Apple Store Not Suited for Technical Consumers?

The customer service issues presented here are actually an easy fix; regardless of how busy the store is, just dedicate one or two blue shirts to checkout duties. All they need do is service people with goods in-hand through the checkout process.

OJ Simpson said:

Ya Apple stores suck you're better off going to Microcenter or BB. Somebody needs to explain to Apple store employees that working at an Apple store isn't the equivelent of being a DR or lawyer. For having such a crappy low paying job these people are quite arrogant. I'm sure that's one of the ways Apple gets these people to work for such a small salary is by inflating their ego and making the job seem much better than it really is.

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You have self-esteem issues.

drathbun said:

The customer service issues presented here are actually an easy fix; regardless of how busy the store is, just dedicate one or two blue shirts to checkout duties. All they need do is service people with goods in-hand through the checkout process.

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What happens then is that people believe they must line-up to checkout and that's the anti-thesis of what the Easypay model is. The reality is retail stores are no different than many other items that depend on supply/demand. Every store gets overwhelmed with customers at some point. If the answer was easy to fix there'd be no need for high paid executives to manage retail operations.

nuckinfutz said:

You have self-esteem issues.

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Not really. I once asked an emplyee about a job at an Apple store. She laughed in my face and told me I'd have a better chance of getting accepted into an ivy league school than working at an Apple store.

There's definitely a lot of ego inflating at the stores.

I have had nothing but outstanding service at my local Apple Store.

thejadedmonkey said:

Not really. I once asked an emplyee about a job at an Apple store. She laughed in my face and told me I'd have a better chance of getting accepted into an ivy league school than working at an Apple store.

There's definitely a lot of ego inflating at the stores.

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Pure mythology. The reason why Apple Stores are hard to get employed at is because the bar for entry (with regard to technical knowledge) is so low it creates a very large pool.

I would counter that an Ivy League degree potentially pays a lot more than a Specialist position so why are they making their lives more difficult?

I find the whole retail experience patronising with Apple.

Whenever I walk into an Apple Store, I know exactly what I want. I've done my research, and I'm ready to purchase. However, the sales rep still wants to hear my reasons for using the machine. I just tell him that my uses are why I'm choosing this specific machine, and I just want to purchase and get on my way.

I used to buy a new Mac once a year (with student discount and resale value, I was almost breaking even by upgrading yearly). So I've bought 5 MacBook Pros in the past 5 years.

Every year, I'd go in, and the sales rep were really not expecting me to know exactly what I wanted and that I wanted to buy it right now, with no sales blabber about printers and other crap.

Having worked in retail, if I get a customer who is firm, but polite about what they want, I'm more than happy. So I'm firm but polite about a quick painless purchase and the sales reps have always accommodated.

nuckinfutz said:

Pure mythology. The reason why Apple Stores are hard to get employed at is because the bar for entry (with regard to technical knowledge) is so low it creates a very large pool.

I would counter that an Ivy League degree potentially pays a lot more than a Specialist position so why are they making their lives more difficult?

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Oh I completely agree. But when you have an employee with a low IQ and simply tell her "There's more people who apply to Apple than to an Ivy League, somehow that equates to them having a higher IQ too.

Apple Corps said:

Wow - you guys appear to have a lot of free time on your hands to drone on about a retail experience.

I've had good experiences and some not so good at Apple retail.

Maybe you guys are not suited for Apple Retail Stores

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There's no need to be obnoxious. Contribute to the thread or don't post at all.

I actually wanted to buy Thunderbolt Display. After waiting I pulled my iPhone out and ordered it online to be deliverd to that store while in the store. Had to wait another hour to get it though.

The experience at an Apple store has been terrible since the iPods became popular. It is good for people that don't buy anything.

nuckinfutz said:

You have self-esteem issues.

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Eh? How did you work that bizarre conclusion out? If your experience has been different or you disagree, doesn't mean the poster in question has self esteem issues. Are you 12 or something?

Apple Corps said:

Wow - you guys appear to have a lot of free time on your hands to drone on about a retail experience.

I've had good experiences and some not so good at Apple retail.

Maybe you guys are not suited for Apple Retail Stores

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wikus said:

There's no need to be obnoxious. Contribute to the thread or don't post at all.

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Got any mirrors in your place? Look in one and then lighten up!

I've only been in an Apple retail store one time, to wait on line during launch day of iPhone in 2007. It was a lot of fun. Everyone in the mall seemed to be carrying an iPhone bag out of there, and everyone was smiling or laughing. Except for the poor dudes in a Verizon kiosk not too far from the Apple store. They were not having a great day, that's for sure.

why would anyone go to the retails stores except for support or to browse?

You can buy any apple product online adn get it shipped to you. I love the retail stores, adn visit them frequently, but it's for the experience. I tend to buy stuff online.

roadbloc said:

Eh? How did you work that bizarre conclusion out? If your experience has been different or you disagree, doesn't mean the poster in question has self esteem issues. Are you 12 or something?

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You're right. I'm not a counselor so I don't have the necessary training to diagnose that poster.

I'll be 12 next summer

I think it depends on who is running the individual store that's responsible for crappy service more than Apple. When we lived in Greenville, SC the Apple store there was just great. I never had to wait. People were well informed & the experiences there were all positive. We bought a 2010 iMac, 1st & 2nd generation iPads and a Macbook from that store.

We move to Jacksonville, Fl and it's a completely different world. The people who wait on you are nice buy VERY uninformed. Regarding the Mac Mini refresh they had no clue what was going on 2 days after the new line was announced. The Genius folks were pretty off the wall rude to us regarding a Macbook repair a few months ago.

I hope our experience at the Jacksonville Apple store is not the norm, cuz if it is then look out. Apples can start rotting from anywhere & the next thing you know its all ruined...

nuckinfutz said:

You're right. I'm not a counselor so I don't have the necessary training to diagnose that poster.

I'll be 12 next summer

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Okay. But I still don't see how stating that Apple staff are morally arrogant has anything to do with self-esteem issues. Do you usually diagnose your patents over forum?

I want to add a somewhat similar story-except that mine was a blatant lie to a customer that Apple claims to pride itself on helping.

My parents were trying to buy an iPod as a gift for a family member. The problem was that they were leaving in between the release of the new ipods/iPhone. Basically what happened was that the blueshirt tried to tell us that they may have some of the new ipods available on iPhone launch day. He couldn't say which ones or how many, or if we would have to wait in line with the rest of the hoards. Of course this would not and did not happen. My parents were eventually able to get one from what must have been on of the last shipments to that store.


For the record, this is the main store on University Avenue in Palo Alto, CA. This is the same store that Steve himself had been to on numerous occasions during various product launches. I then went to a store in San Francisco and when I told them the BS I got in Palo Alto, they weren't that surprised.

I understand mgm4g5, the author of the opening post, perfectly. I had similar experiences, more then once. The big problem with the Apple stores is that all stores run with a specific lay-out protocol for the employees to follow.
When I enter 'my' Apple store for example, which is based in Amsterdam the Netherlands and is considered to be one of the largest Apple stores in the world, I noticing the same experiences user 'mgm4g5' had written down. A room filled with blue dressed up smurfs scattering around randomly like rejected Scud missiles in search for new potential buyers.

I must state that I like the fact the Apple stores have lot's of employees running around so you, as a potential buyer, won't have to wait that long before some salesperson will gentle tap your shoulder. But this often also results in hilarious situations. When I visit Glasgow I noticed more blue-ish salesmen then there where customers. Big as a company doesn't mean it's big in every single town.

But back to the subject...

The thing is, to come to the point here, serving your customers comes also with recognize when you've someone in front of you who is not willing to have a friendly conversation but would just like to buy a product. I went to the store with a friend of mine who wanted to buy a brand new iMac and asked me to help him buying the right product for him. Since I'm working on Macs, long before Steve Jobs got 'fired' and came back to office, I already knew what he needed. It took me at least 20 minutes, if not longer, to convince the apple employee that I was not interested in Steve Jobs biography and also not interested in constantly nodding 'yes' that it was a good thing we decided to buy an Apple product. Maybe it's because I'm Dutch, people often state Dutch folks are blunt and direct, but in this context I rather would state that the salesmen was behaving badly by not recognizing the fact we where not in the Apple store to hear out all the great stories about Apple products but where actually there to buy something. It's just crazy you, as a customer, need to explain for over 20 minutes that you're there to buy and that any explanation is not needed since we all-ready figured out everything.

The technical know-how of the employees is quite low as well, I went to the Genius bar with my Mac Pro because I had some technical difficulty addressing the App Store. And since my home is close to the Apple store in Amsterdam I thought I might as well visit the store so I wouldn't waste any time googling for some solution. Four (!) employees at the genius bar couldn't fix the issue. I managed to fix the problem myself after some googling myself when I was back home.

No, the Apple stores are wonderful to walk around in. The store in Amsterdam looks amazing and the staff is friendly, but it's mainly for people who don't have a clue what Apple products can do and have to learn from the start. To sum it all up:

The Apple store plusses and minus:

+ good for people that are about to buy a Apple product for the first time
+ for getting answers to the most basic questions about Apple products
+ good for those who want to learn how to edit in baby steps courses
+ for being able to watch a new product hardware for yourself before buying it
+ for those who have never 'experienced' walking in an official Apple store, the stores looks amazing

- not very good for those people that already know what they want
- not for Apple customers who have a technical issue that's not very common

And it just takes one minus to ruin your day.

I visited two Apple stores one in Kansas city, it was a sickly cloying experience the other here in Sindelfingen, Germany. The German store was more pleasant but I had to help the blue person find the video card for my MP on her phone. All in all I'll take online shopping..

I have only ever made one purchase from an Apple retail outlet...A Magic Mouse. All other transactions are conducted via my Apple representative. She's smart, knows what I want, and what I do, and never tries to up-sell me on anything. The stores might be okay for a peek at a product you are planning on buying, but as for walking in and getting exactly what I wanted? I doubt it.

It must depend on the particular Apple store, the one i go to is not bad. When i purchased my MBA i told them what specs i wanted and they got the box from out the back for me and had me out the door in no time at all, they did offer to show me how to use it but once i explained i knew what i was doing they were happy to just let me check out.

dragje said:

- not very good for those people that already know what they want.

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IMO, Apple offers two tools that help customers that already know what they want. Doesn't look like the first one is available in your country yet, .. hopefully they expand to it soon!

1 - You can place an order for a product online (either through your computer or iOS device) and pick it up at the store shortly thereafter.

2 - For items that are "readily available" in the store (sitting on a shelf/hanging from the wall), you can use the iOS app to pay for them yourself, without having to find/involve an employee.

aristobrat said:

IMO, Apple offers two tools that help customers that already know what they want. Doesn't look like the first one is available in your country yet, .. hopefully they expand to it soon!

1 - You can place an order for a product online (either through your computer or iOS device) and pick it up at the store shortly thereafter.

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This is possible here as well, but I think it should be possible to make an easy approch to a salesmen in order to pay for a product in cases you passing the shop and think about buying something that very moment.

2 - For items that are "readily available" in the store (sitting on a shelf/hanging from the wall), you can use the iOS app to pay for them yourself, without having to find/involve an employee.

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Not sure this is possible in Amsterdam, might be the case. I'll have a look on this, but still, answer on point one remains valid I think...