Apple King of Prussia — Local services in Upper Merion Township

Summary: Disappointing customer service, but a good result.

When I called the store and asked if I could just walk in, I was strongly discouraged from arriving without an appointment. As requested, I made an appointment and arrived 21 minutes early.

When I was greeted at the store entrance and ushered to the check-in person, I was told that I was a bit earlier than they usually check people in, but that they would check me in anyway and instructed me to have a seat and informed me that they were not running ahead of schedule but were neither behind and that I could expect to be seen at the appointed time. The appointed time came and went and as I was sitting there I noticed two people came in after me, checked in with the same person I had check in with, and explained that they did not have an appointment. They were told to stand by and that they would be seen by someone as soon as available. These two folks were both seen as I was still sitting there waiting – now for over 40 minutes. Finally, with the time ticking by until beyond 15 minutes past my appointment time, I decided to take action.

I walked up and stood directly across the table from the check-in person and looked directly at her and waited quietly for her to acknowledge me. She was having a discussion with a co-worker and since I was so close to her, I could hear that it was not store business, but unrelated personal gossip. After about half a minute of this conversation, she looked directly at me, quickly averted her gaze, and walked a few feet to another store employee to pass on the latest gossip updates.

At this point I spoke up and asked why it was that despite making an appointment and coming in 20 minutes early, and despite it being more than 15 minutes past my appointment time, nobody had given me any update of any sort or ahd any communication with me. I then asked why it was that two customers who had no appointment and came in after me were seen before me. As I started to ask if this was the treatment that one could expect at the Apple store, a “Genius” standing nearby interrupted me to say that she could take care of me right away and “no problem.”

This person was very friendly and did her job quickly and courteously. In the end, my iPhone 5 was replaced (I had the AppleCare extended warranty), and so I was satisfied with the result. Getting to result was awful, and the perpetrator (check-in person) never did approach me, explain or apologize, despite me being at the store until well past their normal closing time.

The customer service by the check-in person was shoddy and unprofessional. If you have a choice, go elsewhere.

Update: 2nd trip 12/10/2013 -- Much the same. Again went in for an issue with my iPhone 5. Again was 30 minutes early. Was asked to come back closer to my appointment time. I re-arrived at about 10 minutes before the appointment time and was told that they were were running "about on time" and asked to sit at a table. Again was more than 20 minutes after appointment time before I was seen. Again result was good and got my speaker repaired in another 20 minuted after I was seen.

Don't rely on their time estimates, but expect a...

I will admit fault, and in this situation I am initially at fault. I ended up scheduling a genius bar appointment to check on my (incredibly defective) AirPods Pro for the wrong day and I should have double checked.

HOWEVER- when I first came in and walked up front with my family (myself, wife, 2 children under 4), no associate made eye contact with me or welcomed me into the store or asked what they could do for me. We stood there for 15 minutes waiting for someone, ANYONE, in a blue shirt to acknowledge our existence.

I made an attempt to ask an associate for help and was swiftly ignored by them. I asked another employee, who was less bothered by my presence, how I should check in and he got me in the system and told me to sit down to wait for another associate.

So I did. I sat down and waited… and waited, and waited, and waited. All the while, my wife is taking our children all around the mall to keep them occupied, and coming back after every store to check in on me. 45 minutes go by and still no associate has seen that a human is sitting waiting there.

It wasn’t until the same associate who checked me in CAME BACK FROM HIS BREAK to see me still waiting to be helped. He was friendly enough during this time and checked (after a FULL HOUR) on the delay. He comes back about 10 minutes after this and tells me that my scheduled appointment was actually for the next day and that there was no openings for my issue to be addressed until later that evening.

No apology for waiting so long, no way to help resolve my issue while I was there, no option other than “sorry idiot, gtfo”.

I understand I made a mistake, but when you have a business you need to acknowledge your customer and have practices in place to catch a simple goof like this before they make the customer wait. I would have felt just dumb if I came in and was immediately made aware of my mistake, and would have just come back later in the day.

The employees of this store not only wasted my time but also didn’t treat me or my family like we existed. I felt dirty, used, and worthless after that experience.

This is obviously a systemic issue from the top down as these associates aren’t really talking or acknowledging each other either. You can tell morale is low and the store feels scuzzier than it has in the past. The air even feels stale.

Just an overall awful visit. I will be frequenting Fort Washington or Suburban Square for my issues in the future. Hope Apple whips this flagship store into shape. I...

Worst experience in my life. I knew exactly what i wanted to buy and was asked for assistance in front of where all iphones are. Waiting for 10 minutes and no one bothers when employees are talking to each other doing their thing even if i am unattended. So i am asking this tall skinny white guy who asked me to wait how long i need to wait. This guy goes whenever someone is available so i ask how long might b the wait and he goes again whenever someone is available while i am looking at two years employees talking and have fun. I am trying to spend over $1000 out of pocket jn a store and this kid is like if u dont want to wait till i get u someone, get the h out. So i got pissed off and leave the store. Then i came back in because now i really wanna complain. Then i hear this kid goes disregard over the radio as i walk in with the most annoying face he can make. Then i go to manager and tell her about it and ask her how long is the wait. Then she goes i am the next one in line which i couldnt even get from that guy. Then she goes does it look like we have people to assist u right away? Then i answer yes right there u have two employees talking to each other. She goes they dont work for this specific store and i go how the hell do i know? They are wearing same shirt as u r and it seems like u have plenty of employees who can assist. Then she goes i am telling u because u dont know but she knows. How ridiculous. Am i supposed to recognize who is working for her or not? When they are wearing same red apple shirt??? Rudest kid to see when u first walk in and btw who has no freaking clue with what he is doing when it comes to customer service even when store is so slow. The only nice guy was the black guy who helped me to buy what i wanted. He could read me and made a quick purchase for me and apologized for whatever made me uncomfortable here. If you are a wizard and willing to wait how long ever they want you to wait, you will probably fit here. I know i am never coming back here wasting my time and money. Rather go thru traffic and go to walnut street and get a...