his iPad saying that I did accept the repair, even though I did not. I reached out to corporate, and thankfully, they were more than willing to help me. I will no longer be returning to the Crabtree location for help. I am beyond upset and frustrated with my experience, and the lack of care and support. Two weeks with no communication from them, and no product to use, and it still was not...

I am a very tough customer when I am disappointed with customer service. I cannot speak about the sales department because I only dealt with the genius staff... So, what happened today was there was a lot of miscommunication between the sales department and my wife. She purchased a product that did not match the details of a genius appointment we had earlier in the week. I believe the sales person took advantage of her. But that's neither here nor there. I returned with the purchase and explained what contract took place at the genius appointment. The genius staff both at the original appointment and upon return handled all my questions, frustrations, and concerns with utmost professionalism. I do not say this without merit. I am truly a studied bs reader and will let any manager know how I feel if I feel cheated in any way. I get what I pay for and apple is not a cheap product. And I did convey all of this in great length. There was some more misunderstandings after I left my second visit (third visit for my wife) as to what we received and what was promised on the first genius visit. We returned before the store closed (still today) and I was steaming even worse now because I felt cheated with what we received. This was in part my fault because I did not check the model of the phone. I felt very assured with the genius staff that everything was documented correctly at the original appointment. Since they were so streamline with all the preparations prior to handing us the replacement, I did not bat an eye at all the spec details. So at this point (rightly so or not) I spoke with another genius bar member and they too were extremely professional and courteous and offered to refund the entire second purchase all over again. This, by the way was passed closing and a difficult void to make in the system given the product replacement contract. They were accommodating to say the very very least. I still don't know if I was confusing the facts in hindsight about the details of the very first appointment. However the 5 stars I am giving is because they stand behind their product. Specifically the genius staff members who represent Apple at this store location are phenomenal individuals. Just to be clear, we still received a brand new device at a very fair price. I only thought that we were told this transaction was not possible and that we had to pay extra for a better device. Well turns out the extra price I thought was not for the better device but for the same. Which makes complete sense, but I swore I had asked questions as to why we couldn't receive same for same and the offer from Apple was to only receive the new 13 models for a set price. This explains my confusion as to why the same phone would be the price of the newer model swap. But there you have it, it's a hearsay argument. And honestly if they had told me the same price we ended up paying at the first appointment (same for same) then we may have ended up buying it as we did anyways. Minus the confusion and feelings of being misled several times of course. This is the longest review I have ever written but it bears repeating that the genius bar team are great people at this location. This was not such a technical issue as much a customer service based experience. But I had to write down my experience because the genius staff deserve to be lauded for their professionalism and...

Because of my experience with the Apple store staff today I'm considering to switch to a different brand and giving one star! The gentlemen who stood at the entrance of the store at 6:30 pm on 6/21 pretty much refused service, after I and an Apple adviser called up there the same day for appointment and they told both of us no appointment can me made at the moment (also their website was down), and I just have to walk in the store and get on a wait list. I have let this employee know that I have absolutely no service on my phone and I've been already informed that this is a known issue with this phone and there's a Recall on it, but the earliest appointment he offered a week out... !! NO other options were offered! He let us walk off very disappointed. That is nowhere near good customer service, and this kind of experience makes me want to go anti-Apple after being their customer for 7 years, several iPhones, Apple watch, and iPad later! Thanks for nothing! This store may be pretty but it would be better if they hired more helpful staff!! UPDATE! I changed my star from 1 to 3 stars because I finally reached someone professional on the phone at the store named by Jason, who actually listened to what I said instead of just grind the well known lines of "basically I can't and won't help you" like a robot and explained everything very well and gave me exactly what are my options AND SET THE RIGHT EXPECTATION and resolved half of my problem! (That's after Apple Care being ignorant and dropping my call while being transferred to a senior adviser, and never calling me back even though I gave them a working number in case that happens!!) So we went into the store before they even opened and they were already taking ppl on the "walk-in Que" and we probably waited about 2.5 hrs until they finally called me and in Ben's person we found a super helpful and intelligent Apple staff who explained everything and hooked me up with a rental phone in the mean times of my phone being repaired. These ppl were well aware of this Recall and didn't give me unnecessary questions that just waisted more time and were not ignorant to the severity of the problem of not having a phone line! Jason and Ben were professional and helpful and to the point, just the way ALL employees should be. But with that said, I still don't get why I had to go in circles for 2 days before all this could happened and Apple knowing the volume of ppl needing help with their device, why haven't they opened another store yet?? That's of course not this store's responsibility but maybe they can communicate this issue to Apple? Because if it wasn't for me being off work on Sat morning and being able to do all this I would be still without a phone right now! They need to step it up and make more help available b/c not everyone can go there in the morning and spend hrs to wait for their turn roam around in the mall with an extra phone to be called at (my bf was with me). Not to mention that was the second time I drove over there and I don't live close! Setting the right expectations and giving better advises over the phone, like Jason did, would be step one; and either having more staff or another store would be step two to improve customer...