One TikToker has shared that an Apple employee used an unconventional method to ensure that they didn’t incur a high cost to repair their MacBook computer — by “accidentally” dropping the device.
Shania (@shaniahouchens) posted a viral TikTok video about her experience at the Apple Store Genius Bar that’s accrued over 1.8 million views on the popular social media platform.
@shaniahouchens They gave me a brand new mac & apple care for a year for free #apple ♬ Lucky Girl – Carlina
In the video, Shania smiles and bops her head to music as a text overlay on the clip reads: “to the apple employee who ‘accidentally’ dropped my MacBook today saving me $600 to repair the screen I accidentally cracked.”
In the caption, the TikToker shares that “they gave me a brand new Mac & apple care for a year for free.”
It seems that the Apple employee taking care of Shania essentially “took the blame” for her damaged MacBook screen so that the TikToker could avoid paying to repair it, even though she admittedly cracked it herself.
Viewers of Shania’s video shared their own positive experiences at the Apple Store in which Apple employees seemingly went out of their way to either save them money or give them freebies.
One person claimed that when they tried to get their broken phone fixed, they were simply offered a new device.
“I went to apple to fix my broken phone screen & the guy said he was too lazy to fix it & just gave me a new phone lmao,” they claimed.
A second claimed that their Apple Genius got creative with the claim. “I accidentally pressed on my ipad screen weird and broke the display and the girl marked it as water damage and tried to get me to apply there.”
Another said they got a new Apple pencil for free even though they did not have an Apple care protection plan. “Frfr an apple employee gave me a new apple pencil for free after i broke mine and had no apple care.”
The freebies weren’t only limited to smaller products. One person managed to get a new MacBook from the Apple worker.
“My laptop was a free replacement from an angel of an Apple employee. Still using it 9 years later.”
Shanai’s viewers weren’t the only ones to notice this phenomenon. There are a number of reports on social media platforms, such as this Reddit post, in which Apple customers claim to have been given price breaks on their repair costs just for being nice to employees. In fact, Apple itself has claimed that with its current business model, the company actually loses money on repairs.
However, it seems that there were some folks who had less than savory experiences when dealing with the global tech brand.
“Lucky you. An apple employee stole my phone once when I accidentally left it in there. I got it back,” read one comment.
“I cried at the Genius Bar one time and she didn’t feel bad for me,” revealed another, while a third said, “I dropped a loaner phone xr and they charged me $300 for the cracked back glass.”
One person simply asked, “why did they not do this for me.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Apple via email and Shania via TikTok comment for further information.
