An Apple store employee has posted anonymously on Reddit, giving tips and secrets to getting the best service at the Apple Store.
The employee created a throwaway account under an anonymous screen name out of fear he would be discovered by the company and either reprimanded or terminated.
The first tip he gives is regarding business customers as opposed to individual consumers. He explains that while regular Apple store employees are not set up to handle business customers differently, there is, in fact, a separate special team dedicated to catering to the needs of business customers.
He states that "when you step for in to the retail side of our business and you have business needs, you will be treated like a retail customer. This really goes out to the business owner who honestly feel that their time is much more important that anyone else's and want support that second." He also spills the beans that Apple offers business customers a volume discount for certain purchase amounts, but that he is using the word discount "very loosely, because to us anything below retail price is a discount, even if its just 2 percent."
If you're not a business customer, the employee informs those who don't yet know that their first move should be looking for an Apple employee with an iPad when entering the store, as they are the "gatekeepers" who direct all traffic and transactions.
He further reveals that if you reserve a specific product, you cannot change your mind once at the store because the reserved products are specifically put aside, but then adds that there is also "always a pile of (devices) set aside just in case you buy a device and it is defective, we have something to replace it with. But that's exactly why they are there, to just be put aside, just in case something goes wrong."
He highly encourages making an appointment in advance before coming in with any issues, and also states that while purchasing AppleCare is your best bet, if you don't have it, be sure to come in under the warranty period because Apple is "very black and white with our coverage, the system, even one day out of warranty will charge a customer for services."
In an extensive follow up Q&A beneath his post, a former Apple employee mentions that at one time Apple offered a "one-time exception" to customers, where they would fix or replace a damaged product even though they weren't obligated. Unfortunately, that practice is no longer in effect, and the original tipster concurs that while that once was the case, Apple "dropped that like a bad habit."
