I used to work for Apple and before I joined the Genius Bar I was working the avenues (what they call the sides where they keep accessories) and because I’ve been known to pull a few scams myself (companies, never people) I have an eye for something out of the ordinary.

So I saw a lady bring in an iPhone and receipt to change it for the same phone in a different colour. Not that odd mind but I did notice it.

A few days later I see the same lady do this again with another employee and now I am thinking something is definitely off.

The next time she comes in I make sure I approach and ask them if they need help, again they ask to swap for a different colour.

I then say sure we can help with that and as is procedure we would confirm the Serial Number matches that on the receipt, we didn’t have access to the tools that read this from the hardware as we would on the GB, so we would power on the device and press the little “i” to view and compare. It’s a match, but still this isn’t legit obviously.

At this point, not that I’m protecting Apple here I wanted to work GB and this would get me on their radar, plus I was the shit at faking extroversion and giving outstanding service as I was depressed and I found being overly nice and energetic made me happier I would leave work on cloud 9 and then crash. I take the phone to the GB host (dude who checks people in) and say something is off here and explain all of the above. They send me to the repair room 🥰 never been in before and I was excited.

Once inside I explain to the tech guys that’s up and they’re like yeah that’s odd. They say to tell her that we need to do a few more checks and to come back in 30 minutes. Basically we were going by to open the phone and verify it’s innards. As well as using the serial number reader tool (forget the name now) to verify all is legit.

Go back to the lady and explain this, she’s flustered but agrees as she can’t not. Take the phone and box and drop it in the GB repair room. When I come back out I can see the lady is on the phone in an irate conversation with someone. A few minutes later she says she’s changed her mind and wants the phone back.

Go get her her phone and am instructed to write on the receipt to do a check before returning (again I forget the terminology) so that if she went to another store they’d now go open this phone up.

She’s pissed at this and leaves with her phone and receipt unhappy.

A while later I recall seeing a bust of a gang of folk from a certain country (the same this lady appeared to be from) for returning iPhones that either had fake innards or were not the phone in question.

As a scammer in the past it hurt to stop someone doing the same but this was my patch and I wanted to make a good impression. Which I did as I moved to the GB for 3 years which changed my life. They offered so much encouragement and you’re surrounded by talented people that I up-skilled and I’m now a software developer (not for Apple).

I don’t know what it’s like working there in the USA, but in England it was amazing. They paid more than any other retail store, stock was given every year, you could buy it too at a discount, you were trusted and not micromanaged, the benefits were outstanding and led me to my ADHD diagnosis with healthcare (as sadly mental health support on the NHS is underfunded).