iPhone 11 Pro Max battery replacement - Apple Store Highpoint

16th May

Booked an appointment for Apple Highpoint 7:15pm on the 23rd of May

23rd May

Backed up the iPhone, turned off Find My iPhone

6:50pm - Reached the Apple Store at Highpoint

Walks around the store to see how long it will take for one of the staff to approach

6:55pm - Gets approached by one of the staff asking if I’m someone else they’re looking for. I tell them I am not.

They then tap away on their iPad. Checking my appointment. Then they check my iPhone and see the battery health percentage.

They then tell me I’m a bit early and they’ll come get me in 10 minutes.

My phone gets a notification that I have my appointment at the Apple Store.

7:15pm - Still waiting around in the store, thinking they could be a bit late.

7:30pm - Watches the same staff member who approached me serve someone else standing right next to me.

I walk around the store a bit more with no luck trying to get anyone of the staff to notice me. At this stage I’ve been in the store for 45 minutes almost unattended.

The notification on my phone about the appointment is gone.

7:45pm - Get approached by one of the staff being asked if I need a hand.

I tell them the experience I’ve had and they tell me that my appointment has been cancelled.

They ask if I would be interested in joining the queue again to see the technicians which I decline they close within a hour.

I get asked if the iPhone is my primary device. I tell them it it is.

They tell me if everything did go as planned, I wouldn’t be able to leave with the iPhone on the same night.

This second staff member was very accommodating but I’ve also been in the store for nearly a hour now.

Before leaving the store, I check my phone to see if there is any notification or email that the appointment was cancelled. There was nothing. Not even in my junk folder.

8:05pm - Walks into the Samsung store one floor below out of pure entertainment factor

Gets approached by staff within 5 minutes of waiting, tells them about the Apple store appointment issue and gets told that I would receive better customer service by Samsung.

Also get a very tempting trade in offer for the iPhone and iPad Pro to buy some Galaxy devices that I may or may not exercise in the future.

24th May

Call Apple support and they recommend posting on discussions.apple.com

Offered to provide another appointment with sort of a VIP status at the same store with their technicians which I respectfully decline.

Stating that I’d want the regular average person experience rather than being treated as a VIP or using any corporate contacts to get an iPhone battery swapped.

Then I get told that the store may not have the part I need if the appointment went as planned.

I asked them that I booked the appointment a week ago and would that not be enough time to order the replacement battery for the iPhone.

Positive experiences:

I’ve bought an iPad Pro from the same store and also had it repaired because bendgate is an issue with the USB C models.

There’s many aspects to learn from this scenario.

Why isn’t there a check in section on the phone?

Obviously the Apple retail staff would like for you not to be hassled.

Why isn’t there a notification or email about the appointment being cancelled?

Why aren’t customers informed if they are interested in getting their iPhone battery swapped, that a one or two hour appointment may not be enough and they would have to collect their device the next day.

Or the store may not have the part and they would have to visit the store again in order to achieve the desired outcome.

My intentions before arriving at the appointment: I could either purchase a new iPad Pro or new iPhone Pro device before leaving.

My intentions after the appointment and the follow up support call: Strictly avoid the Apple Store. To go to Apple certified vendors or 3rd party vendors to get devices and or repair them.