Apple Store

Horrible service at the Apple Store in Marketmall. I wanted to buy a new iPhone 6s+. After approaching one of the many red shirts with no customers, I was ushered to wait to talk to one who was busy with 3 other customers. He was attempting to have us all pay in assembly line fashion. I had questions, but he had no time to answer. Just give me your credit card and get out. I got out alright, but without a new phone. I expected just a little bit of service and a smile for spending $ 1,500. I refuse to. Spend my cash where they treat you so terribly.

How come there are so many people here to greet you and none to fix your computer?
Appointment? «Genius?» pshhhh… But aside from that — Well done Apple! I love this place in all it’s non conventional retail environment. There’s so many people that I get overwhelmed, but once inside you start to realize that the people are mostly just ambient noise. Not necessarily shopping, just parents pulled over from the rest of the mall for a second to give their tech addicted children a quick iPad fix. I can’t blame them for being so enthralled, those things are freaking cool!
The staff now have grey shirts so they kind of blend into the background. It seems like they’re just their shopping, but they’re also quick to give you a hand if you appear to be one of the people who is actually shopping.
The best part about the Apple Store is the sales people double as cashiers. Once you make your decision, you can just buy the product. There’s no wandering through the masses again to find a massive line, no making appointments — just get and emailed receipt and you’re on your way.
I’ve bought a charging device, a Native Union charging device that broke right away, mighty mouse, headphones, portable speaker and plenty an over priced iPhone cable from here. $ 25 for a 1 metre cable? Come on…
It’s alright though, all in all this store is friendly, efficient, and carries the best damn products. I so love my Macbook pro. A lot of Unilocalin’ has taken place on this bad boy.

I recommend avoiding this Apple Store. We went with a frayed USB iPhone cable to see if they would replace this. A concierge said we’d have to wait an hour and 20 minutes to talk with a technician who could determine if we were eligible for a free replacement. The issue was straightforward, and insisting on a technical analysis of a frayed cable seemed ridiculous. At other Apple stores, I have had similarly frayed cables replaced without argument in 5 minutes. So the problem is with this store’s policy.

Typical mayhem here, big store with all of their products out on display.
But well worth the service; finally bought my Blackberry Passport @ the Core mall, and after seeing an Apple employee help a customer transfer their contacts from an iphone 4 to the new iphone 6, which looks and feels great by the way, I wished my Tbooth guy would do this too.
Apple has this cool machine that takes only a few minutes.

Great overall experience. Didn’t know where to go to buy an iPad air but the employees directed me to the sales area. Sales guy was very polite. Definitely coming back.

I bought an iPhone 5 online and passed my 4 down to my son. I went into Rogers (my carrier) in Market Mall to have my SIM card switched to his phone and my new phone activated. The Rogers guy gave me a song and dance about his system being down and not being able to do a set up. He gave me 2 SIM’s and told me to do it myself and that since his system was down he wouldn’t charge me the $ 10 for the new SIM.
I walked out and around the corner to the Apple store. They asked if I could wait 5 minutes. Of course I could. An Apple employee made all the changes, and set both phones up in about 15 minutes after my 5 minute wait. He asked, «They didn’t charge you for the SIM card at Rogers did they? We give them to people free». Cost to me? $ 0.00
Just tonight my wife hung her iMac at 5:15pm and it was Sunday. We rushed over to the Mac store. Explained we had no appointment, that it had just quit, and I was prepared to leave it overnight since it was so late — I knew they closed at 6:00. Again, They asked if we could wait a few minutes for a Genius. In a grand total of 40 minutes we were walking out of the store with the problem solved. Our Genius was Jenny — and she was just amazing. Cost to us? $ 0:00
When you buy an Apple product you don’t buy just hardware. You buy the best support people available.

Can not say enough great stuff about the market mall Apple store!
Everytime I have gone in, I am greeted right away and asked if I needed help. Many times I have gone in to shop and other times to just look around. Even when I needed repair on my IPAD, they took such great care of me and had it done within a couple hours.
Fantastic experience everytime!
Love this place!!!

Excellent experience with the staff here — warranty work done on my computer in a matter of hours! Definitely beats having to ship a computer across the country as other PC manufacturers might require. It’s times like this that I am glad I went Mac. Can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner!

Good service, except the Business advisors need to get their act together. They can not answer a lot of questions regarding business accounts, so really they are just apple employees with Business Account shirts. Always the best selection of current products. Best quality cases for all their products. I have had issues with previous Mac products and they solve them very fast. Very good consumer confidence when at the Apple store.

Either i’m getting older or the genius’ in the apple store are getting younger.
Doesn’t matter tho. I love going into the apple store and fiddling with all the new gadgets and seeing if there are any new accessories i need for my iPad or iPhone.
They moved locations in the mall in the last year and the new location is so much bigger. It’s nice. However, it still gets full when its busy. They always have tons of blueshirts running around the store ready to help.
They usually have the answer even if you don’t. I wanted to use my iPad for presentations and have some sort of remote for it. They were able to point me in the direction of Keynote Remote that hooks your iPhone up to your iPad with bluetooth or wifi and lets you control the keynote presentation on your iPad wirelessly with your iPhone plus you can see the slides on your phone and in landscape mode it shows you the next slide so you know what’s coming during your talk. AWESOME…
Thank you Steve Jobs!

I have to update my previous review for the new location in Market Mall. I went in last week because I’ve been having issues with my iPhone, and god knows Bell didn’t do a damn thing to help. So I approach a guy working there and give him a brief history of whats going on (not receiving any calls or texts, camera has a weird fog when I use flash) and I was just really put off by his attitude. He grabbed my phone from my hands and kept cutting me off when I was trying to explain the problem. Regarding the camera issue, he was really rude and arrogant about it, and just kept saying «We cant prove it’s a problem with the phone. There’s no way to prove that. It could just be the conditions or where and when you’re taking the picture». OHKAY. So you’re telling me that the SAME picture taken with my phone was taken with my sisters phone, hers looks completely normal, and mine doesnt… it’s not a problem with the phone? He acted like I just had to suck it up and deal with it. I’m sorry but when I pay that much for a phone, I expect it to work properly. He said «you can make an appointment if you WANT… but I don’t think we’ll be able to do anything about it. And we don’t have anything until like, LATER…» It was like he was trying to convince me NOT to make an appointment.
I was super annoyed but I made it anyway. Fast forward two days later, I come back for the appointment, and sat down to wait for about 5 minutes. This store just honestly STRESSES ME OUT. Its huge, it’s full of people, and it’s overwhelming. A nice enough guy sits down to help me (thank god it wasn’t the same guy from earlier) and I give him the run down of the issues. This time he actually LISTENS, and takes my phone in the back to check it out. Apparently there’s an issue with the glass part covering the camera, and it can be fixed… BUT — I’m literally 5 days past my warranty so I’ll need to pay for everything. I know that’s not his fault but SERIOUSLY? They didn’t really give me ANY other options. As for the calls/​texts issue, he couldnt find a problem… so, thanks for nothing. Again, it was something I had to suck it up and deal with. He blamed it on network coverage, except my phone was the only phone with No Service in the house, and we’re all with the same provider. Its just really annoying. I’ll be buying a new phone and it WONT be Apple. It’s just not worth the headache.

Turns out my iPhone was yanking my chain and doesn’t actually like golden showers. Oh what??? Eeew! Disgusting. It also turns out dropping ones smart phone in the can isn’t as uncommon as one would think. Tiny bathroom stall + clumsy Kate = an opportunity to write an apple store review.
I made an appointment to get my phone swapped out, using the appointment service on the apple store website. Simple enough, you just put your details in pick a time that’s available and turn up at said time. Their store has moved to a different spot in Market Mall and they have been in their new location for a few months now. The new space is larger, really open with tables throughout the interior and product on the walls. I went in, checked in with a blue shirted dude near the genius bar and then sat down to wait as I was about 5 minutes early for my appointment. I only waited a few minutes, thank goodness as I had no smart phone to distract me with anyways. wah woh.
A «genius» or whatever they’re called came up, introduced himself and asked me what the problem was. I explained «water damage», and he got to it. He popped out the SIM card took a look and saw that it was okay — thankfully! He told me the price options and I went ahead with a replacement phone. The whole ordeal was over and done with in under 7 minutes. WHAT??? yep. that easy.
Easy peasy.
Review #10 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012

You can debate PC vs. Mac until the end of time, but one thing you can’t debate is the superior retail experience in the Apple store. As an IT Professional, I buy a great deal of equipment for clients, 90 percent of it PC. It is always a pain to stand in line at a PC store and wait for service and often answers that I don’t always feel confident are correct. At the Apple store. .all I have to do is make eye contact with a sales person and nod my head and they are there to help me. They do the invoice on the spot and I’m out the door.
This is the best retail customer service I know of.

An iPhone user for 4 months now, I originally purchased my 4S here back in late February. I had an HTC Desire HD previously on the Android system, but I refuse to do any system/​phone bashing as I think both Apple, HTC, Android and even Microsoft put out decent products and services in the mobile market.
I feel compelled to say that what made me switch over to Apple was the service I got at this Apple Store. It seemed like every answer or question I had about the 4S was answered competently and quickly by the staff. Every concern I had about Apple seemed like it was myth. I was so impressed with the answers I got and the fact that I would have a place where I could get face-​to-​face support that I purchased an unlock iPhone on the spot.
I have been back a couple of times since with some inquiries and also to buy some accessories and have been equally pleased with the service.
One caveat here is that a lot of the accessories are really expensive. For most things you can find comparable accessories elsewhere (in places like Winners) for a lot less. However, I get that this is speciality store and things will be marked up accordingly.
Some might say that Apple products in general are overpriced and they might be right. But they do know their products and if something went wrong I feel confident they got my back or at least advise me on what to do next.

HOW DO YA LIKE DEM APPLES!!!
I like dem a lot!
Every time I walk by APPLE on a Saturday, my soul dies a little inside. The kids everywhere, the people everywhere. this place is why anxiety attacks started happening to people. I’m totally kidding, but not about how busy it is.
On a weekday night, I visited the Apple store due to my iPhone draining itself of life much too quickly. They made me an appointment with one of their geniuses for in an hour’s time. «Great» I thought, «I’ll go spend some money». I popped back and met Justin, a cutesie little helper who was very friendly. What I liked about Justin is that he didn’t make me feel bad about my iPhone, how I treated it, or things I didn’t know about it. He was definitely here to help. He even laughed at my jokes. Now we feel bad for Justin, don’t we.
He was able to hook up my phone to install new software and excused himself to tend to another client. I was happy to hang. It is definitely a cool environment. Next to me, one of the lady geniuses was helping an older lady with her new MacBook. «How sweet» I thought «I wouldn’t have patience to help my mom learn how to program the VCR…» But what a great thing to give to your customers. Empowerment. Technology freaks people out from young to old, Apple helps you get past that and educates its users.
I like that my phone is with Bell, purchased from Bell and yet when I bring it to Apple, they just gladly take it like it’s one of their own. Fantastic.
So good work Justin, you are a super genius with great customer service skillz. Apple is a fun store to come visit, just make sure for pete’s sake you don’t come here on the weekend. Bring Xanax if you do.

We all know that Apple is definitely doing something right. I have loved every product I’ve ever got from them. It’s probably the only store on earth you have to make an appointment to purchase something… which I suggest you do! Just visit their website, and make a «Genius Appointment». You’ll get faster service. Also, go during the week, not on the weekends, it’s just too busy on the weekend!
PS. I wrote this from my iphone! haha

Who’s in love with her iPhone? I am! But alas, this review is not one for my iPhone. It’s for the store where I bought my iPhone, the Apple Store in Market Mall.
I walked in on a Thursday afternoon and was greeted immediately by one of many blue-​shirted employees. «Do you have any iPhone 4s in stock?» I asked the blue-​shirted employee. «Of course! Are you looking to buy one outright? Or are you upgrading from an existing phone?» I was upgrading. I was told I’d need to make an appointment to get everything set up, and was subsequently handed into the care of his other front door colleague holding an iPad.
There was only one more appointment available that evening, which I couldn’t make, but I had my pick of slots the next day. I chose one at 11 am.
I arrived at 11 on the dot, excited to make the jump to an iPhone that worked. Mine had been on the fritz for a couple of days (I think it knew I was trading up). I checked in with someone at the back of the store, also holding an iPad, and was brought over to wait at one of the side counters. It was but a few minutes later that someone appeared at my side to help me out.
Gone are the days where you need to take your phone home to activate it, or deal with your carrier in any way shape or form. Oh yes, the Apple employee had the access to do all of this for me. Phone setup to billing was seamless. I didn’t pay a cent in store and I walked out with a fully functioning phone.
What impressed me the most, is that on a Friday morning, at 11 am, the Apple store had plenty of staff on hand. Each one looked to have an area of the store to look after. There weren’t any employees chit chatting with one another, they were poised and ready for customer approach.
The only bug in the setup was in activation. It took a few tries for iTunes in store to recognize and activate my iPhone. A few tries resulted in an extra 15 minutes or so. If it wasn’t going to work, they would simply replace the phone. If this had happened at home, I’d have been making another trip down. In a way, they saved me a trip.
I’ll admit, having to make an appointment to buy my phone struck me as a little odd. After all, I’m used to walking in for one, and walking out same day. But the appointment system ensured that I had a dedicated employee. He wasn’t trying to look after other customers at the same time as me. I was his only focus from start til end.

I am typing this review from my new iPhone, which I bought at the Apple Store at Market Mall earlier this weekend. I popped by the store around four o’clock on Friday afternoon, and was told I could return at eight thirty to make the purchase. Recalling that it took me longer than that to buy my circa-​1997 phone at the Rogers store years earlier, I confirmed with the person booking the appointment that thirty minutes would be enough time. He assured me that thirty minutes was plenty but suggested that I arrive at the store at quarter past eight anyways.
You know where this is going. I showed up at eight fifteen for my eight thirty appointment, but no associates were free to help me until quarter to nine. I sat there watching the woman beside me get an excellent, informative overview of how to use her phone, while the sales associate helping me barely had time to open the box! He actually said, «There is lots I could show you but I know you’re in a hurry.» Actually, it was pretty obviously him who was in a hurry. So I left the store with a brand new iPhone 4 (bought for ~$ 350 two years into a three-​year Rogers contract) that I had ZERO idea how to use. I can’t really blame the sales associate– the people doing the scheduling shouldn’t be booking appointments that close to closing if there’s a chance they won’t have the manpower to provide proper customer service.
Otherwise I was not overly impressed with the store. There were a lot of, umm, fragrant customers who seemed to think it was an Internet café. A few employees were wearing inappropriate attire (I saw a butt cheek under a cheap cotton skirt!). I also saw an unattended child fall off a stool while her parents obliviously played with an iPad. It was great not having to jockey for one of the four or five iPhones my local Rogers store receives weekly, but overall my experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

Calgary’s first Apple Store opened in the Fall of 2008 in Market Mall (the second, in Chinook Centre, opened Sep. 29, 2010). Complete line of standard configurations, lots of demo units, a good selection of third party products, and they’ll match prices from big-​box electronics retailers if you can produce flyers or other evidence. The staff might not always be as geeky as those in specialty dealers like MyMacDealer or Westworld, but they’re always cheerful, friendly, and helpful. Also, because the store gets packed even when the mall is not, it’s great for people-​watching!

Oh man! This store may be great for all the Apple-​lovers out there, but I’ll be honest that I’m a little frightened by it.
This place caries everything you can think of that goes with a computer, laptop, iPod, or stereo system. They even have some games for Apple products. Some of the stuff in the store isn’t necessarily Apple products, but it works with the system nonetheless. I like that they have everything displayed on a table for you to touch and work yourself. It gives you a nice feel for what you might be buying.
Unless I know exactly what I’m getting here, I don’t go in just for kicks. It’s always crowded with people shopping and the mass amount of salespeople they have. It’s quite intimidating to walk into a store with that many workers (you’ll know them by their red or blue shirts) since you know you’ll be bombarded with people trying to make a sale. Seriously, there are so many of them in there I think they may outnumber the shoppers. The good thing is they are all quite knowledgeable about their products and usually pretty nice people.
It’s interesting that they have a few people walking around with portable credit card machines so you don’t have to wait in line. I was asked about 3 times if I was paying with credit because they could just ring me through right where I stand. I actually really liked this about the store. It makes it easy to purchase something quickly, without having to wait in line for a few minutes! Oh, and they can also send you an electric copy of your bill so you don’t have to worry about losing your receipt.
Apple is huge now and still growing. This store is a great place to buy gadgets and gizmos that suit almost every need!