Apple Crossgates — Local services in Town of Guilderland

A few days ago I brought my MacBook Pro into Apple Crossgates to have the battery serviced. Apart from the battery needing to be serviced, the laptop was in perfect working order when I handed it over to them. The following morning I returned to the store to pick up the laptop and was informed that they had declined to service the device because when they opened it up they found "bugs" inside it and declared it a biohazard because "one was still moving." While I've never seen any bugs going into or out of my laptop, given that the laptop is 6 years old, I wasn't shocked by the news that one or more bugs had climbed inside it at some point, and while I was disappointed I'd need to take the laptop to a third party repair facility to have the battery serviced, I considered it an inconvenience and nothing more. However, when I got home and turned the laptop on, I discovered the screen didn't work and had a crack in it. I immediately called Apple Support to report what happened, and followed up by calling the store to report the damage. Not only did Apple refuse to fix the damage that had been done to my laptop while it was in their possession, they've blatantly refused to assist in finding a third party repair company to repair the damage that was done to my laptop while it was in their possession. The (ONLY) remedy they've offered is a 20% discount on a new MacBook Pro, which was an offer extended by the same manager who responded to my report of the damage done by asserted that I couldn't prove the damage didn't occur in the small window of time between when I picked up the laptop and booted it up when I got home. In other words, I entrusted my laptop to Apple Crossgates to be serviced, they returned it to me in significantly damaged condition (rendered almost unusable), refused to take responsibility for the damage done, refused to repair the damage that had occurred while it was in their possession, refused to have a third party repair the damage that was done while it was in their possession, and the only option they've given me is paying them thousands of dollars for an upgrade that I didn't need (until they broke my laptop). Given that I wasn't in need of an upgrade since my laptop was still working perfectly prior to me entrusting it to the Apple Crossgates GeniusBar, they've put me in a position where the only option for remedying the situation involves me paying them multiple thousands of dollars for a new laptop (basically extortion), or paying out-of-pocket for a third party provider to repair the damage that Apple Crossgates inflicted on my device without just compensation. I've been a loyal Apple customer for years, have spent over $10,000 on their products and services during that time, and this is the first time I've ever had a device returned to me in worse condition than when I handed it to them. If they offered (any) reasonable way to resolve the damage they did, I wouldn't have an issue, but they haven't.

A friend who heard about the situation reached out to Apple's Executive Relations, who were kind enough to contact me directly, but they failed to offer any reasonable solutions either. Apparently Apple's Corporate Policy is that if any bugs are found within your device (even so much as an ant), they immediately stop working on the device, will not reconnect any components they've disconnected or disassembled, label the device as a "biohazard" (making it difficult to get repairs since even third-party repair shops that have a relationship with Apple won't touch it) and return the device to you in a significantly damaged state with no reasonable means of getting it put back into the condition it was in when you entrusted it to them. I'm disappointed to say that his experience has destroyed my trust in both the Apple Crossgates store and the Apple brand generally, and for a long-time Apple-Aficionado, I have no words to express the depth of that disappointment. I'll be filing complaints with the BBB later today, both against Apple Crossgates...

Horrible service and local support. The worst customer service of any product I've ever had. I bought my st iphone about 2 months ago. Bought a smaller 6SE since was told it's would be a Great replacement for my non-smart phone. which Btw had a wonderful keyboard.

I;ve had nothing but horrible aggravation and malfunctions with this Garbage: photos often present as dark but when you click it actually takes a photo of .. whatever. Cant often look at photos since they just do not open..

The worst thing - is the tinny-tiny touch-screen 'keyboard on this tiny model. An adults's fingers can't hit the correct letters, and the GUESSING CREATES INSANE NARRATIVEs...

RECENTLY, A NEW 'WONDERFUL' FEATURE PRESENTED ITSELF: i TYPE A TEXT, AND poof IT JUST DISAPPEARS... AND A RANDOM PREVIOUS TEXT, FROM, SAY, A WEEK AGO, IS THE LAST i SEE....

Making appointment... is a useless proposition completely. They led you to believe you are calling the correct number, and then - JUST DROP YOU, AND YOU SIT THERE IN LIMBO.

DARN HORRIBLE, ARROGANT COMPANY. Their 'engineers' know how to manipulate bit/bytes.but lack logical abilities to create cohersive products. Having bee a programmer/analyst for 20 years, who created logical, functional systems in both Educational and Medical areas... I can see the illogical, slapdash approach in this area.

IMO, that's what happens when the emphasis is on hiring 'hacker' types, who delight in manipulating and moving bits for immediate gratification.

I'm disgusted, and am thinking of going back to my non-smart but dependable LG phone. I might not be able to get the over-glorified (useless in my opinion APPS, besides UBER..), but at least I could dependably communicate with people via voice and text.

Often, too much is just that, TOOOOO much with nothing being good.

UPDATE 10/18/17 Since my last Opinion, I have gone to the Grossgates Apple store, and ended up getting excellent service.... I returned the defective 6SE model, and got the 6S Plus model, after paying the price difference. The manager was kind enough to throw in a leather case, as a compensation for my aggravations...;). The new model is Humongous, maybe too big even...but it's no problem now to type, and, only having had it for a few days, I've had just a few issues; like - the flashlight will not turn on; and after being turned on - won't turn off... I have a service appointment tomorrow to figure this out... Oh, the person I dealt with, Brett, was very knowledgeable and helpful; he downloaded a new keyboard for me which is much better than the Apple original one.

So - the service is good..and I have the feeling they do try to make...

First off let me start by saying I’ve been an Apple customer since 2005 when I purchased my first iMac. After the wonderful experience I went on purchasing an iPhone and never any other phone after that. Throughout the years Apple been great with the customer service, but now it’s a lot different then what are used to be. I recently upgraded from an iPhone 6s to iPhone X, I was planning on selling my old iPhone but I want to turn I was planning on selling my old iPhone. So what I did is I restore my phone to factory setting which wiped all the data and then let the phone sit until it sold. After a week or two I noticed when I went to turn my phone on it won’t work anymore no power when I plugged it into the computer note readings whatsoever. I thought it was a software issue but talking to Apple online they said it might be hardware for me to take it to local Apple Store. When I went to the local Apple Store technician who looked at my phone was taking care of my phone and someone else at the same time so he wasn’t really focusing on my situation. After he plug the phone in and do a full diagnostics he concluded that the phone is useless and is not repairable. In his words it’s done the phone is done, Leaving me with lots of questions but no answer. I asked several times why why is it done what happened to it could be a battery or a hardware I can replace he said no it’s not repairable you just have to get a new phone. So I left the store disappointed and angry because the phone never been dropped never been damage doesn’t even have a scratch on it I always keep my phone in these conditions.Came home and decided to do a repair by myself what is there to Loose. So I replace the lightning port which I thought might be the problem seeing how it’s not reading any data. That was not it. Then I replace the battery which is the seconds cheapest thing to do, and that solve my issue. So for an Apple employee to tell me my phone is not repairable seems like it was on their part that they did not do a full diagnostic properly.And since my phone was two years old didn’t seem to care because it didn’t have a warranty. Also it seems like they were pushing for someone to buy a new phone. Haven’t this customer service experience i’m not sure I want to be an Apple...