danapalooza

And while Apple Stores have a reputation for great service, there are enough counterexamples happening every day that I’m not sure how much longer that reputation will last.

Last year, for the first time ever, I had to visit an Apple Store three times to get an issue fixed. It’s an old trick I use, usually with telephone support — if I’m not satisfied that the answer I’m getting sounds right, I call back until I get one that does. It’s not that I’m looking for an answer that I like. I’m waiting to hear something either corraberated or that sounds like it’s coming from a place of knowledge and expertise. It’s truly amazing how many tech support people provide answers to questions they obviously don’t have the ability to answer correctly.

I never thought that I would ever need to use the technique at an Apple Store, though.

There is one thing that happened here: the Apple Store employee didn’t give the customer what they wanted. He have them a version of what they wanted. He apparently gave them what he was able to give them but he never bothered to communicate to them the difference between what they were looking for and what he could do for them. Maybe he thought that iCloud was “the answer” but a product isn’t an answer. If that was all it took, Apple wouldn’t need retail stores staffed with service employees.

iOS 6’s maps, too-easily scuffed $600 phones, my bad Apple Store experience, this and the other bad experiences Mr. Arment infers — I’m worried that Apple has begun to ignore the details.