This is an article I meant to write and publish back in December, however, the entire month was ridiculously hectic and it seemed that I could find absolutely no time to sit and write. Fortunately, the event was memorable enough that I should have no problem at all remembering exactly how it went.

In early December I was lucky enough to attend the Web Builder 2.0 conference in Las Vegas and while there I decided to visit the Apple store and have them take a look at the battery on my new (few months old) MacBook Pro. Shortly after receiving it I had noted that the battery was no longer flush with the underside of the case and in fact seemed to be ever so slightly bulging a bit. Upon removing the batter I found that I could easily separate the casing by hooking an edge with my fingernail and pulling gently up - this did not seem like a good thing to me. Plus, the raised edge underneath was annoying. So in I went and got an appointment with the Genius Bar techhies. The wait wasn't overly excessive (20 minutes) even though the store was bustling. In fact, they bumped me into a no-show slot within 5 minutes. Cool.

They took a look at it and felt that it was not a safety issue, rather more a cosmetic issue but were willing to swap it out for a replacement if I liked. Uh, yeah! Absolutely. And swap it out they did. One concern of mine was the charge status as I would be flying out of Vegas later that evening to which they responded by hauling a stool over to the end of the bar and letting me sit there and work for as long as I liked while the battery charged.

Well that was awesome. So work I did while while other customers came and had their issues taken care of. I was so impressed by the guys manning the bar and their professionalism in dealing with the customers. One poor woman came in with her "broken" brand-new iphone - she could talk through it but couldn't hear anyone from the other end. The techie took a quick look and, without making her feel like a total dunce, peeled off the anti-scratch film it ships with which was covering the ear piece hole. Very impressive.

I've read online both pro and con articles of the people staffing the Genius Bar, and well, my experience was definitely pro. In fact, all the staff I dealt with were awesome there - it's heartening to see that the art of customer service is not dead.