'Secret' Apple retail policy reportedly rewarded polite customers with free fixes, replacements

Credit: Apple

In a viral TikTok video, a former Apple Store employee revealed an alleged special program which retail employees could use to "surprise and delight" customers with additional perks.

TikTok user @Tanicornerstone explained the supposed program in a response to a video asking for the "secrets that only the employees know."

"I used to work for Apple. So the first thing; rude customers, like we got some psychos in that store, but if you're rude to the geniuses or the concierge people, you will get your problem fixed most likely - however you are going to pay for it," the former retail staffer explained.

However, she adds that each staff member apparently has a specific number of "surprise and delight" instances that they could use to go above and beyond normal service for "really amazing" customers.

@tanicornerstone
##stitch with @annaxjames apple goss tips and tricks
original sound - Tani

"I used to see a lot, people would come in with like water damaged phones and you're not allowed to replace those without a fee. However, the geniuses used a 'surprise and delight' to be able to give somebody a free replacement," she said.

Commenters to the TikTok video corroborated the claim, including both customers who received exceptional service or other former Apple Retail staffers. Some, however, have refuted claims that Apple had any such policy, while others say the video mistakenly equates "surprise and delight" with programs that have since been discontinued.

Her clip now has more than 114,000 likes and generated 866 comments.

It isn't clear if the "surprise and delight" program is still in effect, or whether it was actually a retail policy at all. However, there does appear to be plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that customers who are nice to retail staff may be able to get better service.

"I was a BROKE college student with an older MacBook whose battery needed to be replaced. The genius didn't charge me," one commenter said.

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50 Comments

bageljoey

said about 3 years ago

I totally believe this. Twice I got more than I thought I would (and more than Apple promises) from Geniuses. I always thought they looked at my purchase history (a veritable museum exhibit stretching unbroken back to the Apple IIc) but I figured they wouldn’t even look if I was asking for too much or being a jerk.

Last time I brought an Apple Watch in with the screen crack flaw. It was past the extended warrantee by a fair bit. Didn’t get the replace. Change in policy? Or just too big an ask? Who knows...

neoncat

said about 3 years ago

The root of this idea—polite, even super-polite people get the most rewards from customer service—is not that unusual, I don't think. Several years back, my wife worked in customer service for a well-known clothing manufacturer with a strong direct-sales presence. It was absolutely a written policy that if someone called with an order, warranty, customer service, quality, or other problem, the moment that caller became a dick, the goal was still to drive to a solution, but no free stuff, period. No free shipping, no free replacements, no bonuses, etc. If you were really nice, there were all sorts of perks the CS agents were allowed to give.

I don't know if it was specifically because of this policy, but my wife had a cracked screen replaced on her 6 Plus (this was several years ago) at an Apple Store twice, for free, once out of warranty. No AppleCare or anything, nor did we ask for it. We were just patient and super polite: "boy, really busy today! Thank so much for helping us, here's the broken iPhone..." blah blah blah. They were just immediately, "this is on us, one sec" boom.

baconstang

said about 3 years ago

You reap what you sow...
(On a good day)

weev7

said about 3 years ago

I worked for Apple retail for nearly 10 years, and this TikTok is an oversimplification of a policy that was tried YEARS ago, back in the iPhone 3GS-4S times. We were allowed to swap a liquid damage phone once for a customer, and it was up to the technician to make that determination. Back then when I did have the power to make that decision, of course I wasn’t going to make that exception for someone who was rude to me or my coworkers. But Apple recognized that not all customers were receiving the same level of service, so they ended the practice around 2010. Since then, there has been no official policy of “surprise and delight” for kind customers as opposed to rude customers.

These days, those exceptions are EXTREMELY rare if they are even made at all. A few years ago, I even begged my managers to make an exception for a teacher whose Mac was liquid damaged by an autistic student and I was told “No.” The term “surprise and delight” was only used for items like duckheads or EarPods that we could just give customers for free, but that went away as well before I left the company.

I feel this is an important distinction to make because readers might think an Apple Genius has the power to fix a liquid damaged device for free when that is absolutely not the case. I would not want readers to assume the Genius is saying no because the Genius just considers them to be rude when they just cannot make an exception at all.

ItsDeCia

said about 3 years ago

Back in 2015 I purchased a 15” MacBook Pro with Retina Display with AppleCare and paid a pretty penny for it.

In less than 2 weeks, I had dropped it on the ground when removing it from my car and dented the entire right side of the chassis to the point that I couldn’t use any of the ports on that side as they were all misshapen.

I brought it to the Genius Bar and I was completely honest with them about what happened and that I really needed the unit fixed. They told me it wouldn’t be cheap, but I insisted that it be fixed and I was willing to pay for the repair because I needed those ports to work.

In the end, the manager became involved and ultimately took my laptop back and replaced it with another one, brand new and sealed in the box because he genuinely felt bad for me.

I was completely amazed that they extended themselves for me like that as I was not expecting that to happen at all! The manager shared my excitement as he knew how upset I was about the damage and that I was grateful that he and his team helped me the best way they knew how.

I can’t remember his name, or if he is still with Apple, but I do remember that this happened at the Apple Store Fairview Mall in Toronto. Other companies would never have been so accommodating, so I can say that I will be loyal to Apple not only because of the fantastic products they make, but because of the amazing customer service that they provide on top of that!