AT&T - Durham, North Carolina 27713 - The Streets at Southpoint

Generally, I don't like to write 1 or 2-star reviews. They can really hurt a business or a reputation. However, what happened to me, needs to told. I purchased a new iPhone-7 at this location. The manager, RYAN, helped me select this phone. As soon as I took it home, people were telling me I sounded distant and garbled. I went back a few days later and told Ryan of this issue. He told me; "It's probably just a sim card issue." Later on, Apple iChat, they ran thru several tests to determine the cause of poor audio quality. (finally isolated the issue). So without doing a SINGLE mic test, I was given a new sim card and sent on my way. Right. The problem remained. I only had 3 more days under the 14-return policy, I came back to see Ryan. Here is where it gets interesting . . . He agreed that it was defective and told me to go to the Apple Store at Southpoint to exchange it. (This made no sense to me.) Further he explained; "They don't like to return them, but if you go to the Genius Bar, you can exchange for a new one. *NOT quite true. He went on ; "Younger staff don't know this, so just be persistent and show them the return policy on back of receipt. ** He adamantly showed me where it was on my receipt. So, being the good soldier I am - drove over to the Apple Store. Sure enough, the young man who took my issue, listened and looked at the receipt. He said: "I am not sure we can do this return/exchage.?!" Ah Ha! Ryan was right. I'm being 'dished". They don't want to help me out! Finally, I asked to speak with the store manager - Tim, Great guy !! He told me yes, they could exchange it for a used iPhone 7, but it would only come with a 90-days manufacturers warranty, not a YEAR. I asked him why they would send me over here to exchange or return a defective phone. I won't tell you all he said, but he ended with: "If you purchased a defective lawnmower at WalMart, would you go to Target to return it?" Good Point. Drove back to AT&T store. I was quite upset. Ryan would not see me. I was told he was in back eating his lunch .. (eating is Whopper.) I was finally able to exchange it for a new phone . . . which they had ALL ALONG !! And to top that all off, Ryan charged me $45.00 for a restocking fee, which I will dispute with AmEx. I can deal with a lot of things but being lied to isn't one of them. The store employees here, are the BEST ! Very helpful and courteous. I will give this store 5-stars, but for their new manager, ZERO!