Evil and Intimidating Apple Store
I had the displeasure of visiting Apple Store yesterday. I'm not a fan of Apple products by any means. I find them too restrictive even in the simplest thing (all I ever wanted is to customise my app icons). But somehow I ended up with an iPhone 7 Plus which I had been daily driving for the past seven years. It's still, somehow, holding up. I also own a regular iPad which I traded at a secondhand shop for a 2021 iPad Pro. Now, I like iPads. Westerners reading this post might think the iPad is useless, but here in Thailand iPads have taken over the education sector like methamphetamine to low income community. It fills the role of ChromeBooks or other student laptop. I used the old iPad for handwritten lecture notes and, more importantly, digital art. I LOVE Procreate. It singlehandedly convinced me to get the iPad to begin with. It made me wonder how I even lived with IbisPaint at all.
So imagine this: New Year's Eve, I was waiting for my queue at the buffet, and I wanted to doodle something only to find out that my Apple Pencil wasn't working properly. It could only register the touch when the pencil is held at perfect 90 degrees angle. Well that sucks, I thought, but it's my queue so I just shoved the iPad back into my tote and entered the restaurant. The meal was nice. I had a can of oolong orange hard seltzer. I saw fireworks and drunk white couple celebrating the new year with restaurant staffs while walking home. When I got home I plugged my electronics to the charger and went to bed. When I woke up, the iPad wasn't charged. I tried unplugging and replugging. Nope. I tried turning the outlet switch off and on again. Still not charging.
I panicked. I don't have any other USB-C devices or cables (most of my electronics are, for some reason, from the before time when the default was micro USB). So I did what a girl does, which is to message my best friend for advice. He suggested bringing the iPad to Apple Store. So I did. The store is about 5 minutes on win (motorbike taxi. I don't know why they're called win) and 30 minutes on foot. I chose the latter. Walking from home to Apple Store at Central World isn't too difficult. Just don't go out at noon if you value not getting burned in the sun.
I entered the store, unsure of what exactly to do. I didn't get my iPad from the store, or even an authorised reseller for that matter. I had never been to an Apple Store before. Not alone at least. There's no directions, no counters to walk to. Just this donut-shaped store with nondescript counters and staffs in casual red t-shirt because it's still a Christmas season in Thailand. I awkwardly stood near the door. Awkwardness fast turning into anxiety. I looked around desperately hoping for a staff to approach me. I saw a couple staffs talking to each other, each with their own little iPads in hand. I backed to the glass wall that felt too glassy to support a human leaning to it. Get me out of here!
Eventually a staff approached me. I asked him if I could try out their USB-C cable since I wasn't sure if it's a cable issue or iPad issue. He told me to sit at the counter. I did. He took a cable from the table drawer and tried it. The damned iPad wasn't charging.
"Ah, would you like to schedule a technician appointment? It could've been just dust getting stuck in the charging port. But if it's dead charging port then we'll have to replace the whole iPad. Do you have your data backed up?" I do not have my data backed up.
"How much would it cost if I need to replace the iPad?" I asked.
"About 10,000 baht."
My heart dropped.
I decided to schedule an appointment anyway. It could just be dust. During the process, the staff made me scan a QR code. When I did it told me App Link is only available for iOS 18 and above. I had to manually type my information in instead.
As per my new year resolution, I'm still unemployed. I can't afford 10,000 baht to get my iPad fixed, what the hell?! I walked away from the store, dejected. I planned to get some fancy ice cream but I ended up not doing that. The realisation that I probably shouldn't be paying 130 baht for 2 mini-scoops hit me like a brick. I thought about third-party repair but decided against the idea. I like my iPad. I don't want to send it to some back alley operating room.
3 days later. It's the appointment day. Same process. I walked to the store, nearly tripping over the raised floor of this Labubu pop-up on my way. It was noon. I had to carry an umbrella so not to get burned in the sun. A bright blue umbrella that clashes with my muted pastel aesthetic. I got to the store and spent precisely 2 minutes standing around not knowing what to do. A staff said "I'll get back to you!" Another staff finally asked me what I was there for. I said I have an appointment and they pointed me to another staff who's busy with other customers. I walked to him and told him the same thing I told the other staff. He told me to sit down at the counter. I was seated uncomfortably close to another person wearing nauseatingly cloying perfume. I could feel my thighs sticking to the wooden stool.
Finally, the last staff came to me and inspected my iPad. He turned it on. It was 3% charged. He plugged it in.
It fucking charged.