I loved the try on appointment, I loved that it wasn't crowded, I loved knowing that when I got there I had a time scheduled just for me. I loved that I had time to actually try on the watch and all the combinations. It gave me confidence that I purchased the right watch for me. For something so personal and public, it is very important to make sure it's the right fit for you.
I have nothing but praise for the way the watch was launched, given the constraints in supply, the number sold, and the excitement surrounding it.
I think the big problem is that the try-on appointments weren't consistent, and Apple (and/or the Apple store workers) didn't do a good job of managing expectations.
I've been through three "try-on" experiences, one for myself and two others for family members. The first was wonderful; I was in the Apple store for a repair, a store representative noticed me looking over the Apple Watch display as I waited, and offered me to try them on. There was no time limit, and no limit to the number of bands I could try. The worker was enthusiastic and told me that he had one on order for himself. I was impressed by the experience and the Watch, and based on that enthusiastically suggested that my family try it out as well.
While visiting family, I scheduled an appointment for my mother and we went together. I had read the complaints on this forum about people being informed of the two-band limit only after they had already tried on two bands; knowing that my mother was interested in more than two bands, I asked the Apple store worker if this limit still applied when we were prompted to choose bands to try. Yes, the limit still applied, and it seemed as if we wouldn't have found that out unless I had asked (and read it here). The worker wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the Watch, but that's the luck of the draw. It wasn't a particularly impressive experience.
The funny thing about it is that, as my mother was looking over the other watches in the display case after the appointment had finished, a different worker came up to her and asked if she'd like to try them on. He was enthusiastic about the product and allowed her to try on
every single band that they had in the store. We easily spent 20-40 minutes with him. It was fantastic.
To summarize, I was impressed by two out of three try-on appointments, and the one that I felt was a let-down was the one where I had scheduled it the way that Apple intended. The two-band limit should have been clearer, but even overlooking that, it seems ridiculous to have the option of the appointment (along with its limitation) when you could just go to a store and try the bands on without any of those restrictions without making an appointment.
