Anyone else have a really bad Apple store experience?

[munckee]

I am so tired of this consumer holier than thou attitude.

Expecting to be correctly informed about a product is hardly holier than thou, it's a retail purchase experience. A customer has every right to expect correct information about a product from a store employee, ESPECIALLY at an Apple store where they only have one product line to keep track of.

 

[26139]

yeah....

Whilst I agree that the four scenarios given in the initial post are pretty dodgy you all must realise that's it's damned hard work keeping your knowledge up to date in this industry.

I work for an Apple reseller and as such I don't have the luxury of being able to palm all the tricky questions off to a Genius. If we don't know the answer to a question we look stupid and the customer likely won't be back. We spend a good part of the day trawling engadget and gizmodo and Macrumors just to ensure that we are up to date with as much of the minutiae of Mac as we possibly can.

And it's not just the Mac either, it's all the third party products, compatibility, software updates and what has changed, the Mac environment we have to deal with extends well beyond the products with an Apple logo on them and well beyond what we sell in the store. We need to be proficient on Windows too to help the vast majority of the people who have iTunes or iPod problems as well.

Not complaining, this is my job, I just wish people would give us a little bit of slack sometime. There's a hell of a lot of information to digest every morning and we're all human - we can and do make mistakes.

I love the customers who come in to play "stump the Apple employee" by memorizing some obscure fact and then wasting time by pretending it's a real question. Used to happen all the time.

Bravo for their research ability, but no one really cares what processor was in the Mac II.

 

[26139]

true

There is something wrong with being elitist if it is based purely on the brand identity that you buy into, and then looking down on others as not worthy of the almighty Apple brand.

Yes. I think Apple is attracting a much higher percentage of these type of people now.

 

[proc]

There are two stores in the centre of Rotterdam, one older one tha sits there at least for a decade, the other is new, chain type of store.
I bought my latest mbp 17" hi-res at the chain store, and it was only because it was an EOL and had a very very nice price.
All my other shopping goes to the older store. The people aren't that young, beautifull and flashy, but the tend to know their business.
If they don't know it, however trvial, they insist on looking it up.

They made a mistake ordering a new fan for my old MBP that was getting noisy, so they called me up, told me they messed up ordering the wrong one and told me I could get an other machine while they ordered a new one (i didn't need it, so i thanked them).
My collegua had a MB, wanted to upgrade to 2Gb mem, needed a new battery (within three months it did a sudden death, darn) and the white palm rest needed replacement. He bought it at the chain and got back there for his much needed repairs. Well, he was told that the battery was his fault, the palm rests would take up to three weeks, possible longer and the upgrade would need to be done seperatly. huh?

He called me, angry, I told him he had Apple Care, and needed to go to the other store.
The could most likely do it within two weeks, did the mem upgrade as well, the battery was a simple replacement, just the palmrests needed ordering the parts.
He could get a replacement if he needed, but they would ask something like 5 euro's a day. They where very sorry, but it was to cover the minimal cost.
Thing is, the part was there next day, repairs done the following day and within 4 day's he had his own MB back, al nice and shinny and working.

So the quality from one or another store can differ dramatically. I tend not to go to chain stores when I have specialized equipment or questions.
If you want just a loaf of bread, you can get it anywhere, if you want a really good loaf of fresh abbey bread, you get to a good bakery.

I agree that Machouse Rotterdam seems to be better. I was however treated in a way I did not find appropiate when I was trying out Macs in general and had bought an old Sawtooth and wanted to get a few upgrades.

I didn't like the way the employees looked down on me and my Sawtooth as I and the old Sawtooth were both something from a long gone prehistoric past.

I did however like Macs and I bought 3 iMacs and a Macbook within a year after this experience. Machouse Woerden is a reseller I can genuinely recommend (it's the HQ of Machouse).

 

[MacGeek7]

The people that I usually talk with at my local Apple store are typically both helpful and friendly

 

[jywv8]

I usually have a nice time at my local Apple Store. The sales people have been helpful, friendly and knowledgeable, but not pushy.

However, the last time I went in, I was looking to buy a new iMac with a 750 GB hard drive (didn't realize that they only sell BTO iMacs online). They guy told me as much, and then tried to convince me that I didn't need that much HD space. He wasn't rude or anything. I just got a know-it-all, "this customer is a moron" vibe from him.

 

[RedTomato]

From recent threads here by people applying for jobs in Apple stores, I gather that the store managers look primarily for people who are able to convey enthusiasm about Apple computers, and technical knowledge, while important, comes second.

ie. they're not keen on hiring people ('nerds') who know just about everything about Apple but alienate the customers.

Also it seems that Apple never pay commission to store staff.

A bad experience is still a bad experience, but there's a different between making a factual mistake about a system, and actively having a bad / snooty / condescending attitude.

 

[bigrell486]

When I go to my local Apple store I don't even get service. I practically do everything myself.

 

[zainjetha]

I, fortunately have always been informed correctly and had several good experiences at apple stores, even though i do everything myself..i wonder when they will introduce self-service checkout?

What they should do to overcome this problem of misinformation is to divide their genius/ground floor workers into product lines eg certain people specialize in iPhone, others in iPod, others in MacBook/MacBook Pro / Macbook Air / (MB/MBP/MBA) etc etc.... therefore the employees/genius/genii learn about a given product and thus less chance of misinformation.

 

[Jack Comrie]

My local store are very. . .I don't know?

The store it's self is great, Apple Buchanan Street. I was in wearing one of my Apple T-shirts, and it was a staff one and one of the guys in the store sneeks up behind me and says "Where did you get that t-shirt?!" I replied "Cupertino" And he went of in a little rampage. Thats not the best customer service. And all the staff look like they belong on the dance floor. Like REDTOMATO said they are more keen on hiring enthusiastic guys rather than "nerds" and I dont know if its just me but I would rather be served by a nerd. What you guys think? Would you rather be served by a nerd or an enthusastic guy thats not 100% accurate?

 

[Fujiko7]

I have no comment on Apple store employees themselves, but I think the London Apple Store in Regent Street sucks. Every single Mac in there has a student or budget traveller reading their e-mail. Every single one. So if you want to go in and actually, you know, get your hands on a Mac, forget it. Just to get a look at one you have to look over someone's shoulder. What should be a great retail experience, given the funky products and (otherwise) good store design, is just depressing and a waste of time.

I've been in the Apple stores in NYC (Soho) and Tokyo and they don't have this problem. In Tokyo they have a small section with some Macs that people are free to use to browse the internet/check e-mail etc.

 

[DarthTreydor]

I generally don't do much shopping at the apple store but I did have one particularly bad experience. I guess since i'm a guy in my early 20's who is sometimes guilty of wearing dirty t-shirts and ripped jeans, I must look like I don't have money to spend. However, I was more than a little annoyed when I had to stand around for a half hour looking stupid before a salesman would grant me the priveledge of giving him $400 for my 1st gen iPhone.

 

[Seibikitei]

There is something wrong with being elitist if it is based purely on the brand identity that you buy into, and then looking down on others as not worthy of the almighty Apple brand.

Could not agree more. Kudos to Apple for being able to turn computers and digital music players into fashion statements and items that, to some people at least, convey a sense of being above the rest, its certainly helped their bottom line and made their stockholders happy. However, that doesn't mean I don't consider it incredibly superficial on the parts of the people that actually buy into this.

 

[stewartlittle]

Id have to say, other then the apple store being packed always, i have had a great experience everytime. My store of choice is the one in sherway gardens in toronto. On most occasions, I am in there for 30 seconds before someone asks me if i need anything. And if i am walking to the back of the store, i usually am asked at least 3 times~!