I have to hand it to Apple, they do customer service right. Two recent experiences made me appreciate it even more. Last weekend we went into the Apple Store at the mall to see about an armband for Amber to use when working out. After finding the one she wanted, Amber turned to a girl in blue and asked to check out. She responding by asking if we knew we could check ourselves out through their Apple Store app.Turns out, you can buy accessories with your phone. Just scan the bar code of your item and enter your iTunes account password. If you know what you’re there for, checkout is a snap and you don’t even need to talk to anyone. Awesome!

I’ve been having problems with the earpiece on my phone for at least a week. Calls connect and the person on the other end can hear me, but I can’t hear them. Switching to speaker phone or using headphones works fine. So I scheduled a Genius Bar appointment to have Apple check it out. I got there right on time and used their app to check myself in. A few minutes later a guy came out and we discussed the problem. He disappeared into the back room for a few minutes. He came back out and asked me to try a call, which still did not have audio. He immediately offered to replace my phone and did it on the spot. I was in and out in under 30 minutes. No hassle whatsoever, no accusatory attitude about what I might have done to it, just genuine helpfulness and an immediate replacement phone. There’s a good reason I always buy AppleCare, and it is totally worth it.