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And this is why i order online

H

h00ligan

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 10, 2003
3,046
147
London
Man, Apple really doesn't want me to have one of these machines. RIDICULOUS at the apple store today

It was quite busy. A blue shirt was standing around not doing much - we asked 'Are you with someone or busy' to which he replied, no.

"We'd like to buy a 13" mbp"
oh well in that case, I'll have to add you to the queue
err.. ok

we waited nearly an hour, nobody came to sell us a machine. Absolutely ridiculous.

Meanwhile there were 2 'classes' being given, and another blue shirt had been answering the same guys questions for that entire hour... prepurchase questions. normal weekend.. nothing launching or special.. busy but not busy enough to warrant that. were using education discount, so best buy was out afaik...

I get the personalized service but Apple really has to have some people just dedicated to checking us out if they aren't going to have a 'real checkout'
 
I always order online but thats cause there is no Apple store in New Zealand. I did however get my iPad from the Sydney store and I agree there is qutie a bit of unnesseary chatting about how my day has been when I just wanted to do a grab pay and go. Althought I didn't mind too much cause the store was beautiful and the chick who served me was quite cute, but I ended up trying to sell her more Apple stuff than she did to me ;)
 
I was at the Palm Beach Gardens location Saturday and I saw this younger guy walk out and leave and the employee at the door said you're next in que and the guy says I have never had to try so hard to spend $350 in my life. No idea what he was trying to buy, but sounds similar to your ordeal. As a shareholder, I am disappointed to hear these stories.

h00ligan said:
Man, Apple really doesn't want me to have one of these machines. RIDICULOUS at the apple store today

It was quite busy. A blue shirt was standing around not doing much - we asked 'Are you with someone or busy' to which he replied, no.

"We'd like to buy a 13" mbp"
oh well in that case, I'll have to add you to the queue
err.. ok

we waited nearly an hour, nobody came to sell us a machine. Absolutely ridiculous.

Meanwhile there were 2 'classes' being given, and another blue shirt had been answering the same guys questions for that entire hour... prepurchase questions. normal weekend.. nothing launching or special.. busy but not busy enough to warrant that. were using education discount, so best buy was out afaik...

I get the personalized service but Apple really has to have some people just dedicated to checking us out if they aren't going to have a 'real checkout'
Click to expand...
 
The rub for me (specifically) is that I really needed a machine today, it was the whole point of buying one. As far as it all goes now, I can wait another week, or even a month.

Now I'm not saying this specific to myself, because I prefer OS X however - how many people walk out.. wait.. then get tempted by the latest competing product?

I appreciate that neither of you blasted me with anything silly - I think most of us can agree that buying a computer (not an idevice on launch day) should definitely not take an hour of waiting :)

I really have no idea how long it would have been had we not left.. there was no indication my sale was coming up.

@koruki - my gf was with me so probably good that there wasn't a hot apple girl. Actually as a side note. She walked out and said, the amount of noise from the class being taught.. people... and the really loud music - mixed with the bright bright interior was too much for her to take anymore... this from a girl who pushes through black friday sales.

I spoke to the store manager who basically said ' yah, it shouldn't have taken so long. we appreciate your feedback'

I much preferred the NYC stores with cash registers tbh - never had to wait at the glass cube or soho location.. and I could go to the cube at 3 am when it was dead :) Basically, I just know not to bother with the retail locations in PHX/Scottsdale unless I want to hands on a device.
 
Wow, i can imagine how infuriating that must have been. Usually when i go the apple store i know exactly what i need and want to grab it and go unlike many who just want to hang around playing with the stuff and browsing facebook. And i usually see a bunch of employees standing together helping 1 customer instead of tending to other people.
 
LOL well my g/f was with me as well but she went to browse the net while I got walked around with the chick asking me how my day has been, do I know what I am buying(lol?), do I need any accessory, do I know how to connect it to my computer. I just walked her and quietly yep yep yep wondering where the cash register was. Then she goes "em well I kind of get the picture you don't really need the usual help" and pulled out an ipod touch that had a creditcard processing device and the receipt was emailed to me on the spot cause I have an AppleID. I said to activate it in the store and she asked if I wanted to do the unwrapping, then asked if I wanted to keep the plastic wrap cause some ppl apparently want to keep it. rofl.
 
I hate shopping at the Apple Store, at least at the two near me. Half the time I get ignored before I'm ready to even buy anything and when I am ready I have to walk around and find someone to check me out. The no register thing is really obnoxious, especially when the store is crowded.
 
I can certainly see both sides of the story here.

1) In your case, that really sucks. I know what it's like to want to have something right then and there, but no service to offer the help needed. For the amount of money that you were guaranteed to spend (being that you told them you wanted a fairly high-end computer), they should've given you some sort of priority to the people that just need to speak to a Genius about their opti-drive, etc.

2) Apple knows and knows well that you aren't going to come into their store, specifically request a certain computer, find out the wait is ridiculous, then go buy another brand of computer. In-store or online, your money is getting to them one way or another.

If you weren't looking for any customization, I would have personally just asked how long the queue is and done some more shopping elsewhere. I'm the type that doesn't enjoy waiting on shipping.


Just my two cents.

P.S. - Did you get an order placed online?
 
I walked into the apple store monday, saw a couple of workers hanging around told one of them i wanted the base new macbook pro, i had previously came in Sunday and it was packed. all a bunch of kids on the computers probably while there parents were shopping. anyways i finally got a employees attention and they informed me that they were out of stock. anyways i also do not like to wait for shipping, i ended up going thru the unboxing with the employee and spent about an hour going thru everything with them. It was my first apple computer purchase and will not be my last. i guess back to your problem it depends on how busy the store is. i went to one in twelve oaks mall it novi michigan.
 
Same issue here. I always go to the Apple store knowing what I want, go right to it, then spend the next 30 minutes trying to find someone to take my darn credit card so I can pay. They really need a dedicated person / station for checkout. It is so confusing with all the people walking around helping people, some refer to others to help check out.
 
h00ligan said:
Man, Apple really doesn't want me to have one of these machines. RIDICULOUS at the apple store today

It was quite busy. A blue shirt was standing around not doing much - we asked 'Are you with someone or busy' to which he replied, no.

"We'd like to buy a 13" mbp"
oh well in that case, I'll have to add you to the queue
err.. ok

we waited nearly an hour, nobody came to sell us a machine. Absolutely ridiculous.

Meanwhile there were 2 'classes' being given, and another blue shirt had been answering the same guys questions for that entire hour... prepurchase questions. normal weekend.. nothing launching or special.. busy but not busy enough to warrant that. were using education discount, so best buy was out afaik...

I get the personalized service but Apple really has to have some people just dedicated to checking us out if they aren't going to have a 'real checkout'
Click to expand...

That is completely ridiculous! You would have loved the Apple store I went to. It was completely opposite of your experience. My future brother in law was going to look at a Macbook Air and a guy who worked immediately came over and started showing him all of the cool stuff he could do on it.

While I was walking around a sales-guy asked if he could help me and jokingly (but pretty truthfully) I told him that I already have everything they sell. He went through a list of things he thought I may not have and gave up after about 6 items and then we continued to BS about why we like Apple stuff until my brother in law was finished with his sales person. He left with a new macbook air, apple care, and ATV2 and an iPad. Overall it was the best experience I've had in an electronics store (and I used to work in Best Buy and Circuit City about 10 years ago.) No pressure or anything, just a very lighthearted attitude from the sales people.
 
I have to say every apple store I've ever been in has a nice system in place. If you just walk in your browsing, and everyone you see that works their is helping someone else. Now if you want some one on one time with an employee you wait by the front door, till the entrance greeter process you into their system. Every time I've been in the store it has been mad crazy, but the queuing system works.
 
chrono1081 said:
That is completely ridiculous! You would have loved the Apple store I went to. It was completely opposite of your experience. My future brother in law was going to look at a Macbook Air and a guy who worked immediately came over and started showing him all of the cool stuff he could do on it.

While I was walking around a sales-guy asked if he could help me and jokingly (but pretty truthfully) I told him that I already have everything they sell. He went through a list of things he thought I may not have and gave up after about 6 items and then we continued to BS about why we like Apple stuff until my brother in law was finished with his sales person. He left with a new macbook air, apple care, and ATV2 and an iPad. Overall it was the best experience I've had in an electronics store (and I used to work in Best Buy and Circuit City about 10 years ago.) No pressure or anything, just a very lighthearted attitude from the sales people.
Click to expand...

Tell your BIL to loan me a paycheck or two...

Awesome that you had a good experience. Regionally speaking, every Apple Store is different.
 
I live in Chicago where we literally have the highest sales tax in the nation, purchasing things online (especially Amazon) is the norm for me.

But, your experience was absolutely unacceptable. Write an email to the store manager of that particular store. You were not buying a new iPhone w/ a contract which understandably takes longer... You already knew what you wanted and all the "Blue Shirt" needed to do was to grab it from the back and ring you up. What a drag.

EDIT: I did have one exceptional experience at an Apple Store, though. About a month after purchasing the iPhone 4 I scratched my camera lens cover pretty badly. Apple sells replacements for $29 and I went to the Apple Store in Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, IL. to purchase one. The store was packed and pretty close to closing time. I inquired about the replacement and the clerk told me that the Genius Bar was too busy to fit me in today, but if I came back the next day they would replace it for FREE. He noted this in their system and I came back to get it replaced in 10 minutes. Good stuff.
 
I despise Apple stores because a significant amount of the staff are clueless AND arrogant. Always order online unless it's an emergency...or you you have to pay for shipping.
 
That is odd. My local store is very crowded no matter what the day but I've never had an issue buying a computer -- including a 2011 the day they came out. It took about 3 minutes to get a blue shirt and he handled the entire process; checking stock, ringing up, etc.

Maybe they thought you needed a Genius appointment to get what you wanted? We never have a wait list if you're ready to buy; any blue shirt in the store can ring it through.
 
I had a slightly different experience at my local apple store. I needed a laptop for uni, so I went down to buy the new 15" base model from the apple store on the 25th (24th in America). Every single staff member had a different idea of the stock. Some claimed that they had plenty of stock, and others claimed that they wouldn't receive any new mbp laptops until late april?!?

After asking almost every single employee, one finally agreed to sell me the laptop. After asking for the base 15", he brought out the 17" and tried to upsell. I declined and asked that he get the model that I actually wanted and could afford.

Time after time he brought out the bto option models and high end models that I couldn't afford. Now nearly half an hour later he says, "sorry we're sold out of base 15" models.":mad: I know this to be a complete lie, since I was waiting for almost and hour for the 'stock check' to be complete. The store hadn't sold any new models at all. And the 'genius' had previously told me that they had plenty of stock for all models.

So I instead had to wait a week and drive 3 hours back and forth to pickup my laptop from the shipping depo. I think it may have been cheaper to get the bto option than to pay for the petrol. :(
 
I have 2 re-sellers in my city and I've always liked going to them. Never more than a one or two other customers in there and the staff always greet you when you come in.
 
Like most retail places it depends on the staff and management of the store.

My local store is great. Fast service, friendly, no pressure. And the place is always backed on a weekend.

I have taken several classes and the guys/gals running the class know their stuff.
 
This kind of happened to me on the Thursday release date. I went in, and KNEW what I wanted. I had to talk to a guy with an ipad to put my name on a list. Then he would tell me a specialist would come see me. Then I tell the specialist after waiting that I wanted a MBP. He says okay puts it in his ipod and says okay now we wait for them to bring out the machine. From there I had told him I was in a hurry and so he sped up the process a bit and we were able to checkout all via this ipod or whatever he was using. Kinda cool but really slow and lame. I asked the first guy a couple times, can I just pay and get the machine and go instead of waiting for "the other guy"? Nope.
 
h00ligan said:
Man, Apple really doesn't want me to have one of these machines. RIDICULOUS at the apple store today

It was quite busy. A blue shirt was standing around not doing much - we asked 'Are you with someone or busy' to which he replied, no.

"We'd like to buy a 13" mbp"
oh well in that case, I'll have to add you to the queue
err.. ok

we waited nearly an hour, nobody came to sell us a machine. Absolutely ridiculous.

Meanwhile there were 2 'classes' being given, and another blue shirt had been answering the same guys questions for that entire hour... prepurchase questions. normal weekend.. nothing launching or special.. busy but not busy enough to warrant that. were using education discount, so best buy was out afaik...

I get the personalized service but Apple really has to have some people just dedicated to checking us out if they aren't going to have a 'real checkout'
Click to expand...

Easier solution: metered access to computers. Too many people just chilling and taking advantage of the free wireless to go onto Facebook and/or Angry Birds.

On my last visit I actually asked the guy - of the ~60 people in the store at that moment, is it fair to say that roughly 1-2 of them will buy something, and he said basically, yes. Too many non-payers means less people to serve you.
 
koruki said:
LOL well my g/f was with me as well but she went to browse the net while I got walked around with the chick asking me how my day has been, do I know what I am buying(lol?), do I need any accessory, do I know how to connect it to my computer. I just walked her and quietly yep yep yep wondering where the cash register was. Then she goes "em well I kind of get the picture you don't really need the usual help" and pulled out an ipod touch that had a creditcard processing device and the receipt was emailed to me on the spot cause I have an AppleID. I said to activate it in the store and she asked if I wanted to do the unwrapping, then asked if I wanted to keep the plastic wrap cause some ppl apparently want to keep it. rofl.
Click to expand...

...I've kept the plastic wrap :eek::eek: lol
 
revelated said:
Easier solution: metered access to computers. Too many people just chilling and taking advantage of the free wireless to go onto Facebook and/or Angry Birds.

On my last visit I actually asked the guy - of the ~60 people in the store at that moment, is it fair to say that roughly 1-2 of them will buy something, and he said basically, yes. Too many non-payers means less people to serve you.
Click to expand...

The more people in a store, more people will flock to it.
 
baxnet said:
P.S. - Did you get an order placed online?
Click to expand...

Nah, this just reiterated to me that since I missed my deadline today, I should try the ipad 2 and see if that's good enough for 95% of the 'around' stuff.. and continue to use my 2.4 santa rosa (upgrade optibay, 64 gb ssd, 1 tb in the optibay) for the location stuff I need.. and wait for upgraded imacs.

I had basically decided (dented on arrival 13" is still waiting to be returned) but now there's no urgent need, I'll reconsider what I want to do.. since.. why not - I have the time!
 
evro50 said:
The more people in a store, more people will flock to it.
Click to expand...

And they're fine if people don't buy anything. Sure, many are there for the free internet cafe, but it also exposes them to iDevices and OS X. Before the Apple Store, it was difficult for the average PC user to get a hands on impression of OS X.
 
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