A woman dispensed some free advice about iPhone trade-ins. If you have the choice between the Apple Store and your carrier, you should definitely go to the Apple Store.
That’s according to creator Simba (@8aminthemornin). Simba is a UMass student in Amherst, Mass. She posted her video on Saturday, getting more than 1.9 million views.
“Let this be your sign to go to the Apple store instead of T-Mobile or any of your carriers,” she says to kick off the video, sharing that T-Mobile told her she could not exchange her phone because of water damage. So she went to the Apple Store the next week, had no problems with the exchange, and, as she relayed, saved $130.
“My carrier is a [expletive] liar,” she asserted. “And, just overall, I feel like they treat you so much better at the Apple Store. And I just feel so bougie being here, like everyone helping me, checking up, seeing if I need anything.”
She then adds, “I love the customer service,” to close out the video.
Does everyone share this view?
According to Consumer Affairs, there are some out there a lot less satisfied with the tech giant retailer’s customer service than she was.
Out of 432 reviewers weighing in, Apple Store rates a dismal 1.2 out of 5 stars. Though to be fair, some reviewers were experiencing hardships with their phones and relaying unsatisfactory outcomes.
“They were somewhat able to restore my device to a useable state after being completely bricked. Beware, none of these tech people know anything about the Windows operating system so if you are a Windows user who is trying to restore all data from a Windows device to a phone, you are out of luck with getting support,” a three-star rater volunteered.
“After a brief exposure to water, my nearly new iPhone 15 model became damaged,” said one Oklahoma City reviewer giving one star. “Expecting the best possible service, I went to my local Apple Store for diagnosis and repair. While expecting to pay a premium price for the repair, their diagnosis was that the phone was beyond repair, so I purchased a new phone, on the spot, at a premium price.”
But then that person took it to a local repair shop. And that shop replaced the screen and battery, getting it working again.
“I wish to express my extreme disappointment in Apple for their deceptive diagnosis that the phone was beyond repair and was also told it was a potential fire hazard,” that person conveyed. “This experience makes Apple appear very untrustworthy. Although I like their products, I will never trust anything they say.”
And one Canadian customer took to Reddit two years ago to share an observation about how Apple Store customer service has dropped off post-pandemic.
“There were seven of them standing around, divided into little groups, and none of them could help me? Or anyone else?” said that poster. “I overheard the frustrations of others too. Someone made a remark near a group of them saying ‘it would be great if someone was available to help me.’”‘ One of the employees standing and talking made a remark back, being like ‘if only someone was nearby for me to help.’ Very odd.”
Commenters have their say
Her take brought additional opinions via the comments section of her post.
“As a former Apple retail employee, listen to her!” one enthused.
“I haven’t been to Verizon in over 15 years,” another shared. “Only buy through Apple. Period.”
“I left T-Mobile because all they do is lie,” someone else accused.
But one claimed bigger savings from T-Mobile, saying, “T-Mobile gave me 800,” and with several others asserting they got a similar deal.
And another threw a different option into the mix, saying, “Best Buy Employee here, we typically offer MORE than the Apple Store.”
@8aminthemornin This is why I don’t take no for an answer 😈 #tmobile #tradeinphone #iphonetrade #applestore #iphone16 ♬ original sound – Simba 🦁
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via email and TikTok direct message. We also reached out to Apple and T-Mobile via email.
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