Studio 7 are bonkers

[James105]

So I tried to buy a new iPhone yesterday.   Went into the local Studio 7 and they had what I wanted in stock so I paid for it.   The next step should be walking out the store with my newly purchased product... right?  Well not in this case.   The guy then said he needed to open it to check it was working.   So he broke the seal, then removed the protective plastic and used his grubby fingers on my shiny new toy to turn it on.  Ok fine, its working, I thank him and take the phone and put it back in the box ready to leave.  Can I leave?  Nope.  He then says he needs to sign into wifi with it to activate it and take a photo and check other things.  Store policy or something.   Now checking it is working is one thing, but getting to the stage of connecting a device that I use for authentication, banking and investments to the internet before I have had a chance to use it, now that is a no go for me.   So I said there was no need and I can activate it myself.   He wouldn't let me leave and in the end he ended up refunding my payment as I wouldn't let him use my new phone and connect it to wifi and do whatever before I have had a chance to secure it and activate it with my apple account.   

 

So the store now has an opened iPhone in stock that they will not be able to sell as new and I still don't have a new iPhone.  What kind of madness is this?  

[Will B Good]

5 minutes ago, James105 said:

So I tried to buy a new iPhone yesterday.   Went into the local Studio 7 and they had what I wanted in stock so I paid for it.   The next step should be walking out the store with my newly purchased product... right?  Well not in this case.   The guy then said he needed to open it to check it was working.   So he broke the seal, then removed the protective plastic and used his grubby fingers on my shiny new toy to turn it on.  Ok fine, its working, I thank him and take the phone and put it back in the box ready to leave.  Can I leave?  Nope.  He then says he needs to sign into wifi with it to activate it and take a photo and check other things.  Store policy or something.   Now checking it is working is one thing, but getting to the stage of connecting a device that I use for authentication, banking and investments to the internet before I have had a chance to use it, now that is a no go for me.   So I said there was no need and I can activate it myself.   He wouldn't let me leave and in the end he ended up refunding my payment as I wouldn't let him use my new phone and connect it to wifi and do whatever before I have had a chance to secure it and activate it with my apple account.   

 

So the store now has an opened iPhone in stock that they will not be able to sell as new and I still don't have a new iPhone.  What kind of madness is this?  

 

Are you 100% sure it is a genuine iPhone?

 

I just sent back a hammer drill, strimmer and lawnmower (not to Studio 7 obvs) to Lazada......all fakes....45k bahts worth.

 

 

[James105]

Just now, Will B Good said:

 

Are you 100% sure it is a genuine iPhone?

 

I just sent back a hammer drill, strimmer and lawnmower (not to Studio 7 obvs) to Lazada......all fakes....45k bahts worth.

 

 

 

Yeah 100%.  They are official Apple resellers.   The phone was fine, nothing wrong with it at all.   It's a transaction I have made several times in the past with me paying and literally walking out the store without anybody needing to even open the box (from Apple stores not Studio 7) and haven't encountered this silliness before.   

 

It was quite amusing in the store as I was saying that since I had paid for it the device was mine now and he was insisting he needed to set it up (and he was setting it up using Thai language as well) to get to the connect to wifi stage and wouldn't let me leave with the device I had bought and paid for.   Bonkers.  

[petermik]

I would contact Studio 7 and ask them what the hell is going on....madness

[G Rex]

I have had similar experiences with many purchases of electrical goods from shops like Big C, Homepro & PowerBuy. 

There is no exciting unboxing when you get home.  Everything is opened in store and checked to make sure it is operational.

I can understand this practice - but I do find it annoying - especially because they are seldom able to neatly repackage the item in its box! 

[James105]

1 minute ago, G Rex said:

I have had similar experiences with many purchases of electrical goods from shops like Big C, Homepro & PowerBuy. 

There is no exciting unboxing when you get home.  Everything is opened in store and checked to make sure it is operational.

I can understand this practice - but I do find it annoying - especially because they are seldom able to neatly repackage the item in its box! 

 

Checking it is working is annoying but I have no major problem with that and once the phone turned on that is proof enough.   But going through the phone set up to get it to connect to the internet and do whatever else is too much, especially for a device that is used for so many things like banking etc.  It made me way too uncomfortable watching him go through the setup (in Thai language as well) to let him continue.   As I said, I had bought and paid for the device at this point so technically it was mine and I should have some say into what he can do with it.    

[James105]

12 minutes ago, petermik said:

I would contact Studio 7 and ask them what the hell is going on....madness

 

I might go and pick one up from the other Studio 7 in town today and see if the madness occurs there as well or if this is just an isolated case of Studio 7 idiocy.   

[Will B Good]

 

 

I wonder if the store have been scammed somehow by the odd customer claiming phones don't work???

 

All very odd.

 

Are they cheaper from Studio 7 than the Apple Store......wife is pestering for the iPhone 16 pro max......(annoyingly she  only ever uses it for FB....)

[NickyLouie]

Should order from Apple direct next time.

 

Or learn to use Android which is a far superior platform  

[James105]

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

 

 

I wonder if the store have been scammed somehow by the odd customer claiming phones don't work???

 

All very odd.

 

Are they cheaper from Studio 7 than the Apple Store......wife is pestering for the iPhone 16 pro max......(annoyingly she  only ever uses it for FB....)

 

Yes very odd.  Prices are identical to Apple stores, really is no difference and still covered by Apple guarantee as well so there really isn't even any need to open the box, yet alone carry out the other nonsense he was attempting.  

[James105]

Just now, NickyLouie said:

Should order from Apple direct next time.

 

Or learn to use Android which is a far superior platform  

 

It's too late for me to turn to Android.  I've been Appled.  Phone, watch, laptop, tablet and TV and they all play so nicely together.   Impossible to change now.  

[NickyLouie]

7 minutes ago, James105 said:

 

It's too late for me to turn to Android.  I've been Appled.  Phone, watch, laptop, tablet and TV and they all play so nicely together.   Impossible to change now.  

 

That's how Apple gets you.

 

I was also the same for many years but very happy now w/o all their petty BS and limitations. 

 

 

 

[Ohyesuare]

35 minutes ago, James105 said:

 

I might go and pick one up from the other Studio 7 in town today and see if the madness occurs there as well or if this is just an isolated case of Studio 7 idiocy.   

 

If you're so worried, let him set it up to the wifi stage and then when you get home, do a factory reset and set it up again yourself. The guy was just doing his job as he was told to. They have a paper with a checklist they need to go through before giving you the phone.

[PJ71]

1 hour ago, Will B Good said:

 

Are you 100% sure it is a genuine iPhone?

 

I just sent back a hammer drill, strimmer and lawnmower (not to Studio 7 obvs) to Lazada......all fakes....45k bahts worth.

 

 

I never buy anything of value off Lazada, don't trust them one bit.

[Will B Good]

Just now, PJ71 said:

I never buy anything of value off Lazada, don't trust them one bit.

 

 

I've only just found out that you have to buy anything of value under the LAZMALL section.

 

You get twice the value of the goods back if they prove to be fake......if you buy without the LAZMALL tag you are gambling on authenticity.

 

What a country!!!!!

[PJ71]

Just now, Will B Good said:

 

 

I've only just found out that you have to buy anything of value under the LAZMALL section.

 

You get twice the value of the goods back if they prove to be fake......if you buy without the LAZMALL tag you are gambling on authenticity.

 

What a country!!!!!

But once you've paid if they refund you it's to Lazada wallet so they've got you....

 

I'm not sure if it's possible to get it refunded back to bank account / credit card.

 

I gave up buying high value items long ago

[NickyLouie]

2 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

But once you've paid if they refund you it's to Lazada wallet so they've got you....

 

I'm not sure if it's possible to get it refunded back to bank account / credit card.

 

I gave up buying high value items long ago

 

Bought an expensive 2 in 1 washing / dryer machine from Lazada mall

 

PowerBuy , machine was 5000 baht less on Lazada from their LazadaMall listing

 

Showed it to the store for a price match and they said it's marketing and I would need to buy from Lazada to get this price

 

3 days later their own delivery truck showed up.

 

[Will B Good]

5 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

But once you've paid if they refund you it's to Lazada wallet so they've got you....

 

I'm not sure if it's possible to get it refunded back to bank account / credit card.

 

I gave up buying high value items long ago

 

Just filled in my cancellation forms.....you do get the choice....(or I did)...wallet or Bank?

[PJ71]

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

 

Just filled in my cancellation forms.....you do get the choice....(or I did)...wallet or Bank?

excellent, then i stand corrected.

 

still don't use them, don't need the hassle

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, PJ71 said:

excellent, then i stand corrected.

 

still don't use them, don't need the hassle

 

"Filled the forms in"......let's see if the money turns up....555

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, petermik said:

I would contact Studio 7 and ask them what the hell is going on....madness

Think it´s better to call Apple, and report the problem. Maybe they will not be allowed to be an official reseller no more. I would have said that to them in the shop as well. Pretty sure they would have let me go with the phone without problem.

[owl sees all]

Bought an 'Apple iphone air 5' off Lazada for the daughter's birthday; just 2 weeks ago. Paid for it 18k COD.

 

The thing is. You are not buying it from Lazada. They are simply the contract facilitator. The last thing they want is dodgy sellers.

[Upnotover]

42 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

But once you've paid if they refund you it's to Lazada wallet so they've got you....

 

I'm not sure if it's possible to get it refunded back to bank account / credit card.

 

I gave up buying high value items long ago

If paid by QR code it goes to your wallet.  But once there it is a simple matter to send it to your bank.  No issues.

[James105]

1 hour ago, Gottfrid said:

Think it´s better to call Apple, and report the problem. Maybe they will not be allowed to be an official reseller no more. I would have said that to them in the shop as well. Pretty sure they would have let me go with the phone without problem.

 

I went to the other Studio 7 near where I live and its the same there and in PowerBuy too.   The very specific tests they have to do are:

 

1. Connect to wifi

2. Activate the phone

3. Test the camera

4. Test the sound.

 

Considering this is functionality found on every apple device and it is only the phones that they have this policy for (they don't need to do this for iPads for example) then my presumption is that there is a bad batch of phones that have made it through production and into Thailand that have problems with one or more of these aspects and I am guessing that Apple have told them to do this to make it easier for the store to return them.   

 

In the other one I offered to do the setup/tests myself in store so at least its only my own grubby fingerprints on the shiny new toy but weirdly they said no to that so I guess I'll just order directly from Apple or pick one up next time I am in Bangkok.   Still think it is a stupid policy though and one I remain uncomfortable with.     

[James105]

2 hours ago, Ohyesuare said:

If you're so worried, let him set it up to the wifi stage and then when you get home, do a factory reset and set it up again yourself. The guy was just doing his job as he was told to. They have a paper with a checklist they need to go through before giving you the phone.

 

These devices have hardware based security and it is a device that will store my banking details and passwords for every financial aspect of my life.   Even though I would be 99.9% sure there would be no issues with this that 0.1% of doubt can affect my sleep.  

 

The guy was just doing his job but he caught me by surprise by opening the box and then messing around with the phone I had just purchased and was technically mine at that point.   

[Bill97]

2 hours ago, NickyLouie said:

Should order from Apple direct next time.

Easy fast safe

[Ralf001]

3 hours ago, James105 said:

 

Yeah 100%.  They are official Apple resellers.   

 

Authorised ?

 

[James105]

4 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Easy fast safe

 

Easy and safe for sure, not sure about fast though.   Every time I've ordered something from Apple, even if it is in stock in their Bangkok stores it gets shipped from China so has always been 1-2 weeks.  

[sometimewoodworker]

42 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Authorised ?

 

Absolutely 100% Apple Authorised Resellers 

all you need to do is search on apple’s website for local suppliers and they will give you a list of nearby resellers, some are premium resellers

[steven100]

4 hours ago, James105 said:

So I tried to buy a new iPhone yesterday.   Went into the local Studio 7 and they had what I wanted in stock so I paid for it.   The next step should be walking out the store with my newly purchased product... right?  Well not in this case.   The guy then said he needed to open it to check it was working.   So he broke the seal, then removed the protective plastic and used his grubby fingers on my shiny new toy to turn it on.  Ok fine, its working, I thank him and take the phone and put it back in the box ready to leave.  Can I leave?  Nope.  He then says he needs to sign into wifi with it to activate it and take a photo and check other things.  Store policy or something.   Now checking it is working is one thing, but getting to the stage of connecting a device that I use for authentication, banking and investments to the internet before I have had a chance to use it, now that is a no go for me.   So I said there was no need and I can activate it myself.   He wouldn't let me leave and in the end he ended up refunding my payment as I wouldn't let him use my new phone and connect it to wifi and do whatever before I have had a chance to secure it and activate it with my apple account.   

 

So the store now has an opened iPhone in stock that they will not be able to sell as new and I still don't have a new iPhone.  What kind of madness is this?  

 

welcome to Thailand ....     enough said