Apple Makes Changes to 'One to One' Program

Seems to be a pretty impressive service for those new to the Mac platform.

As the AppleInsider articles on this topic state, this change, despite seeming limiting, was probably forced on Apple by the increasing popularity of the program. Look on the bright side - the people who need it most will now benefit more from it.

wrldwzrd89 said:

As the AppleInsider articles on this topic state, this change, despite seeming limiting, was probably forced on Apple by the increasing popularity of the program. Look on the bright side - the people who need it most will now benefit more from it.

Click to expand...

So, the ones who need it most are the people purchasing only from Apple?

why do you have to buy the mac from them? Personally setting up a mac is fun I love doing it!

Yeah, this is actually a big reduction in the service, but the response from the public was overwhelming, and Apple couldn't keep up.

It used to be a part of ProCare before the popularity made it split into ProCare (express instore Genius Bar service and faster repair turnaround) and 1-to-1. Now, 1-to-1 is even getting too big for Apple to contain it in the stores.

Bad news for some, but indicative of good news for Apple.

From the AI article mentioned above:

The new One-to-One will bundle personal setup and data transfer services that were previously part of Apple's complimentary "Standard Care" treatment for each new Mac buyer.

Click to expand...

Again, I fail to see how this would be a benefit to anyone.

I figured at some point this would happen. One to One just isn't fair to people because of how impossible booking appointments can be at times, and also finding a Creative to cater to your specific needs.

Horrible News

This is a horrible change of policy. You can only order it at time of purchase? So if I decide I want or need to learn more after I've gotten used to my Mac for a month, or a year, I'm out of luck? What if I suddenly decide I need to use Pages because Word has failed me once again? No help. Or Garage Band because my kid has taken up an instrument? Or iMovie because I got a digital camcorder? This is an absolutely idiotic change in policy. Idiotic.

If it's a matter of the program being too popular, then charge new buyers the $99 and charge others $129 or something. Who shuts off a program because too many people like it. Did you want them to hate it?

If it's costing you money, raise the price to a rate you can make money at. Or charge by session after the first year. Or use whatever pricing scheme the geniuses at marketing and finance come up with.

But don't tell your loyal customers, "Sorry, sucks to be you, but you aren't new enough for us to care about anymore, and besides, you should have had the foresight to sign up when you first bought from us because you surely had an extra $99 lying around after buying your new computer at our store."

This is a decision left over from the Gil Amelio days. Oh Apple, Apple, Apple! Someone in customer relations needs a refresher course. What chapter covers taking away popular programs from your customers again? The one on Alienating Your Clients?

Airforcekid said:

why do you have to buy the mac from them? Personally setting up a mac is fun I love doing it!

Click to expand...

Well not everyone who buys a Mac knows how to transfer all of their stuff and set everything up. Everytime I walk into an Apple Store and I see those who are getting 1 to 1 help, it's always "older" people (30+ usually)

I think its best in the long run for people to learn how to set up their new computers and transfer data. Apple has made that step quite easy anyway.

Wow, seriously? Doesn't "One to One" imply... one to one service? Not a "small group setting"?

Sorry, just had to point that out.

tobefirst said:

From the AI article mentioned above:


Again, I fail to see how this would be a benefit to anyone.

Click to expand...

It will benefit the people who bought their computers from Apple. Apple makes far more money from those sales than from sales through their partners, so Apple gives them preference. Capitalism

Ughh

That sucks. Ever since Steve has been off, Apple has been going down the drain. Well, so long macmall, i have to go spend an extra 500 bucks just to be ELIGIBLE for one to one and procare.

While not feeling as strongly, I tend to agree with TorontoAllan for the most part. Why get rid of something, or decrease the impact/value/reach of something because it is too successful? That would be a lovely problem to have.

It makes me wonder if Apple ever intended this service to be worth it at all. Maybe they thought, much like with AppleCare, that most of the time, the people who bought it wouldn't even use it, making it pure profit for them. Unless I'm missing something, the only reason to limit this program is because Apple is now losing money on each One-to-One sold. If they were making money, there would be several other ways to address the other problems (not being able to get an appointment, etc.).

TorontoAllan said:

This is a horrible change of policy. You can only order it at time of purchase? So if I decide I want or need to learn more after I've gotten used to my Mac for a month, or a year, I'm out of luck? What if I suddenly decide I need to use Pages because Word has failed me once again? No help. Or Garage Band because my kid has taken up an instrument? Or iMovie because I got a digital camcorder? This is an absolutely idiotic change in policy. Idiotic.

If it's a matter of the program being too popular, then charge new buyers the $99 and charge others $129 or something. Who shuts off a program because too many people like it. Did you want them to hate it?

If it's costing you money, raise the price to a rate you can make money at. Or charge by session after the first year. Or use whatever pricing scheme the geniuses at marketing and finance come up with.

But don't tell your loyal customers, "Sorry, sucks to be you, but you aren't new enough for us to care about anymore, and besides, you should have had the foresight to sign up when you first bought from us because you surely had an extra $99 lying around after buying your new computer at our store."

This is a decision left over from the Gil Amelio days. Oh Apple, Apple, Apple! Someone in customer relations needs a refresher course. What chapter covers taking away popular programs from your customers again? The one on Alienating Your Clients?

Click to expand...

Seriously, you act as if it is the end of the world. Get a grip. Sure it may suck, but it's not like you are going to die because Apple changed their One to One policy.

Don

TorontoAllan said:

This is a horrible change of policy. You can only order it at time of purchase? So if I decide I want or need to learn more after I've gotten used to my Mac for a month, or a year, I'm out of luck? What if I suddenly decide I need to use Pages because Word has failed me once again? No help. Or Garage Band because my kid has taken up an instrument? Or iMovie because I got a digital camcorder? This is an absolutely idiotic change in policy. Idiotic.

If it's a matter of the program being too popular, then charge new buyers the $99 and charge others $129 or something. Who shuts off a program because too many people like it. Did you want them to hate it?

If it's costing you money, raise the price to a rate you can make money at. Or charge by session after the first year. Or use whatever pricing scheme the geniuses at marketing and finance come up with.

But don't tell your loyal customers, "Sorry, sucks to be you, but you aren't new enough for us to care about anymore, and besides, you should have had the foresight to sign up when you first bought from us because you surely had an extra $99 lying around after buying your new computer at our store."

This is a decision left over from the Gil Amelio days. Oh Apple, Apple, Apple! Someone in customer relations needs a refresher course. What chapter covers taking away popular programs from your customers again? The one on Alienating Your Clients?

Click to expand...

I totally agree with you. Sheeeeez, who the heck shuts down/limits a service because it's popular?! Does the phone company? What about the Geek Squad? Wait a sec, what about lawn-care service people? Apple couldn't hire 1-2 more people per store? Apple couldn't raise the prices? Apple couldn't "give a discount" and offer it at $99 at time of purchase and
"full price" $129 afterward? Apple couldn't simply restrict the program's timeframe or level of service (only good for first 6 months or we only do A, B, and C now instead of A,B,C,D, and E.)

Apple is alienating those who:

1)didn't buy it directly from Apple...as if the machine is somehow tainted and the users weren't "loyal" to give Apple the extra $4.00 by "buying direct"

2)receive the Mac as a gift and hence need the service. Dear old dad didn't know that Jr. had no clue how to transfer all the data...so Jr. gets the shaft?

3)buy a Mac and realize they need some help because gosh golly, 7% of Americans own a Mac and nobody THAT THEY KNOW OF in their town/district/city has a Mac to offer advice (free or pay). Apple's marketshare speaks for itself so don't reply back stating every consumer knows hundreds of Mac folks in your town.


What a horrible slap in the face...this just wreaks of "Apple is too good for you. So we shut off the non-loyal". I can't even describe in text how snobbish this press release is.

-Eric

Personally, I think this stinks. I've been toying with the idea of doing 1:1 since I got my first mac (a mac pro) back in September 2006 but just haven't gotten around to it largely because I have a MP and I like the idea of being able to bring in your computer and work on it as opposed to a training machine they have in the store. So, I recently bought a MBP (in April) at Best Buy for my business mainly because I could get 18 month interest free financing. It renewed my interest in 1:1 since I have a mobile computer but under this new policy, I'm locked out both because of where I got the machine and because I didn't buy 1:1 at the time of purchase.

I wonder if this policy is only for purchases of new Macs going forward or if it's retroactive? Anyone know?

Dmac77 said:

Seriously, you act as if it is the end of the world. Get a grip. Sure it may suck, but it's not like you are going to die because Apple changed their One to One policy.

Don

Click to expand...

Dmac77, you've been around the forums awhile. You should know there are PLENTY of people who live and die with each product release, each software update, each expert opinion. How is this different? d-:

iPhoneNYC said:

I think its best in the long run for people to learn how to set up their new computers and transfer data. Apple has made that step quite easy anyway.

Click to expand...

There are 2 different points that you are glossing over:

1)transferring your data from the same computer-architecture to another (Mac to Mac or PC to PC)

2)transferring your data from a different computer-architecture to another (Mac to PC or Linux)


Either way, I've been in the computer field since the late 70's with personal computers and I can tell you from experience, that point #1 above has been difficult for the non-techies (that's about 80% of the computer population these days) since the dawn of "personal computers"...point #2 above is even harder.

There is ALWAYS going to be a need for this type of service regardless if it is #1 or #2...whether or not the service is provided by your kid, a store, the manufacturer (this case Apple), Joe The Computer Guy.

Just like everyone doesn't know how to setup/move/migrate stereo/tv equipment, computer data transfer is going to be difficult for a lot of owners.

I agree that people should learn how to transfer simple data (your pics, music) but what about the more complex stuff like setting up your new computer to mimick your old one...confirming all the software was transferred...any non-standard hidden data like tax data (gotta love TurboTax). Not everyone is an idiot. A lot of people think they got all their "data" until after a day or 2 of using the new computer and realize "data" is missing.

-Eric

tobefirst said:

While not feeling as strongly, I tend to agree with TorontoAllan for the most part. Why get rid of something, or decrease the impact/value/reach of something because it is too successful? That would be a lovely problem to have.

Click to expand...

ericinboston said:

Apple couldn't hire 1-2 more people per store?

Click to expand...

IMO, the One to One program doesn't physically scale.

Most One-to-One customers can only do their sessions "after work", which means either on weekends, or after 5PM on weekdays. So what happens is that you have a huge amount of customers trying to reserve a relatively few amount of training sessions. End result is that many One-to-One customers feel that they wasted their money on the program, as they're lucky if they can get one session a month.

As for the physically scaling part, ... the Apple Store near me was good about promoting more employees into Creatives as the customer demand grew, but it's to the point now that on weekends, they're doing so many simultaneous One-to-One sessions that they're forced to use computers on the sales floor (because all of the spots at the Creative Table are filled). They'll even use the handicapped-accessible table that pulls out from the Genius Bar to do sessions some days. They're out of physical space.

They could easily have the staff to do 50 simultaneous One-to-One sessions. There's just no room to do it.

Anyhow, it's crazy. I think the overall idea of the service is great, but if you can't get a session, or if your session is going to be on the sales floor (where it's so distractingly busy and noisy), it doesn't live up to Apple's promise.

Fathers day gift

I helped my 74 year old dad buy an iMac 24" 3 weeks ago - via AppleStore online, and just last week after talking it over with my 4 brothers/sisters we decided to buy him a One-to-One card fora Fathers day gift.

Glad I did that last week, I would have really-really been p*ssed off if I did not and went into the Apple store in Novi, MI and they advised me this policy change.

My dad's case is perfect reason for the success of the One-to-One program.
A WinTel lifetime user who's now switching.
Actually my father in-law got his first Mac in Jan-2009 and got the One-to-One program, told me he loves it, so that cemented the thought in my mind.

Good point, aristobrat. Overhead would be one thing that would effectively limit the scale of this program. You can add employees relatively easily. Square footage you cannot.

neverbuyapc said:

Well, so long macmall, i have to go spend an extra 500 bucks just to be ELIGIBLE for one to one and procare.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Apple Retail will price match most competitors discounts, up to 10% of the price. (i.e. they'd match MacMall's $200 off a $1999 MBP)

Hm, other sites reporting that news did mention that "date of purchase" actually means 14 days (during the return period). That should normally cover those receiving a Mac as a present.

I do understand that Apple had to do something, selling a service and then having not enough slots for appointments is not desirable. Hiring qualified people only working 2-3 peak hours per day might be difficult too. They certainly did the calculations and figured that the price would be prohibitive. People buying elsewhere are Apple customers, but not Apple Store customers... so, this was an obvious line of distinction. Not saying I like it, but I think interpreting it as an insult or an anti-customer statement goes to far.