Apple has struggled to keep up with the demand for iPhone battery replacements and it looks like the company has begun bringing in both AppleCare employees and external contractors to work in retail stores on iPhone battery replacements specifically.
The deluge of repair requests follows Apple’s admitting to assorted battery-related iPhone slowdowns/unexpected and the reduction of the service $79 to $29.
Now, retail employees have shared that Apple is bringing in support from new sources. Earlier this year, it was discovered that Apple was temporarily shifting AppleCare employees to retail stores in an effort to add more hands on deck. These AppleCare employees, who typically work remotely to offer tech support, have been deployed in Apple Stores as in-house support for working through the backlog of iPhone battery replacements.
Apple Store employees have recently stated that the company is hiring external contractors to assist Apple Store location teams. The contractors seem to serve as a temporary additional wave of support with the contractors themselves undergoing training from Apple before working on iPhone battery replacements alongside part-time and full-time Apple Store staff. The move represents a unique move for Apple due to the unprecedented situation around iPhone battery replacements.
Customer frustrations over wait times have also fueled the pop-up of a more prominent secondary battery replacement market. iFixit matched Apple’s replacement cost with DIY kits for $29 that work with iPhones as far back as the iPhone 4s, even though the customer handles the labor on their own. And after Apple dropped the battery replacement pricing from $79 to $29, both OfficeMax and OfficeDepot began offering their own replacement programs.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac