apple-store

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What You Buy From The Apple Store, You Must Return To An Apple Store
By Laura Northrup on January 13, 2012 8:00 AM  
Apple recently introduced in-store pickup at all of its retail stores. They call it "Personal Pickup." order an item online, and you can go fetch it in person at your local Apple retail store, assuming that you have one. But you can't perform this trick in reverse. At least, that's what Randolph was told when he tried to return a sealed AirPort Extreme without taking it to a retail store. More »

Apple Allegedly Kicks "The Situation" Out For Trying To Cut iPhone 4S Line
By Ben Popken on October 17, 2011 1:00 PM  
The Situation's six-pack was allegedly sent packing after the Jersey Shore star tried to cut an iPhone 4S line at an Apple store this weekend. More »

Man Uses Goat, Pizza & Darth Vader Costume To Test Limits Of Apple Store's Hospitality
By Chris Morran on July 26, 2011 2:30 PM  
With the exception of some odd, headline-making incidents, the general image of the Apple Store, especially those here in New York City, is one of "do what you want so long as you don't break or steal anything." Thus, armed with a video camera and some livestock, one man wanted to see if Apple Store staffers were willing to shrug off his antics. More »

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Apple Store Employee: Stop Asking Me About The Next iPhone
By Chris Morran on February 18, 2011 1:30 PM  
Over at Popular Mechanics, they spoke to an anonymous Apple Store employee to get the inside scoop on what it's like working at the iPhone emporium. And the main thing he seems to want people to know is that he knows absolutely nothing about what the company is doing next. More »

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The Restocking Fee Is Dead At Apple Stores
By Laura Northrup on January 12, 2011 8:00 AM  
The word on the street—or at least on electronics blogs—was that Apple stores would do away with the traditional 10% restocking fee on returns. This new feature starts not just as other electronics retailers are doing away with their restocking fees, but was timed ever-so-coincidentally for January 11, the launch day of the Verizon iPhone. Is the rumor true? Reader Tim reports that it is indeed, and he's even tested it. More »

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If You Want An Apple Store Gift Card, Don't Order It Online
By Laura Northrup on November 17, 2010 9:00 AM  
We at The Consumerist are known for our anti-gift card stance, but sometimes you find yourself in a situation where a gift is required and cash seems tacky. Vivian writes that she got an Apple gift card for her sister as a nice present, and it disappeared from her sister's mailbox. Unlike other high-value items that they sell, Apple mails gift cards using U.S. Postal Service first class mail, and someone stole and spent the card. More »

Burglars Take 34 Seconds To Swipe Nearly $10K From AZ Apple Store
By Phil Villarreal on June 30, 2010 9:45 AM  
Forget about the Nicolas Cage movie Gone in 60 Seconds. A pair of swift-moving Arizona bandits made off with $9,400 in Apple Store goods in the time it takes your iTunes to boot up. More »

Hey, Is This An Apple Store, Or A Computer School?
By Laura Northrup on February 21, 2010 7:00 PM  
Mark tells Consumerist that he noticed a disturbing trend while shopping at his local Apple Store this weekend. While using the display models and contemplating a purchase, he and his son were displaced twice to make room for a customer training session. Does the Apple Store still exist to sell computers, Mark wonders, or is it now primarily an educational institution? More »

The Apple Store Guy Could Tell I'd Had A Bad Day, So He Pretended My Laptop Was Still Under Warranty
By Phil Villarreal on February 9, 2010 8:00 AM  
Michael says his virtual life was shattered when his out-of-warranty MacBook crapped out, but he lucked into a free replacement at a San Diego Apple Store, where he took his computer and knelt at the altar, hoping for a miracle. More »

(Photo: Randy Lemoine)

Meet The Bad Consumers Of The Apple Genius Bar
By Laura Northrup on January 24, 2010 7:00 PM  
Sure, we focus on stories of bad customer service here, but Gizmodo turned the shiny white counter around and solicited stories from anonymous Apple Geniuses about the worst customers they've ever encountered. More »

(Photo: digital cat)

Apple Genius Insults Customer, But Apple Corporate Steps In To Fix Things
By Chris Walters on December 23, 2009 4:04 PM  
Frank, one of the Geniuses at Tim's nearby Apple store, was kind of an ass to Tim and his wife when they brought in their iMac to replace it. Luckily, a woman at Apple's corporate office actually responded to Tim's complaint and provided excellent customer service. More »

Apple Store Is Efficient And User-Friendly For Thieves
By Laura Northrup on September 3, 2009 6:51 PM  

—>I've always found Apple Stores to be open and inviting. A team of thieves in New Jersey evidently agree with me. They smashed the front window of the Promenade at Sagemore store in Marlton, N.J. and cleaned out the display models. How long did it take them to steal 23 Macbook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPod Touches? Thirty-one seconds. Yes, there's surveillance video.  More »

Apple's Color Coded Employees Confuse Shopper
By Chris Walters on August 28, 2009 4:16 PM  

—>An Apple store in Ohio doesn't want to clutter up its elegant store layout with signage, so you have to rely on a color coded system to find the appropriate employee to ring up your purchase. It's like the Homeland Security Advisory System, retooled to measure how inconvenienced you'll be.  More »

Mac Genius Reports Child Porn On Customer's Computer To Police
By Laura Northrup on August 26, 2009 11:45 AM  

—>A man in Connecticut brought his computer to his local Apple Store for repair due to a software issue (likely a—gasp!—virus) but when he returned to pick it up, learned that the Mac Genius had reported him to the police after finding child pornography on the hard drive.  More »

Who Killed The Google Voice iPhone Application?
By Laura Northrup on July 28, 2009 8:45 PM  

—>You can download a mobile Google Voice application for Blackberry or Android, but not for the iPhone. Apple rejected Google's official application, and has been removing other apps using Google Voice functionality from the App Store. Now, why would they do such a thing? You know the answer. AT&T told them to.  More »

Sorry, Your iPhone Reservation Isn't A Reservation
By Laura Northrup on June 19, 2009 4:39 PM  

—>How are Apple Stores doing with the much-anticipated iPhone 3G S launch? Apple fan on the ground Joseph reserved his phone online, queued up outside of his nearest Apple Store this morning at 6:30, and... hit a snag, since his reservation apparently isn't a reservation.   More »

iPod Nano Explodes While Charging
By Carey Alexander on August 17, 2008 11:15 PM  

—>Reader D's first-gen iPod Nano was chugging power from his PC's USB port when suddenly he saw it "explode open and start shooting sparks and spewing smoke." Pictures inside, along with Apple's response.  More »

A Tale Of Two Apple Stores
By Jay Slatkin on June 25, 2008 12:00 PM  

—>Even at Apple where consistency practiced and preached, not all Apple Stores are created equal, just ask reader Adam. The Bluetooth capability on his Macbook Pro was malfunctioning and because he relies on his Macbook for work, he couldn't simply drop it off for a week to be repaired. Fortunately, Adam had a 1-week vacation ahead, so he left the Macbook at the Millenia Apple Store in Orlando, FL. who promised him that the repairs would be made before the end of his break. Adam returned to pick up the Macbook and discovered that not only had it not been fixed, nobody had even attempted to diagnose the problem. Adam could not afford to miss any work, so on a whim, he brought it to a different Apple Store which produced a dramatically different result. Adam's letter, inside...  More »

Manager Photographs Teenagers And Says They Are Banned From The Apple Store For Life
By Meg Marco on May 30, 2008 4:19 PM  

—>Whatever you do, don't download any fun 3rd party programs to the iPhones at the University Avenue Apple store in Palo Alto, California. You may be detained for 2 1/2 hours, then photographed and told that other Apple stores will be " on the lookout" for you.   More »

Apple Store Manager Calls Autistic Guy A "Freak"
By Chris Walters on January 31, 2008 4:40 PM  

—> Joshua's MacBook was splitting along one side—you could push it back together, but after a few minutes it would start to separate again. When Joshua, who has Asperger syndrome, tried to get it repaired at his local Apple Store, he ran into all sorts of problems. First there was a two-hour wait to see an expert, then an assistant manager walked up and said, "I've seen you in here a lot with that laptop, what's wrong?" Joshua explained, and pointed out that he had a meeting to attend that evening and needed his laptop to take notes, so he was hoping to have it looked at in person.

"I'm sorry if I seem on edge or anything, I just.... I'm born with this"... The assistant manager then says "It's okay. It's the Monday before a full moon. There will be plenty more freaks like you before close". And tells me to calm down.
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