my virgin genius bar experience!
Those of you who don't use macs are all, "what? a genius idea for a bar? cooL!" or "what? a bar full of genius'?" But no, the Genius Bar is where you go at your local Apple store to get your gear fixed. Hech hemm... not that Mac stuff *ever* breaks or has any problems, of course. ;)So on Monday, after my client meeting and then stopping off for a delicious Cafe Venue lunch (my favorite place to eat downtown), I had stopped by there to see if they could fix my Powerbook's keyboard (some keys had fallen off & it was sorta peeling up on one side.. it looked sad) and had my first genius bar experience!
First of all, I had heard there was a wait whenever you go, so I was prepared. I went in, registered & then hopped out to run a few more errands while I was downtown: #1. Head to Sephora, to research packaging design for the current logo/custom illustration/packaging design project I have going, and #2. To pick up more Origins face lotion while I was down there. (I never get downtown anymore)
So I ran my errands, and came back - all to find they really hadn't gotten anywhere with the list somehow - and my 4:40 appointment, slowly transformed into a 5:40 appointment. BUT no biggie, because I had my laptop and they have wireless & comfy chairs you can sit & plug into (power).. so I was all set! Once I was called up it took maybe 20 some odd minutes talking with my Genius Bar guy, Ben. When I first showed him what was going on, he initially had said that he was going to have to charge me for the repair, because it wasn't technically covered under the Apple Care Protection Plan. :( oh no! screamed my budget conscious brain! I told him how I would have never done this to my own little powerbook, as it was my baby - and what's more my main business tooL! And I told him how I had switched and how I was so pleased with it for the most part, etc... (insert more mac nerd talk here). So next thing I know... Ben thinks a bit & looks to see if they have this part in stock.. and thinks a bit more and says since I have recently switched, and this is my first time there, etc... he will see what he can do to fix it for me. YAY!!!!!!
AND he said usually repairs like that he'd make me drop it off & come get it in a few days, but that since I need it for my business, and he understands I can't be w/o it... he would see if he himself could go back and take care of it, as soon as so&so got back from break. YAY!!!!
So I had to kill another hour... which I did by going to Old Navy and using the gift card I have had for months (!) and bought a couple skirts for Coachella (which I may end up taking back a couple of them because they'll never get worn here in SF!).
But I cannot tell you HOW HAPPY Ben made me that day. The fact that I got it fixed for FREE, and in the same DAY! (albeit several hours) and now my Powerbook looks brand new!!! wooohooo!!!
So, in thanks to my rad Genius bar helper... go check out Ben's band: The Uptones. :)
Also - he gave me a link to MP34U.com, which I hadn't checked out before... but he said it was pretty cool. So there ya go.
