Apple Arden Fair — Local services in Sacramento

Long Review Warning (2/5 due to broken phone during repair although story ends okay):

Came here for routine maintenance in regard to my iPhone 12 battery. Although an older model, I've only had the phone for about 2 years. My appointment was set for a Thursday at 4:15PM with the customer service rep letting me know I could pick up my phone after 6:55PM. No major issues were noted with the phone nor battery per their diagnostics.

Upon return to this Apple store, I would be told by a store rep that my phone was just being "closed up" and they--the tech working on my phone--was waiting for the "adhesive to set." I would have to wait an additional 30 minutes before deciding to ask a store rep about the status of my phone. The rep would then go to the back and bring me a new--possibly refurbished as it was not in a box--iPhone 12 and note to me that there was a "screw broken in [my] phone" and so they were giving me a "new phone" as a replacement.

The rep did not offer me any information beyond this, simply handing me the phone upon my payment for the original service ($89+tax). The rep also did not offer me the option to instead take my old phone nor give me any information as to how a screw was broken inside the phone. Upon turning on the new phone, I would discover not only did they--the store rep and tech--not give me my SIM card (which luckily, they still had in the old phone), they had also not transferred my data to the new phone.

When I asked about taking both the old phone and new phone back to do such, the rep noted this could not be done as essentially this was a "trade-in I signed off on" and there was nothing that he could do. I would then talk to a manager who would confirm with the tech that during the process of replacing the battery a screw was broken inside of the phone preventing it from closing the body of the phone, let alone turning on. The manager would note this was not something I had done from dropping the phone, but more than likely due to the screw being fastened too tightly during the initial factory work in building the phone ("Sometimes the screws are screwed on too tight," noted the manager).

She would then tell me about how I should've backed my phone's data onto iCloud. This frustrated me as 1--Your tech broke my phone (and you, as Apple employees, only warn about data loss and have us as customers sign data loss waivers), 2--a routine battery replacement by trained Apple techs should not have this happen, and 3--forcing me to take a replacement--again, more than likely refurbished phone--is not Top Tier customer service.

Luckily, the tech was able to get the old phone to turn on; however, as this was after 8PM (closing time), the manager would not let the data transfer occur with me in the store as it might take too long. Instead, she offered options related to keeping my new phone overnight to complete the transfer, taking the old phone home and uploading data to cloud (which could corrupt the data due to the phone not being all the way closed), or coming back and watching the transfer myself the next day.

I would leave the phone overnight with the good news being that the data from my old phone did successfully transfer (with the old phone, now remaining turned on, having its data erased in front of me). Overall, the biggest issue was not the data--as the manager once again the next day focused on the iCloud instead of the fact that they broke my phone and not apologizing for such--but the fact that a routine fix ended with my phone broken and no apologies for my trouble (and still having to pay the $89+tax for their mistake).

Not expecting any upgrades, vouchers, or whatever from this review. I just wasn't happy with how I was made to feel as if somehow them breaking a screw in my phone was my fault for not having the iCloud backing my data (in an era where data breaches at major companies such as ATT are at an all-time high). More than likely will not consider this site for any future...

My wife brought her Mac book in on a Thursday thinking it needed a new charger. Turned out it was not and we decided to buy a new Mac book. My wife told the sales person the most important thing is the storage and that she needed at least 256gb of storage since she works from home and her Mac book is how she works from home. The sales person ensured us that the new Mac book would have 256gb of storage and that they would be able to move all the information from the old Mac book to the new one and that it would be done in 48 hours. On Saturday morning we get a call stating that they are having issues moving all the information over to the new Mac book. So we call the store and they state that the issue is that the old Mac book has 256gb of storage and the new Mac book only has 128gb of storage. We ask them why that is when we were told the new Mac book would have 256gb and that when buying the new Mac book we asked specifically for 256gb. The rep answered by saying the didn't know and they were not the person that helped us. So we ask them what we can do to fix this. The rep states they have a Mac book in store and in stock that has 256gb and that it would be $100 more. We ask if we can get a discount because of the inconveniences. The rep just blanket says no. So knowing that we have no choice since my wife works off her computer and knowing that it is Saturday and she has already been without her Mac book for 3 days we say ok. 4 hours pass and we get another call. This time the rep is saying that now the model​ Mac book we ordered is not in stock and that we would have to come pick up our old Mac book, then order the new one off the website, then bring both the new one and the old one back into the store wait a other 48 hours for them to move everything over then come pick it up again. We tell them that this is a huge inconvenience to us since we live 2 hours away from them store and since my wife works off her Mac book. The rep then states that the have another model in the store that would have the storage we need and that it would be another $400. We ask them if we can get a discount for everything that has happened. The rep just blanket says no. We then ask for a supervisor and the rep states that he is the supervisor. Again we ask for a discount or something he says sorry for the inconveniences but their is nothing we can do. So we cancel the whole order and we're forced to go back down to the store and pick up her computer. Not one apology from any one. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!!!!! We will never go back to this Apple...

I have been round and round with Apple for slightly over a week. There has been only two people that have been helpful with my iPhone 12Pro not working. This shout out goes to Shawn at Apple support. Him and Jimmy a technician at the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento, CA are the only two people that have good customer service. Shawn from Apple support has been working with me for almost a week trying to trouble shoot my texting and WiFi issues. Jimmy at the Arden Fair mall was very sweet when I broke down in tears because the Store Manager, Ian Tarter, refused to help me. I have spent over 40 hours this last week trying to fix my iPhone problems. My carrier, Sprint, In cooperation with Apple support confirmed it was the phone. My entire family has iPhones and I’m the only one with this problem. The Apple store immediately gave me a new iPhone 12 pro. Unfortunately, this phone did not work. I spent days after that with my WiFi carrier, Sprint and Apple support again trying to remedy the situation. Shawn at Apple support ended up, as a last ditch effort, resetting everything and restoring the iPhone, as a new phone, through a force re-start through iTunes... only to fail in fixing the issue. He assured me that the new phone I was given had a hardware issue and needed to be replaced. He was so kind as to make an appointment for me to warranty out my phone the next day. I went into the Apple Store at the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento California this morning. The technician was trying to trouble shoot my issue. He said that it was my carrier. That my carrier needed to re-provision my phone. I explained to him that they had already done that three times with this new phone. I was being brushed off. I came in to have it warrantied out and replaced. I asked to speak to a manager. Ian Tarter was the store manager that came over to explain to me as to why he was choosing to not help me. Ian Tarter said he could give me a new phone and he had the authority to do so, but refused because he said it was my carrier. I explained to him that I’ve already confirmed through Apple support and my carrier that it was the phone. He said he was ending the conversation and asked me to leave. Shawn, from Apple support, has been so very helpful. I would give five stars for all of his follow through this past week and help. I am in fact only giving one star as my final review because of the Store Manager Ian Tarter. Ian has the worst customer service I have ever seen. I am a Director and if I had an employee with his lack of customer service caliber,...