I went to the Apple Store at the Carrousel du Louvre after making an appointment, because without one, don’t even bother walking through the door to ask for anything, they’ll send you packing!
Anyway, after getting through the door and announcing that I had an appointment, an employee directed me to the upper floor of the Apple Store, where the Genius Bar is located. Someone cut in front of me without any pressure, but well, I let it go. There wasn’t even a line, even though if someone has an appointment after you and arrives before you, you lose your place, even though you have a fixed-time appointment. So my appointment was at 4 p.m., I arrived 5 minutes early and was kept waiting for 20 minutes…
There’s no consistency in how appointments are handled.
Finally it’s my turn. A woman comes over to me, introduces herself, and then starts asking me what’s wrong with my iPhone. I explain: sound problem, latency, multitouch problem, battery. Everything is called into question by the person. You’re the thief lying about the problems, in their eyes… She starts a restore without a backup (thankfully I made one beforehand at home).
Then she has me wait for 20 minutes while she goes to see someone else. She comes back to me. Then it’s on to tests with her iPad. And yes, the iPad is better than a human at checking whether the sound isn’t working, or whether the device isn’t responding…
Anyway, once the diagnosis was over, she told me I only had a multitouch problem, and that everything else works perfectly. Which is completely false.
It’s off to a bad start: she tries to downplay the problems with my iPhone in order to justify not replacing it, just doing a minor repair, to do the bare minimum.
So I’m offered a repair and only a repair… At that point everything tipped over. I explained clearly that usually, Apple changes the iPhone when there are major problems. And here given the extent of the bugs, a repair would not solve all the problems. I pointed out that my iPhone is under warranty, and so I have the right to ask for a phone that works completely, not a refurbished one, given the price we pay for it.
But the person in charge of the issue explains to me that it’s NO for replacing the phone, and that there will only be a repair, and my phone will be ready at 7 p.m. It’s 4:30 p.m., and I can’t see myself waiting 2 and a half hours to pick up a half-repaired phone and go along with this game of bad faith!
I get angry and clearly state that I don’t accept this deal, and that I want my phone to be completely repaired or replaced.
I shouldn’t have to come back every two days to have it repaired.
The person explains that this isn’t possible because “uh, I don’t know, no, I can’t.” “I can’t offer you anything more, I’m going to talk to the manager.”
And yes, in Apple Stores you have managers who oversee the employees! Basically, characters who play the Big Boss of Apple, telling you NO simply for the pleasure of saying NO.
The manager comes up to me in a haughty manner, without introducing himself or saying hello. Nobody taught him manners, it seems.
He asks me what my problem is, even though he had been talking for 5 minutes with the person who was handling me and who had no doubt explained everything to him. I explain the situation, and he replies, “Well, I can’t do anything more for you, you’ll have to wait.”
The conclusion is that the Apple Store at the Carrousel du Louvre is the anti-commercial that Apple is trying to fight against in the face of its competitors. And I am addressing the management of Apple France: I ask you, if you’re listening to me, to please review your in-store customer care system, which has recently become catastrophic in certain Apple Stores. Complaints have never been this high. Review your procedures, because it’s a disgrace that Apple Store managers treat “their” customers like shit!
