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Review content:
I'm visiting the D.C. area from California, where we have tons of Apple Stores. My DH bought my Ipod at the Palo Alto Apple Store, and his Nano there too. When I went on vacation, I brought the Nano, but no charger. So I decided to go to the Bethesda Row Apple Store because that was where we got the Nano and I didn't realize you could get Apple products at other stores.
I went in on Thursday afternoon with my kids, hoping to run in, get a charger and leave.
The setup of the Apple Store is counterintuitive and annoying, but I didn't realize how much until I had a problem.
When I first walked in I saw an employee with his black t shirt and Apple I.D. He looked at me as if to help, so I said I had an Ipod Nano and I needed a charger for it. He walked me to the back of the store, handed me the plug, and walked away.
I stood where I thought the register was for awhile, and looked for a car charger while I was in "line". There were two older women talking about their computers but I sat and waited. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend $30 since I have the charging equipment at home, but finally this person behind the counter said "Are you just buying that?" and rang me up.
I got to my friend's house to charge it up, opened the box, undid all the wrapping, and realized it was *just the plug* -- no cord to attach it to my Ipod, so it was $30 for _nothing_!!! I was furious! I felt like I was not taken seriously because I was a woman, a mom, not 18, who knows. And I had undid all the wrapping so I wasn't sure I could return it.
The next day my dad and I were close by and he suggested I try to exchange the plug for a car charger. I would have wanted a car charger to begin with but I didn't see it while I was waiting. We went into the store and the three employees there were all busy. So we hovered around in the store, close to the "register" area. As we were waiting, we discovered that this "register" is actually where you talk to a "genius" (stupid marketing crap) for computer help, and not a register at all. So this person was actually helpful the first day for even stopping his work to ring me up for my $30 useless item.
Luckily the guy I had had the day before was the first person free, so I went up to him and tried to explain to him that what he had recommended to me wasn't enough -- he didn't even spend 1 minute with me the first time, so he didn't understand until I told him the next day that I was visting and I have all the other stuff at home but not locally, and I just wanted to charge up my Nano, nothing fancy. Since I had found that there was a car charger (and it was *$20* -- less than the useless plug and what I had expected to pay), I asked him if I could return the useless plug and get a car charger. To his credit, he said "no problem" and rang me up. I got a credit to my card for the difference.
The "car charger" is actually the cord I was missing, and a plug for the car -- so if I had kept the useless plug I could have had the whole setup for $50, including car charging and in home charging, rather than just in home charging for $50 with the useless plug and the USB cord that I was missing.
Here's the kicker -- I think because I have an iTunes account attached to my credit card, my email address and phone number appeared on my receipt and I was emailed an online receipt as well as an opportunity to do a *20 minute* online survey. The survey didn't even give me space to air my grievances about the store's layout and the dismissive employee, it was just an opportunity for them to promote their useless (to me) demos and tutorials about their products.
Long story short -- buy your Apple equipment, if you must, at a big box retailer or online.
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