Apple Stores in ZA suck.

[Grimspoon]

Dude, that's exactly it. I have a R20k piece of hardware, and Core want to charge me to replace two keys worn down after 4 months of usage? Not impressed.

Yeah complete BS and thats why when I finally did get my refund I didn't even bother buying another one. After spending that kind of cash and getting that kind of service? No thanks, they can keep their iMac thanks.

 

[Madhawk]

What's Digicape's service like? Anyone had good experience with them?

 

[fluffypony]

What's Digicape's service like? Anyone had good experience with them?

I've had a decent enough experience with them from a purchasing perspective (the store there in Gardens), although I find the store small and often the staff take a while to get to you. I haven't ever had to go to them for replacement/service stuff, I suppose Core is the natural route when stuff breaks

 

[greg0205]

I've had a decent enough experience with them from a purchasing perspective (the store there in Gardens), although I find the store small and often the staff take a while to get to you. I haven't ever had to go to them for replacement/service stuff, I suppose Core is the natural route when stuff breaks

They were very good at the Wedge in Rivonia but I think I remember reading that store wasn't open to the public anymore... Not sure about that so don't quote me on it.

 

[vinodh]

I bought my MacBook Pro from Orange Digital Store last week. Found them on the sticky list of Apple stores on this forum. Servoce was excellent and I got it R2000 cheaper the the regular price at the iStores/ZAStore/Incredible Connection. They even gave me a free mini Display Port to VGA converter cable.

 

[DotKomrade]

Don't even go there. Same story as the other Apple resellers. Happy to take your money, but after-sale service is up to ****.

As far as I know Digicape in Cape Town isn't great, but I'll go out of my way to buy from Digicape in Joburg rather than anywhere else. Also, they they have experienced service staff on site, so you don't have to wait 3 weeks for your charger of whatever to be shipped off to Jet Park before you can even find out if it's covered. They're cool.

They stopped selling from their store because, apparently, people in the Apple game in South Africa that have to buy from Core can't even make enough money to keep a sales force running. You can order from Digicape and return stuff for repairs/warranty though.

 

[vinodh]

I had a sticky home button on my iPad. I took it directly to Jet Park and they gave me a brand new one 2 days later. Excellent service overall.

 

[Grimspoon]

I forgot to mention what got me the most about my experience with the iStore.

I took off the front glass panel on my iMac to see if the issue I had was dirt only to find that there was on the silver bezzle big black writing in black marker on the back. It didn't make sense to me but it was clear that it was a refurbished unit.

 

[burn]

Personally, if I have to go to a store for my Apple needs, I go to Digicape in Roeland Street. I have always had decent service.

Going into an iStore just makes me feel like a noob. Guess I have taken the Apple smugness to the next level

 

[Blatman]

You will need a very BIG cheque book to compete with Core and offer any decent level of service. Best thing would be for Apple to come into SA but we are but a microdot on the Apple tree.

I had sticky arrow keys on my Air i just pounded them until they became unsticky cheap repair.

 

[zippy]

Anyone that has bought from a USA Apple store must have been impressed with the checkout facility. All the staff walking around have an iPod Touch that has an attachment at the bottom. They can process the transaction wherever you are in the store. They just swipe your card on their iPod Touch.
What usually happens is they walk up to you, get what you need, and then get the payment done wherever you are standing in the store, and then the invoice is automatically emailed to you.

Same in the UK. There is no "till". No queue.

I would have thought that it was standard in all Apple stores. As some have suggested, these probably aren't Apple stores, but authorised resellers.