Apple Store

First some background if I may; from a grumpy old man. Bought my teenage son an iPod Touch as a special birthday gift one week prior to my visit to store. Worked fine on my old XP laptop. Then took up invite to download iOS4. Disaster! Apparently locked out of accessing the device. Spend many, many frustrating hours (day and night) trying to sort it out via web; with no success. So, I had an apparently half-bricked Touch. Eventually, we remembered there was Apple store in town - hmm! Got to be worth a try. Went into store day before before yesterday (somewhat tentatively, as Touch was purchased elsewhere) and spoke to Karl on the tills. He had a calm, sympathetic manner; he explained about the Genius bar - and fixed up an appointment for the following day. whilst re-assuring me that they would sort it out. I did feel re-assured, and as though I was in 'safe' hands. When I arrived home, there was an email confirming my appointment - yep! I was impressed, and, felt valued as a (non-paying remember) 'customer.'
The next day, in we went, allowing time to browse. We chatted to one or two people whilst waiting and looked around. It was pretty busy in there; and I think there were enough staff to respond to people, without appearing to be pushy somehow.
Loved the appointment system, appreciating that you took your proper place in the queue to be seen. Also appreciated the fact that staff waited until the appointed time before seeing you - indeed, someone rushed in to be seen, who was before us - if we had been dealt with a touch earlier than our designated time, they might have missed out.
Our time came; explained what had happened, and, within minutes it was sorted. If I were to have a touch of a moan, I would have liked the problems I had had acknowledged (maybe an Apple thing) - I was, wrongly maybe, still simmering a little at my frustration in trying to sort it out via Apple web support and other forums. Verdict: calm and professionally efficient - Thank you.
A word about the security man - he has had one of two, I think, unnecessary comments made about him - he does have a job to do. My son and I were looking at a case that had a battery built in, to extend usage time, without having to, err, recharge. Whilst looking at it, he had wandered over and wondered if I was thinking of purchasing the case as he was checking stock - he had some pieces of paper in his hand. Now, we had been looking at that case for some minutes, and, I was carrying a very large shopping bag. (In short, I might have been a potential thief - there is a great of stock on display; quite an invitation to certain types of people I would suggest.) I explained that I had one or two questions to ask about it - but wasn't going to be buying just then. I thought, nice one. Don't know if I entirely believed that he was checking stock - whatever. If he was checking me out, he did it with a deftness that, were I the manager, I would be very pleased about.
Very impressed; clean, well run store: that for me delivered a service that was really was beyond my expectation. I will going back, and, my friends will know.

I've been an Apple fanboy since 1989 (I still have pretty much all my original machines Classic -> Mac Pro) and would prefer it if I didn't have to work on any other kind of machine or OS.

I would also prefer it if there was somewhere else in Birmingham where I could buy my Apple gear - my experiences of the Apple Store at the Bullring have been pretty lousy for the last two or so years. It seems like the management (which appears to change every six months or so) isn't particularly strong so it really is a case of the products selling themselves rather than the experiences of most people who visit the store. Despite the shininess of the items sold and the glitziness of the Bullring, going to the Bullring Apple Store is not a pleasant retail/mall experience.

Visitors are usually 'greeted' by the sight of an enormous, lumbering, orc-like East European security guard (pale, shaven headed, at least seven feet tall) who is rude and intimidating to both paying customers and the legions of young people who (quite naturally) flock to the store to try out new products. There is also a 'play with it for 10mins then move on' ethos in place at busy times (enforced by the Orc) which although fine for 'toys' like iPods, makes trying out more complex kit like new laptops very difficult. This ethos also involves the Orc demanding one's reasons for visiting. 'Why you here? You want to buy something?'

Yesterday (launch date of iPhone 4) I went to the store to pick up an iPod Touch for someone's birthday today. The Orc very rudely refused around twenty people, myself included, entry to the store because of the queue of people waiting to collect pre-ordered iPhones. Like a few other people there I took out my credit card and offered to go straight to the till to pay for the iPod Touch and then to come and wait outside till someone brought it out to me, but neither the Orc nor the store manager who eventually deigned to come to the door to speak to the gathering crowd was having any of it and eventually we customers (and our ready cash) dispersed. I went to a leading high street electrical retailer for my iPod Touch instead.

Within three months of the store opening in 2007 I'd bought an iMac, iPod Classic, a Mac Pro and various peripherals there. On the basis of my recent experiences there I think I'll be taking my custom somewhere where the staff will at least pretend to appreciate it.

I came in here to use the genius bar for my iphone, and was greeted very well by the staff eventually. Even though I had an appointment, I had to wait a little after my time - which annoyed me a bit as I was in a rush. But they did see me, and were very helpful in the end.

A nicely planned out store, very relaxed atmosphere and the sales staff are not at all pushy and very helpful. You are free to try out the apple and mac products in your own time and from my experience staff give you some breathing room before approaching you. I always visit an apple store when in need of ipod accessories

I came to the Bull Ring Apple store a few weeks back, to do a podcast course for my iMac.

Access into Brum is a bit tricky, and the roads around the Bull Ring are a bit of a nightmare, but I got in eventually. The parking was good if a little dear. Spotless throughout, they must employ an army of cleaners here.

The centre is really great, very relaxing. Some nice design features too, like the tiles on the floor edge where it hits the escalator atriums.

The Apple store was easy to find, and packed with everything from schoolkids to senior citizens. I was amazed how many kids there were in there; Apple clearly have their security sorted. It was heaving!

Getting started took a while and the course itself only took a few minutes. I sort of knew how to do it but had some specific 'show me’ and software questions to ask. The guy taking the course didn’t know all the answers, but he got another kid involved who turned out to be a genius. And he got me to sign up for business help, well done (I hate singing up for stuff).

Good work Apple, love your style.

The best store in the bull ring by a mile.

Everything is out on show able for you to test and have a good look at. Staff are very helpful and store is always tidy and the layout couldnt be better.

Store isnt massive, but it isnt what i would call small. It does often get packed as lots of people use the store, but nevertheless, nothing bad about this store at all.

Would recommend that everybody who goes bullring goes to this store.

Products arent expensive, they are good value for money

Great store in the Bullring. Everything is on show, so you can pick it up (or sit down) and have a play.

It’s well staffed with 'Geniusses’, who know everything about Apple and will be able to answer any questions you’ve got.

Nice touch is the ability to have your reciept printed as normal or emailed to you (or both!). Lovely stuff.

I just love this shop and my girlfriend hates it whenever we go in the Bullring as she know’s i’m going to want to come in here and gawp at all the lovely shiney things Apple pump out. Staff are really friendly and helpful, especially considering when most 'customers’ are teenagers updating their facebook status on the laptops with little intention on buying anything. I also noticed that last time i bought something in there, they seem to have got rid of the tills and instead you can buy your items from any of the staff with a bank card on a wireless pin and chip machine; brilliant!

The Apple Store in the Bullring is amazing. All the products are laid out ready to play with so you can experience the stuff first hand, and their “Geniuses” are milling around to answer any questions you’ve got. Very cool.

The only thing that lets it down is that all the demo computers there are set up for full internet access. This means the place is always full of little kids using the place as a free internet cafe, playing around on facebook for hours on end.

Staff very helpful and all the Apple products I have are great. Like the way they streamline the serving at busy times so you never have to wait to get served. Always busy.

Over priced and over hyped. Staff are not very welcoming. If you feel like playing with an ipod or the latest apple laptop imagining that you can actually afford the extortionate prices then its great.

Before i start the review I am a total Apple fan, however this place consistently gives one of the worst retail experiences ever.

Often the sales staff give incorrect advice, or do not understand what the customer means. Security staff are obnoxious. It takes an age to be able to buy anything, and the staff are completely indifferent.

This is such an un-apple like experience its untrue.

In the surveys on customer service i’ve completed, the manager has always rang back to discuss it, but nothing seems to change.

I’ve never had to deal with one of the 'geniuses’ (their version of tech support) so they may actually have an appropriate level of knowledge, but i’ve not experienced this.

Go in there, play with the stuff (you’ll love it) but just don’t ask for any advice from the sales staff, or expect to be able to easily buy anything there.

As an apple fanatic I maybe bias. The other electrical stores sell pc and macs but they are sellers of many products from many brands. Here you are in specialist store and you feel special.

I have many apple products and also purchased the aftercare products, procare and one to one these are invaluable a must. There always seems to be plenty of staff and even on chaotic days you will be seen relatively quickly. Even your most simple questions are answered in a polite and non geeky manner. This has recently brought this to mind as I am in the process of buying a windows notebook and getting good advice is a nightmare.

You are allowed to play on all the hardware and try things out without being hassled.

I rarely go into brum without popping into the apple shop.

Check it out a must

Brilliantly spacious and nice looking design to the store for a start off, i have to agree with some of the other reviews as much as staff help they aren’t the best quite pushy in my experience but all in all a brilliant store although i did decide to buy my mac from apple direct.

Well i had the 1st experience of this place the very day the iphone was launched in UK. And i must say that I was quite impressed by the way the staff handled the store. As expected, the store was really crowded as everyone was looking at the iphone. But there were enough of iphone's around to play wit. Contrary to the other review, even though the store was so full, I never had any staff telling me to move ahead even though i was playing with the iphone for around 30 mins!
And this is a heaven for all the geeks like me. I have always been a fan of Mac and i get to play around with all the Mac devices whenever I am in there. Ahhh heaven :)

The only reason this store gets 4 stars out of 5 is because the store is a bit clamped and could require some additional space

The four star rating is partly for all the cool apple thingy-ma-jigs, but mostly for the incredibly useful free internet on all the computers in the shop. There's even an open wireless network, so you can sit outside with your laptop!

Contary to the other review I've not always had the best experiences with the staff here. The genius bar staff are quite patronising and very jobsworth. Also you have to book an appointment hours in advance if you want to talk to them. As regards the "try before you buy" ethos, well it works unless you want to try a new product like the iPod touch. I got to use one for 5 minutes, but within that 5 minutes I had a security guard ask me to move on three times! bah.

Apple's flagship store in Birmingham is no ordinary computer store. Much like they're computers and iconic ipod design, the Apple store is equally stylish.

With all the latest technology on display and 'try before you buy' access to everything it's a great place to be impressed. Especially with the myriad of workshops and special events that go on in here. If you look on the website and check the calender you'll see what I mean.

There are always lots of friendly, approachable staff around. If you have any Mac related questions they'll be happy to answer them. Often without trying to sell you something! If you have any real posers you can even book an appointment at the 'Genius Bar' where you can get hands on technical support and advice.