Retail employees have to work with a lot of people on a daily basis. Sometimes those customers aren’t always the easiest to work with, and can be downright difficult, too. Turns out, Apple has a “secret policy” that may give preferential treatment to the nice ones out there in the world.
That’s according to TikTok user “@Tanicornerstone” (via AppleInsider), who is apparently a former Apple retail employee. She recently posted a short video talking about a special program that Apple has at its retail stores. Apparently it’s called “surprise and delight”, and it makes it possible for retail employees to go above and beyond the regular action plan for certain issues to provide a solution for the customer.
The example that the TikTok user provides is water damage. She says that Apple doesn’t typically offer a fix in those cases without some sort of fee attached to it. However, with the “surprise and delight” option, employees can provide that fix for free — depending on the customer’s temperament.
As she puts it:
I used to see a lot, people would come in with like water damaged phones and you’re not allowed to replace those without a fee. However, the geniuses used a ‘surprise and delight’ to be able to give somebody a free replacement.
The former Apple retail employee states that if a customer is particularly unhelpful or rude, the employee will still fix the problem, but that fee is definitely not going anywhere.
Interestingly, commenters on the TikTok post –which has now garnered over 114,000 views, corroborate what she’s saying. One commenter, reportedly another former Apple retail employee, says the retail rule is “1000% true”.
It remains unclear right now whether or not this “secret program” is still in effect at Apple retail.
What do you think? Have you ever felt like an Apple retail customer has gone above and beyond because you’ve been polite during your visit?