Angela Ahrendts on Apple Retail Criticism: 'I Don't Read Any of it, and None of it is Based on Fact'

[macdragonfl]

The biggest mistake they made was making stores so big, and filled with 100's of display devices that now it's just almost entirely full of tire kickers taking up room and people that actually want to buy get pissed an go elsewhere.

There is no 'experience' there anymore. I can go to my local big-box store and buy apple products in 10 minutes, often cheaper as well and feel like i'm missing nothing.

I used to always buy at Apple stores, I avoid them unless no other resellers have something I need or order online. Service is why I go and the last time it was painful. I don't know why they eliminated the greeter. Even without genius bars you can be routed to the appropriate area and or person to help you. I have 6 Apple stores within a 30 mile radius of my home. Generally to buy I will order online at Best Buy and pickup at a location 5 minutes from my home, I do get discounts and points and no hassles whatsoever. iPhones are easier to get at an At&t store they will deliver it to your home the same day. I do like what she did with the look of the stores. The flow for customers and service/sales changes are horrible.

 

[Winni]

I can't stand her as much as the next person, but that was disgustingly uncalled for.

She makes it obvious (and admits) that she doesn't "understand tech", so I don't know why she keeps trying... or became a board member for Airbnb.

Because she understands RETAIL and PEOPLE -- her jobs never had anything to do with tech. At all.

 

[swamprock]

<snip>I had fun annoying the staff by testing the iMac and MBP speakers with Bolt Thrower earlier this week. I have be sure these speakers can hold up against the noise I listen to. In a word, not anymore. Only the MBP sort of delivered.<snip>

Hmmm... never thought to try this. I wonder how they’d stand up to some Brutal Truth or Napalm Death... both the Macs and the employees...

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

She took 9 figures from Apple, and for what? All I see is the Genius Bar gone, replaced by a carnival-like mc preaching about bokah at volume level 20 to a an audience of 0-2.

It’s an uncomfortable experience now.

 

[AdonisSMU]

So Apple products were too boring even for her.

 

[Imdougurnot]

Good for her. I’m glad she is speaking out. A lot of unfair criticism directed her way.

And plenty of fairly directed.

 

[IIGS User]

Hey, they sell a **** ton of their stuff so they're doing something right.....

 

[Paradoxally]

Hey, they sell a shitton of their stuff so they're doing something right.....

They were doing this before Angela came along, and they will hopefully continue long after she has left.

Now, as for Angela: she is simply incompetent (and a hypocrite). The board of directors at Apple should chalk this up to a mistake.

She got rid of the Genius Bar, the one place where people would go to have their issues looked at. Nowadays, going to an Apple Store is akin to a wild goose chase, with you likely having to yell at then nearest employee (to get their attention because they're busy with other people).

The stores are crowded. They're confusing.

Angela understands fashion retail but she had zero clue about tech when she joined Apple and she leaves with almost the same expertise. Apple needs to hire someone who understands tech and what it's like to go to an Apple Store when you have an issue with your device.

 

[CrockettGTO]

IMO, listening to and taking action on criticism is one of the best leadership qualities to aspire to...I can empathize with Angela’s response as the feedback can often sting, especially when it’s accurate.
When I heard her response, it reminds me of my own challenges with hearing feedback like this.

As I look for ways to become aware of my own “blind spots” as a people developer and sales manager, seeking feedback is critical. As I work on this, I came across an awesome podcast from Adam Grant & TED talks called WorkLife. Here’s an episode about taking criticism:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worklife-with-adam-grant/id1346314086?i=1000404159792

She should be thankful that she is receiving the criticism and should take it as a way to evaluate her approach to retail strategy instead of being stubborn and resisting.

The companies evaluating whether to give her opportunities should be reflecting on how she is responding as it will ultimately represent their brand.

 

[MrBat]

exactly what I was going to say. I don't care to bash people but her statement makes no logical sense.

Neither do the retail Apple Stores but that goes without saying.
[doublepost=1558792141][/doublepost]

Straight up ignoring your customer's complaints would certainly explain the state of Apple's stores these days.

These twitter threads really illustrate the problems that she's been ignoring:

https://twitter.com/erichjrusch/status/1126256626543915008

https://twitter.com/dangitbrian/status/1126278659289960448

Legit spent about a month ago close to 1h trying to work out the pencil with the new iPad Mini, to test and buy. Shop half empty, trying to get Apple folk to help. No help.

Left without buying anything. Shall see if I end buying it in the end. Left the Store pretty pissed.

 

[BGPL]

I'm tired of seeing her airbrushed photo. If she really never read any of the critiques, then it's good she is gone. You can't throw the baby out with the bath water and assume it is all baseless.

The customer's perception should be considered a reality, at least when hundreds are saying the same thing.

 

[mrex]

Ah, now i know, why you always get the same answer from cs: ”this is the first time...” - they dont read and listen.

 

[ralpa]

How much is this criticism, or is it just the vocal minority griping and whining, as they tend to do?

Macrumours is not a proxy for the sentiments of the general Apple user community.

So how good is she you think?

 

[curtvaughan]

I wouldn’t read them either.

However, it is one of the rare times you can observe the elusive chair potato get its nickers in a wad and begin waxing poetic about Steve the dead guy.

That’s always good for a bit of entertainment.

That's the new face of Apple, both corporately and with their current customer base - they refer to, and consider Steve Jobs to be nothing more than some "dead guy". Sort of like Ford Motor Company referring to Henry Ford as "some dead guy". It explains the general disdain and lack of useful development of the Mac line, and an overall focus on removing useful features from all Apple products, including all ports except USB-C, headphone jacks, touch id verification, magsafe connectors, and socketed upgradable parts. It explains why a $10 cable critical to the display on new MBP's is designed to wear out prematurely from opening and closing the laptop and can only be repaired by replacing the whole display assembly for $400. It explains why it's okay to design an iPad Pro that sometimes is already bent out of the box, all for the sake of thinness and removal of the headphone jack. Who knows what Jobs would have done if he had remained alive, but if he had made big changes I suspect there would be sound reasoning behind it. Whatever ...

Finally, just a reminder of what Steve Jobs was to Apple until 2011 - just to see how quickly he can be referred to by current Apple customers as "some dead guy".

https://rightwaystosuccess.blogspot.com/2011/10/internet-mourns-steve-jobs-death-from.html

Yeah, I guess this old - mostly former - customer for over 30 years occasionally gets his "nickers in a wad" over Apple's directions since "Steve the dead guy" acquired that status. He just needs to be filed away, like floppy disks and serial ports, as a historical footnote.

 

[I7guy]

So how good is she you think?

It’s not how good she is, however, she has a high profile so there is something to her career. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions of her performance and those very tightly emotionally tied into Apple and Steve, seem to have the most negative things to say about Apple management and directions. Apple is not a stupid company, although collectively they make mistakes, however times have changed and Apple had to adapt.

 

[Abazigal]

So how good is she you think?

Here’s a list of what I am aware of with regards to her accomplishments.

1) She oversaw the integration of Apple’s retail stores with their online stores. I feel that is a pretty huge accomplishment, and this puts Apple in a pretty good position for 2019.

2) She also oversaw the major Apple retail store redesigns, basically converting customer service spaces into areas with which to better experience Apple. This seems to be the critics’ biggest bugbear. I am personally fine with it. Here in Singapore, our sole apple store has two storeys. Products on the first, service requests and workshops on the second, and it seems like a pretty efficient way of separating and managing the two.

3) I believe the chief reason for Apple stores becoming more crowded is because they are selling to more customers. Therefore, more products mean more people with issues and consequently, more people to service. I think Angela has done a respectable job of streamlining customer service bottlenecks in store, and Apple will likely continue to assimilate service requests into the store experience directly.

Angela was hired for her vision and leadership, and we have not seen or heard anything wrong with that. She is right in that her KPI with which to be assessed by Tim Cook would be Apple retail employee satisfaction and retention, and if the numbers (~90%) are to be believed, that’s pretty impressive.

To put it bluntly, her KPI is not based on how many or few complaints are levelled at her here at Macrumours (or any other forum out there), so while she might be aware of them, she is absolutely right to disregard them for her own health and sanity.

Did Tim Cook pay too much for her? It’s going to be a matter of perspective. Angela inherited the apple stores at a time when a lack of leadership was taking its toll on them. She hired more staff, oversaw numerous initiatives, and helped raised overall morale. She’s did the job she was paid (handsomely) to do. And the chief criticism the haters can give her is that her profile pic looks “arrogant”.

 

[Jimmy James]

The article is not based on fact but I didn’t read any of it.
[doublepost=1558797752][/doublepost]My problem is not so much with Ahrendts but with Apple’s overarching approach as a fashion brand. Her hire was indicative of this. Big on aesthetics and price without a corresponding increase in intrinsic value.

I think the current laptops are an outcome of this focus. Expensive, stylish (thin) but thermally inefficient, and seemingly failure prone. It’s lose/lose/lose. It’s not sustainable.

 

[JohnnieBBadde]

"If that is veiled criticism about me, I won't hear it and I won't respond to it!"

 

[2010mini]

exactly what I was going to say. I don't care to bash people but her statement makes no logical sense.

Not if it was her assistants or others in her department whose responsibility are to read such things and give her a summary.

 

[cardfan]

I don’t really care to be honest. No matter who was in charge of retail I only go to an Apple store if I must and that’s primarily for support if needed or to return something purchased online. I think it’s been a couple of years since i stepped foot in one.

I don’t like the experience. It’s a crowd. Prices? Apple hardly has a sale. You shop online or third party.

 

[PSCConMP]

Criticism and negativity are too different things. I have gotten surveys from my Apple store. I've been very critical of the business operation there, but never negative. If Apple didn't want my opinion, then don't ask.

 

[Sedulous]

Of course the store is chaotic. There is no organization. Not judging changes but this is fact.

 

[curtvaughan]

Beyond the well documented issue with her statement, there is the more serious issue:

She works in retail but is stating, on the record, that she refuses to listen feedback.

Alrighty then..... Air BnB must be delighted with their new hire.

P.s. I'm sure she has no regrets at all. With an 8 figure bank balance I'm sure I wouldn't either.

It is beyond me how people like Ahrendt can spend a whole career hopping between high level executive jobs in disparate corporations that have nothing in common but the fact that they are all corporations. This continues across many businesses. The CEO that fired Jobs, John Sculley, came from PepsiCo. At least Apple's other CEO's had tech backgrounds. A large portion of these folks generally have MBA's or perhaps Accounting college experience. Cook, though he has an MBA also got an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering, worked for IBM for twelve years in their PC division, serving briefly as a COO at Compaq before coming to Apple. An interesting quote from Cook after coming to Apple:"You kind of want to manage it like you're in the dairy business. If it gets past its freshness date, you have a problem". Read into it what you will.

 

[PCMA]

I think that Tim Cook has made a few mistakes:

* The solid gold Apple Watch.
* Project Titan - versions 1, 2, 3, 4...
* The Butterfly Keyboard - versions 1, 2, 3, 4...
* The Touch Bar.
* HomePod.
* AirPower.
* Attempting to replace Gorilla Glass with Sapphire. He "loaned" $600 million to GT Advanced Technologies.
* Failing to update Macs on a regular basis - and not reducing prices on years old models.
* Failing to defend Apples's IP. I still don't understand how Android even exists.
* Letting everyone overtake Siri.
* Letting everyone overtake Apple TV.
* Letting Google destroy Apple in the classroom.
* Failing to update iCloud Apps - and to add new ones (including third party apps).
* Eliminating almost all "consumer" products. The only genuinely consumer product at the moment is the $329 iPad. I'm waiting for the day that Tim unveils a $5,000 Apple Watch that can edit 8k video.
* Making every Apple product some sort of washed-out pastel colour. He's even managed a pastel version of black - "space grey." Where have all the bright/ solid colours gone? At least it would be nice to have a choice.
* Failing to upgrade Apple Music to lossless / CD quality.
* The purchase of Beats for $2 billion.
* The upcoming Apple TV streaming service (this is a prediction, of course).
* The growing multitude of different "connectors" - Lightning, Thunderbolt, USB-A, USB-C, the Apple Watch puck, Qi. Some Beats products still use Micro USB, FFS!
* The quality of Apple's advertising.

I'm sure I've forgotten a few.

But the big overarching mistake is that he has turned Apple into purely a luxury brand - like Hermes (see, I told you I'd forgotten something), Louis Vuitton, Chanel or Tiffanys.

Apple used to make things "for the rest of us." Today Apple only makes products for the very rich.

Apple should be like an airline. Yes, of course they should make as much money from their first and business class customers as possible - but they shouldn't forget about "the rest of us" in economy/coach.

Some of Apple's biggest hits - iMac, iBook and iPad were not only amazing products, but they were also (relatively) affordable. Apple also used to routinely drop prices - iPods went down in price every year.

This is where I get to Angela Ahrendts.

Walking into an Apple store used to be like walking into a toy store - and not just any toy store... but Willy Wonka's factory. Today, Apple stores are like jewellery stores. I no longer feel that I belong. I'm just waiting for them to introduce a dress code.

Oh! I forgot something - Apple Maps.

 

[curtvaughan]

angela ruined the stores. if I enter the store, I see 5-10 employees standing around, making me uncomfortable, not willing to help, blocking the way to the products. I don't know how to buy things anymore in the stores. there are no pro devices there and if I want help I need to talk to at least 3 employees, 2 of which are always chatting to each other and referring me to a 3rd person who is busy at the moment. I would prefer if there were no employees or no stores at all. the concept of having community sessions in the middle of the store sucks big time as it bothers everyone. I recently wanted to go play with the imac pro here in switzerland. they don't even have newest version or the high end model with vega 64x. it's a mess. after 25 years of having macs I am considering buying a pc because tim destroyed the mac.

Last quality experience I had in an Apple Store was when I purchased my first iPhone, an iPhone 5. Though crowded around the holiday season, I got quick help and service, as well as having a person politely explain the features of the phone. My only Apple experience prior to that was with Macs, which was also superior up to that time (bought the phone in late 2012). Except for my 2017 iPad Pro, which I bought at an Apple certified retail store, I've been buying Macs and phones online at the Apple website. The Apple Stores are a hassle to get to, crowded, and have slow service. Most of the employees look overworked and underpaid. Just my experience ...