Apple Store London (Regent Street)

I booked an appointment to buy a phone and I knew exactly what I wanted. I had all the required documents and it should have been a straightforward, in-and-out sale... No.

I went to the desk and explained I had an appointment. He (person 1) told me to wait in a queue at the opposite desk. When I got to the front, the girl (person 2) told me to go back to the guy I'd originally asked. Arrgh! Then he disappeared for 15 minutes and passed me on to person 3, who said they didn't understand my request to 'buy a phone'. Duh! She sends me to person 4, who tells me it will take up to an hour to sort out!

What's the point of booking an appointment if you have to wait anyway, and they're not even prepared?! I had to leave without making a purchase, as my whole lunch-break had gone! I HATE THE APPLE STORE ON REGENT STREET!!

by t5haw, 18 Feb 2010

The staff in this store are very unapproachable - they stand around chatting to each other and when you do ask for help they just pass you along from pillar to post.

There are constantly people making use of the free internet on the macs, which stops the serious buyers from actually getting to look at them.

Also, there is very little selection of stock for the size of the store - went in to buy a macbook cover (which is available online in 8 colours) and in the store they only had two of them. All the accessories are squished up on one small wall, making it impossible to actually look at anything when it's busy and people are crowding round.

by jnnyfr, 01 Jan 2010

I bought a pair of headphones for my Iphone here. They weren't cheap, but not the most expensive pair either. After two pairs gave me electric shocks, I asked to upgrade to a top-of-the-range pair. I had to argue for 25 mins with the self-important supervisor to get the more expensive pair. They have a shop policy that you can only exchange faulty goods with the same product. I'm not a person who makes life hard for shop assistants, but I wasn't willing to keep exchanging the same pair until my warranty had run out. Since I was already a customer and was willing to pay more money, I feel that a little more good will could have been shown. Especially as it's my statutory right to have a faulty product replaced. The shop assistant was incredibly rude, but he had obviously been told to stick to the store policy, no matter what. I will never buy anything from this shop again.

by emily.palmer, 27 Aug 2009

I am a visitor from the US and walked in with a problem. Within minutes I was being helped by Floyd, who sorted everything I needed. Thank you so much, great service.

by covehomes, 17 Apr 2009

The 'genius bar' is spin and PR-speak for what amounts to customer service for machines that have problems. It's a bit worrying that they are so busy! I don't particularly enjoy the 'hunt the employee' experience either. As people have said, if you want to try out a macbook because you actually want to buy one, you have to compete with the surfers. I always tense up when I enter this store... Apple are lucky their laptops are good enough for me to endure this oh so trendy approach.

by josefk, 05 Apr 2009

Why was a white insert provided with the black ipod i purchased? Now my Bose sound dock looks odd!

by stphn, 03 Mar 2009

I was considering buying an Apple computer for the first time, but I am amazed any company could allow such negative feedback over such a long period to go unchecked. If they don't care about their customers before they buy, how do they treat them after they've bought? Think I might stick with Dell!

by speck340, 01 Mar 2009

It's just depressing how bad the service is. Staff are condescending, ignorant and incredibly full of themselves. It's not the next shuttle launch, it's not the cure for cancer, it's just a shop...

But the worst is trying to pay. Long queue at till, 7 people behind counter but only two serving whilst the rest chat to each other. Staff can see you are waiting but just wander off. It's almost funny to watch them make that 'I have somewhere else to be which is more important' face and leave. When I did get served, the guy behind the till stopped mid-transaction to talk a bit more with his friend who was wandering by.

Just wrong. Where are the floor managers??

by simon472, 25 Feb 2009

I've always been given great advice and great service. I'm no tech-head and the assistants here have always been very helpful.

by Moo Moo "top london reviewer" (24 reviews), 08 Dec 2008

Just called to find out when I can have a MacBook Pro to be told they have no idea when they might get some more in. The assistant didn't sound as though he could care less. Do Apple have a clue who represents them? Don't they know we're heading into recession? Don't they think making sales now would be a good idea?

by paris1871, 22 Oct 2008

I went in to buy an iphone for my son and sign up for a new contract and was sent from pillar to post, up and down the stairs, eventually queuing up for 15 mins to find yet again that this was not the correct place to be. No one seems to know what is going on any more. We walked out and went to O2 in the end. What a difference! We got the phone and contract all signed up in 20 mins - half the time we spent in Apple. This store used to be so helpful and is now filled with helpers in coloured T-shirts who hardly know how to speak English, let alone anything about the store!

by ser, 08 Oct 2008

I took my non-functioning wireless keyboard to genius 'Ray', who tested it and reported it as functional. He gave me a tel. no. 'Just in case'. Following the long journey home it was again/still non-functional. Half an hour on the phone to be told that I had to buy a new keyboard. Something wrong here... especially wasted time and travel.

by bobashworth, 09 Jul 2008

Made an appointment, went in for 10am with my MacBook Pro to have the battery fixed, and despite being 3 months out of warranty it was swapped with no hassle. Excellent service.

by jds106, 22 Jun 2008

Having brought my MacBook Pro in for a repair (it wouldn't play back most DVDs), little did I know I was in for an ordeal. Both repairs failed to remedy the problem and during one the firewire port was damaged. Finally, Apple replaced my computer with apologies, but it still won't play DVDs playable on other machines, including other MacBook Pros. Have I been cursed? Am I expecting too much?

by Pavel Stebl, 17 May 2008

I was impressed when I saw how busy it was! Then I realised that the huge lineup was for the service department (the so-called 'genius bar') and that the people crowding around the iComputers were just checking their email for free.

by Meldrick, 08 May 2008

I telephoned the Regent Street store to buy a gift voucher for someone who lives in London. They were only available if you personally went to the store and bought one - no thanks, living as I do on the South Coast. You would have thought a company like Apple would be able to utilise some modern technology to sell these vouchers online...

by Roger Van Studwick, 25 Apr 2008

I visited the store yesterday and was very impressed with the customer care. I was seen promptly at the ipod bar. Martin dealt with the problem with great efficiency and was most helpful. I can't praise his and the store's efforts enough.

by seamus57, 16 Apr 2008

I would like to say that I am the typical 'dumb blonde' when it comes to all things electrics and gagets. Well, when my new Ipod Nano went wrong I contacted customer services and found they answered quickly and were very friendly, helping me out no end. The gentleman would not get off the phone until I was happy and even emailed me details about the fault I had. Great customer service.

by Motorbike1, 03 Apr 2008

Have been twice and have been extremely impressed on both occasions. Each time I was treated like royalty and given as much time as I needed to make a decision - they were even charming when I decided in one conversation not to make a purchase after all. The Garage Band demo was inspirational, and the girl on the Genius Bar solved an AirPort networking problem I had been wrestling with for a couple of years. Genius indeed. Thank you, Apple.

by Maths126, 09 Mar 2008

After having a chat with the staff over different products to decide which one to buy, I was induced to buy an Ipod Touch. After coming back home, I turned it on, but couldn't see any signs of life at all! Thinking that it might be to do with the battery, I charged it as well, but got nowhere. None of the instructions on the support page of the website helped me bring the home screen up on the device. Technical advice on the phone wasn't available either, which made me think that I should return it and never buy an Apple product again.

by obstante, 02 Mar 2008

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