Shout out to the Apple Store!

[Buckeye]

My sister came to visit and mom wanted to buy her a new Apple computer. DS is employed as a graphic designer and she has her own side business.

We went to the Apple Store at International Mall in Tampa. The newest Macbooks are expensive and she would have to get the high end model to get a machine with memory comparable to what she has currently. The newest memory type is not upgradeable. To get more memory, you have to buy the next higher model for an additional $600.

The Apple associate saw he had an unhappy customer and went to Plan B which was to go back to one of the older machines which are still available. The screen is smaller (she mostly uses external monitors so no issue), but the processor and the memory are an upgrade from her current machine. Perfect solution!

While we were waiting for the computer to be brought out, he asked me what I did for a living. I told him that I was a substitute teacher. "I guess that means you qualify for an educator discount" which was good for $285. DS ended up with an upgraded computer and 3-year extended warranty (she has used her other extended Apple warranties) for $1500 out the door, about $1,000 less than Plan A would have cost.

We went from feeling like we were going to get totally screwed to being very satisfied customers.

 

[Chuckanut]

My 5+ year old MacBook is the best laptop I have ever owned. I upgraded it with more memory and a bigger drive about a year ago. It still runs the latest Mac OSX operating system, and while slower than the modern laptops, it is certainly fast enough for e-mail, browsing, wasting time on the ER forum, and playing funny Youtube videos.

 

[ziggy29]

My wife's iPad broke a few months ago. She took it to an Apple Store in San Antonio and at first the guy said they needed to replace it. And since it was no longer under warranty, it was going to cost $299 (a new one was $399). Then as we were talking it over, he "decided" that the problem was a bad battery, so it was covered with a $99 replacement per Apple's policy on replacing units with battery problems that are not serviceable.

 

[NanoSour]

, wasting time on the ER forum,

How dare you jest!

 

[braumeister]

Apple Store employees have saved me many hundreds of dollars over the years. I find that if you know what you want and treat them like you would want to be treated, they will frequently find a way to surprise you with big discounts.

 

[audreyh1]

We have to confess our Apple Store tourism. We had to go by the new Apple Store in Amsterdam when we visiting recently. It's a very large two-story store downtown, and they have a pretty cool glass staircase.

 

[Buckeye]

We have to confess our Apple Store tourism. We had to go by the new Apple Store in Amsterdam when we visiting recently. It's a very large two-story store downtown, and they have a pretty cool glass staircase.

I see Steve Jobs when I look at the staircase.

 

[Ready]

I switched from Windows to a Macbook Pro last year and have never been happier. It just works really well, and it's enjoyable to use. And the trackpad is amazing. Previously I always bought an external mouse because the typical Windows trackpad was so hard to use I didn't want to bother. I hope Apple continues to innovate with great new products. The last refresh of the Macbook Pros didn't accomplish much beyond a basic performance bump. The retina display is fantastic though, and I can't imagine going back to the lower resolution screens on the Windows computers after having a retina display for the past year.

I also have an iPad and iPhone, so I'm all in with Apple. But the three devices work so well together that I have resisted going with Android and trying to figure out how to integrate it into the Apple ecosystem.

 

[audreyh1]

I should have mentioned that the above glass staircase photo was taken with an iPhone5 in HDR mode. Not bad, huh? I did some additional tweaking in Lightroom 5. Lightroom 5 has some really neat automatic perspective correction that helped out with this image.

 

[Midpack]

We have to confess our Apple Store tourism.

I've never walked by an Apple store in any city without going in, even when the "visit" was completely unplanned. I would not be without my iPad (iPod before that), but we don't have iPhones or MacBooks (yet)...probably just a matter of time for one or both.

 

[Peter]

I've never walked by an Apple store in any city without going in, even when the "visit" was completely unplanned.

Another Apple tourist here! Apple store in Shanghai ... one of three, actually.

 

[Ronstar]

We are Apple people as well - 3 iPads, 2 iPhones, iMac, macbook, Apple TV, iPod. We love their products and customer service. DW's iPad croaked and we brought it to the Apple store and they gave her a new one. Not too many companies will do that.

 

[audreyh1]

Another Apple tourist here! Apple store in Shanghai ... one of three, actually.

Very cool!

 

[Midpack]

I can't match youse guys, fanciest one I've been in is the Chicago Michigan Ave (aka, The Magnificant Mile) store. But it has all the cool stuff inside, glass stairs and cool merch.