Anyone else feel uncomfortable with some of the sale people in Apple Stores?

i know what you mean. someof them think they now all, quite funny

Gunga Din said:

...I don't know why he even pushed me towards the LED if I couldnt use it...

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He just wanted to sell you the more expensive option. It's like when I was shopping for a car, I specifically mentioned the model I wanted and in the color black. Some dealers tried pushing off other models on me ranging in color from grey to blurple. The guy would have been causing more of a hassle for you and himself by selling you the LED because it didn't even work with your MB

Its not only in the Apple store....its everywhere. Best Buy, Gamestop etc all have employees who think there +1 above you(which isn't a bad thing if you don't know what you're looking for) but I usually put them in their place fast.



Bless

I know what you mean sometimes. A few months ago, my friend's parents asked her to look at 3 of the family's iPods that were experiencing problems. She asked me to go with her when she went to the Apple Store rather than go alone. When we got to the store (Hingham Street Derby Shoppes) she didn't have an appointment (but I didn't think she would need one, it was 30 minutes before closing). We went up to the concierge person (I think that's the person's title) and explained that her family had 3 broken iPods, the lady responded with a really sarcastic and rude comment along the line of, "Are you sure the problem is with the iPods, and not with your idiotic family?" I'm not even sure where she was coming from with that comment, I understand that they might get a little irritated when people walk in without appointments, but one wasn't even necessary that week-night, as there were no other appointments for the night, and we walked right up to the bar.

I wished I made note of the employee's name to write in a complaint, but in the end it didn't matter to me. And it turned out that one iPod had a crashed HD, another with failed-flash memory, and the third just needed a complete restore which the Genius did in about 2 minutes.

This surprised me though, as I have had two other problems with my own iPod and my MacBook that I went to that location to get replaced. This was the first time I have ever encountered anything like this in this Apple Store, or any Apple Store for that matter. My problem with my Mac meant dealing with the store manager and another Apple Genius for more than an hour last year, and they were two of the most helpful, kind, understanding people that I could have asked for with my problem. I was in complete shock when this employee responded with that comment.

My experience with the Apple store staff is that they are extremely condescending and pretentious. They also don't seem to eager to approach you when you need help.

I once stood waiting at the "till" for some help about a refund (faulty MacBook) and three of them stood about 3 meters away from me. I waited, waited, and waited and not one of them approached me. They were too busy talking. I approached them. I'm not the most confident person, but I felt I was interrupting their conversation and that my problem was an inconvenience.

I work in sales - I actually sell electrical goods - washers, TVs, laptops, dryers, refrigerators etc... and we are made to approach customers. We are targeted, but there is no commission. But if three of us were to stand talking while a customer just stood there needing help - we'd get into deep trouble. I also sell the customer what they need to complete their product - I'd never sell stuff they don't need, although I've never felt as if I've been sold stuff I don't need in the Apple Store.

I think the problem is that I've heard that Apple sales staff aren't targeted individually, only as a team, so it's more of a team effort. This makes it too laid back, as "someone else will do all the work".

I have received excellent service from one member of staff in the Apple store - he made buying my MBP a pleasure and a real shopping experience.

GSMiller said:

He just wanted to sell you the more expensive option.

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Gotta have the latest and greatest! Compatibility? Pff!

Other than just plain geekery, I can't think of any other reason why he would push the more expensive option, unless they started receiving commissions in the last few weeks...

2nyRiggz said:

Its not only in the Apple store....its everywhere. Best Buy, Gamestop etc all have employees who think there +1 above you(which isn't a bad thing if you don't know what you're looking for) but I usually put them in their place fast.



Bless

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Haven't had many problems with the Apple Store people, but Best Buy employees are the worst. I bought a Dell laptop at BB, and first they tried to sell me all sorts of Geek Squad garbage. First one was setup. It's a fracking laptop. You take it out of the box, and plug in the power cable. There's nothing to set up. Then they tried to sell all sorts of other GS garbage like software installation. That's when I said "The first thing I'm doing when I get this thing home is wiping the hard drive and installing Ubuntu Linux" and of course he said something along the lines of "Linux doesn't work on these laptops. They come with Windows Vista" so I said "I know what I'm doing, besides, Dell sells these with Ubuntu installed on them, I'm just buying it from you because it's cheaper" and he finally shut up and let me buy the damn thing.

The worst non-retail I've dealt with is Charter's technical "support." Any time I had to call when I had a problem with my internet connection (which was often) they try to talk to me like I'm an idiot and then have me do stupid stuff like reboot the computers and make sure the cables are plugged in. Once they say that, I say "I know what I'm doing and I have a Cisco certification to prove it (which is true, so I'm not even lying). Before I called you to spend my entire night on hold, I checked everything on my end that could possibly be wrong. The problem is on your end, now get someone to fix it." I know it sounds condecending, but someone has to put these people in their place. I'm so glad I don't have Charter anymore.

Gunga Din said:

Do these people feel superior working in an Apple Store or something? After we debated about the new 24" LED and the 20" ACD I finally went with the ACD (which was the right choice since I couldnt have used the LED one with my older MBP). I don't know why he even pushed me towards the LED if I couldnt use it.

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he was trying to make a sale. you have to be forceful with them (well any sales person). I hate the guys at bestbuy they always try to scam my parents.

I remember having a few arguments at an Apple Store when I went to the States last year. It was one just outside Washington D.C. He tried to sell me the old iPod AV cables for my new iPod Touch, which of course would not have worked. Then he argued that I couldn't put more than 3GB of RAM in the Macbook Pro I just purchased. I found it quite entertaining

Anyway, the overall service level of the Apple Stores (and other retail stores in the USA) is simply amazing.

I usually am very happy with the service I get at the Apple store.

A few days ago, we were there to get an 8GB iPhone but to have it setup not on our family plan, but a seperate account. They called AT&T to ask if if would setup on a seperate account even though it was under the same SS#. I knew it would be they weren't sure. AT&T said it would setup under a new account and the phone got setup. They did waste about 10 minutes of our time but they were very nice. This was at Aspen Grove.

Last June, I drove out to the Aspen Grove store in Littleton again to buy a Mac Pro. I was using it for at least 30 minutes before someone finally came over to ask if I had any questions. I know I'm not the type that looks like I would buy a $3000 computer so I thought that was why. When she did come over, I asked a few questions and then left. I didn't feel good about buying it there after waiting 30 minutes.

I went home, ate some lunch and then drove up to the store in Boulder. Walked in and was greeted instantly, told the guy I wanted to buy the Mac Pro and he went back and got one. it was probably the fastest $3000 Mac Pro sale he ever made but I knew what I wanted and just wanted to get out of there. The business sales guy then came over and asked me if I was buying it for a business and I said no, it's just personal. I was out of there in less than five minutes with the computer.

It probably just depends on the day and the people working there and of course, what you are interested in.

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Hey, I know how you feel. Going to the Apple store can be a pleasurable experience. Sometimes it can just be overwhelming.

When I'm in the mall, I always want to go to the Apple store to see the stuff they have. But when I go in there sometimes, I get bombarded with a ton of employees saying, "Hello, may I help you?" it just makes me want to run out of the store!

By I had this really one nice guy once help me about my MacBook Air.

Basically, they are here to help. I think they just think that they have all the knowledge in the world to help people out. I mean, if you have Mac smarts, hell yes it can be annoying hearing things that you know or feeling that you are being outsmarted- but they are just doing their job.

I don't normally go to the Apple store with problems, just to pick something up, so I haven't run into any of the sort. Maybe it's because I'm in Canada? And otherwise, some of the Asian girls who work there are very attractive and fun to talk to. A few in particular.

Yeah. I have no complaints.

I've been to about a dozen different Stores throughout the US, and the experience (from a salesperson/Concierge/Genius perspective) has been generally quite positive. Granted, they may feel like not smarting off to someone that reminds them of their father , but still, the most annoying thing is when I'm done with the transaction and they want to continue to "bond" with me over the Macs & such.

I've never been brushed off or condescended to, but that doesn't mean it can't or doesn't happen. Folks are folks, and just because they work in an Apple Store doesn't mean that the occasional twunt won't be working there.

Generally my Apple Store experiences have been positive. Usually when I walk into an Apple Store I'm greeted and asked if there's anything I need help with or if I have any questions, which seems normal, but since I'm 16, it's always nice when I'm actually greeted like a customer and not just a "stupid kid." However, I had one bad experience at the Boylston Street Apple Store in Boston. My iPhone earphones weren't working, and I had to see a Genius. He probably had one of the most condescending tones I've ever heard, and treated me like a liar because "he couldn't hear the issue" (yes, he put the earphones in his ears). I talked to the general manager though, so it ended up being okay.

I've had problems with them constantly asking me if I need help.

Every type of Mac I looked at, they asked if I needed help!

I was about to say; look, I bet I know more about these then you do.

Gunga Din said:

I went in the other day and asked questions about the new LED 24" and ACD 20" and the guy made me feel like he was a MAC GOD and I was some newbie.

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My experience has been that they are trained to treat everyone as though the customer is new to the world of Mac. How they come off is exactly as you said.

Gunga Din said:

Do these people feel superior working in an Apple Store or something?

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Yes, they do. They had to work hard to get that job and it must be increasingly difficult to actually work in a store where you have zero clue about half the product lineup. I mean, if I had to answer questions about products I did not know about all day I too would turn that lack of understanding into aggression.

But really, people who work in the Apple stores seem to think that it is somehow not just another retail job.

Gunga Din said:

After we debated about the new 24" LED and the 20" ACD I finally went with the ACD (which was the right choice since I couldnt have used the LED one with my older MBP). I don't know why he even pushed me towards the LED if I couldnt use it.

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I am still totally lost on the idea that the LED cannot be used with an older MB or MBP. However, either you did not point out enough or he simply did not care to listen, that you did not have a newer machine.

Gunga Din said:

Then as he was heading to the stock room I swear he said something to another sales person and the guy gave a small smirk and laugh. I wonder if he said something insulting about me , like i'm an idiot for buying older ACD etc.

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Most likely he said nothing about you and your paranoia got in the way. You bought something, that is all there is to it. When I picked up my Air I waited 20 minutes for them to send some twunt out to me. This kid wanted to discuss my hobbies, what I was doing that day, etc etc. Finally, I had to inform him that I would gladly discuss everything with him if he would just walk to the back, get me that Air (that was very much delayed by Apple), and then we can have breakfast or coffee and I would discuss my entire life with him ... so long as he came back with an Air. I wasn't angry or sarcastic, I was simply trying to point out that the item I wanted was in huge demand and I'll be dammed if I travel as far as I did in serious rain to get there and be shafted because the kid wanted to discuss my life's events and sell me on MobileMe.

On his way back he did something similar. I shrugged it off simply because I am not sure I care what some teenager thinks of me. I rule with my credit card in that store. They don't have to like me because I'm not really going to like them.

Gunga Din said:

I don't know, it just felt weird. Two other times I felt the same way. I'm a new MAC owner (since March 2008), but jeez I know electronics and what i'm looking at most of the time.

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It does not matter what you know or do not know. And don't let yourself get worked up over the possibility that someone just said something about you. I mean, does it really matter what some retail jockey thinks about you?

Gunga Din said:

Thats also what happened to me. I stood there for 5 mins before interrupting a group talking to each other.

I've bought alot of electronics through the years at various places, but only at this Apple Store did I feel like I was being spoken down to lol.

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On Friday I bought a new aluminium MacBook, I tried to make eye-contact with a member of staff so they would approach me. It never worked, so I simply approached the greeter (a guy standing welcoming people into the store). I asked if he could help me as I was interested in buying a computer. He was very helpful and friendly and it did not seem to be any trouble at all.

I just wish though that they would approach you as it can be very frustrating trying to get a hold of someone.