Apple Retail Employees Vent Frustrations About Stores Becoming Less 'Shopper-Friendly' in Recent Years

[DeepIn2U]

And when people criticize her bad decisions, they are labeled as misogynists just because the bad decisions are made by a woman.
But the fact is, the decisions themselves are simply bad no matter who made them.

If referring to the thread from 2/3 days ago, or me in particular ... that's cause those I quoted in the first page of said thread ... did not substantiate the hate/dislike/disdain, they did come across as misogynists and called out to substantiate but I'll leave that there.

The store has grown with heavy traffic FAR too large for any one executive or term to resolve. The retail costs will balloon to have more space ... that is critical to handle the traffic and/separate gatherings & customer training sessions vs retail. At this stage we all know just how good iOS and MacOS is that subtle changes don't need to be investigated in the store. Online has killed the retail space for the most part in terms of sales.

After space and new locations and separation ... then comes the organization of rapid questions, to repairs (a real genius repair location), and for advice or troubleshooting. Maybe ... just maybe Apple should use the technology of iMessage to convey advice/inquiries over video chat and even a timed session only remote connection that the end user has to invite with a "kill session" ever present button. I'm suggesting this for those clueless customers that just seem to never understand a direct/accurate answer to the questions they have and seem to hold up others waiting for real issues.

They need to separate sales and service. Angela needed to go.

Prior to her Im VERY sure NONE of us truly knew that these two needed to be separated and clearly defined not only amongst internal retail staff yet also for customers. (more on this below).

Ah corporate America, where one executive gets a bonus for changing something and the next executive gets a bonus for changing it back.

But change is often confused with progress in both corporations and forums.

That ^^^^^

Stores are Uncomfortable to say the least.

There have been quite a few issues long before Ahrendts and the Carnegie Library takes months to renovate and pretty sure that was decided upon long before Diedre was set to replace. Let's see what an HR head with some retail experience can do, and see if her changes are indeed better.

Previous issues: (2014-2016 ; no real mention directly associated with Ahrendts back then)
Apple's Retail Store Staff Compensation Criticized
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/25/apples-retail-store-staff-compensation-criticized/amp/

Apple to Face Class Action Lawsuit Over Off-the-Clock Employee Bag Checking
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/16/apple-bag-checking-class-action-lawsuit/amp/

Apple Retail Employees Alleged to be Treated as 'Criminals' in Bag Check Lawsuit
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/11/apple-bag-check-lawsuit/

Former Apple Store Employees Provide Amusing Glimpse Into Company's Retail Culture
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/01/apple-store-employee-culture/

Apple Store Worker Says Staff Routinely Get Death Threats From Customers
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ely-get-death-threats-from-customers.1974741/

They need to call them something else, calling them a genius gets them a lot of hate from the get go.

prior to 2012
Apple's Secret Retail Staff Meeting About 'Joint Venture' Genius Bar Services for Businesses?
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/2...t-venture-genius-bar-services-for-businesses/

First rumored back in March of last year, Joint Venture is an extension of Apple's current Genius Bar services that is aimed at small businesses and prosumers. Subscribers of the new service will be able to speak with a store-based Apple technician - lovingly referred to as Geniuses - over the phone for one-on-one consultation and troubleshooting, or they can request an on-site visit. Currently, Apple's Geniuses are not allowed to provide support remotely via the phone or in-person outside of Apple's retail locations.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/nov/12/apple-retail

John Browett's abbreviated tenure as head of Apple's worldwide retail organisation hasn't slowed the pace of store

openings and customer visits.

Retail Store statistics:
http://www.asymco.com/2012/11/09/minding-the-store/

 

[antiprotest]

Yikes I remember my local store literally smelling like a barn. It was awful. And the smell went away as soon as you left the store.

I will take what you said as a joke but I was stating a fact in my experience that was also confirmed by others. If you have been to Apple stores before you'd understand. They are indeed better now in terms of the smell but I'm not sure if she improved this on purpose or if it was coincidental.
[doublepost=1557252368][/doublepost]

Employees cannot show up for their shift smelling of BO or perfumes. If their smell over he course of the shift, it is strange as the store has an AC, report it to a Store manager who will address it with the employee. If it is another patron who smells, that is not on Apples part. The staff is not going to evacuate a store if there was a customer with a BO problem that walked in and their smell lingered. As a customer if you think a fellow customer BO is bad you have the choice to walk out, employees do not have the benefit unless it is toxic to health.

I will assume that you are right that the employees were never allowed to show up with BO in the first place. But BO can develop over the hours. If the BO came from other customers that is not necessarily Apple's responsibility. But I never said Apple caused the BO before. I just said that the BO is reduced now, whether this was done on purpose or coincidental. Also, I did walk out when the BO was really bad before. But I can make it comment about it can't I? I can just as easily say that if you didn't like my comment, you could have ignored it instead of replying to it.

 

[pagazuss]

I felt the same things, I disappointed that many staff I talked to didn't ever watch the Apple Event, and the lack of enthusiasm in products. Geniuses also can't answer simple MacOS questions ending up with finding answer by myself in Apple Website Communities which is great.

 

[thelookingglass]

Lol, you get confirmed on exiting by an employee closest to the exit.

Like any jobs, some employees put the effort due to passion and drive, others are there for the benefits and pay and do the bare minimum. Some may have busy personal family lives and things happening, so those things take priority. It happens to all of us. Try focusing or giving your A game at work when your spouse or child is hospitalized or gets in trouble at school or whatever, life.

I've never once been confirmed by any employee when paying with the app. I'm always paranoid that someone will think I'm shoplifting so I just leave the app open to prove that I just paid. lol

 

[twistedpixel8]

The open air store layout is chaotic, cold and dysfunctional. Employee knowledge of products has dropped significantly in recent years.

When I bought my iPhone X, I asked the “genius” (who was replacing the first one as it had a dent) if there was anything I could actively do to help mitigate OLED burn-in. He responded, “buy a screen protector.”

 

[bb9]

I am reading a lot of first world issues. Is it possible there are trolls and Russian / other countries influence??
Note, personally They seems to be the same, difference but the same. = No issues.

 

[mudflap]

When I bought my iPhone X, I asked the “genius” (who was replacing the first one as it had a dent) if there was anything I could actively do to help mitigate OLED burn-in. He responded, “buy a screen protector.”

I've always had great luck with the geniuses here in Chicago — fast, friendly and they knew their stuff. But that person you engaged with needs to be fired immediately. That's just insulting.

 

[16BitArcadeGraphics]

Want to increase sales? Reduce the price of iPhones outside of the USA: the 256Gb Xs Max is over $400 more expensive here than in the US, at just over $1650 at today's exchange rate (vs $1250 in the US).

Apple is making us feel like second class customers.

likely due to import tariffs, apple raises the price accordingly. it does not want to lose money on each item it sells overseas.

 

[avanpelt]

Support at the stores has become akin to going to the DMV in a lot of cases. A lot of customers are sitting around and the employees tell you to move to a certain spot to wait to be called on. As you wait there, you look around only to see other people who, like you, look like they had lots of other things they wanted to do with their day. Instead, you're all stuck waiting in a queue at that Apple Store (even if you had a reservation) and no one knows how close they are to being helped. That's probably the single most frustrating experience for the consumer -- you have no idea where you are in the queue.

Twice now, I've had the experience where I had a reservation, checked in, sat where I was told to sit, and waited upwards of 30 minutes past my reservation time only to be told that I had been removed from the list because the support person didn't know I was there so they took me off the list. I just assumed they were really busy so that's why I was waiting 20-30 minutes past my reservation time; but no, they just took me off the list and didn't bother informing me until I inquired. Not a positive customer service experience.

 

[skofgar]

I actually liked the changes and had very fast service in the Apple stores. I also like that they have more plants in the store, that breaks the "cold/clean" Apple style.

 

[ksec]

Opening more stores is not the solution, Apple should consider fulfillment centres like Amazon that are as local as possible. If same day delivery is possible there is no point to visit the store to purchase or pick-up.

It is not just about purchase, but also about support. Before iPhone, Apple had 160 Stores, and were expanding as quickly as they could, by 2007 they had nearly 200 Stores. And that was only serving ~30M Mac users and less then 100M iPod users.

So how many stores did Apple add while having an extra 900M iPhone, 300M iPad, 70M Mac users?

300. As of today Apple had roughly 500 Stores.

Even if they *had* 1000 Stores worldwide serving their 1B+ Customers, the store to customer count is still insanely high.

 

[Overstim]

Angela Ahrendts came from Burberry, a luxury brand, and tried to run Apple stores the same way. And look, you can argue all you want about Apple's prices, value, etc... but their retail presence is not the same as a luxury brand like Burberry, Coach, Bruno Magli, etc. These are big, open, airy stores you can wander around in because they are NOT CROWDED. They intentionally price themselves high to reduce demand and create a mystique. Apple is not that. Apple is a mass market consumer company and their stores are too crowded for people to be wandering around bumping into each other looking for help. Who had the bright idea to let techs look for you and call out your name? That works in a luxury boutique when there are only 2 or 3 people shopping. Who had the bright idea to let people waiting for a tech appointment to sit and block the $5000 iMac Pro I want to consider buying for my studio? Thats a lost sale.

 

[Chazz08]

Wonder what's next.

 

[birdieman128]

Apple Store can only be described as a 'zoo-like' atmosphere, chaotic, congested and smelly. The only time for me to visit is if I have to fix an iDevice (with appointment) or purchase something on the first day of release if I don't want to wait for my pre-order to ship out. Other than that, I always try to avoid the store as the wait time to get anything done is long and painful.

Online is always the way to go.

 

[minimo3]

Apple is becoming the new Best Buy. Tons of employees walking around not doing anything. Yet when you actually need help there is no one around.

I’ve found Best Buy to have pretty good customer service nowadays. I can always find someone to help me, they can actually tell me about the product and they price match amazon. I enjoy shopping there.

 

[nburwell]

Not that I go to my local Apple Store often, but when I had to go to have one of my devices serviced, it's was complete madness. Generally, I know Apple Stores are super busy, but their Genius appointments are so disorganized IMO. I believe a couple others mentioned times where they were told to wait in a specific section of the store, only to have a Genius call out your name on the opposite side of the store. Also, there were times where I waited 20-30 minutes (after my scheduled appointment) to speak to someone.

I certainly would like to see improvement in the service aspect. For sales, I prefer just ordering online and having products shipped to my house.

 

[barmann]

I think they believe what they want to believe.

My biggest problem with Apple stores is simply it's a cluster to navigate through. I went to the 5th Ave NYC flagship a few times, and I was annoyed by how many of the employees just stand around and congregate like high school groupies.

Maybe it's a social gathering for the employees?

5th Ave Apple store ?
Don't get me started ...

I've always felt like Apple stores are a waste of premium real estate - pretty, but you can't get stuff done, poor service, clueless employees, and forget about buying anything you really need - but 5th Ave takes the cake .
It's just a completely useless memorial of Apple's buying power, a claustrophobic mess and an eyesore .

 

[Timemaster]

As a store both my wife and I honestly hate going into an Apple store to buy. It is a crazy place with way to many people in it just killing time. I bought my wife's iphone and iPad from the store because she wanted to play with them first plus they would have everything we needed but just kind of crazy and to many people.
Customer service is fine but still stressful and often times tricky to get a hold of an employee to get through things. Honestly at this point if I can I will order my next Mac or even phone online just to avoid the stress of dealing with so many people and crowded in the store. The layout is great to play with things and looks pretty but a pain if you need to buy something.

 

[oneMadRssn]

It's true. My two negative experiences recently had to do with needless waiting and Apple's refusal to do things by mail.

First, I went into a store to buy a smart case. I knew what I wanted, I just wanted to be rung up and leave. Instead, I was placed in a queue by the check-in person, and had to wait nearly 30 minutes before someone came to me. Not that I'm a fan, but at least in a regular retail store like Best Buy I can be in-and-out in as much time as it takes me to walk.

Second, I called Apple because my iPad Pro became totally unresponsive after a few months - obviously a hardware defect. They refused to offer any replacement over the phone, and asked that I go to a store (I wasn't in a hurry, I told it would be fine to send it to them). In the store, after a bit of waiting despite my being on time for my appointment, they agreed it was defective and said they would give me a replacement. Except they didn't have any in stock. I told them to keep the broken one and just mail me the replacement. Nope, can't do that. I had to come back a second time a few days later, wait again, just to pick up the replacement. A thousand dollar device, from the wealthiest company in the world, and I had to drive to them twice to fix a defect.

 

[Juicy Box]

Employee knowledge of products has dropped significantly in recent years.

Couldn't even begin to tell you how many times I've gone into an Apple store and talked to employees about a product or service and it was glaringly obvious that they didn't know what they were talking about.

I think that the quality of the Apple Store experience has suffered over the past few years also, but to be fair, the Apple Support knowledge of products and services has also dropped significantly in recent years, imo. It doesn't seem to be isolated to just the Apple Stores.

 

[dk001]

When I bought my iPhone X, I asked the “genius” (who was replacing the first one as it had a dent) if there was anything I could actively do to help mitigate OLED burn-in. He responded, “buy a screen protector.”

You sir get "The Post Of The Day!"

Damn that was good

 

[TheMadCow]

One thing I do like about the new stores. It's shooting fish in a barrel to snipe customers from Apple. You just politely ask what kind of problem they're having, if it's not especially needed for Warranty service, you slip them a card and explain they don't need to wait here. We make house calls.

 

[antonrg]

« Customers looking for technical advice or repairs must now check in with an employee, who types their request into an iPad. Then when a Genius is free, he or she must find the customer wherever they happen to be in the store. Ahrendts was determined to get rid of lineups, but now the stores are often crowded with people waiting for their iPhones to be fixed or batteries swapped out »

THIS! The amount of times this happened to me! Ugh, the frustration.

 

[Partron22]

Boy, that was an ugly story.
Course, you can't have Geniuses for your Genius bars when you actively discourage playing around with the guts of your machines.
Perhaps they shouldn't have discouraged Prosumers with product delays and security theater.
Moving repair to the internet is just an awful plan. Send it in and wait a 3 days each way.

 

[cjboffoli97]

The biggest problem I have with the Apple Store these days is that whenever I've taken a product in for a Genius Bar appointment they're all friendly for the meet and greet and getting basic info for intake and then they keep you standing around waiting for 90 minutes before someone has time to come to talk to you. And this isn't an isolated incident but has been indicative of the poor level of service during my last several visits to multiple Apple stores. I've gone back to insisting that Apple do replacements for defective hardware by mail as, along with traffic, parking and going over the actual problems and possible solutions, I can't justify wasting so many hours of time. This lack of efficiency feels very un-Apple and is off-putting for this customer of 40+ years.