And I mean that with more than a touch of snark. Both Ben and I have made several trips to various Apple Stores over the years, and I've noticed that things have changed with the passing of Mr. Jobs.
When I bought my first Mac back in 2009, I had to search out a blue-shirt to assist. Back then you weren't harangued the instant you walked in the store, and were basically allowed to wander unmolested while looking over the merchandise. Now it seems the moment you walk in the store someone's on your back, especially if you stop to look at anything.
It seems Apple stores have always been crowded, but with the company's increased market share the situation has just gotten out of hand. While the Park Meadows store—the one we frequent the most—isn't that bad, the one at Cherry Creek is always a madhouse. The upside is there always seems to be a lot of nice eye candy around, both in and out of blue shirts.
To Apple's credit, the service we've both gotten at all the stores we've used over the years has been exemplary, and with the new leadership at Apple that really hasn't changed much. But the key is having all your ducks in a row before going in, something as a tech professional I can certainly appreciate. Make an appointment. Know beforehand that if your device is out of warranty and if you didn't purchase Apple Care beforehand, know that you're going be charged for repairs or battery replacements. A good trick is that if you're hoping to just get an in-warranty iOS device swapped out with new, make an appointment close to the time the store closes. The guys are worn out by that time, want to get the hell out of there, and are much more likely to "just swap it" rather than go through a whole lot of troubleshooting. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try.
Another trick I learned is that when you want to purchase the latest-and-greatest but for some reason the store is always sold out, put an order in online after 10 pm for store pickup the next day. Again, I understand it doesn't always work, but it got me an iPhone 5 just a few weeks after its release when I couldn't get one by just walking into the store.
Admittedly, the guys and girls in blue lost some of their super-hero status in my eyes when I started reading tweets from the Apple Anonymous community, but ironically my level of respect for them went up immeasurably. They aren't angels by any stretch of the imagination and some of them have attitudes worse than mine when it comes to dealing with customers, but the fact that they can still manage to provide that exemplary level of customer service when faced with the abject stupidity of the general public on a daily basis speaks reams—and tells me I could never do their job.
My one experience in an Apple Store was horrible. I had an appointment, and walked in to the Las Vegas Town Square Store: pandemonium. Capacity crowd, very noisy. No obvious person to check in with. No "take a number," or queue line. Just people everywhere, and a "you're on your own, kid" vibe.
Once I found a girl with a clipboard (who couldn't have been less interested), and figured out who to talk to and where, I was told my MacBook Pro would be $500 just to look at it, and that I'd be better off buying a new one. I cleaned it up, packaged it, sold it on eBay "as is," and bought a newer one for about $400 more than the checkup would have cost. Worked out great, but it was NOT the happiest place on earth! 😉 Glad your experiences have been better.