IPHONE 5: GENIUS BAR EXPERIENCE

On Friday, November 7, 2014, as I stepped out of the office, at around 5:48 pm, I took out my iPhone 5 and within an unexpected “Hot NYC second” I watched helplessly as my phone plummeted to the asphalt as I tried to cross the street. This was maybe the third time a phone had ever dropped from my safe hands. And this is the worst damage my phone has ever received. I picked up the phone with searing disappointment because I couldn’t see anything on the screen except for the cracks and a multicolored patch that looked like when the TV used to sign out. All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind given that was the only cell phone I had that used the NANO size SIM CARD. I was off the world phone map. The bottom line is I was out of a cell phone. The phone could only be used with SIRI or with headphones. By now, you should be curious to know how this problem was resolved. I thought about many solutions including buying the screen replacement kit from AMAZON.COM but I did that before and I wasn’t satisfied because of a click that happened when I pressed a part of the screen. Even if I had purchased it from AMAZON I would have to wait at least two days to receive it and I wanted it now. I didn’t set an APPLE store appointment until 7:20 pm in Soho. This is after I backed up my phone to my computer. Also, during that time I reconnected my Google Voice with my landline in case of emergencies.On the day of the appointment, I didn’t get to the store until around 7:30 pm. As I checked in, one of the genies told me he had to reschedule me for 8:15 pm before he ushered me to a seat. (This was a clear violation of the 15 minute grace period rule). Nonetheless, I sat for about 30 minutes until I got up because at that time my patience had depleted. I saw several blue shirts walking to and fro and nobody said anything to me until around 8:45 when I reached out to one who told me they were attending to the 8 o’clock appointments. I said okay and scratched my head for two reasons: 1) the staff is usually exceptionally professional and 2) I’ve never experienced such a long wait. Then I thought to myself that the weekends are the worst time to visit the Genius Bar. As that thought entered, I heard one of the geniuses, helping a client next to who asked about the long wait, said yes the weekends are usually the time when most people get free time from work. The client did most of the talking. He mentioned the long wait and later said in the same breath that it was okay. If it was ok, why did he mention it like that? I don’t know. It was a lot of people waiting to be served but majority of the people were very cool, calm and waiting patiently with no trouble in the world. Well, that’s the vibe the APPLE store creates until there was a little unrest behind me. I heard one of the staff raised his pitched on one of the customers who was later escorted out the store. As the security reached the steps, he shouted to another colleague on the second floor and said, “He has to leave the store now!” He placed both hands around his mouth like a horn for projection.I didn’t get serve until minutes after nine. And the tech was still serving someone when he attended to me. I was a little disturbed because I waited too long and I hate waiting. It’s like torching to me but I restrain myself very well. “I’m unable to replace the screen,” the tech said. “What’s the reason,” I asked. He said the phone was uneven. I asked how he knew and that’s when he placed the phone on the counter to illustrate the unbalance. I later asked how much it would cost to replace the phone. “That’s what I’m checking on now,” he replied. He didn’t really say much but I cooperated well. I logged in to release the phone and I saw when he reached for a white box, popped out a new refurbished iPhone and take out the SIM CARD from the old iPhone 5. He handed me his iPad to sign my signature as he handed me the phone and said good night. I asked, “That’s it?” “Yes,” he replied. I asked a second time to be sure because I thought he was going to hand me a bill. In my mind I wondered how they were going to make it up to me for the long wait and he did in a fabulous way. At one point I was surprised and at the same time that was expected given the nature of Apple’s ethics and culture. After I expressed my gratitude I thought to myself that receiving a new (or refurbished) iPhone was a fantastic way to erase the long wait. In the end, the wait was worth it. I left the store close to 9:30 pm and reflected on how well APPLE solved the problem as I enjoyed Manhattan congested traffic leading to the Manhattan Bridge.AddendumThe new refurbished iPhone 5 worked great until Saturday night, November 15, 2014. While speaking to someone, my iPhone shuts down unexpectedly. All I saw was the dark screen. Then a few minutes later the white APPLE logo pops up and disappeared into total darkness again. I placed it on the charger but nothing happens. A few minutes later it prompted me to connect to iTunes. After I did, I clicked restore and received an error before I clicked restore and reset to factory settings. That didn’t help because the iPhone reverts to total darkness, again. I brought it to the Genius Bar at the West 14 Street location and the Genius said it was a hardware issue. The logic board went bad. He didn’t have any replacement in stock. I asked him to check the inventories for the other stores close by because I didn’t want to be without a phone since he couldn’t grant me a loaner. Soho had one in stock but when I arrived they had none available. The genie that attended to me, a beautiful lady, said it would take 2 – 3 business days to receive a replacement. She further explained that when the replacement arrives, I’ll receive an email. I brought up the loaner again and she suggested I purchased a new phone, if I really need one, and return it when I pick up the replacement.After receiving an email to pick up the phone on Monday, I grabbed both phones and immediately went to the store. After I checked with the first blue shirt standing close to the staircase on the second floor with an iPad in hand, I was instructed to just take a seat by the first desk. A genius, whom I didn’t want to assist me, came by. “Did you check in already?” he asked. I told him I was directed to sit here because I didn’t need to check in. He couldn’t find my name in his system. After I checked my email, I realized that the previous genius who had ordered the replacement spelt my name wrong. She had my name down as “UREaL.” That was pretty cool but wasn’t helpful. Anyway, he was able to attend to my request via the repair number. After he validated the phone, whatever he meant by that, he asked if I had wiped the bad one. I told him I was unable to. I tried to do it on the spot and the phone shuts down and beholds the APPLE logo reappears one more time. He took the phone and promised to wipe it behind the counter for me. I trust and hope that he did.Interacting with the staff from the genius bar can be fun and this case was not different. Besides the long wait, the service I received was exceptional. I do believe that some testing should have taken place when I first received the replacement on Saturday and that would have prevented me from returning to the store. Also, going without a phone in this day and age is like getting lost in sea. I believe APPLE should give a new phone once there’s a problem with the current one and don’t have the customer leave the store without a business tool, a phone, to connect. Imagine Tim Cook going without a phone for three days. Can you imagine the enormous amount of phone calls he would miss? Nevertheless, apple customer service has been the best I’ve dealt with yet in spite of the long wait.