The customer service run-around by Geniuses

Did you know there's actually no way to place a customer complaint at Apple? Is it because everyone that works there is a "Genius"? Well, now my complaint will be here for everyone to see! My complaint/experience is as below:

My iPhone 6Plus screen smashed completely with near-zero visibility upon contact with my concrete Driveway – despite having a screen protector on. The phone was purchased brand new, online on December 3, 2014 from the Apple Store. It is now out of warranty and as such, I’ll have to pay for the screen repair. The only thing that’s broken is the screen, there’s absolutely nothing else wrong with the phone. I use this phone for work and for personal life – my contacts, calendars, etc.

I made an appointment with the Genius Bar at the Market Mall, Calgary Canada Apple Store for 12:30 PM on Saturday September 2, 2017. All I asked was for my phone screen to be repaired. I’ve been told and I’ve read several reviews that it’s a 15-minute, while-you-wait process. The Genius Bar representative immediately launched into a full diagnostic of my phone. He then proceeded to tell me that the Market Mall location has this particular phone registered to someone else, that his records show I have “replaced this phone and someone else now owns it”. That made no sense, since I was holding the phone in my hand. He then told me that I had to show him proof of purchase (from almost 3 years ago, for an out of warranty phone) for him to fix the Market Mall Apple Store’s records, which would take up to 5 business days from the time I presented proof of purchase. Only then would I be able to bring my iPhone in for a screen repair.

Here’s the thing – I don’t have receipts from 3 years ago. Do you? Interestingly, every time I’ve bought an Apple product over the last 10 years, they tell you, you don’t have to hold on to an Apple receipt because your Apple iTunes account is the one stop shop for all your Apple products – it saves your device information, warranty information and is your proof of purchase. So, why would I have the receipt?

So I called Apple. Ironically, they told me that the order number and serial number are too old for them to pull up, so they’ll have to do a manual search, which will take 2 business days. So now, I have to wait 2 business days to get a copy of a receipt (that Apple themselves think it’s too old to track down) and then another 5 business days for the Apple Store to sort their records.

Why? As one of the Geniuses explained to me – someone at a different Apple Store incorrectly registered a serial number that coincided with my own phone. So, because Apple and their “Geniuses” screwed up, somehow I have to pay the price of total inconvenience and a completely ruined week?! All I wanted was my screen repaired. That’s all. It’s something that basically requires you to shut off your phone and for the Geniuses to do their job.

Well – so what now? Is Apple going to reimburse me for the time spent in this run around that is not my fault in any way? Or is this the way of Apple’s customer service? What are they technicians or the police? And, why does the Market Mall Calgary, Canada Apple Store care AT ALL who or where I got my iPhone. What if it were my colleague’s phone that I’d accidentally dropped and needed to repair before returning; what if I’d bought this phone second hand on Kijiji? What if I’d bought it from a family member? Does Apple think second hand iPhones markets don’t exist? Or, is this their marketing scam to get you to buy a new phone when you can’t produce proof of purchase from 3 years ago – I have read the market is pretty saturated and their iPhones sales are low….

The bottom line is that today (and for the rest of the week at least) Apple has completely wasted my time, cost me more than just the screen repair, in terms of inaccessibility of work and basically not being able to live my normal life. All because they couldn’t just take my money to fix a **** screen…