iPhones and Space Age Glass

The Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969 and I'm pretty sure that the glass on the space ship was shatter proof.  Two years ago I gave in and traded in my android phone for an iPhone.  Well, this summer while struggling to get my keys out of my purse on my stoop I dropped my phone and it went tumbling down twelve brownstone steps.  Cracked!  I'm not a scientist, but I'm pretty sure that the same glass that they use in space is available to the manufacturers of Apple iPhones.

Upper Westside Apple Store

In the last few weeks the cracks have gotten worse and I was worried that I would cause further damage to the phone if I did not get it repaired.  I know I'm preaching to the choir, but let me explain the absurd process to get the phone fixed. I took Cameron's phone to a non authorized repair shop this summer and it has never worked well since.  She took it to Apple and they told her that they would no longer touch it since it was not repaired by them.  Ok, well, that is absurd!  Live and learn, so I took mine to an Apple store.  I went online and scheduled an appointment at the Apple store on Broadway and 68th Street for Monday at 5:45 p.m.  I called the store and they said that if it's simply a cracked screen it will take approximately 20 minutes to repair.  Sounds easy.

I got the to store at 5:45 and I was told to go to the service area downstairs.  Downstairs there was a long line and people were sitting around all of the tables.  I waited in line for 15 minutes and told them that I had an appointment.  He added my name to his computer list and told me to take a seat.  I waited another 15 minutes.  The line to put your name in seemed endless and I never heard anyone's name being called.  I went back to my contact and asked him what the process was.  He looked up my name and told me I was next in line and that in fact I would hear my name when it was my turn.  Ten more minutes pass and a bright faced young man named Jordan called my name.  I must say that he was so friendly that he immediately took the edge off of my irritable mood. 

I'll spoil the ending by saying that the only thing that needed to be repaired was the glass, but Jordan did go over the possible scenarios that might come about during the repair.  I could have further damage than a cracked screen which would require me to get a replacement phone, and the cost would not exceed $245 (ouch!).  And he asked if I'd backed up my phone because it was possible, if there was further damage, that I would lose everything on my phone.  Needless to say I have NOT backed up my phone, but I signed the pad acknowledging that I had been warned about the risk. Then he said the cost to repair just the screen would be $129 plus tax and the wait would be approximately two hours.  I told him that I was told the repair would take 20 minutes.  He agreed that the actual repair would take 20 minutes, but due to the high volume of repairs the wait for a tech to get to my phone would be about an hour and forty minutes.

While I was waiting for my name to be called by Jordan and was trying to figure out how this whole system worked I spoke to two woman sitting near me.  The room was not noisy and I was sitting directly next to this Hispanic woman, so I turned to her and said, "Are you here to get your phone repaired?" At first I thought that she did not speak English because she looked at me as if my words did not register with her.  Then she responded with a blank stare, 'Yes." I asked how long she had been waiting and she said since 5:00.  She did not offer any further information, but the woman across from her was an older Pilipino woman who chimed in, "I've been here since 4:00 and no one has called my name yet.  I don't know what's going on." In fact I did see her speak to an Apple employee and they brushed her off and told her to sit back down and her name would be called in turn.  She then added, "I did not have an appointment, but they told me it would only be an hour or so and it's already been over two hours."  With that information I was grateful that I had made the appointment, but also proved that their system for walk-in repairs was highly flawed. 

There were at least fifty people waiting for their phones to be repaired in the two hours that I was there.  In those two hours the store made approximately $6,450.  This is a racket.  We have flown to the moon and back and yet in 2016 we are all walking around with fragile glass computers in our pockets and just accepting that each of us will eventually end up in the basement waiting for the privilege of getting our phone repaired with a costly price tag. How is this happening?  Forget the Presidential election protests!  I'm ready to make my sign and march in front of the Mac store!