I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we had an appointment at Apple’s Covent Garden store today. This is because Tigger’s iPhone needs attention.

Tigger’s iPhone 8 has been suffering from battery problems, as did mine, though for far longer. It is only recently, however, that these problems – rapid loss of power and failure to hold a full charge – have become urgent enough to need correction. Batteries are of course the weak part of all electronic gadgets, especially of mobile phones, which we use intensively and keep recharging. Using a phone as your camera is arguably the best way to ruin the battery!

On Wednesday evening, therefore, we made contact with Apple via chat. The conversation followed the pattern of mine as described in Battery failure, except that Tigger didn’t lose contact as I did and everything proceeded smoothly. Having run the analytics test, the technician agreed that the battery needed replacing and made an appointment at the Apple store for 1:30pm today.

I shall accompany Tigger but I don’t know whether they will admit me to the store as well, as they are limiting the number of people present on the premises. If not, I will find somewhere to wait in Covent Garden until Tigger reappears.

Catching the bus

We set out at noon, catching a number 19 bus which took us to Covent Garden.

Neal Street

We walked up Neal Street which was decorated with coloured hangings.

The Piazza

When we reached the Piazza, it was still too early to go to the Apple store, so we thought about grabbing a quick lunch.

North Hall

We walked through the market building (above is what is called the North Hall).

Orée, Wellington Street

We spotted this place, called Orée, with a sign over the door reading “Sandwiches”. As we didn’t have a lot of time, a sandwich lunch seemed a good bet.

We bought two salad and halloumi rolls, a cup of tea and a cup of coffee. The rolls were the small round ones. The filling was plentiful with two good strips of halloumi but, even so, I was not expecting the price: £15.50. Someone’s taking the p***.

We waited until nearly 1:30 and then made our way to Apple. We went through the now familiar routine: taking of our temperature and delivering a dollop of cleansing foam onto our hands. We were told that I could wait in the queue with Tigger but not go into the store with her. I was expecting this.

In the queue

We joined the “queue”, which isn’t really a queue because you go into the store when you are called by name, not when you reach the head of the queue.

Inside the Apple store

When Tigger was called, the person who called her very kindly allowed me to go into the store as well and sit in the waiting area. On the right in the above picture is the spiral staircase that I referred to in my previous posts, ironically, as “the staircase to heaven”. Tigger disappeared up this.

The waiting area

I sat and watched the activity going on around me, trying to guess what the various customers had come for, or what those in the waiting area with me were waiting for.

Tigger reappeared much sooner than I expected and told me that her phone would be ready for 2:35. As it was rather warm in the store, we decided to go for a walk until collection time.

King Street

We passed by King Street (above) and made our way to St Paul’s Church.

St Paul’s Church

In front of the church is a pleasant garden which was presumably the churchyard until it was closed to burials and later landscaped. We chose a bench and would have stayed there but for the fact that it started raining.

Interior, St Paul’s

The church was open and so we did the sensible thing and went inside.

St Paul’s was designed by Inigo Jones and built in 1633. It is now a Grade I listed building.

We sat at the back (note the yellow adhesive tape closing off some rows of seats for the purpose of social distancing) where we had a good view of the church but also took a quick walk around before leaving.

When I had collected my own phone which Apple had taken in for repair, I had been kept waiting a long time. I warned Tigger of this though I really didn’t expect lightning to strike twice in the same place. Oh, but it did!

At first, they had trouble finding Tigger in their list and then they told us that there were delays. In my case, I had been left standing during a long wait but today they did at least usher us into the waiting area where we could sit.

Then we waited. The “delay” proved to be an hour long and Tigger was finally summoned to collect her phone at 3:35. At last we were free to go.

Garden façade

As we left Covent Garden, I photographed this building with a plant bedecked façade. I’m sure there’s a technical name for this but I don’t know what it is.

Tigger remarked, and I agreed, that waiting around is tiring, especially when you don’t know how long you will have to wait. We made for the bus stop without more ado.

Jusaka

We did stop off before going home. No prizes for guessing where!

While I would compliment Apple on the courtesy and attention we received from the staff who dealt with us, I have to wonder about all the waiting around that we endured. If it had happened only to me or only to Tigger, I would have put it down to a hiccup in the system but, since it happened to both of us and on separate occasions, it seems to be more than that. Perhaps they are understaffed or are taking on more work than they can deal with in a timely fashion or perhaps the organisational changes necessitated by Covid-19 have distorted the smooth running. Whatever the reason, it needs attention.

As for us, we now have our phones in good working order again. Let’s hope it’s a long time before we have to go through this rigmarole again!