Apple Store Support

[Magnetic1]

I recently gave a cold visit, you know like a cold phone call without heads up, to my local Apple store to get my iPad 2 checked out.

Anyway I learned that they don't take walk up customers. Instead you have to make an appointment either by phone or through the store web site.

I went 11am Saturday morning in Deer Park, IL. there was maybe 50 people chatting away at the store.

Maybe when it's not as busy they could have looked at my iPad 2.

Either way I found out from a trainer there, because my problem is related to iTunes that I have to bring in the Apple computer with the iPad 2. Apparently because of privacy, they can not get to the cloud using the store computer.

I found this pretty much not helpful. I seem to get better support over the phone or on forums.
I wonder if that is what they are trying for - to keep the Apple store just for selling.

Is this pretty much normal?


I figured out the problem related to iTunes. Basically, I had a bad format of a file. iTunes had nothing to do with it other than I had to use iTunes to get the file onto the iPad.

 

[ipadder474]

I recently gave a cold visit, you know like a cold phone call without heads up, to my local Apple store to get my iPad 2 checked out.

Anyway I learned that they don't take walk up customers. Instead you have to make an appointment either by phone or through the store web site.

I went 11am Saturday morning in Deer Park, IL. there was maybe 50 people chatting away at the store.

Maybe when it's not as busy they could have looked at my iPad 2.

Either way I found out from a trainer there, because my problem is related to iTunes that I have to bring in the Apple computer with the iPad 2. Apparently because of privacy, they can not get to the cloud using the store computer.

I found this pretty much not helpful. I seem to get better support over the phone or on forums.
I wonder if that is what they are trying for - to keep the Apple store just for selling.

Is this pretty much normal?


I figured out the problem related to iTunes. Basically, I had a bad format of a file. iTunes had nothing to do with it other than I had to use iTunes to get the file onto the iPad.

I am lucky I have a good friend who now is working at our Apple Store, but like you posted most people have to make appointment's this I find not at all very helpful and this forcing someone with an iPad problem to also bring in their Mac, this is also just is really unhelpful IMHO. I feel Apple has had such great success with their iPhones Ipads and Mac's that they feel they don't need to be helpful to their customers. I have been noticing these little Apple items and how much Apple forces one to work through their iTunes for getting your own music files loaded onto your Mac then on to my iPad. And I sure don't like being forced to use just the programs Apple allows one to use. Lately I have invested in a few Android tablets so as to see how well I like using the Android OS and their devices. So far I am really enjoying the new freedom they have given me and the control I have in using them. Not saying I am going to ditch my Apple iPad and Mac just I am looking at other non Apple devices.

 

[dhewson777]

If its an incompatible file, that hardly warrants a Genius appointment, although I guess they are willing to assist wherever they can. That is where forums like this one are handy. You can ask a question, and its likely someone out there knows the answer or at least point you in the right direction.

Appointments are necessary because there is usually a high demand for assistance, plus I guess it helps anticipate staffing levels.

 

[Deleted member 247820]

Hi DH…

I did a walk up to my local Apple store and got immediate polite help.
Sure they were not busy, but I was impressed.
Heck you cannot do that with a PC! (As far as I know).

 

[dhewson777]

Hi DH…

I did a walk up to my local Apple store and got immediate polite help.
Sure they were not busy, but I was impressed.
Heck you cannot do that with a PC! (As far as I know).

Good stuff, you got them at a good time!

 

[Magnetic1]

I guess I was just unlucky on my visit.

I don't think I will try my luck again though.

But I will use Apple store someday after I've check other sources.

I just realized Apple is not getting me to the Apple store to checkout their other stuffs.
At least not unintentionally.

 

[AQ_OC]

I once went into an apple store without an appointment. One of the folks up front just logged in an made one for me. 15 minutes later I was at the genius bar. This is a nice system because you don't need to wait in line...just show up at your alloted time. You can even make an appointment using the AppleStore app on your phone or iPad. Not so bad.

If the problem is iTunes related then they need to have the computer with the problem there in front of them. You can't really blame them for what some guy out front told you. They have no way of knowing what your problem is.

 

[Magnetic1]

Bringing an Apple computer in just to get the iPad checked out is not something I would gamble over, considering I would have to assume the genius bar would have to be ready to handle my problem at the scheduled time.

Even with an appointment, if there are a lot of people at the store, I'm not convinced that I would get the proper attention and get my problem resolved. What's there to stop them from sending me back home because they are just too busy.

This is in line with the reasoning that apple store requires an appointment to better staff and systematically best accommodate multiple people waiting.

I say there is a solution to this, partially. Apple store can publish store traffic on the web.

I also want to point out that in theory people can use social networking to harass people.
You know like how they set up for protest, but in this case it would be because they want to harass someone.

I still can't believe in Deer Park, IL there were 50 people who had nothing better to do on a Saturday morning; granted 5 to 7 of them were store employees.

Just saying, I still like my iPad.

However I still see problems like someone is hacking on my iPad. That is something I was hoping they would checkout in addition to the problem I was able to show to them.

It's nearly impossible to get help for this hacking thing, which I can not reproduce at the Apple store.
I'll have to start a different thread for that.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[AQ_OC]

If the slots are full you can't set up an appointment at a given time. This way, they can better ensure you getting service when needed and expected.

If your computer is messed up that can indeed impact your use of your iPad. Of course, it the computer is not a MAC then you probably don't want them working on it. But lots of their customers have MAC and laptops, so it makes sense to take them in too.