One of the most ‘wtf’ conversations I’ve had in a while was a couple of weeks ago with a guy from the Perth Apple store.
I called up the Apple store to ask how many iPhone 4s they have in stock. When the guy on the other line became aware that the reason for my asking is because I needed to exchange my faulty iPhone 4, he said that I’d need to make an appointment with the Genius Bar online. So, a little confused but optimistic, I go online at lunch time to make my appointment. Unfortunately the booking page won’t open and comes up blank in both IE and Firefox, so I call the Apple store again to see if I can make an appointment over the phone (the following isn’t a word-for-word exact copy of what was said, just how I remember it):
Me: I just called up about exchanging my faulty iPhone 4 and was told to make an appointment online, but the booking page is blank when I try it in IE and Firefox, can I make an appointment over the phone?
Apple guy: Oh yeah, our site was really made to work with Safari. Firefox has a bug with our site.
Me: Um..o-k…soooo…
Apple guy: Yeah, do you have a Mac available?
Me: Not at the moment…
Apple guy: Oh that’s ok, you can download a PC version of Safari online.
Me: heh…I need to download a new web browser to be able to make an appointment to return my faulty device?
Apple guy: *pause* Oh, no..I can do it over the phone for you.
Me: Yeah that’d be great, thanks.
Unfortunately when he tried to make an appointment on his end the system turned out to be down and he said he’d have to call me back :S. The guy was really nice the whole time, I think their processes are just a bit..weird. On my way home from the city I ended up just walking in and they fit me in, my iPhone was exchanged straight away. Unfortunately the new iPhone had one of the same issues as the original one I bought on launch date, so I had to return it again this past Saturday. Thankfully this one is all good so far!
