Apple Bentall Centre

Where to start, today was my first time going a to Apple store. I was directed to the store for a 2:15 appointment to fix my mic if possible by Apple support, when I arrived we Found out that my my appointment was booked for Manchester. Previously when I spoke to support they directed me to the closest one to my postcode which was Bromley and I suggested Kingston they then clarified that was where the appointment was and I went to it on time.
Fast forward after we realised that they Said I should come back in an hour and reluctantly I came back in an hour. To then be told I missed my slot and made to wait 20 minutes more with miscommunication from 3 different employees. I then asked to speak to a manager JJ who gave me many excuses. After all that time I then was told to come through And the a very rude security guard in grey aggressively came towards me and said u can't come in but I was told to. He said no mask no entry, I explained I'm exempt he said that don't matter and kept being extremely rude then another manager came forward a tiny bit more professional Then explained that I need to wear a face shield I said ok but why wasn't that explained over an hour ago because I've been here nearly 2 hours With no mask. She said she'd take that on for next time. Then I was made to go through to a man named Tim and honestly the only reason for the 2 stars is him as he fixed my isssue in less than 3 minutes. So to clarify I waited ages watched people go before me and experienced rudeness & ignorance and lies. for 3 minutes. (Also didn't receive an apology for any of the mistakes or rudeness) I'm not sure if it was a racial issue honesty but subconsciously its easily done by people of other races. regardless I don't recommend this store to anyone (especially poc)

Amazing amazing shop. Always heaving with people - I am always very tempted to wander in and play on the iPad. If you are an apple fan I know you will agree with the fact that you can never walk past without venturing inside.


Staff all know their apple stuff and are very helpful if you are lucky enough to be purchasing something.

I am slightly sceptical of the self monikered 'Geniuses' who make up the Genius Bar. (Are they collectively known as Genii?). Anyway, did they name themselves? Because I feel that a term as weighty as Genius should be bestowed, not chosen.

I took my Mac into the Kingston branch of the Apple store once, it was having a bit of a wobble, and couldn't get internet connection. The helpful server said 'don't worry, the geniuses will have the answer.' Well, they thought they did, and guess what? It didn't work!

The rest of the staff are very helpful, and to be fair, so were the Genii, just not effective. My other problem with this store is not really its fault - it is located in The Bentall Centre, and this shopping centre does not have any air conditioning, so the shops get really hot and stuffy. It is just not conducive to shopping. If I spend too long in this Apple shop I get over heated and scarper. This shop is far, far smaller than the flagship store on Regents Street, but can often get very busy, so I would pick your times carefully as to when you visit.

I've been in the store a few times, mainly prior to my getting a job selling Macs elsewhere, so whilst you are welcome to keep in mind that I work for a competitor, please note that my review is intended to be unbiased on my experience there.

When I last sought to buy a new machine, I knew I wanted a Mac. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford one. But that didn't mean I couldn't go in and drool, did it?

And so I did.

I was lucky to be there on the rare occassion in which they were largely empty. As such, I was able to hog an assistant or two. Being about a year ago, and my memory always being poor, I unfortunately can't remember his name - but as he's now supposed to be working as a manager at Disney Land Florida, I guess it's sorta moot. He was very nice to me, and did a great job in broadening what knowledge I had on the fairly fresh concept of running Windows on a Mac, and OS X on a non-Mac, as well as discuss specifics on the compared functionality once doing so. Not to mention numerous other wonderful gadgets them Macs have.

He was also able to thwart my querying of the ability to have a machine with 16GB (or 32GB, I forget which it was at the time) of RAM, with stupid amount of processors, and many terrabytes of harddrive space, which a wonderful example he'd had of a research/science department of a university recently buying about 8 of them at full possibly specs. Damnit. I want one!

The few others I've met working there since have always been quite nice.

I've heard people comment that they don't always tend to be too helpful when it comes to discussing the specifics of Mac vs Windows, on an understandable laymans term basis, but I pay them the respect that this is sheer misfortune at the time, or the odd bad apple that every store has.

It surprises me that Apple don't seem to cater to businesses through the stores, though part of me can understand why - however, surely even just having the capacity to say "Here you go, whilst we don't do business specific dealings through stores, we can help you to decide what you want and then put you in touch with an Apple business department" (who then, assuming a joyous set up, would then seal the deal, credit that sales assistant for that sale due to the lead, and then develop it for themselves after). Instead, they get nothing special.

However, if you're a student, expect stupidly crazy student deals.

I try not to step into this gleaming temple of Mac-dom too often; as a long-term fan, it can be all too tempting to lust after the latest update or newest 'baby'. Yesterday, I had to go in, as my mouse had been misbehaving and I needed to put it to rights.


The Apple-bod who greeted me was brilliant. He showed me the two mouse options in-store (costly variants and more elaborate than I needed) then suggested that I could find what I was after at a high street competitor, for a lot less dosh. We ended up chatting for a while and he offered me lots of tips and insights into getting the most out of my Mac.


My only real criticism of the store is that it was vastly over-heated (perhaps due to the nature of the beast) so that doesn't really encourage visitors to feel comfortable spending too much time in store.

We have been to the Apple Store many times but never have we received such amazing service as we did today. Jeffrey was the most knowledgeable assistant we have ever had and went above and beyond the call of duty to help us with every aspect of our Apple products. Five stars for service and 5 stars for Apple for their products

They dont deserve any stars, the staff are very unfriendly and not helpful at all... No point in booking an appointment because you will not be seen on the time booked and then they blame you for being late but where as one has been waiting in the Que to be seen. They have no sign to say where to wait if you have an appointment and if you are waiting in the wrong line then it's your fault basically!!!!!!! I had my one year old with and they don't really care tbh people.... Avoid this branch!!!!!!!!!

The closest apple store outside of London for allot of people.. If like me you are addicted to technology this is the place to go.. The staff are friendly but you may have to wait your turn as the place is normally quiet full ..

have always been a MAC fan so the only thing to do now is recommend this shop. It's at a perfect please that is convenient for lots of people. Fantastic!

I have an older Mac Book Pro. Had lot's of problems but mainly a non-working DVD and a broken mouse/keyboard. This type of repair can be cost prohibitive forcing complete replacement of the unit. I shopped around and did not like the prices I was quoted until I happened at Apple. Customer service was nice and accommodating and actually cared about their customers.I highly recommend this place!