Today, I had a terrible experience at the Apple Store in First Colony Mall - Sugar Land, TX. I have been using Apple iPhones for over 10 years, upgrading from the iPhone 4 up to my current iPhone 16 Pro Max. Honestly, the phones are very durable, and I usually keep my old devices as memories. Since my mother needed it, I decided to replace the battery for my old iPhone XS Max. After doing some research, I chose to go directly to the Apple Store, believing it would be more reliable and professional.
I booked an appointment today at 1:00 PM for a battery replacement. I waited quite a long time even though I had an appointment, as the store was very crowded. Later, a female staff member came to check my phone and confirmed that the only thing needed was a battery replacement. She carefully inspected my phone, asked me to remove the protective films on both the front and back, and turn off "Find My iPhone." She then took pictures of my phone and told me to return at 3:40 PM to pick it up.
At 3:00 PM, I received a call from another female staff member telling me that replacing the battery might damage the screen, and if that happened, I would have to replace the screen for $329. I immediately went back to the store and told them I no longer wanted to replace the battery, because I was worried about the risk of having to pay such a high price for an old phone. She said "OK," handed my phone back very quickly, and walked away.
I was still sitting at the table with the first staff member who checked my phone. When I turned it on, I saw a green vertical line on the screen. I asked her why this happened, because when I gave her the phone earlier, the screen was completely normal--and she even had the original photos to prove it. She tried to avoid the question and said she would go inside to ask. When she returned, she told me it was because my screen already had an existing defect, and that they never even opened my phone.
This was dishonest. My phone was working perfectly fine until I gave it to them, and I don't know what they did that caused the damage. Then they pretended to call me about the "risk" afterward. If that risk was real, why didn't they tell me from the beginning, before taking my phone in? If they had, I would have refused the service right away, since my phone was still usable. Battery drain is not a serious issue. But they didn't say that--only after damaging my screen did they bring it up, clearly to avoid responsibility.
When the manager came, she repeated the same story, refused to take responsibility, and said the only solution was for me to pay $329 for a new screen plus $89 for a battery replacement. While the issue was still unresolved, she simply walked away to do something else and never came back to talk to me. She treated me with disrespect and discrimination, just because my English is not fluent and because I am Asian.
I am extremely disappointed with Apple's customer service and behavior. This was my first time ever getting an iPhone repaired, and unfortunately, it turned out to be a horrible experience. If your iPhone still works, that's fine. But if you ever have a problem, I strongly recommend that you just buy a new phone instead of coming here for a repair--so you won't have to go through what I went through. read more