Everyone knows we're about 20 years away before Apple dominates the world, owning entire nations much like the East India Trading Company once did. But before we reach that day and become slaves to the machines, we hope and pray at least for good customer service from the multi-billion dollar company.

Unfortunately, this was not the case for Mel Loi, a former Apple fan. Her troubles all began when she downloaded the new iOS 11 update.

"After I excitedly updated to iOS 11, my phone went blank after I keyed in my iCloud password. I waited 15 minutes and still nothing happened. So I called Apple Tech Support, spent an hour on the phone, and a half hour on the phone the next day but to no avail, so he asked me to have my phone checked out at the Apple Store."

Mel's troubles begin

A familiar experience for most Apple fans, if you're unlucky enough to face a problem, the Geniuses at the Apple Store could surely help you out. But here's what she encountered:

"At the official Apple Orchard Road Store...the Apple Genius staff immediately told me, without checking, that I needed a total phone replacement, and I was shocked. After I questioned him further, he then proceeded to test my phone with his Macbook, and the test for current was positive, and asked if I wanted to try to change the screen on my phone for $200."

Loi said she felt uncomfortable, because after all it was the iOS update from Apple itself that caused the problem in the first place. But she bit the bullet and agreed, considering S$200 a relatively small price to pay to get her phone back.

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She went for a walk around the block while the Geniuses worked on it and came back. But her troubles weren't over:

"(The Genius) told me I need a total phone replacement, and couldn’t pinpoint what is wrong specifically - they just kept using vague terms like “it could be the logic board” and when I told them that my phone was functioning well (I could use bluetooth, wifi, make calls and everything!), they told me that my phone is older than a year old so it might be my fault due to constant dropping and what not instead of the update’s fault.

The worse part was, they said to me that they couldn’t be sure whether my phone went dead because of the iOS 11 update or these reasons like dropping."

But that wasn't the worst part. After acknowledging that the problem could be caused by the update, Mel was told that she would have to pay S$448 for a replacement phone instead.

For those keeping score, that's an almost 150 percent jump in the first service fee quoted.

Less than helpful customer service

Loi then spent a frustrating time being shuttled back and forth between the Apple Store and Apple Tech Support, who even advised her to get a second opinion from another Apple service provider.

She compared the poor service she received to other companies like Amazon and Fitbit, who shipped her replacement products when hers broke down and even took care of the shipping costs.

As of Oct. 3, Loi has not updated her post to say if Apple had indeed found a solution, or whether paying nearly S$450 for a problem caused by their official update was the only option left. You can see her Facebook post in full below.

Worldwide phenomenon

Loi is not the only Apple customer to have experienced problems with the update. According to this Forbes article, both the iOS 11 and the iOS 11.0.1 updates are fraught with problems, including:

• Battery life reduction (unfixed from iOS 11)
• App crashes (particularly Apple Music, including lost libraries)
• Lock screen freezes
• Bluetooth and WiFi connections dropping
• Overall system instability

The Apple subreddit and the official @applesupport Twitter accounts have been swamped with complaints, while other people have shared their own disappointing experiences on Loi's Facebook post.

It seems strange that a company with the vast resources such as Apple couldn't help a loyal customer to fix a problem that was caused by one of their official updates. Also the service she received, being shuttled back and forth between two reps who are clearly unsure of what to do, must have been really frustrating.

Apple recently released an iOS 11.0.2 update, but there's no word on whether it definitively solves the problems caused by the iOS 11 update.

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Top image via Mel Loi's Facebook page.