Booked an appointment to pay for a new battery to ...

Booked an appointment to pay for a new battery to be fitted to my 18-month-old phone out of warranty, only to have the sales staff argue that I didn't need one and that I just needed to use my phone less. Was one of the most bizarre retail experiences I've had.

I have an 18-month-old iPhone that gets heavy use, and doesn't hold charge like it used to. Think 4-5 hours between charges with around 30 minutes of screen time. Decided that $69 for a new battery was worth it, so took the time to book an appointment and go into the city especially for the replacement.

When I got there, the staff member ran a diagnostic that should the battery was at 85% health, and therefore didn't need replacing. I tried to explain that the phone is definitely holding far less charge than it used to, but he insisted it was factors outside of the battery - despite the battery having over 500 charge/discharge cycles. He then showed me a pointless graph that demonstrated that the battery drains faster when I used the phone, which I assumed was a foregone conclusion. Despite my protestations, he essentially refused to change the battery, even though I was wiling to pay for it.

He also advised that I would absolutely lose all data on my phone as part of a battery upgrade, which seems totally unnecessary.

Overall, the staff member was condescending and invalidating. I just wanted a new battery for an eighteen-month-old phone that isn't holding charge as well as it used to. Not only do Apple now make it extremely difficult for user's to service their own phones, but they now act as the gatekeepers of when you're allowed to have your phone fixed.

My experience at this store has been consistently terrible. Avoid if possible. I will take my chances with a third-party repairer, since Apple refuse to touch my phone.