Genius Bar caught ripping customer off ON CAMERA by CBC News

What people said

andrei_says_ · 2021-06 · Recommendation

Watch some of his videos. He has a lot of insight about the subpar quality of Apple devices, about the outrageous lies of Apple Genius Bar quoting people thousands of dollars for repairs that take him 5-10 minutes, for apple’s efforts to make the devices non serviceable, withholding schematics, controlling access to replacement parts etc. Here’s a televised CBS report. [VIDEO] He is extremely good at repair while despising the company’s despicable practices - and warns people about them.

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circuit10 · 2023-09 · Criticism

OK, some people downvoted this, so let me explain: Overcharging: Apple tends to replace whole assemblies rather than individual parts, and don't do board-level repairs or anything. Apple staff are generally just following a procedure and aren't allowed to/aren't trained to solve problems in the best way. Here's an example of them charging for a whole motherboard replacement when the issue was a bent pin: [VIDEO] Some people might be OK with this, but not everyone; competition is important! About the self/independent repair program: The self repair program allows you to order one part at a time and you have to have the device to do it. Realistically, almost no one will do it themselves, and will use a repair shop. The program is impractical for repair shops, because they can't stock parts in advance. The other option is the independent repair program, which effectively turns you into a shipping centre for Apple; it bars you from doing anything but the most basic repairs without sending it to sending things off to Apple and they will do random inspections on your store and fine you if you're actually offering good service like board level repair or using cheaper aftermarket parts. So it's likely that both are mostly just PR stunts to get ahead of regulation while also not making a significant change to their business

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circuit10 · 2023-06 · Criticism

Because as a customer you should have the choice to get a repair from whoever you want. Even if you only go to Apple, competition will force their prices down somewhat. "pay the Apple" It's not just Apple doing this "then spend lots of extra time trying to save $50 on a repair." What if you're trying to save precious data? Apple don't make much effort to do data recovery because they don't care; you can fund 3rd party repairers who absolutely do. What if you got the device second hand? What if it's not $50, but $1000+? I've seen a video where Apple tells a journalist they have to buy a new Mac, and a 3rd party repair shop fixes it for free because it was such a small issue that Apple didn't even check for. [VIDEO] "Macs are all identical, so repairs boil down" This is the problem; Apple is pairing parts to devices, so if you use a 100% genuine part from a new device it still won't work

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