Regent Street, London, Genius Bar appointments - help!

Question

Level 1

8 points

Regent Street, London, Genius Bar appointments - help!

I couldn't find anywhere appropriate to post my question, so will try here...

Further to some previous posts, it seems my MBP i suffering from a dead network card (no ethernet connectivity). It's still under warranty, so I was planning on getting an official diagnosis from the Genius Bar at the Regent Street Apple Store (London, UK)... But it's only possible to make an appointment 3 days in advance (except for power users(?)), and although I've looked numerous times over the last 2 weeks, there has never been a free slot.

Anyone know the trick? I called Apple and the guy on the phone said he didn't know what time of day to try...

Hopefully this will be easier when the new Apple Store opens at Westfield London - but that's not for another 10 days!

Thanks for any hints!

Sashina

15" MacBook Pro 2.5GHz 250GB HD, Mac OS X (10.5.5), ... 12" Powerbook G4; Green iPod mini!

Posted on Oct 20, 2008 4:19 PM

Reply

Answer 1

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Oct 20, 2008 4:59 PM in response to Sashina

"...But it's only possible to make an appointment 3 days in advance..."
So how many days have you wasted already?

Reply

Answer 2

Sashina Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 20, 2008 11:42 PM in response to sig

Hi Sig

So, every day, one new day's appointments are 'released', right? So you have to check every day... Sounds simple to me... This is how it works, according to the Apple Store guy I spoke to ... ?!?

Reply

Answer 3

Nick A

Level 4

1,522 points

Oct 21, 2008 5:30 AM in response to Sashina

Getting an appointment at any of the stores in London is all about luck to be honest. Just try try try again. If someone cancels you may be the lucky punter to get it if you check at just the right time.

Reply

Answer 4

Oct 21, 2008 7:09 AM in response to Sashina

It is not power users, it is power PAYERS. If you spend $100 (don't know the price in the UK) to join ProCare, you can book a week in advance. It is almost certainly the procare users who are sucking up all the appts.

Reply

Answer 5

Nick A

Level 4

1,522 points

Oct 21, 2008 9:03 AM in response to Kenneth Gorelick

Yea I meant to mention that, but figured only knobs with too much money actually bought that. I'm confident that it's £99 here.

Reply

Answer 6

Sashina Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 21, 2008 11:04 AM in response to Nick A

Well, I found 2 apointments, neither of which suits, but which I have temporarily taken just in case i an't find anything better!

Was not at all impressed with the customer service I received from the Regent Street store itself - so %$@&! grumpy when I suggested that technically it could be literally impossible to get an appointment since Power Users can book all the computer (cf iPod and iPhone) slots 11 days earlier...

Grumble grumble...

Reply

Answer 7

Nov 28, 2008 5:05 AM in response to Sashina

New appointments become available on a rolling basis - as old appointments are closed, new 20-minute sessions become available in the future. Keep checking back every half an hour or so - that's the answer

Reply

Answer 8

gladvlad

Level 1

55 points

Nov 28, 2008 3:34 PM in response to Nick A

Procare may sound like a lot, but wait till your first HD or logicboard or Superdrive or battery failure after one year, then it doesn't seem so expensive. Oh yeah, then there's the preferential treatment thing.

Reply