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Apple Introduces Major Retail Changes, Including New Pro-Level Positions and Credo

FFS.

Already standard of service at the Genius Bar has in my experience fallen significantly since their decision making capabilities were outsourced to a crappy iPad app that can handle only a limited set of scenarios.

And now said genius is going to be replaced by a cheaper, less informed, less independent "technical expert"? Great. I can't wait for my next Apple product to go wrong and have to skirt around a minimum wage teenager on summer break to get a repair/replacement.

Does Angela not realise that great service comes from great pay and conditions, genuine passion for the product, and high staff autonomy?!

Turning Geniuses into service app operators doesn't achieve that.
 
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One more reason I have to not go back to an Apple store.

Oopps! I mean Apple..(fill in location here)

Seems like 'Pro' is getting way over used. I believe Apple has jumped the shark. (or something like that)

Regardless of profits. IMHO, Tim & Angela need to go. The ghost of Steve needs to haunt the company back to reality.
 
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guzhogi said:
I work in IT, and am so glad I don't work in retail like this or the Geek Squad at Best Buy. I prefer working in a place where I see the same people, work on the same equipment. This way, I know what works, what doesn't, make suggestions on how to improve, etc.

…

Also, in terms of upgrading/maintenance, all Apple hardware pretty much sucks. I get the appeal of skinny, but when you have to pay over a hundred bucks just because someone tore off a key on on a MacBook, or totally replace an iPhone because it dropped out of your pocket, not good.
Click to expand...

When you drop an iPhone and break the screen, Apple will replace the phone with a refurb, but they only charge you the screen cost. Often the phone you receive is in better condition than what you turn in. Making equipment thin and light is at odds with making it repairable. People like thin and light. When they are buying, they aren't thinking about repairability. And to charge for only the broken part seems responsible, IMHO.
 
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Relentless Power said:
So even their employee's get the 'Pro' title, besides their products. Seems the 'Pro' term is a little over used in my opinion.
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It's completely meaningless nowadays. I'm not even kidding.

Also, good job on creating a second technical help position.
I'm sure gran will make the right shot INTUITIVELY to go to the right person.

Oh God, what is this company becoming? It's ******** on everything that made it special and great.
When will it finally stop? I want to be enthusiastic about Apple again.


Glassed Silver:mac


PS: I know it won't stop anytime soon. As long as this steaming pile of **** concept flies, they will ride it to death.
 
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Happens at every company. They change where you sit. They give you a new title. New corporate slogans are pushed out. And you still show up every day the same person you were doing the same job you were...with all the same personal imitations...just like before the "next big thing".

Humans....gotta love us. Bunch of oversexed, war-like, big ego monkeys floating on a rock thru space thinking we are all that.
 
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nuckinfutz said:
I think you mean Kaby Lake
Click to expand...

...which isn't out yet in the version needed for MacBook Pro.

Brookzy said:
Does Angela not realise that great service comes from great pay and conditions, genuine passion for the product, and high staff autonomy?!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sure they should just have hired you instead of her, right? That would probably work out great, I mean she knows nothing!
 
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Remember how in "Triumph of the Nerds" they included the part about the IBM rally song "Ever Onward", and how it demonstrated the new computer cultures of the 70's were the antithesis of the corporate old school world where IBM lived in their own a bubble?

 
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smacrumon said:
"
Technical Expert: An all-new customer support position in between Technical Specialist and Genius. These employees will be able to provide mobile repairs, previously limited to Geniuses, and troubleshooting for software and products like the Apple Watch and Apple TV.

"​
Does this mean mobile repairs will be done by staff on lower pay rates under the role titled Technical Experts? Pay rates please!! Penny pinching on staff wages, Apple?
Click to expand...
To me it sounds like they are trying to address wait times by expanding the pool of employees who can address basic technical matters.
 
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applepuree said:
Promotion at apple is a joke, unless your a managers pet. After 8 years I am still at my starting position despite knowing more than most experts in my store.
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Leave. If you're selling successfully at your current position they have no reason to promote you.

People I know who've stuck it out at Apple Retail are making maybe 25% more than we all did when we started. A few of them are managers and make around $60K (North Texas). I left Apple making $32K and have quadrupled that by actually getting a real career with weekends off.

Retail is not the place to be if you want to make money. Simple as that.

cincinnatils1 said:
Wow, everyone is a "specialist," a "pro," or an "expert!"

I would think it'd be more empowering to work with fewer job titles, rather than more. For instance: Customer Service - Sales; Customer Service - Genius; Customer Service - Operations. That should cover everyone. All these job position divisions just make it all the more likely that it's someone else's job to do what should be done at the moment.

"Oh, wait, I'm not the Expert Pro-Specialist that is supposed to help you. But let me go find the person with the correct job title and see how long the wait will be for you to speak with that person."

I think it just doesn't make for an inclusive environment of teamwork.
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"Specialist" is usually an entry-level position at most companies in virtually any industry, usually because your skillset only allows you to do one job.

Your titles are unfortunately too "corporate" for Apple, and Apple Retail has NEVER had standardized titles.

Originally it was just Specialists and Experts, then they introduced Creatives. Then they FINALLY added Concierge. Then they added "Personal Shoppers" and "Business Specialists." Then they got rid of Concierge (although every store still effectively uses one) as a position and introduced Family Room Specialist (basically trainee Genius or Creative). Then they got rid of Personal Shoppers. Then they split Specialist into Mac and iPhone specialists (informally IIRC). Then they introduced Experts.

I left shortly after that.
 
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Brookzy said:
FFS.

Already standard of service at the Genius Bar has in my experience fallen significantly since their decision making capabilities were outsourced to a crappy iPad app that can handle only a limited set of scenarios.
...

Does Angela not realise that great service comes from great pay and conditions, genuine passion for the product, and high staff autonomy?!

Turning Geniuses into service app operators doesn't achieve that.
Click to expand...
To be fair, given the changes to Apple's product line there are fewer and fewer products that can be repaired at retail locations. Apple's emphasis on its retail stores is also changing. They expect fewer sales in store and more online. Traditional retail is changing, and Apple is not immune to long-term trends.
 
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Maybe they are redesigning stores and employee levels in advance of a slew of new products this fall?

One can only hope. :rolleyes:
 
niun said:
Whatever happened to the good ol' credo,

We find courage.
To sell old tech that people don't need it at a price they can't afford.
to push Apple care
to solder everything
to upsell, upsell, upsell!
to do it all over again tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Your signature (Very happily making the transition to Android and Windows.) really fits the above comment.
What are you doing here.
 
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Angela can go for all I care. I'm not saying I know her day in and day out responsibilities, but She doesn't impress me and apparently no one else around here. Especially with the gimped Apple Watch Preorder and her ingenious idea with the Apple Watch Edition.

But Apple won't fire her, because what would that say about Apple's decisions.
 
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cyanite said:
...which isn't out yet in the version needed for MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

I know, it's tough decision. Do we buy into the tail end of Skylake and then wait for Apple to skip Kaby and hopefully end up on Cannonlake in a year?

I'm debating between a 13" and 15". I think Skylake would make me buy the 13" and Kaby would make me consider the 15"
 
This is what a self imploding company looks like..

And of course Angela will change things up, she needs to so she can justify her 10 million dollar salary/bonuses! In reality, Apple doesn't need her and was great before her.

Apple is grasping at straws. Marketing and shaking front line up, when the TRUE problem is lack of strategic vision and drive from their leadership. Steve wasn't the creative mind behind apple, but he had a vision and boy did he enforce that vision (even when he was wrong - which happened lots).

Tim has pretty much rode the coat tails of Steve, and took existing products to new markets. So yes he increased sales because of new markets, but boy has he lost market share at the expense of android! And his product line sucks!

Now those products aren't so new and these new markets are drifting away. The best part of this is "to imagine the unimaginable"..... Come on.. when you think of Tim.. do you really think of innovation and excellence? I think of a lame duck!
 
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What the hell Apple ...

"Zones" ?? I just hope the floor space is not gonna be named by the color.


By mobile repairs, since it best known by a tech anyway... This is why i don't go to Apple stores.
 
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