Apple Leaves Customers Waiting on Store Repairs with No Devices

Tech giant Apple has stated that customers who didn’t pick up devices left for repairs within two days of the company closing its retail stores will have to wait for the stores to reopen to recover their devices. Apple’s decision to close its retail locations based on the Chinese virus affected all its locations — except those in China.

Business Insider reports that Apple customers who left devices in to be repaired at the company’s retail stores will have to wait until stores outside of China reopen in order to recover their devices. Apple announced on March 14 that it would be closing all retail stores outside of China due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, offering customers a two-day window to retrieve any devices left for repairs.

An Apple spokesperson recently told Business Insider that customers were contacted via phone and email about their repairs but any products that weren’t retrieved during the two-day window would have to wait until stores reopened to pick up their devices.

Apple initially planned to reopen its stores outside of China on March 27, but on March 17 just three days after the initial announcement, Apple stated that it would keep all of its retail stores closed “until further notice.”

Its currently expected that Apple will reopen its stores in early April, staggering the openings according to a report from Bloomberg.

On March 14, Apple announced that it would be closing all stores outside of China shortly after reopening all of its stores in the country. In a post to the Newsroom, Apple stated:

First, I want to recognize Apple’s family in Greater China. Though the rate of infections has dramatically declined, we know COVID-19’s effects are still being strongly felt. I want to express my deep gratitude to our team in China for their determination and spirit. As of today, all of our stores in Greater China have reopened. I also want to thank our operations team and partners for their remarkable efforts to restore our supply chain. What we’ve learned together has helped us all develop the best practices that are assisting enormously in our global response.

One of those lessons is that the most effective way to minimize risk of the virus’s transmission is to reduce density and maximize social distance. As rates of new infections continue to grow in other places, we’re taking additional steps to protect our team members and customers.

We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27. We are committed to providing exceptional service to our customers. Our online stores are open at www.apple.com, or you can download the Apple Store app on the App Store. For service and support, customers can visit support.apple.com. I want to thank our extraordinary Retail teams for their dedication to enriching our customers’ lives. We are all so grateful to you.

Some criticized the move by Apple such as Hayman Chief Investment Officers Kyle Bass who stated that Apple CEO Tim Cook has “sold his soul to the evil of the Chinese communist party.” Bass’ tweet can be seen below: