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Angela Ahrendts Updates Retail Employees on Apple Watch and MacBook Launch Situation
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Actually, my sister is an Apple Store manager and they expect her and the rest of the employees to elucidate themselves well. If Ahrendts and the other higher ups don't do the same it doesn't reflect well on Apple.
I'm confused as to whether Ahrendts really thinks she is improving customer experience or if she is just a clueless, overpaid lightweight who is out to lunch when it comes to retail management.
Just my 2c, but I had to stay up until 3:30AM to buy a watch that I had never seen or tried on. I then visited a store and didn't like the model I had chosen when I saw it 'in the flesh', so I had to cancel and re-order with a July delivery date. There was no space black steel bracelet version in the store to try on, so I still haven't actually held or touched the watch I want.
When I got to try a different watch in person, the associate insisted on holding the watch and sliding it into my wrist - she confirmed she is trained to do this to prevent the watch being dropped. She then went to get a stool and placed it next to me. When I sat on it, she said "no, that's for your stuff" (a wallet an iPhone). Basically, I couldn't be trusted to put the watch on by myself and she didn't want my wallet cluttering up the Apple watch display counter and she would rather have me stand in order to keep the store tidy...
As the owner of Omega, Rolex and IWC watches, I can honestly say - as a high-end retail experience, buying an Apple watch is a joke. That's not to say the device isn't awesome or game-changing, just that Ms Ahrendts is not driving quality. The elitism, faux-high fashion BS that Apple and Ahrendts are trotting out is almost laughable. As a long term Apple enterprise user, I find myself drifting further and further away from the brand.
Just my 2c, but I had to stay up until 3:30AM to buy a watch that I had never seen or tried on. I then visited a store and didn't like the model I had chosen when I saw it 'in the flesh', so I had to cancel and re-order with a July delivery date. There was no space black steel bracelet version in the store to try on, so I still haven't actually held or touched the watch I want.
When I got to try a different watch in person, the associate insisted on holding the watch and sliding it into my wrist - she confirmed she is trained to do this to prevent the watch being dropped. She then went to get a stool and placed it next to me. When I sat on it, she said "no, that's for your stuff" (a wallet an iPhone). Basically, I couldn't be trusted to put the watch on by myself and she didn't want my wallet cluttering up the Apple watch display counter and she would rather have me stand in order to keep the store tidy...
As the owner of Omega, Rolex and IWC watches, I can honestly say - as a high-end retail experience, buying an Apple watch is a joke. That's not to say the device isn't awesome or game-changing, just that Ms Ahrendts is not driving quality. The elitism, faux-high fashion BS that Apple and Ahrendts are trotting out is almost laughable. As a long term Apple enterprise user, I find myself drifting further and further away from the brand.
What? I can't even discern what you're talking about.
Regardless, I think you'll find the vast majority of people who are annoyed are annoyed that Apple aren't providing transparency with their delays. A simple press release from Tim Cook saying "Sorry! We were so excited to get the product in to your hands we scheduled a release that was too ambitious. We experienced delays in production and decided to stick with our original release date so consumer confidence wasn't rattled and our share price wasn't affected. We made a big gamble on this product and we didn't want to tarnish the idea of it by pushing the dates back. When pre-order day rolled around, several variants of the model simply weren't ready, meaning some customers will receive their orders [sort of] on time and others will have to wait 4-6 weeks. We are just so sorry about this and promise we'll do better in future."
With all the complaining on the site you think this product was life or death for some people. Is the world going to come to an end if you don't have your watch on the 24th?
Don't listen to these fools! Buy baby buy!!!!!
And if you don't get your watch on the 24th you will die!
AAPL needs some record breaking earnings!!!
True, it was a rhetorical question. My "irrelevant" comment concerns the fact that previewing a product before launch doesn't necessarily represent a challenge, given that we've been buying our iDevices sight unseen and they had no problem getting them to us on launch day.
Serious question
If the macbook sales are "off the charts", why did apple not have "1" unit in stock in any store? What defines this so called crazy sales?
I know best buy had them - Stranger than fiction
If the macbook sales are "off the charts", why did apple not have "1" unit in stock in any store? What defines this so called crazy sales?
I know best buy had them - Stranger than fiction
Exactly. Ahrendts work as CEO of Burberry speaks for itself. She is an extremely creative individual with great ideas and execution. It will take her time to ease into her position in a completely new market.
Otherwise, I'm surprised so many are complaining about waiting a few more days for a watch. Have we become so impatient and out of touch that a few days or weeks for a new technological device is maddening? Some perspective is definitely needed for some
.
I actually see that as a good thing. Any organization needs a fresh injection of perspective every once in a while.
I don't think it will be a fail but it's baffling to me that their MO isn't to become the gold standard for getting a product on to the wrist of their customer at a speed previously unheard of from the date of launch. The product seems pretty good, but not good enough to make someone wait 6 weeks.
One of the reasons the iPhone is so successful is you can reasonably expect to get one in the first week if you put some effort in. They create this great buzz that makes you excited to get it, and you forgive the flaws because the overall experience is generally positive. When that package arrives on launch day it's always a "stop work and play with the new toy!" kind of moment.
In stark contrast, for this "premium, luxury accessory", watching people wander around with $500 models of the watch I am paying $1000 and waiting an extra month for will make me a far less forgiving consumer and rightly so. It's already sapped a lot of love for the product out.
Of course, hey, the easy answer here is "stop whining, if you don't like it, don't buy one" - but that's not good enough when we're dealing with the biggest company in the world. How could they get this so wrong?
Well, there is a reason it is called a preview- where you check out the watch, how it fits, what size will work for you etc. THEN you order. This makes sense. I don't know why Apple did not Do this. In my case I was so sure of the 38mm I ordered on the 10th then after my "preview" i cancelled and ordered the 42
Customized Macs usually require them to be shipped. Base models tend to be available in stores.
Definitely agree with you on packaging decision. A package just for the watch & one for the band would had made the whole process efficient.
5 Apple minutes is two years for other companies.
700,000 android smart watches sold in 12 months
2.3 million
Watches sold in 5 minutes.----------
Totally agree. Lots of complaints don't have a real merit but this is truly their major screw up.
I agree with your point 100%. There are 2 separate issues at hand here, at least for me. One is the issue above - how do you launch a brand new product and want people to be excited about it yet you can't actually get onto their wrist? These should not be the kind of problems a company like Apple has. There weren't that many pre orders in comparison to an iPhone or an iPad... Obviously they are having yield problems somewhere.
They should have pushed the launch date back until they could fulfil enough orders...
The second thing is that I just think the watch won't be a huge seller for them (relatively speaking).
Did people have to preorder before they tried their watch on? Were appointments only for people who pre-ordered the watch? I thought anyone could make a try-on appointment and then favorite the watches they wanted to try on do when they got to their appointment the store employee would know exactly what watches to pull out.
Yes and no. It depended on the model. I had to wait several weeks to be able to walk in and get a 6+ and that was just because I used an inventory tracking site.
Many many people will get there apple watch on launch day.