Apple’s Genius Bar in the retail stores started out as a good idea. However, after a woeful tale with an iPhone problem, maybe the Genius Bar needs to go back to the drawing board, according to an iPhone owner at Some Have Hats. A liquor license might have helped too.

It all started when a woman’s iPhone, given to her for her birthday by her husband, stopped ringing. "People were still calling me and if I happened to be staring at the phone at the exact time that they called me, there was no problem. But, as much as I love my iPhone, I’ve gotten over the phase where I just sat and stared at it, so I was missing a lot of calls," the author wrote.

A trip to the local Genius Bar ensued where the iPhone owner waited and waited for someone to figure out the problem. Every time she asked a question of the Genius, he seemed to ignore her.

Suggestions of resetting the iPhone followed. The customer, sensing she was being sent on her way, politely insisted that the Genius do that.

Resetting/reinstalling did not fix the problem.

After fiddling with the iPhone, changing the settings, the Genius gave the iPhone back to the customer and claimed it was fixed. The owner replied, " ’You just dialed it and it didn’t ring.’ He said, ’Yeah, but now it vibrates.’"

The owner pleaded, "I don’t want it to vibrate, I want it to actually ring."

She had to come back the next day when another Genius explained that there was clearly something very complicated and wrong with the iPhone. So the woman, husband by her side, demanded to see a manager.

"The manager took one look at my phone and said ’You see this little switch here? That’s how you silence the ring without going into the settings.’ He flipped the little switch, and my phone was cured."

The author concluded, in part, "Here’s the larger point: the Genius Bar is an idea whose time has come and gone.... Or, as I said in the title, they could solve the entire mess without such drastic measures. Cocktail peanuts and a beverage menu would go a long way. Designer drinks with cute names. Like the ’Shoulda Boughta Dell’ martini."