A few years ago I had an absolutely amazing customer service experience at this apple store.  I dropped my Macbook and had to replace it right before new ones were coming out.  When the new, far more powerful ones were released, I figured it would be worth a shot to bring it in and say that mine had crashed a few times (that's true).  They not only replaced it with one of the new ones, but gave me a hard drive that was twice the size of the one I had purchased.  There was no charge whatsoever and I was literally in and out in under ten minutes.  It was incredible. It made me feel like my decision to buy a premium product for a premium price had paid off, since I got premium service.   I told everyone about it.   \n\nFast forward to three weeks ago when I bought a new Iphone 6.  I reserved a phone on the web site and took the bus to the mall.  When I showed up, almost two hours had passed since I placed the order.  Nonetheless, when I showed up at the store, it hadn't been processed.  So my phone was in the back of the store, my payment had gone through, but their system hadn't handled it yet.  Instead of figuring out a way to resolve this, the employee I spoke to told me to wait for an email.  I ended up waiting in the food court for another hour.  That sure wasn't premium service, but it as the sort of thing I could overlook.\n\nThen last week I heard from my dad, who is the account holder on our family plan.  Apparently, through no fault of my own, I had somehow ended up selecting a billing option that was going to cost us about $300 a year for no good reason whatsoever.  (The entire explanation is too boring to go into-- trust me, though, it was their fault).\n\nAfter \\  many, many, many hours on the phone w/ ATT, it was determined that I needed approval from an Apple Store manager to switch the plan.  So I called them.  At least I tried to.  They didn't pick up their phone.  For four hours.  I started a web support chat.  The rep tried to call them.  They didn't pick up.  Finally, after hours I screamed at the automated prompt: \"Put me on with a f***ing person!\" That cued an automated response: \"We are sorry for your frustration!\" Then, magically, I got a person.  (By the way, no one ever seemed to acknowledge how insanely unacceptable it was that they didn't answer their phone.)\n\nTo make a long story a little shorter-- when I finally went into the store, they were unable to help me because despite the fact that ATT and Apple have been partners for over seven years, they are still completely incapable of communicating with each other.  (Again, it's a long, stupid, frustrating story. You'll have to take my word for it.) \n\nWhen it became clear that we were going to be out 300 bucks, I asked the manager what he could do for me to take away the bad taste caused by their utter incompetence.  He hemmed and hawed and then asked, \"What would it take to make you happy?\" I replied, \"An iPad.  If you give me an iPad, I'll not only be happy, but I'll go back to raving about what incredible customer service Apple has.\"  He scoffed at that and offered me... a case for my iPhone.  That's right, he offered me a $20 piece of plastic to compensate me for at least 25 hours on the phone and $300 in losses.  I scoffed at that and we finally agreed to an upgrade to Applecare+ and a replacement cord for my laptop.  It felt like I had to fight for every inch here.  \n\nI told these guys exactly what they could do to make me happy and they refused to do it.  And lest you think that this was an unreasonable request, think about it this way: I've probably spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 on Apple products in the last fifteen years.  I'd likely spend tens of thousands of dollars more over the course of my life.  I'd continue to tell people about what incredible customer service Apple has.  They could have secured thousands in profits for a few hundred bucks.  They chose not to.  \n\nApple products used to be better than their competitors'.  They're not anymore, and I knew that.   The only reason I kept buying them was because I thought I'd get a premium experience--that if there were a problem it would be solved in a way that impressed me without wasting hours on the phone.  They don't have that advantage anymore.  They're just the guys selling the same thing as everyone else for much, much more money.\n\nNice work, Apple.  \n\n(The only reason they get two stars is that one employee, Patrick, was really very good in dealing with the morons at ATT.  He's also the only person who seemed sincerely sorry about my experience.  Thanks, Patrick.  You did a MUCH better job than your bosses.  Tell them to pick up their phone when it rings.  Oh, and I'd still be glad to take that iPad if you guys decide that spending a few hundred bucks now is worth thousands and thousands in profits over the next twenty years.  Something tells me that this isn't in the cards.)