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Categories: Computers, Electronics
Neighborhood: Union SquareMon-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
"say good-bye to best buy and hello to central computers. this is the place the guys who build computers go....disclaimer. I am not that…" read more »
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Shatangi says thank you to the Apple store. Thank you for making my iPhone purchase so easy. Thank you for recommending I buy the AppleCare contract. Thank you for making my Snow Leopard purchase take 4 minutes and for emailing me the receipt. Thank you for giving me the Genius Bar service as a walk-in. Thank you for the AppleCare contract making my button dropped off after more than a year of use into a simple exchange for a new phone. Apple products may cost a bit more than the alternative, but the levels of quality and service have caught up with the price point. I am a very satisfied customer.
Shatangi told you...
Shatangi is a staunch PC snob. I use PC at home and Mac at work. Mac is way better for artistic… Read more »
It's a good thing Apple products practically sell themselves, because the sales people I've encountered are incompetent. I've gone in a few times to compare the new IMAC's to be given the slip by a salesperson I was waiting for, shooshed away by a tall creepy guy and scolded by a girl with a piercing in her face for examining the IMacs in the IPhone activation area with a number of other customers. Fair enough.
Probably a good thing I couldn't get help. I would have walked out with whatever a salesperson recommended whether it be the best solution for me.
I've since received advice from a pro on what I need for my audio and video needs and will order online and enjoy the benefit of free shipping and delivery. Good for Apple, the product is so strong I don't need the Apple Store salespeople after all.
I have to give this place kudos for the classes it gives upstairs. And, visually the store is worth a stop if you're in the area. It is usually overcrowded with poor air conditioning, if any at all. But, if you need an IPhone, those guys are really on the ball. If it's service you want, I highly recommend the one on Chestnut Street in the Marina.
Have you ever been watching MTV cribs and then suddenly someone very, very rich is taking you on a virtual tour of their house in between the over use of that slow motion effect, and then it dawns on you that "Holy shit, this person is able to show me their residence large enough to house a refugee camp without ever knowing they're there, followed by a fleet of cars that would make the British navy of the 1800's reel with jealousy, all because a shit load of people bought their albums!"
You'll never find me hating on someone who made it happen for themselves and struck it rich. I am not of the opinion that rich people are the devil, even though that seems to be the trendy way of thinking.
All that said, every time I walk into the Apple store in downtown San Francisco, I get a little pissed off. I dig that they're as much into interior design as every other company out there, but a big ass glass staircase in the middle seems unnecessarily gaudy. Most consumers already know that the $300 they continue to charge for the newest iPod could easily be dropped by half, if not more and still rake in a hefty profit.
I understand the game.
I buy into it from time to time, too.
And damn that's a nice staircase, but come on.
No comment, they suck. Especially those rude, un-imaginative sales people over there.
I gave 2 stars just because I like the interior, alot.
This review concerns the Genius Bar at Apple Store, San Francisco.
I took my 17" MBP (problems with Dual-Link DVI to Mini Displayport adapter) and older 15" MBP (which was having dead/bruised pixels on the screen).
Why I'm giving this review 1 star:
- Was warned that when bringing in multiple items, that I needed to make multiple reservations. (What? Why?) As of this writing, I was unable to find this documented on the online reservation system.
- made an appointment for 4pm, checked in at 3:45, was not called upon until 4:15pm.
- Genius Bar "genius" was not wearing his nametag, (Paul, as it were) very begrudgingly provided his name when I began to receive poor service. Paul was unpleasant and provided generally poor customer service and technical skills (see below).
- My problem with the Dual Link DVI Adapter is very well documented online, (see bottom of review for URLs) online, but I was treated as if I were a criminal, trying to scam free hardware from the store. (I asked to have the firmware in my adapter updated to version 1.02, which supposedly alleviates some of the issues I'm having. Because they couldn't update the firmware on the adapter, the only solution was to give me a new adapter.)
- When trying to hook up my adapter to a 15" LCD (non-dual link, daisy chained with about 3 adapters, irrelevant to my situation) monitor, Paul almost broke my adapter, by trying to force an older DVI-I(non dual-link) plug into my modern DVI-D (Dual link) see Wikipedia link below for more information.
- When asked to provide my receipt for the purchase of the adapter, his response to "Should it be available on my apple store online account?" was "I have no idea." Further, because I purchased online, they had no record of my transaction? Again, what?
- Paul requested that I leave my laptop with them, so they might test it on their hardware. A reasonable request, except the whole "not having my computer for a few days while you test it on a monitor, which you really could do right now in 5 minutes" thing.
- 75 minutes later, after proving that I was indeed a legitimate customer who purchased this adapter, I was provided with a replacement, which, fingers crossed, will hopefully serve me better.
http://store.apple.com...
http://discussions.app...
http://discussions.app...
http://www.9to5mac.com...
http://en.wikipedia.or...
Love everything Apple. All their stores are very good. I was having a problem with my iPhone last week. I setup an appointment at the genius bar the same day. Came in, had to wait about 10-15 minutes, but then the young boy behind the counter solved my problem within 5 minutes! This is not the first time I used genius bar here, and every time they were able to help me right there and then.
I only wish they could keep the appointments on-time. Otherwise, it's perfect.
Sometimes when I'm lonely or bored I'll trot down to the Apple Store and here is what I do:
1. Find an available computer (almost impossible during peak hours)
2. Open up Photobooth and snap a shot of myself
3. Open up any type of image editing software
4. Draw a beard on my face
5. Admire my work while realizing that women should not grow beards because they basically just look like poo-beards, which is not a good look
6. Set said masterpiece as the desktop background
7. Go home
Oh and I also buy iPhones and computers here, but whatever.
Oh, Apple! How I envy your incredible plexiglass staircase that cascades down the middle of your… Read more »
Go in, be cool, get out. The end.
You lost all your data and you didn't back up? Thats on you.
You used your macbook air as a frisbee and it broke? Thats on you.
Something was wrong with your computer that isn't your fault? Thats on Apple, and they'll fix it.
Don't go in ready to unload on the kid in the t-shirt and the lanyard making a mediocre hourly wage, it's not their fault.
Be nice, be assertive, you'll get great service.
Its a busy place, a very busy place. Which is why apple invented the whole reservation thing to begin with.
I love Apple, of course. But the store downtown gets only 3 stars from me because it is very difficult to get help here. It is a very large store, so I understand that the staffing may be limited. Also, there are a lot of people coming into this store, so the ratio of customer:staff is limited. This is the reason I try to avoid this store whenever I can. Instead, I try to go to one of the suburbs. The selection of products here is pretty much the same as everywhere else, may be just a little bit more.
I'm going to keep this simple like how Apple products claim to be...
I'm in the market to buy a new laptop. Naturally the new 13 inch MacBook Pro is in the running (bigger doesn't always mean better folks)! Wanted to test drive one during my midday frolic around the city.
Observations:
1. So uber crowded. At one point my head was spinning, like "Ahhh....get me out of here!!!" type of spinning. So many people oogling at my new soon to be toy. It grew to be a semi turnoff for me. Prepare to elbow your way past all the tourists checking their email to claim a computer.
2. Sales tax is sky high in the city than it is in other places in the bay. It's worth saving a couple benjamins by trekking out to other less crowded Apple stores in other parts of the the bay.
3. Expect to wait looooong for a purchase unless you already know what you want. To make things even faster, make a one-on-one appointment with an Apple associate on their website.
Mission purchase MBP postponed.
If your Apple product works, it's great, if not, you're screwed.
I have been pretty much all Apple for around four years: MacBook Pro, iPod....
This last week has left me so frustrated I don't think I'll be buying Apple again, and def. not the AppleCare.
Let me preface this by saying that I went through the AppleCare game earlier this year. Unlike this time, it was actually all my fault then. I dropped the computer and the bottom casing had to be replaced. AppleCare (understandably) didn't cover the damages, which amounted to like $1,200, but they ended up taking over three weeks to get my MacBook Pro back to me, after having temporarily lost it. Then they forgot to charge my credit card and called over a month later saying they'd caught the mistake and had to charge me- but eventually reneged and payed for it themselves. Still annoying though.
Anyhow six months later my MacBook has developed a series of problems: 1.) The Screen has come totally loose 2.) The battery only lasts 20 minutes 3.) The CD drive does not work. I assumed AppleCare would cover all three since I still have like almost two years left on it and all of the problems developed unprovoked.
The little squirt at the "genius" bar tells me, basically, that Apple won't cover any of them. Most insane to me was that they wouldn't cover the battery because I had voided the insurance by using the computer too much- they opened up a piece of software that told them how many times I'd recharged the battery, and since it was over a certain # they wouldn't replace it.....!!!!
They wouldn't cover the VERY loose screen because, he said, there is no way that it could have become that loose without "accidental damage" [even though I had never dropped it!]. He checked with a co-worker who was like, yeah, that HAD to have come from a drop, and when I pressed them on the point, they indirectly accused me of lying.
They wouldn't cover the CD drive because they said it "might" have been caused by *accidental damage* and furthermore that maybe it was just the CD I was using, because CD's can get dirt on them, you know. The kid then embarked on an explanation of how CDs and DVDs work and how I needed to keep them unscratched. Thanks for the newsflash, Tom Brokaw. Anyhow they eventually agreed to fix ONLY the CD drive when they couldn't get any of their CDs to work on it.
My hugest problem, which I pressed the geniuses on, is that, Apple can arbitrarily claim that an issue was probably caused by accidental damage, an opt not to cover it. So then, there is NO burden of proof and Apple is responsible for NOTHING. So what is the point of AppleCare? A waste of $350. I finally got the genius to admit that AppleCare is misleading, because they make it sound like they will cover any issues when in fact they don't.
I pointed out that my friend Laura had a Dell, with NO, extra insurance, and they continue to cover upcoming issues with her FIVE YEARS after its purchase. When I told him that this would never happen with Dell, he said, "I strongly disagree you, but we'll have to respectfully agree to disagree." Then did the faux uppercut punch move like Popeye used to do; the go-get-em-tiger move.... WHAT A DICK.
I really object to the smug hipster vibe that all employees exude at this store. I do remember the name of the genius who "helped" me at the bar, but I won't single him out here because I think Apple encourages this behavior for everyone.
At the end I mentioned to the genius that I was just disappointed in Apple because I expected more from them in terms of repair and service, and he responded, "Oh yeah, we get that problem ALL the time."
Whatever, Apple.
This review is not for Apple products per se but rather the in-store experience.
I've been buying Apple computers for 25 years. I'm a long time fanboy and I'm surrounded by Apple products daily. As such, I'm frequently in need of some accessory or other. This means either I go on line or head to the Apple store. More and more I'm avoiding the Apple store. My latest foray resulted in, once again, time wasted. I was unable to find what I went in for or help in any way. There are plenty of security people and concierges concierging but try to find a salesperson. Nada. The store stocks a small percentage of what they show on line. The only reason for me to go any longer is for service. Perhaps they'll take a cue from the genius bar and begin having people sign up for a time slot to shop. Too bad.
no thanks
BIG shout out to Branigan & Patrick for turning a 1-Star day into a 5-Star experience
Not-So-Brief recap: Ordered 3GS online, to be *delivered to me* b/c I'm not a line-waiter. Apple cancelled the order w/ no forewarning or troubleshooting - Hmmmm
Called Apple Cust Svc & was advised no one knew why the order was cancelled & best guess is that the systems timed out (Apple couldn't connect w/ AT&T to finalize the order)
Then told they can't reinstate my order (i.e., get my phone this week as promised) & I need to place it all over again. Well, I don't want to wait another 2 weeks so it's off to the Apple Store.....not happy
After my expected 1.5 hrs in line, the completely adorable Branigan takes me into the store, for my long awaited iPhone .......but the online order snafu effed up my "upgrade eligibility" & now there's an error message that won't allow the transaction to go through
Branigan stayed w/ me for 2 HOURS while we called AT&T ( useless! ); Apple Support, his management, & many, many others. He remained happy & cheerful the entire time & was determined to get the issue resolved.
Patrick joined in at this point & hooked us up w/ an internal AT&T contact they knew, to fix my upgrade eligibility as AT&T cust svc told us it would take 3+ days to process .....ah hem
I had to go over to AT&T to fix it - Branigan offered to walk w/ me ( ! ) but I felt so badly for taking up so much of his time already that I declined his kind offer.
Advised when I came back, to seek them out (no waiting in line all over again) and holding true to their word, Patrick grabbed me soon as he finished w/ his current person & took me through the phone setup, made sure I was activated, could place a call, receive email & nothing was left out!
Soooooo after all these shenanigans, why would I consider this a 5-Star experience? It's all b/c of Branigan & Patrick! They didn't take "no" or "can't do" as an answer & now I'm the happy owner of my very 1st iPhone. I can only imagine what chaos & frustration I would *still* be going through w/ AT&T if they hadn't stepped in.
Branigan & Patrick - you are rock stars!
Let me start off this review by noting that no, I don't buy things from this Apple Retail Store. The downtown Apple Store is the de facto West Coast flagship, so just avoid the throngs of tourists and just steer clear of it if you're thinking of actually making an Apple purchase. That's why there are Apple Stores literally all over the City and greater Bay Area--send your money to Mr. Jobs through one of those other venues and not this one; trust me, you'll feel much better about doing so.
That being said, this is a great place to come if you're having an issue with your Apple hardware. I brought in my beloved MacBook Pro after the logic board decided to quit and give me nothing more than a black screen. You have to schedule an appointment, but any Apple person would know this, and yeah, they generally are running a few minutes behind, but aren't we all? The sheer number of techs that work at this store make it pretty easy to get an appointment, too--I only came to this one because it was the only one around that had available appointments on a Friday evening. Anyway, it took about five minutes to diagnose the issue (Yep, logic board is dead) and then came the dreaded "...it'll take five to seven days to fix." Yikes, no laptop for a week?
Well, imagine my surprise when I received a call yesterday from Apple, telling me my laptop was ready for pickup just TWO days later. I'm sure there's a little bit of under-promising and over-delivering going on here, but hey, that pretty much always creates happy customers. It somehow dampens the negative feeling I get after paying $2,300+ for a laptop with a crappy logic board that would croak after a year and a half.
I entered the store clutching my frozen iPhone for dear life while my eyes wildly darted around in search of someone to corner, pin down, and force to fix my lifeline to the outside world.
One of the floor employees noticed me and with the deftness of (whatever you call the football player that blocks the bad people from the good people) intercepted me on the way to their prize employees.
Apple Girl: Hi!
Me: It's bbbroken and stuff and it will only let me use the calculator but not really..it rings but I can't answer it...and...
*I thrust my iPhone at her*
Apple Girl: Let's see...
And with one swift flip of her wrist she pushes two buttons that is the secret way of praying to the iGods and reboots the whole thing.
It was a spiritual 3 minutes that made me reconsider my stance on the restorative/healing powers known as "the laying on of hands."
Hallelujah my apps are back!
Hurray for the 3GS.
Sent from my iPhone.
This SF store feels like the magical core of Apple.
After a brief wait in line, Troy introduced me to my new 3GS. Hello gorgeous!
Thanks Troy for a delightful and entertaining experience.
1. The store itself is always chaos. No matter when you go, this store in Union Square is packed with people. I don't mean just when Apple releases a new ipod or iphone-- it's ALWAYS jammed up.
2. The service is only somewhat helpful. Yeah, they're friendly and they're wearing matching T-shirts. They're wearing the name tag on a lanyard around their necks. But no one who works there has impressed me with their thorough understanding of technology. They're just retail clerks.
3. As a company, their return policy sucks. First, they can't accept a return from an online order at the retail store. And two, they won't accept any kind of return after 14 days. Even though you may have the product, original packaging intact, and they can track the serial number... they won't even exchange for future credit.
I received an Apple TV (40 GB) as a gift, but I didn't need it. I tried to return it, but they can't take it after the 14 day period. So the clerk at the retail store recommended that I might try calling 1 (800) MY APPLE for help, and I asked, "Can you call them?" and she basically said, "Oh they're closed now." (Which wasn't true. I called them from my cell phone about 30 minutes later.) But I looked disappointed, and the two clerks behind the counter recommended, "Try selling it on ebay. Or regift it."
Are you kidding me? I'm not going to regift this Apple TV and saddle them with the same lame return policy. If they can't use it, it would be a crappy gift, wouldn't it???
The only saving grace about this store is that sometimes, I'd rather buy a product in person than order it online. So when I needed a nano, I got instant gratification.
I went here today looking to purchase a brand new 13" Macbook Pro, i was incredibly exited at first, but within' 15 minutes was completely irritated.
I walked in, without wasting time, grabbed one of blue shirted guys, told him which model I wanted and that I didn't want anything except for the laptop and a DVI adapter. The next 15 minutes of my life was spent listening to this jerk try and sell me all sorts of software and accessories and time after time, i told him NO, I'm a long time mac user and only want my macbook. This guy just kept on, and EVERY time I explained to him I didn't want was he was trying to sell, he would look at me like I was the jerk and asked me why I didn't want the accessories.
My single star is simply backed by,
What the hell is the point of having a store if people can't just come in and spend money without being hassled.
Needless to say, I told him I was very annoyed and would be buying my computer at http://macmall.com
JetPack® rumor notwithstanding, I have it on good authority that the next impossibly fab Apple® product will be hovercraft. The little zippy boards will be dubbed MacFly®, in a loosely spelled nod to the also stylish and futuristic Marty.
Don't believe me? Wander into the Apple® store sometime. You'll note that the employees are actually the prototypes for the MacFly®. They easily zip around the 70 bagillion people that are in the store at any given time, stay in one place just long enough to perform a given task, and zip off.
Case in point: I decided to buy a laptop. I walked into the store, found the machine I wanted, tapped away at the keyboard a bit, decided to make the purchase, and looked up until I made eye contact with an employee. He zipped over. I said: "I want this", gesturing at a MacBook®. "No extra memory, don't bump up the hard drive space, just this. Exactly." He nodded, and - this is important - didn't try to upsell. I don't know if that's a function of the MacFly®, to eliminate the option of wasting time by annoying people. If so, it works fabulously.
He zipped away. Five minutes later he returned with a laptop in a snappy-looking box, complete with carry handle. He pulled out a GoGoMacGadget® card swipey machine, efficiently zapped a hole in my checking account, affixed a "sold" sticker to the snappy box, and zipped away. Done.
Time invested, from start to computing:
10 zillion years waiting for MUNI to bring me to the store
5 minutes playing with computer I was already 99% sure I wanted
0.5 seconds waiting for zip-zapping store employee to come over to help me
5 minutes waiting for zip-zapping employee to get the laptop out of the dungeon
30 seconds for painful $$ experience
10 zillion years waiting for MUNI to bring me home
20 agonizing seconds waiting for computer to turn on
Total: 20 zillion years, ten minutes and 50.5 seconds. Not bad. Also interesting: between lucky positioning of the machine I wanted, helpfulness of the zip-zapping employee, and the GoGoMacGadget® card swipey machine, I never walked past the first ten feet of the massive store. All in all, it was a truly bizarroworld experience. In the best possible way.
Unfortunately, I found out that the program I need to use for my law school exams requires--shudders--Windows. I mean come on, this is San Francisco, home of Apple products and all things that are shiny, glossy, and modern!! You'd think that of all places, schools out here would use programs that are compatible with Apple products. Anyway, my bitterness aside, I shelled out $200 for a copy of Windows Vista but once I got home, I couldn't figure out how to partition the hard drive to install it.
Not wanting to screw up my aluminum macbook, I made an appointment with the Genius Bar to get some help. Once I got there, I found out that there must have been a glitch in my online reservation because my name wasn't showing up in the queue list. However, the guys there were very understanding and took my appointment anyway. Despite getting practically laughed out of the store and punched in the face for having a copy of Windows, the staff at the Genius Bar walked me step by step through the formatting and installation process. Although I didn't have a major computer problem like many of the people around me, the guys still took their time in helping me. They were all pleasant to deal with, extremely knowledgeable in their products, and professional. Thank you again, Apple Genius Bar!! And great t-shirts, btw... "Not all heroes wear capes." Clever :)
For years, I was lulled into an complacent, unquestioning appreciation of all things Mac, like every other fool out there. Their PC's are sleek, I cannot live (or run) without my IPod, and while I hadn't yet taken the leap, those IPhones look pretty damn cool. You can tell a Mac-ster by their white headphones. Genius.
But then, I started noticing things. Like my computer, on which the majority of my programs run at snail's pace. And the fact that my IPod Mini (my first venture into the world that is Mac) died after a few months of not being able to keep charge. And that every time I walk into this heinously crowded store, even the flurries of neon-t-shirted staff cannot accommodate the many requests flying at them from many different directions.
What took the cake, however, was my most recent trip to the store. I had bought an extra IPod cable, and wanted to return it.
Apple: No refunds on online products, only store credit.
Me: Okay, so how do I get a refund?
Apple: Mail it back in.
Me: And pay postage?
Apple: Yes.
OK, not the end of the world - I do need a new pair of headphones. I go upstairs and find myself the cheapest pair - at $30.
Apple: The great thing about these phones is that they have a volume control switch on the cord.
Me: Great! I'll take them. They'll work on my Nano, right? I bought it last xmas
Apple: Of course not. For you, they'll just be regular headphones - the control won't work
Me: Do you have headphones without this extra volume control thing?
Apple: No.
Overpriced. Crowded. Hasn't figured out its environmental policy yet.
Is it weird that everytime I come here I can't help buy smile? Apple stuff is just too cool not to love.
Plus, the staff at this particular store are always awesome. I get great service, get to play with cool stuff and leave happy!
this particular week I came in with iphone problems and the staff made sure to take good care of me. love it! Even in times of sad broken iphones, the staff here know how to help you out in anyway they can.
Definitely will be back to figure out how to spend more money on apple gear.
I always dread going downtown to actually get things done because 1) I have to take Muni; and 2) I have to deal with crowds and tourists and people just standing in my way.
Obviously, if you are heading to the Apple store downtown, you should automatically assume it's going to be crowded and kind of a pain in the ass. If you can get over that 2 star bit, then it's a five star review from here on out!
I am a PC user. Yes, that is uncool. So uncool that when I stepped in the Apple store I noticed a DISTINCTLY different crowd than what I experience at Fry's Electronics in the south bay. Oh hello, geeks with social skills! It was surprising to me that those dumb apple vs pc commercials might actually have a point.
Regardless of the crowds and the line at the Genius bar where I had an appointment, every single employee that I talked to was helpful and pleasant. Considering it was a cold rainy saturday downtown, and people were wet and grumpy, I consider that to be pretty impressive. My appointment was handled promptly and after my consultation I was given a dedicated sales person, Tod, who stood with me and ONLY me from the moment I left the genius bar all the way to checkout. He carried the items I was interested in purchasing and answered every single pointless question that I had as we wandered the sales floor. Tod is my hero.
I am a hard girl to please when it comes to customer service and in this case I was floored that I had such great one-on-one service with someone. Kudos to the apple store for hiring enough employees so that they can really take care of everyone. And 5 bonus stars to Tod, the most helpful "specialist" on the floor. The specialists are the ones in the light blue tshirts. Look for him! He rules.
5 stars for the beautiful store, articulate staff and well designed Apple products themselves.
1 star for Apple's channel management of both their own products and everyone else's, which I find to be incredibly customer-unfriendly. My latest irritation came yesterday, when I tried to exchange a $100 set of iPhone headphones that stopped working after less than 3 months. Apple's take: if we didn't make it, it's your problem... deal with the manufacturer directly. No other high end retailer would try to get away with this.
Just got a new MacBook Pro. Pretty pumped and I didn't have to stand in any crazy line. The trick here is to know exactly what you want and bum-rush the line or sales associate to get what you want. Don't spend time hanging out trying things here. It's too crowded, filled with tourists, and uberly hip San Franciscans trying to look cool in the store. However, the WiFi is amazing here if you still operate in the Stone Age with a Touch. Good luck.
Considering how crowded this place is, there is always such a quiet,mellow, peaceful vibe in there and I never have to wait long for help/service either. I took a free class they offer on the iphone the other day and learned tons of stuff that my iPod touch can do that I didn't even know about. This store definitely makes me want to keep using Apple products! If only all businesses could run this smoothly.
I went in to purchase an iPhone yesterday, and while we were setting up activation on one of the computers, a woman who appeared to be from the streets (talking to herself in ghetto speak, ragged appearance / dirty) went up to my gf and without provocation kicked her in the leg. My gf was flipping through a magazine when it happened. Then the crazy woman went back to watching her YouTube videos on one of the Apple computers like nothing had happened. We complained to security and they did nothing about it. Seriously - do bums/crazy people belong in the store if they are surfing the Internet for their own pleasure? Especially if they are assaulting people in the process? Take a step back and look around, this place has a problem with bums/crazy people coming off the street and using the computers for the Internet.
I will not come back to this Apple store location again.
I learned all about iTunes today!
This year I am celebrating an accomplishment every day, and this is one of them. The other is that, if you wear enough layers, you actually can be warm in 45-degree weather. It turns out that the Apple Store has classes for customers. We all knew that, but listen to this: They are open to everyone now, and free!
After working with a frustrating issue for a while, My Lady decided to go to a class and find out the official story about iTunes. We walked in, sat down in the theater, and were treated to an hour of the most entertaining lecture I have seen in months. Zack, while walking through the features, kept us entertained every minute. He let enough of his personal life, tastes, and passions out, that at the end of the lecture we felt as though we might call him a friend. Along the way, he let us know what was cool and new, which iPods could use which features, how to do interesting things easily and effortlessly, and of course we could buy anything we needed in the store. iTunes rents movies! This could blow Redbox right out of the water.
OK, the problem My Lady was trying to solve stumped the Genius, too, but he gave us enough theory and pointers that we had some new ideas to tackle it. She also upgraded iTunes to the current version to gain access to some of the features we saw today.
There is a funny phenomenon in high tech -- sometimes, if you know enough about a system, the problems that you thought you had just plain disappear. You know, when your system administrator is sitting at his desk in the morning, saying "Problem fixed," and you ask him how, and he doesn't know? "Things just started working sometime, and we really don't know what fixed it. Oh, well!" Thank you, Zack!
I like this store, although I rarely buy anything here. I like Zack, and as a lecturer he is First Class. So the fifth star for Apple goes to the teacher. Kudos for hiring a real genius to be an Apple Genius.
Big. White. Cubical. Glass.
It's a nice space, and I love the glass staircase. Lots of people…
Read more »
Do I look funny? Smell odd? Dress poorly?
Whatever it is...there is something about me that turns off the Apple worker, and makes them hesitant to help me. Last I went into this store, I stood near a gaggle of workers, who were all chatting amongst themselves. I tried to poke myself into their circle, but was completely ignored...so then I stood a little closer to the MacBooks and tried to wave someone down, to no avail.
Finally, as a worker was trying to run by me, she answered my, "Excuse me, can I ask a question?" The same question I'd tried to ask several times. Her knowledge and enthusiasm in showing me the product, and helping me compare two sizes side-by-side, and telling me that I probably didn't really need the bigger size (saving me tons of moola) is what is earning the three stars. And the free classes that I can't wait to take now that I am a proud Mac owner.
I went in to the Apple store today with a dead hard drive, and although my laptop is not yet fixed, I wanted to comment on Hank's ability to calm me down and make me feel better about purchasing an expensive computer without insurance. Hank in the Genius Bar helped me identify and fix the problem and renew my faith in the world. Thanks Hank!
-4 stars for sucking the uh... "mer" out customer service
+1 star for being all shiny and cubeish
. Recently I bought the earbud headphones for my iphone, since the stock ones won't fit in my freakishly small ear holes. The little rubber bud part fell off the other day, rendering them useless. I went to the Apple Store to inquire about replacements. I spoke with the Apple dude and he was of no help. I asked him if there was anyway he could help, since my headphones are junk w/o the buds. He pretty much told me to pound sand. He could learn a thing or two from the Chestnut location...
I would had bought my M.B.P. here but nope, Best Buy has a way better insurance plan for $345.00 it's an accidental plan for 3 years . If you break it and they can't fix it well the will replace it with a new one and if they do not have it in stock they will upgrade to the next model up! OK the service suck at Best Buy but it's about the insurance.
OK, so far the G-bar service has been good and so has the Apple Care phone service- but it seems that they really want to sell you the A.C. plan , yes people I get that it's a great service but you do get nine months for free so let me ride the free wave just a bit. Its like they remind you every time your on the phone or at the G-bar which sells no alcohol by the way.
Why invest in an iPhone when you can just come by and use the powerbooks for web browsing? I can't count how many times I've come here to google or yelp something, lol.
I would never browse or buy anything from this Apple store. It's like a trance party 24/7.
This two story Apple store is always busy. Whenever I pass by here it's packed with Apple addicts,… Read more »
This apple store is conveniently placed in the downtown region. Perfect for tourists and natives alike. This is a great place for me to check on any e-mails and of course, make some great faces with the webcam :-).
Promptly served me within 2 minutes of my scheduled repair appointment and replaced my broken iPhone, for free, fully charged, in under 3 minutes.
You'd have trouble getting a Quarter-Pounder in under that time.
CLOSED*
Yes the store is closed. Go home people. Sorry.
* Legal disclaimer: Apple Store San…
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The 16 Gig 3G iPhone in white is not bad, for a fruit company.
sent from iPhone
So, my 2-year contract is up with T-Mobile, and what is the first thing I do...get my iPhone! Yeah, finally! Ever since the iPhone came out I have been itching to purchase one but canceling the contract prematurely had a ticket price of $200. No, thanks, I can handle waiting several months for my very own iPhone.
Purchasing my iPhone at the Ellis/Stockton location yesterday was a breeze.
One can begin the purchase process by visiting the apple website and entering some key information and then selecting which location and time you'd like to pick up your phone. I arrive at the store and within 10 minutes, I was a proud owner of this cool device. I was helped by Marisa-Lee. She was fantastic and quick. All I had to do once I got to the store was sign two things: a digital copy of the contract which was on the little portable handheld device she was carrying around, and the receipt for the purchase. Since I had already begun the purchase process online, all the information was saved and it made visiting the store to pick up my iPhone extremely hassle free.
I highly recommend starting the purchase process of the iPhone online so once you get into the store, you're in and outta there in minutes. It was great for me because I went in during my lunch break and I work in the Financial District.
I love coming into this store and even more that they don't mind me bringing in my dog if I attend a workshop upstairs.
I was like "Shit..." why am I going into the Apple store on December 23rd? Oh that's right...to get an iPhone. Ok...this will be worth it. This will be worth it. I walk in - ACK! People everywhere. Actually, let me change that to 'People playing on all the computers and not really buying anything' everywhere. And then the folks that were not on the computers were kinda milling about and taking up valuable walking space. Ugh....tourists....
Anyways, I was upset that I was not greeted. I thought I was for a moment, but it was just the wholesome looking suburban white family behind me. (Oh...might I add, the ones that left moments later, so therefore your greeting did not work to help your sales oh greeter that has no good greeting judgement...)
I go to the back of the store for some help...wait...what do I do? This place is crazy! It's almost like a white box minimalist idea (well, it would be if there were not so many damn people...and I swear to gawd, I was gonna clock this crazy lady in the face...she had about fifty shopping bags, a giant purse, and no manners to say excuse me when she bumped into you...it was worse than the Badlands dance floor with the B&T girls!)
Ok, so Troy is working there that day. We love Troy! He is awesome, and he knows his stuff. But unfortunately, he's not supposed to be on the clock for another 15 minutes. I cannot wait 15 more minutes. I am feeling claustrophobic...the walls are closing in...I could die. HELP!
Insert our friendly Apple hero of this story, Will! Not only is Will a nice guy who knows what he is doing, and made the "legal jargon" seem decent and ok (the stuff you have to include or say or otherwise corporate will kick your butt)...he was also rocking the pink polo under the light blue Apple shirt. Pop that collar and work it. I like tech nerds with some fashion style. :)
Ok...back to the story...Will is like "What do you need?" I tell him. And in less than 10 minutes, I am out of the door with my new iPhone and ready to go. YEAH! I totally felt like a Mary Tyler Moore moment as soon as I left. It was awesome. The only thing I had to throw was the phone in the box...I didn't want to do that, so I just did a little spin. Spins, contrary to popular belief, are quite nice. :D
Thanks Will for hooking me up, and thanks Troy for the help, as well as for connecting me to Will. Ppreciate it. ;)
Neighborhood: Union Square
Category: Local Services
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
Category: Electronics
Neighborhood: Lakeside
Category: Computers
San Mateo, CA
Category: Electronics
Neighborhood: Union Square
Category: IT Services & Computer Repair
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