Was there last night and overheard some of their "support" - OMG, where do they get these people?
They won't hire me - after 20+ years of Apple and IT experience...
I guess Dell's still extremely successful regardless of the bad support...
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Prepping Genius Bar Changes: Focus on Shorter Wait Times, Multitasking, Overnight Repairs
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Was there last night and overheard some of their "support" - OMG, where do they get these people?
They won't hire me - after 20+ years of Apple and IT experience...
I guess Dell's still extremely successful regardless of the bad support...
I highly doubt that they are being told to put two or more people on stools in front of one tech and have them ping pong questions back and forth
Okay Charli. No only one question or comment at a time.
Okay Tigress, your turn
Now Charli
Now Tigress
and so on
But certainly if it turns out that you have 3 folks showing up at the same time that all don't know how to back up their iphones to their computers you don't need to waste two more geniuses on that. Have one take them all to the end of the bar and teach them together.
And unless the article is by Apple, take it with a grain of salt. Even someone that works a store can misunderstand or even purposefully screw up a couple of minor details so it's not obvious that they are telling something they possibly aren't supposed to (and could lose a job over)
We must travel in different circles my friend because when one of the PC's I use in my business goes down, I make a phone call and someone shows up in my office and does the repair right here on site.
When one of my Macs goes down, I have to "make an appointment" with a "genius" usually for the next day.
Trust me my friend, you fanboys like to throw around terms like "haters" but you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I have NEVER once had a problem getting a PC serviced - and I buy my PCs with 2 year ON SITE service and I buy my Macs with Applecare.
My PCs are ALWAYS up and running in LESS that 1/2 the time than my Macs.
The Apple Stores are the linchpin of 
success. No other consumer device manufacturer has anything like it! The 5th Ave store is a work of modern art all by itself!
The stores are a huge prestige factor all by themselves and make Apple into a HUGE cultural icon, bigger then anything else!
success. No other consumer device manufacturer has anything like it! The 5th Ave store is a work of modern art all by itself! The stores are a huge prestige factor all by themselves and make Apple into a HUGE cultural icon, bigger then anything else!
Depends on how you deal with people I guess. Often times you can make a pissed off customer feel good if you deal with them correctly. If you push back, the situation just escalates. You know what I'm saying? An abusive boss can easily be worse than any customer. You typically deal with bosses...all the time. A bad customer? Maybe 20 minutes on average at most? Of course you get a non stop barrage of customers, so it's not that cut and dry, but if you work in retail your job is to make the customer happy. That means working on dealing with irate people. It's just a skill you have to develop. People who go into retail and then complain about customers are entirely missing the point.
No matter what job you are in, you have to serve someone. In retail, you serve the customer. If you do it with a bad attitude, or a chip on your shoulder, guess how that will make the typical customer react.
Also, just in general here, my previous comments on retail employees being unskilled labor was not meant as a knock. I worked retail as my first job for 2.5 years. I made 150 dollars every two weeks, and I was thrilled. I make more than that now in a day. It's called paying your dues. If you want to not work retail, gain a skill and move on. But don't complain about being underpaid because it's "hard". Life is hard. All the time. For just about everyone.
Benefit of the doubt
While my experiences with the quality of Apple products has been spotty, my experiences with Genius Bar staff has been consistently excellent. I will keep an open mind and be hopeful that they can find a way to continue the good service I've received in the past under the new guidelines.
While my experiences with the quality of Apple products has been spotty, my experiences with Genius Bar staff has been consistently excellent. I will keep an open mind and be hopeful that they can find a way to continue the good service I've received in the past under the new guidelines.
every apple store around here has been a complete clusterf*ck recently. the stores are usually packed to the gills with customers, and the employees are left running around like chickens with their heads cut off. there's no rhyme or reason to the shopping or genius bar experience anymore.
want to buy something? there's no cashier, and everybody with a hand-held checkout device is busy already!
trying to ask a question or get some help? the one employee you manage to flag down is already helping 3 other people!
show up 5 minutes early to your genius bar appointment? wait another 40 minutes for a "genius" to open up at the bar!
once you're at the bar can you hold their attention for more than a couple minutes? no, because inevitably some other angry customer wrestles their attention away from you, leaving you alone again with no help!
apple, get organized! your employees can barely multi-task or handle walk-ins as it is!
want to buy something? there's no cashier, and everybody with a hand-held checkout device is busy already!
trying to ask a question or get some help? the one employee you manage to flag down is already helping 3 other people!
show up 5 minutes early to your genius bar appointment? wait another 40 minutes for a "genius" to open up at the bar!
once you're at the bar can you hold their attention for more than a couple minutes? no, because inevitably some other angry customer wrestles their attention away from you, leaving you alone again with no help!
apple, get organized! your employees can barely multi-task or handle walk-ins as it is!
It was a Genius move to call tech support people Geniuses. The average consumer doesn't know what good vs bad tech support skill is anyways, so at least they can think "well today I'm going into the Apple Store to have my Genius fix the problem!" Brilliant marketing move, convincing the customer they are getting MORE then with another company.
every apple store around here has been a complete clusterf*ck recently. the stores are usually packed to the gills with customers, and the employees are left running around like chickens with their heads cut off. there's no rhyme or reason to the shopping or genius bar experience anymore.
want to buy something? there's no cashier, and everybody with a hand-held checkout device is busy already!
trying to ask a question or get some help? the one employee you manage to flag down is already helping 3 other people!
show up 5 minutes early to your genius bar appointment? wait another 40 minutes for a "genius" to open up at the bar!
once you're at the bar can you hold their attention for more than a couple minutes? no, because inevitably some other angry customer wrestles their attention away from you, leaving you alone again with no help!
apple, get organized! your employees can barely multi-task or handle walk-ins as it is!
Oh please it's no different then any other consumer electronics retail store. The only reason Staples always has friendly people waiting to help you is that there are no customers.
The wait times in NYC are ridiculous!!!
You need at least several days in advance to get an appointment (Which is terrible considering you can only schedule 3 days in advance), and forget about a mid-afternoon time on the weekends!
Like the article has stated, in NYC they are already multitasking, and the quality has plummeted.
A typical NYC genius bar conversation goes like this:
Person: My iPhone no longer gets any 3G signal.
"Genius": Sounds like a software issue. Have you tried restoring the OS?
Person: Yes, I've restored the OS, reset the network connections, and hard rest the phone. Still nothing. A similar iPhone right next to mine gets 3G fine.
"Genius": Well, I'm going to restore your phone.
[waits for 1 hour why the restore happens and the genius multitasks with multiple customers]
"Genius": Hmm, that did not seem to fix it. You can buy a new phone. Why don't I put you on the waiting list for the iPhone 4?
Person:
You need at least several days in advance to get an appointment (Which is terrible considering you can only schedule 3 days in advance), and forget about a mid-afternoon time on the weekends!
Like the article has stated, in NYC they are already multitasking, and the quality has plummeted.
A typical NYC genius bar conversation goes like this:
Person: My iPhone no longer gets any 3G signal.
"Genius": Sounds like a software issue. Have you tried restoring the OS?
Person: Yes, I've restored the OS, reset the network connections, and hard rest the phone. Still nothing. A similar iPhone right next to mine gets 3G fine.
"Genius": Well, I'm going to restore your phone.
[waits for 1 hour why the restore happens and the genius multitasks with multiple customers]
"Genius": Hmm, that did not seem to fix it. You can buy a new phone. Why don't I put you on the waiting list for the iPhone 4?
Person:
You are spot on. I spent 3 years working for a Big Box Electronics store in the mid 90's and now the last 7 in the retail Auto industry.
every apple store around here has been a complete clusterf*ck recently. the stores are usually packed to the gills with customers, and the employees are left running around like chickens with their heads cut off. there's no rhyme or reason to the shopping or genius bar experience anymore.
want to buy something? there's no cashier, and everybody with a hand-held checkout device is busy already!
trying to ask a question or get some help? the one employee you manage to flag down is already helping 3 other people!
show up 5 minutes early to your genius bar appointment? wait another 40 minutes for a "genius" to open up at the bar!
once you're at the bar can you hold their attention for more than a couple minutes? no, because inevitably some other angry customer wrestles their attention away from you, leaving you alone again with no help!
apple, get organized! your employees can barely multi-task or handle walk-ins as it is!
This is so true its not even funny!
LOL.
One step closer to the Apple Friend Bar.
LOL again, and very true!
No one would post on Page 1. Report problem posts and don't turn Page 1 into your soapbox about it.macrumors has become trollrumors!
First of all they should be like other forums, and ban anyone who talks bad against apple (STEP 1)
Second - They need to moderate the forums
Third - maybe get apple involved in the forums
Fourth - Ban any derogatory comments
Fifth - This would be a more useful site then, as 80% of the trolls would be banned.
It's barely passable for the Forum & Site Feedback section.
It was a Genius move to call tech support people Geniuses. The average consumer doesn't know what good vs bad tech support skill is anyways, so at least they can think "well today I'm going into the Apple Store to have my Genius fix the problem!" Brilliant marketing move, convincing the customer they are getting MORE then with another company.
And to those of us who know what we are doing find it ridiculous that a repair person that reads from official instructions to 'fix' computers is called a genius. Unless I am trying to get something fixed covered by warranty, I dint let people 'fix' my machines. I do sometimes act like a clueless idiot just to see how much the tech actually knows... I am rarely impressed
Depends on how you deal with people I guess. Often times you can make a pissed off customer feel good if you deal with them correctly. If you push back, the situation just escalates. You know what I'm saying? An abusive boss can easily be worse than any customer. You typically deal with bosses...all the time. A bad customer? Maybe 20 minutes on average at most? Of course you get a non stop barrage of customers, so it's not that cut and dry, but if you work in retail your job is to make the customer happy. That means working on dealing with irate people. It's just a skill you have to develop. People who go into retail and then complain about customers are entirely missing the point.
No matter what job you are in, you have to serve someone. In retail, you serve the customer. If you do it with a bad attitude, or a chip on your shoulder, guess how that will make the typical customer react.
Also, just in general here, my previous comments on retail employees being unskilled labor was not meant as a knock. I worked retail as my first job for 2.5 years. I made 150 dollars every two weeks, and I was thrilled. I make more than that now in a day. It's called paying your dues. If you want to not work retail, gain a skill and move on. But don't complain about being underpaid because it's "hard". Life is hard. All the time. For just about everyone.
I hear ya. I agree with you that it is better to go with the flow and roll with the punches when it comes to those more difficult customers. I also wasn't trying whine about the job being "too hard." I agree with you that life ain't supposed to be easy. I'm just trying to give some credit to the people that work these positions as a career, not a stepping stone to something else; it isn't the easiest job in the world, and as other people have said, they are often overworked and underpaid. I've been there, bought the t-shirt, and learned some valuable lessons along the way; that alone is worth more than the money could ever be. Peace.
So where are the people that are never going back going to go? Will they switch from Apple or just send their product in for service? I am not sure I understand people saying they won't go back.
Wow. So now the genius will just ignore me while he's fixing someones itunes problem. Sounds magical.
Oh, I see, "I'm a fail" because I agreed with someone else and quoted them? But you didn't "FAIL" the original post huh? Get a job!
The multitasking sounds good, and is definitely a needed relief for genius bar waits.
One genius can easily be restoring a few iPhones at a time, freeing up the line a bit. It takes way too much time to assign one of the few geniuses to someone who just needs their iPhone restored.
One genius can easily be restoring a few iPhones at a time, freeing up the line a bit. It takes way too much time to assign one of the few geniuses to someone who just needs their iPhone restored.
Then why did you buy a Mac then?
Some business require both, quite understandable that it did not occur to you.
"Multitasking: Genius Bar technicians are being asked to serve multiple support customers at one time, using downtime during appointments such as during reboots or while diagnostic tests are running to assist another customer. "
Each technician will have to be updated by the developer though, to take advantage of the multitasking feature.
Each technician will have to be updated by the developer though, to take advantage of the multitasking feature.
Then why did you buy a Mac then?
Not "a Mac", I own "Macs". Several at home and several for my business. And the fact of the matter is, I use both. I know that concept is lost to you, but that's what I do...
I suppose I'm a troll to you too because I don't "Love Apple to Death", Stand in line for days to buy a telephone", constantly use fanboy terms like "Elegant, Delicious" Gorgeous" , "Crappy", and "clunky" in every post. I also don't come to this site and discuss how much I "love Steve" and discuss what I'm planning on buying him for Christmas this year....
I bought Macs because there are a lot of places where they make sense in my life and business - in other places PCs make more sense,.. If you don't understand that then you really need to get a life or else just spend the rest of your existence posting messages on MacRumors and and calling everyone who doesn't share your narrow view of reality a "troll"...