What's really idiotic is defending a corporation's deceptive business practices by saying anyone who gets tricked is an idiot who deserved to get tricked.
Ideally I agree with you but I think as of now if you get an Apple product you need to understand that you are going to be scammed so buying anything Apple is idiotic
The reason I trust Apple is the products we’ve bought have lasted years and years, been highly reliable, had solid software support and upgrades for many years and been easy for me to repair (I’ve replaced the batteries on 4 phones using third party kits). Plus three times now when I’ve had problems with a device, even outside warranty, I’ve had free repairs or replacements for various reasons.
Data point of one of course from your perspective, but from my perspective this is handfuls of data points that tell me I made a good choice.
Yes I know plenty of others have had bad experiences, but I’ve had bad experiences with plenty of manufacturers. Overall through Apple has sky high customer satisfaction ratings for reasons.
People don't know that in reality, Apple looks for candidates who can make customers feel that way... while being able to follow basic protocol. Look at the key qualifications required to apply to be a Genius [1]:
> Strong people skills and a knack for problem solving.
> Ability to maintain composure and customer focus while troubleshooting and solving technical issues.
> Ability to adhere to a schedule of customer appointments.
[1] https://jobs.apple.com/en-us/details/114438151/us-genius
At that time, Genius Bar employees were a relatively skilled workforce, and couldn't be immediately replaced because they needed months of training to be function, and years of experience to be really successful. That meant they had actual negotiation power with the store, and with corporate.
Ever since then Apple has been pushing to make the Genius position lower skilled and easier to replace. Genius discretion and knowledge has been replaced with flow charts on iPads, and a reduction in the amount of genius-bar serviceable parts in the devices.
But you’re right in spirit.
That someone in a mall kiosk is more skilled and authorized to fix a phone than an entire Apple store full of Apple geniuses?
Edit: Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP) have mall kiosks, for those doubting authorization.
Several repairs on iPhones and other Apple hardware are exactly that: not authorized by Apple, unless done by Apple itself.
Telling customers that the phone cannot be repaired is deceptive though when it actually can be repaired. That's where I would expect regulators to step in.
The honest answer would have been: "We are not competent to repair your phone. Maybe someone else can repair it."
They may or may not be competent to repair the phone, but Apple probably doesn't permit them to. So it might be more accurate to say that they aren't allowed to repair the phone, but what they _can_ do is sell you a new one.
AASPs are prohibited from doing component level repair, they are only allowed to sent the phone to apple for anything more than major component (screen battery camera) swap.
The story would look exactly the same, motherboard problem = $560.
My only annoyance with Apple this time was that this MBA was like one month past its Applecare expiration and Apple wouldn't provide any sort of "customer good will" exception. My sob story about how much money I've spent with Apple going back decades was met only with: "sorry, policy."
I don't know why OP had such a different experience. Seems like a misdiagnosis if the kiosk person was able to repair it so quickly.
OP never said what the kiosk employee needed to do to get the phone operational, but given that it took less than two minutes, they likely didn't re-solder anything either.