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KiraDouji

macrumors member
I didn't say after 14 days, I said after a month. Some people need the 1 on 1 and I think it was a great selling point. Not everyone is going to jump right away the day they buy a Mac to take the classes. They might want to see how much they can figure out for themselves and then decide "maybe I do/Do not need the 1 on 1".
I just think they should give the customer a month or so to try things out 1st at least.

Wow, okay, you completely missed my point. First of all, I said 14 days because that's the return policy limit and thus the limit for one to one. Secondly, the case was that if they felt they needed one to one after they're out of the time frame to buy it, there's nothing stopping them from pursuing other basic avenues of research. There's no 'up the creek without a paddle' here. -_-
 

pmpknetr21

macrumors member
Oct 4, 2003
91
0
Again do you have any sense to read between the lines. Everyone acts like Apple is Santa Claus. Such a jolly good fellow that is kind loving and giving. Apple is just as evil of an empire as every corp. on this planet.

What happens when you goto the genius bar with you computer and there are iPhones in front of you? Apple has instructed there Geniuses to handle the phones first and make the computer customers wait. That is what I am talking about.

Dude, seriously: get over yourself. Apple does no such thing. Were you fired from Apple or something and now you hate them so much? Come on, man. You know first hand that Apple doesn't do that sh*t....

I mainly agree but Apple has to resort to this kind of action? Seriously, most of the Apple stores open at 10am (in New England)...Apple couldn't open 1 hour early for these folks?

They already open early. My local store opens at 8 AM for One to One sessions.

iGary- yes it has. I was a one-to-one member back when they called it "Pro Care" in the early days of the program. It encompassed all Mac software and Adobe CS. They have definitely removed a lot of services since then. They were supposed to start including Flash and Dreamweaver once they became part of Adobe, but that obviously got killed.

I've been a One to One customer since it was ProCare. I have multiple family and friends that work at Apple. Trust me: Apple NEVER officially supported Adobe, just Apple products. I swear.

Its easier to judge from the outside but being a previous customer and employee I have seen the changes. Im also not a sheep like most people here who would do anything Steve Jobs says. Nice guy, not god. Hate to tell you that.

I'm not judging from the outside. Can't say more. (Read between the lines.)

EDIT: Seriously, why do you hate Apple so much? You posted so many comments here that I interpreted as you hating them. I actually asked in a previous post whether or not you were fired from Apple because of how hateful you come off. (I apologize, by the way, for asking that question. That really none of my business. I was just a bit peeved at all the comments that seem baseless to me. I'm sorry.)

In any case, I agree that this change in the product is a hard pill to swallow, but as a former Apple employee, you know in your heart of hearts that Apple is not the evil machine you're making them out to be. You used to work for them, man. Give 'em a little credit.

OK, so I'm a bit confused. Does this mean that I can still buy it since I bought a MBP in April, and had my original quad core MP bought in April 2006 replaced by Apple Customer Relations in February 2008? Also, since I have 2 machines does this mean I can buy 2 years (or more) worth of 1:1?

I'm convinced there's about a million shortcuts and tricks just with the OS that I don't know of not to mention iLife apps and iWork apps.

My bad, Michael73, I should've been clearer: you can go back 14 days and get One to One, but no further. At the same time, if you call or visit a store and speak to a Manager, I'm sure they'll be able to help you. Trust me.

Well- scheduled Adobe classes were included on the Michigan Ave store website as well as their brochures. I'm not sure how much more official it gets. I went to full on classes for InDesign and Photoshop at the Michigan Ave store. When they stopped doing that, I dropped my membership.

Classes and One to One are two very different things.
 

marcre

macrumors regular
Jan 15, 2008
230
0
East coast
I mainly agree but Apple has to resort to this kind of action? Seriously, most of the Apple stores open at 10am (in New England)...Apple couldn't open 1 hour early for these folks?

Apple stores are open early for one to one. I believe it's 8am. One thing to remember, most stores are in malls and they have to abide by the rules of the mall. If some don't open early, it is for that reason.

I really don't see this as a big deal. Most one to one sales are to people who are buying a computer in the store. Not too many will be affected by this. It is a shame though for that small percentage that just wants one to one. I like the fact that Apple offers this. It is not a money maker, it is Apple giving their customers' an easy way to learn. What other companies do that. If you were to go out on your own and find classes you'd pay hundred, if not thousands for this service.

I can't believe all the people crying on here about this, some just love to complain I guess.
 

Macminiintel

macrumors regular
Aug 25, 2007
182
0
I think this is a good thing, because it will encourage customers to buy directly from Apple. I mean in 2006 I was buying a Core Duo Mac mini from PC World here in the UK, its like the equivalent of a Best Buy I guess. The service was terrible, they kept trying to sell me some windows vista ready crap. I left in the end and bought one from the Apple store which is only 15 min away from me lol
 

Let's Sekuhara!

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2008
357
1
日本
I have never, EVER, met anyone who needs help setting up a new computer AND WHO ALSO is talented enough to surf forums. They are mutually exclusive.

LMAO! So true!

If you are resourceful you will find ways of getting the knowledge you desire.
If you are not so resourceful you will pay someone to teach you.
Clever people save money - just the way it should be!
 

Master Chief

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2009
901
0
sigh. What happened to the inserted quote? Let me add it back.
Well not everyone who buys a Mac knows how to transfer all of their stuff and set everything up. Everytime I walk into an Apple Store and I see those who are getting 1 to 1 help, it's always "older" people (30+ usually)
But that might as well change soon.

Let me tell you this; I have a fifteen year old daughter (one of four children) who started to write her school stuff (VWO 4) on her new iMac, and when she first did that nobody in her class had a Mac. Some used iPod's already though.

Now seven others do they same. It's not because of this program, but because of Pages – these kids now make the most amazing stuff in minutes. I tell you, the local Apple store will be packed with even more kids, just because of this great program.

We're not an average family, by no means – my youngest son (11) and our other daughter (13) use Ubuntu Linux for two years now, but they will both be joining this new program, starting this summer already.
 

iShater

macrumors 604
Aug 13, 2002
7,025
464
Chicagoland
Owning a Mac is officially main stream now I guess. Sad that you cannot buy this if you get your Mac through other retailers. Booo.
 

charlituna

macrumors G3
Jun 11, 2008
9,636
816
Los Angeles, CA
What happens when you goto the genius bar with you computer and there are iPhones in front of you? Apple has instructed there Geniuses to handle the phones first and make the computer customers wait. That is what I am talking about.

well not all stores are following that rule.

Cause the G-Bar at my store always has at least 2 folks at it. one on iphone/ipods and the other on computers. at all times. the only reason one of them would be missing is cause there were no booked appointments during that time. but they don't switch teams. they use the downtime for breaks and helping in the back. but if an applicable customer comes in, out comes the missing tech to help.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
What happens when you goto the genius bar with you computer and there are iPhones in front of you? Apple has instructed there Geniuses to handle the phones first and make the computer customers wait. That is what I am talking about.
Um, maybe for a short period after the initial iPhone launch, but that definitely hasn't been the case in the years since then. :confused:

iPhones Genius Bar appts go into the iPod/iPhone queue, and they're handled first-in, first out, and they don't affect the speed of the Genius working on the Mac queue. And if either queue starts to backup to where customers are waiting much longer than their scheduled appt time, they'll pull any Geniuses doing repairs out of the Genius Room (or pull a Genius GYO off of the floor) to help get things back on schedule.

At least that's how the Apple store near me handles it. Sounds like the stores you worked in particularly sucked.
 

-hh

macrumors 68030
Jul 17, 2001
2,550
336
NJ Highlands, Earth
While not feeling as strongly, I tend to agree with TorontoAllan for the most part. Why get rid of something, or decrease the impact/value/reach of something because it is too successful? That would be a lovely problem to have.

It makes me wonder if Apple ever intended this service to be worth it at all. ...

As has been discussed here, there's probably (at least) two issues.

#1 is that they're apparently "out of room" and thus can't offer the level of quality that they want, as they can't handle the service because they're currently out of physical room. Hats off to them for taking steps to address a QUALITY issue, IMNSO.

And while we do agree that there were alternatives, Apple is reportedly taking action on some of these too, such as with 25 new and 100 Apple Stores being remodeled. Read the link, for it explicitly mentions that the plans are for the Genius Bars to be expanded by 50%.


Apple wants to promote the ownership experience at their stores (not Best Buy, Mac Mall, etc.), which is why the change was made. They want to control the ownership experience as much as possible so customers walk away happy.

Find me somewhere else where you can get trained for less than $2 a session.

Reason #2 is that the program is a very good value and Apple was probably originally expecting to see a much lower customer utilization than they have gotten.

Anyway, it's fair enough to let other sellers offer their own customer support options.

We can probably agree that it isn't particularly ethical to do our window-shopping and questioning of a salesman down at the local brick-n-mortar and then instead of rewarding them for the time that they spent with you, you go home and order the item over the Internet for less. This practice is shortsightedly non-sustaining, because in a few years, that local Brick-n-Mortar will go out of business and you won't have a salesman to help you.

This change to keep "out" buyers from non-Apple outlets will help to prompt the 3rd Party resellers to have a better support staff, since they won't be able to simply "dump" customers' problems/questions on the local Apple store who lost that sale.

So instead of EXPANDING a business practice (if there aren't enough people working to keep up you ADD more employees!) that seems to be working and increasing jobs and helping both themselves and the economy, they choose to scale back support and thus discourage sales from retailers like Best Buy (and thus overall sales since Apple stores aren't everywhere like Best Buy is; my nearest Apple Store is at least 60 miles away). Good decision Apple! :rolleyes:

The underlying problem was apparently more of the availability of retail floor space than employees, so its time for you to go on a Quest for the Harry Potter Magical Wand of Construction Permits and Overnight Renovations without Contractor Overruns to banish this problem. Its buried under the Free Money Tree that's on the banks of the River of Infinite Free Bandwidth, disguised as a Mac Pro Quad with an MSRP of only $799.

Meanwhile, back in reality-land, Apple is working to solve the floor space problem through remodeling & expanding, as per the URL link already provided above.

Of out curiosity, if you were Apple, what would have you done to address the issue?

Exactly. The rule of business is to never take a problem to your boss without also having a couple of suggested solutions to offer. Complaints without anything that even looks like a suggestion go into the Corporate Killfile...oh, and that complainer employee just capped his career.

If your nearest Apple Store is 60 miles away then you probably wouldn't buy 1to1 anyways.

Well, there is that point too. :cool: Unfortunately, some people aren't happy unless they have something to complain about.


I am trying to order a refurbished iMac for my Mom. I can't find One to One anywhere on the Online Apple Store for purchase with it.

This is an important point...I hope someone at Apple is checking into this.

If the mom and pop stores want to provide one hour training sessions, once a week, for an entire year, for $99, let them compete. It's a free market.

Amen.

This bums me out. I work in a K012 IT department and i have suggested to a few teachers that they buy the One2One in order to learn hands on at the mac store. Now they won't be able to. I understand their point. $99 for 52 hours of training is a stupidly low price, but i won't be able to send my teachers there any longer for indepth professional development.

Something to raise to Apple management through the .EDU department channels. Of course, Apple would simply prefer that the teachers make their next home PC purchase a Mac, which then facilitates a One2One purchase without any special accommodations.

-hh
 

hiimamac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2007
610
0
Boston
Seems to be a pretty impressive service for those new to the Mac platform.

Dislike bursting anyones bubble but I think means is staff cuts. One 2 one trainers get about $17 an hour. Mac specialists, about $11.20. This is Apples way of cutting back without appearing so. Further, the one to one training used to be pro workshops, now it's a bunch of booklets that came out a year ago that's all iLife. As I stated before hardly any trainers know Pro Apps and now it seems Apple is not making enough to sustain iLife trainers at almost double the specialists rate. Go into any store and ask the trainer if they know PRO APPS and ask how many trainers know PRO APPS.

I find it odd that Apple would announce this as there isn't anything new they are announcing. Again, while there may be a perceived demand for this service as it's pushed by employee's as metrics and is frowned upon, (they call it selling a brick if its just a computer and no applecare, or one to one), most trainers no longer know pro apps.

It's cutbacks. It's always been 14 days after purchase. Metrics, as in Apple care. Have some friends at Apple and was told they frown upon not selling mateics and if you don't, you can never move up should you decide to make Apple a career.

Also the pay is NOT a retail thing. Apple used to do commission plus paid very well. This has all changed for worse, for the workers and again, most trainers are just specialists with a higher pay grade. They just shaved off quite a but if money for those hardly making it anyway. Fingers crossed, prayers said for better days people.

Still great computers though. Feel bad for some that may be getting laid off.
Everyone also knows that the staff is mostly 85%+ part time right? I knew a lot if people that wanted full-time but they make more having high turnaround, no benefits, parttime wages.

I have GENIUS and TRAINER friends, GENIUSes used to get 60K a year, its far from that now. And the APPLE ONLY is to cut back the demand as they are cutting back the staff from people who really need a job. Do the math, add up how many stores there are, then mulitply the number of one to one sign up's last year at $100 a person, then divide that by 4-7 trainers per store. Apple can afford to pay them but they don't. Further, I have seen many specialists (who get paid almost half), teach most of the classes as it does NOT take a PRO person to do this anymore. There are only a few PRO APP stores, Los Angeles, NY, Boston and even then, only a few trainers and the classes are normally done in a public session, not one to one. I feel like this is Apples way of hurting those that need work while lining their pockets with more money. :mad::mad:
 

hiimamac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2007
610
0
Boston
That sucks. Ever since Steve has been off, Apple has been going down the drain. Well, so long macmall, i have to go spend an extra 500 bucks just to be ELIGIBLE for one to one and procare.

Again. Trainers make $17 an hour, specialists, $10 or so. Take into account 99% are iLife ( just look at the booklets they introduced last year, all iLife) and you will see apple doesn't want to pay staff $17 for teaching iLife and not fcp/logic. Gone are the days of apple meaning creative. No matter screens on iMac or MVP. No FireWire on low end mb. It's all consumer and sine the iMac is sting enough for pro work, graphics, apple once again stiffs you and demands you purchase a mac pro. Man applenhas really lost it for the pro user. They only care about iLife and iPhones. Sad. Really sad.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
Dislike bursting anyones bubble but I think means is staff cuts. One 2 one trainers get about $17 an hour. Mac specialists, about $11.20. This is Apples way of cutting back without appearing so.
How do you figure? This change doesn't STOP growth of One-to-One, it just slows it down. The only Specialists that should be doing One-to-One sessions are the Specialists that have signed up for the Creative track in the Grow-Your-Own program. Stores are able to add new full-time Genius and Creatives based upon the number of sessions each store does. So at worst, this means new Creative growth will slow. I doubt it'll stop,and I really doubt it'll involve cuts.

Further, the one to one training used to be pro workshops, now it's a bunch of booklets that came out a year ago that's all iLife.
Booklets are long since gone. Have you not seen the One-to-One customer portal?

Go into any store and ask the trainer if they know PRO APPS and ask how many trainers know PRO APPS.
Also ask them for the demand of Pro App sessions in their store, and if their store is able to meet that demand with the number of Creatives that know the Pro Apps.

Apple used to do commission plus paid very well.
And when they look store bonuses away, they gave every hourly employee a raise to compensate.

Feel bad for some that may be getting laid off.
Apple's not reducing the current number of One-to-One sessions, so why would anyone get laid off?

I feel like this is Apples way of hurting those that need work while lining their pockets with more money. :mad::mad:
Well, Apple exists for the purpose of making more and more money for its shareholders (of which you could be one if you wanted to, and profit personally from Apple's growth), but I still don't think you've done a good job of making a case that the One-to-One changes have anything to do with other than not being able to scale physically.
 

joe apple

macrumors newbie
Jun 3, 2009
2
0
Dislike bursting anyones bubble but I think means is staff cuts. One 2 one trainers get about $17 an hour. Mac specialists, about $11.20. This is Apples way of cutting back without appearing so. Further, the one to one training used to be pro workshops, now it's a bunch of booklets that came out a year ago that's all iLife. As I stated before hardly any trainers know Pro Apps and now it seems Apple is not making enough to sustain iLife trainers at almost double the specialists rate. Go into any store and ask the trainer if they know PRO APPS and ask how many trainers know PRO APPS.

I have to wonder where you get your info from. The Session Guides are not being used anymore - it's all about the online portal. One to One was never 'pro workshops' - it started out as training for people new to the Mac. I taught some of the first Pro Care sessions ever taught at my store in 2005. And your info on salary is also wrong. I don't care how many friends you have who work for Apple, you're simply wrong.

I find it odd that Apple would announce this as there isn't anything new they are announcing. Again, while there may be a perceived demand for this service as it's pushed by employee's as metrics and is frowned upon, (they call it selling a brick if its just a computer and no applecare, or one to one), most trainers no longer know pro apps.

It's very new. There's no promise of one lesson per week anymore, there are now 3-hour group workshops like those have been happening at some NYC stores for a while now, there's the requirement of purchasing with a computer from Apple, at the time of purchase. There's a quite a bit that's new.

Also the pay is NOT a retail thing. Apple used to do commission plus paid very well. This has all changed for worse, for the workers and again, most trainers are just specialists with a higher pay grade. They just shaved off quite a but if money for those hardly making it anyway. Fingers crossed, prayers said for better days people.

Apple stores NEVER paid commission. You really have no idea what you're talking about. Many, many trainers started as specialists, but they've all gone to Cupertino for training on how to teach, much like a teacher's college. They're highly qualified to be doing what they're doing. Apple invests quite a bit of time and money into each trainer they hire.

Still great computers though. Feel bad for some that may be getting laid off. Everyone also knows that the staff is mostly 85%+ part time right? I knew a lot if people that wanted full-time but they make more having high turnaround, no benefits, parttime wages.

Everyone knows? Sorry, but you're wrong again. The balance of PT to FT is different in every Apple store. Apple has more FT employees than any other retailer you could name. Are they hiring lots of FT people now - no. But in this economy, who is? One thing I can tell you for sure is that NO ONE is being laid off.

I have GENIUS and TRAINER friends, GENIUSes used to get 60K a year, its far from that now. And the APPLE ONLY is to cut back the demand as they are cutting back the staff from people who really need a job. Do the math, add up how many stores there are, then mulitply the number of one to one sign up's last year at $100 a person, then divide that by 4-7 trainers per store. Apple can afford to pay them but they don't. Further, I have seen many specialists (who get paid almost half), teach most of the classes as it does NOT take a PRO person to do this anymore. There are only a few PRO APP stores, Los Angeles, NY, Boston and even then, only a few trainers and the classes are normally done in a public session, not one to one. I feel like this is Apples way of hurting those that need work while lining their pockets with more money. :mad::mad:

The Genius position has never paid anywhere near $60K/year. That's simply incorrect. And your math is again, wrong. The difference in pay between specialists and trainers is not a factor of 2, not even close. The demand for simple switcher and iLife training FAR outweighs ProApp training, and it always has. Those who need ProApps at a very high level either need an Apple flagship store, or they need to go elsewhere and pay for the kind of training they're looking for. One to One has never been all things to all people, and it certainly isn't designed to churn out Steven Spielbergs and Marty Scorceses.
 

charlituna

macrumors G3
Jun 11, 2008
9,636
816
Los Angeles, CA
Apple's not reducing the current number of One-to-One sessions, so why would anyone get laid off?


no joke. AND they are adding workshops and this project slot. that's probably a good 3 hours if not more like 4-5 for the Trainers to man.

I work on a mall with an Apple store and I go to check my mail during my lunch pretty much every day. I rarely see a baby blue teaching sessions, workshops etc. It's always the Trainers. Maybe other stores are different.
 

jvlog

macrumors member
Feb 26, 2008
78
2
+1 Score one for the good guys
im not going to try to start anouther flame war in these forums but apple dosedo ALOT of douchebagy things
 

MacHack1717

macrumors newbie
Apr 28, 2009
4
0
One-on-Three

As a former Store Manager for an Apple Store, I have to say that I find the fact that all Apple Stores have been quietly shedding talented employees, more pointedly Creatives, rather disturbing.

Throughout my tenure at Apple Retail, prior to advancing my career beyond Apple, and in my personal meetings with Ron Johnson, it was always stated that the One-to-One program was at the core foundation for the Apple Store. This was due to evolution, as the One-to-One program, or ProCare as it was originally called, was not in place for the first few years of Apple Retail. The stores became a great place for switchers. It was the crazy affordable training programs that largely created buzz and contributed to the extreme success of the retail stores.

However, the training program is inherently flawed. There is no consequence for not showing up for your scheduled appointments. Up until this change, that meant there was a Full Time, $30,000-$35,000, Creative waiting for you, with nothing else to do. During the spring time, when weather is warming up, it is uncommon for an Apple Store to experience as high as a 30% No-Show rate. Talk about lost productivity. Rather than changing the No-Show policy of the program, they made these changes, which seem to be in direct contradiction to the foundation that the program was original designed. Open project with 1 creative supervising multiple customers? More than one person in a training session? What about different learning levels, speeds, goals, capabilities? How does this support the "Ultimate Customer Experience." The truth is, this decision was made out of pure financial necessity. When I left Apple Retail last summer, I was running a $50 million store with approximately 150 employees. That same store now has less than 70 employees. Anyone hear about these job losses at Apple? Nope. Best kept secret. Of course the economy is down, and sales are down, and retail stores should streamline and shrink to accommodate. The current line of "investing in the downturn", however, is just a bunch of crap and a complete marketing line to steer away the reality.

The One-to-One program was altered because if you change the program from a one-to-one to a one-to-many situation and a few customers don't show up, you get to use less employees to serve the same number of customers.

On a different note, I find the fact that you can no longer simply walk into an Apple Store to purchase a training membership rather insulting. For a commission free atmosphere, they are awfully hell bent on pushing the 60% AppleCare attach rate, 30% MobileMe attach rate, and 25% One-to-One attach rate. How do you think the customers feel about being put in the position to have to decide when they purchase a computer, and only then, if they want to enroll in the training. Seems pretty pushy to me. What ever happened to letting those, who are unsure of training, to take the computer home play with it, and decide if they need it. Or better yet, offer them 1 free training session to get a taste of the program. But then again, that would cost money, and that clearly isn't the way they are going any more.


Just my 15 cents from someone who has first hand experience.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
Open project with 1 creative supervising multiple customers? More than one person in a training session? What about different learning levels, speeds, goals, capabilities? How does this support the "Ultimate Customer Experience."
Aren't those new options in addition to the traditional "one trainer, one customer" option?

If the customer is selecting the type of training they wish, I guess I don't see how this is a bad thing. People wanting the style that Apple's been dishing out for the last 7 years can choose that, whereas if they want to be in a group of customers learning about a topic, that's another option. Or if they'd just like the ability to work on a project in the store for three hours, knowing they can call a Creative over if they run into a roadblock, .. well, that's apparently an option too.

I agree that any time it's a one Creative to multiple customers ratio, Apple makes out financially, but if it's up to the customer to choose the type of training they want, and they can always choose the traditional one-to-one method, what's lost in the customer experience? :confused:

The current line of "investing in the downturn", however, is just a bunch of crap and a complete marketing line to steer away the reality.
Wasn't that quote from the context Apple choosing to spend millions on remodeling 100 retail stores this year?

On a different note, I find the fact that you can no longer simply walk into an Apple Store to purchase a training membership rather insulting.
I agree. Hopefully with enough internal and external Net Promoter feedback, this policy will change.
 

charlituna

macrumors G3
Jun 11, 2008
9,636
816
Los Angeles, CA
When I left Apple Retail last summer, I was running a $50 million store with approximately 150 employees. That same store now has less than 70 employees. Anyone hear about these job losses at Apple? Nope. Best kept secret.


perhaps the reason no one has heard anything is that there's nothing to say. because the missing folks were not fired, as you want to imply, to save money but were simply folks that left for other reasons and were not replaced. and those that were fired may have been due to other issues. I've had to let go a number of folks at my company for failing to show up on time for shift, for example. perhaps some of the folks that have left your store were for such reasons.

as for no show comments, I seriously doubt that there was NOTHING those folks could do when an appointment didn't show. no training they could do to improve skills, working on the sales floor or something.

Aren't those new options in addition to the traditional "one trainer, one customer" option?

yes they are. so now there are 4 ways to get training.

and in some ways these changes could be real good. consider for example this open project session. what is better overall for the customers. 3 folks taking up the time of 3 trainers to basically babysit them while they work on something just in case they have a question. or 1 trainer doing the babysitting while the other 2 are available to those that need more focused instruction.
 

Mac In School

macrumors 65816
Jun 21, 2007
1,286
0
im not going to try to start anouther flame war in these forums but apple dosedo ALOT of douchebagy things

Like offering virtually unlimited in-person, direct-from-the-manufacturer personal training for $99/year?

We've already seen how Best Buy compares: 1 hour for $169, but that's not direct-from-the-manufacturer. I haven't researched it, but how do the prices of personal training from Microsoft, HP, Sony and Dell compare?
 

Mac In School

macrumors 65816
Jun 21, 2007
1,286
0
Here's how unbearable it's getting, based on first-hand experience.

I had a One to One lesson today at 11:00 am. Once my lesson was over, I logged on to see when I'd be able to book another one. To my surprise, there was another one available an hour later. I booked it, ate some lunch, and came back for a second lesson on the same day! When that one was over, I booked another lesson for tomorrow.

How can they rip us off like this?

[/sarcasm]

I don't know if this is a direct result of the change or if they just coincidentally slowed down at the same time. I suppose that's possible, but before the change I was lucky if I could get in once a week.
 

charlituna

macrumors G3
Jun 11, 2008
9,636
816
Los Angeles, CA
I don't know if this is a direct result of the change


yes and no. before you were limited to once a week, if you could get it. now they dropped that and its simply one year. the only limit is that you can only have one booked at a time. but once that one is over, if even the next hour happens to be open, go for it.
 

CHess

macrumors regular
Dec 13, 2001
121
1
San Francisco Bay Area
Was bound to happen

Personally, I don't see how anyone can be surprised by Apple's move. Most of the posters here are looking at it strictly from an individual's point of view. But, looking at the economics and logistics of the one-to-one program, it just never made sense from the very beginning.

Let's see, what does it cost to have someone spend an hour with an individual? You have employee salary, factoring in benefits and support costs, and dedicated store space and equipement, and they're telling people they can come in 52 times a year (once a week) for a year, for $99.

Then, people say "hey, this is great", but they will naturally get angry because there aren't enough employees or other resources because Apple isn't willing to really make $2 an hour on every one-to-one customer they've sold the service to.

It seemed like a silly service to me in the first place – not for the early customers, but for Apple itself. They've been selling a service that's partly non-existent, betting, I suppose, that people would dish out their $99, use the service one or two times and then forget about it or just never get around to making those appointments.
 
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