Apple Retail Store Employee on Product Launches, Store Culture, and Customers

[Digital Skunk]

I think that every single person should spend some time working in retail (whether it's at Apple or McDonald's, it really doesn't matter). You learn a lot about dealing with annoying and demanding customers and hopefully the experience helps you not to be one

I worked in a hardware retail store (Canadian Tire) one summer a few years ago. The sense of entitlement some people had was just ridiculous. They expect you to be complete product experts whilst simultaneously looking down on you because you make minimum wage instead of earning the mega bucks as a business executive like them. Hey guess what? You can't have it both ways. Overall it was fun though, I learned a lot, and find myself having a lot more sympathy for store workers now than I used to (and, conversely, I can tell the difference between someone who's trying but having difficulty versus someone who really should know better).

I agree 100%. It should be a prerequisite for leaving high school instead of community service.

Retail is the only place where you can see a person that needs your help, and you're the only one that can help and they know it, but they'll talk down to you like you're the scum between their toes.

Apple is where you'll find customers, managers, and employees that fit that bill.

 

[imwoblin]

I'm starting to suffer from MacRumoritis. The rumor mill is churning full speed ahead right now. The cure of course is for Apple to release some new product or at least ios 4.3.
Cmon Apple, I need a fix! Release something already!

 

[bobjob186]

At the end of the day it was a retail store and I couldn't stand my colleagues who had a snobby level of arrogance because they had a job there. Managers were always hit or miss as well, some had very big ego's.

 

[Digital Skunk]

At the end of the day it was a retail store and I couldn't stand my colleagues who had a snobby level of arrogance because they had a job there. Managers were always hit or miss as well, some had very big ego's.

Too true of all but a few Apple employees. Most of the ones in my area that weren't in that crowd loved the job, hated the high-and-mighty colleagues, and felt the same way as you do about the management.

Ugh. Never seen that site before, so I checked it out.

What a bunch of whiny low-lifes. Get a new job if you don't like working at an apple store, criminey.

One thing you may be forgetting is that some people that worked there didn't have much of a choice.

They needed a job, Apple was it. So they ARE in fact sucking it up and dealing with the cards they've been dealt. I worked for Apple right after my newspaper job laid me off. I supplemented it with enough freelance to pay the bills.

I am sure there's plenty of other areas of interest where one could say, "Get a ____________ if you don't like it," and it's a meaningless statement every time.

We of course understand it, but it's always out of context.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

This is interesting and makes me wonder why a person would want to work in Apple Retail.

I can understand wanting to work designing the products and programming and stuff, but why this nitty gritty crap where you have customers pressing from one side, managers from the other, and the fact that you can't be a normal fanboy scanning the interwebs for rumors crushing from above?

 

[adamski2009]

- Retail store employees are expected to sell significant numbers of add-ons such as AppleCare and MobileMe as they close sales on hardware products. The so-called "attachment rate" is very high for AppleCare, but MobileMe is reportedly generally a tough sell.

I'm sorry, but their attach rate isn't that high. It's less than an APR.

For an APR (Apple Premium Reseller), it's 40% for AppleCare. I know this, as I work for one and it can get a bit tricky.

Now, an Apple Store will get more customers than an APR (duh!), but it really isn't that hard to get a good connect rate, when you have the footfall that they do (unless it's students).

As for the rest of this story, kind of a NS Sherlock.

 

[calvin2006]

So, basically, it's like working at every other retail establishment. Shocking.

 

[fertilized-egg]

"Particularly in the presence of customers". [expletive]ing wow! This is precisely why I could never work for Apple retail. When else would it matter, other than when customers are involved?????

I dislike such tactic too but that's completely in-line with what other retailer do and considering the store is owned by Apple it's understandable. I used to tell people not to buy certain things and even dissuade them from getting extended warranty in certain cases years ago when I was working part time at Best Buy. Eventually I got into a big trouble when the store manager caught me telling someone wait for the new camera model which was due soon. Frankly this article is really boring since everything in the story is so standard issue if you've ever work in a big electronics store like that.

This is interesting and makes me wonder why a person would want to work in Apple Retail.

It's still a retail job that can be taken without much qualifications and from what I've heard from people the Apple Retail is much better than places like Best Buy and Best Buy usually has no problem filling in its positions.

 

[ShiftyPig]

And this is why Page 2 exists.

 

[juicedropsdeuce]

Horrible.

.
And we're supposed to feel sorry for Steve Jobs??

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Being able to talk freely about working there was my greatest reward for quitting...

That and I was sick and tired of giving "fearless feedback" to slackers.

Too true of all but a few Apple employees. Most of the ones in my area that weren't in that crowd loved the job, hated the high-and-mighty colleagues, and felt the same way as you do about the management.



One thing you may be forgetting is that some people that worked there didn't have much of a choice.

They needed a job, Apple was it. So they ARE in fact sucking it up and dealing with the cards they've been dealt. I worked for Apple right after my newspaper job laid me off. I supplemented it with enough freelance to pay the bills.

I am sure there's plenty of other areas of interest where one could say, "Get a ____________ if you don't like it," and it's a meaningless statement every time.

We of course understand it, but it's always out of context.

No only that some of us had been at Apple for years before they exploded. Once that happened corp. culture and retail culture changed dramatically. As a genius you at one time valued computer customers; now they became second rate citizens to iPhone users. Screw the guy with a computer whos been an Apple user since 1985, this chick who broke her iPhone at the club last night needs help.

 

[Shunnabunich]

I worked in a hardware retail store (Canadian Tire) one summer a few years ago. The sense of entitlement some people had was just ridiculous. They expect you to be complete product experts whilst simultaneously looking down on you because you make minimum wage instead of earning the mega bucks as a business executive like them.

Haha, I still work there and I know just what you're talking about. Fortunately, I worked in Housewares, where I didn't get nearly as much of that sort of attitude (although I'd routinely be approached by people looking for something in totally unrelated departments, assuming that because I was employed there, clearly I must know about every one of the ten thousand obscure little doohickeys we sell). I just remained as polite and friendly as humanly possible, reminding myself that they have no way of knowing how knowledgeable I am (or am not). I'm a cashier now, so I don't have to worry about finding anything for anyone, just collecting their money and popping off one of the 5 or 6 canned joke lines I keep handy about the astounding wealth of Canadian Tire money they get back.

 

[samh]

Sounds like basically every electronics retailer, in most ways. I worked for a franchise that had retail mantras, published sales per day for sales associates (and profit margin), where managers tried to help us improve our sales, etc. Nothing surprising here, at all.

One reason Apple doesn't want geniuses speculating is that if they don't have any inside info and yet tell a customer something, as far as the customer is concerned "Apple said _______." Corporate doesn't want to deal with that.

 

[Ducky21]

Apple is by far the worst. All you have to do is to attend their interviews and see the fanboys/fangirls who want to work there. I went to two rounds of interviews and I have never seen so much fanboyism in the prospect employees. I swear to god some people would want to work for Apple for free; all they want in return is free Apple products.

You clearly have never gotten a job at Disney.

The insanity I see daily over a cartoon mouse is mind boggling.

 

[Digital Skunk]

So, basically, it's like working at every other retail establishment. Shocking.

It's amazingly worse. I've worked for Ritz Camera before Apple, and washed dishes before that, and was a janitor for 5 years before that.

I'd pick the janitor job before any of them, especially Apple Retail.

I'm sorry, but their attach rate isn't that high. It's less than an APP.

The attach rate is actually closer to 70% for Apple Retail Stores.

Even students buying for themselves are extremely interested in AppCare, let alone parents buying for them.

 

[tigress666]

So, basically, it's like working at every other retail establishment. Shocking.

I dunno. I work retail and if that crapple site is accurate, I at least have good co-workers (I couldn't fathom one of my managers not understanding that some one just had a mis carriage and punishing them for calling in sick for that or not allowing an employee to go to his gf who collapsed at the hospital).

Yeah, retail does have you dealing with a lot of customers. And you don't tend to get paid well or get good benefits.

But not all retail has crappy managers or even corporate who encourages that level of crappiness (two lates in 60 days and you're fired *no matter why the reason*? I can understand the first part, but they should allow for being able to make exceptions for stuff like miscarriages/deaths and other stuff that shows some actual empathy towards their employees).

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

It's amazingly worse. I've worked for Ritz Camera before Apple, and washed dishes before that, and was a janitor for 5 years before that.

I'd pick the janitor job before any of them, especially Apple Retail.



The attach rate is actually closer to 70% for Apple Retail Stores.

Even students buying for themselves are extremely interested in AppCare, let alone parents buying for them.

Our store was in the mid 50's.

I worked at CompUSA, Best Buy, Office Depot, and Apple (before moving onto the Corp. World.) My fav. job by far was CompUSA with Best Buy a close second. Apple to me was just so polarizing. I loved Apple but hated the way retail employees were expected to act and were in return treated. I also hated how we Apple retail grew out of control and instead of quality employees (managers included) Apple went for quantity. Apple Retail in my eyes too spent to much time emulating other businesses instead of carving out its own (everything was do it like the Ritz Carlton or the Gap.) Gapple FTW!

 

[mickman772]

I was in high school when I worked at an Apple Store ( about 2 years ago ) and I loved it. Talking about computers, ipods, iphones all day was great compared to what i would have done working at a restaurant or another retail store. I felt bad when there were strong rumors about updates and I couldn't say anything to customers that were buying products, but I am working for a company and need to represent them appropriately. how can i comment on rumors or any information that they have not officially announced? Besides that, I did what I was told, worked hard, and did well. Even passed on some MobileMe or Applecare sales to coworkers when my attach rates were solid. And you can say what you want about the managers, but they have expectations from their bosses, and they suffer if they don't meet those expectations. So of course they're going to push the specialist to meet their numbers.

my 2 cents is if you get the right manager they'll replace anything for you , but others won't give you anything.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Our store was in the mid 50's.

I worked at CompUSA, Best Buy, Office Depot, and Apple (before moving onto the Corp. World.) My fav. job by far was CompUSA with Best Buy a close second. Apple to me was just so polarizing. I loved Apple but hated the way retail employees were expected to act and were in return treated. I also hated how we Apple retail grew out of control and instead of quality employees (managers included) Apple went for quantity. Apple Retail in my eyes too spent to much time emulating other businesses instead of carving out its own (everything was do it like the Ritz Carlton or the Gap.) Gapple FTW!

All of that stuff up there that Mattie Num Nums just posted needs to be stickied in a new forum for current and ex-employees.

You hit the nail on the head.

The store I worked at hit 65% consistently, and they kept showing us numbers for other stores in our area that were in the 80's.

I still remember when two managers told me to my face that our MM numbers were low solely because of me. I wanted to spit in their faces SO BAD.

For Apple, it was only about helping the customer by helping the company. The more attachments you sell, the better off the customer's experience is.

 

[Gregintosh]

Basically, it is a typical electronics retail store.

As someone with 5 years of experience in such stores, I can tell you that working for Apple seems at least on paper more pleasant than many others.

I think the only main difference is how product releases were handled. Some stores keep employees in the loop about upcoming updates to products (not Apple products though) so that they can push the old stuff out the door before the new stuff arrives.

All major stores are going to have the same types of customers though. When I was at the Geek Squad I had far worse than people trying to update Facebook on the display computers or yelling at us, I have had stuff literally thrown at me by customers. So yeah, no big deal.

I suppose stories like this will be fascinating to people who've never worked a big box store before, for those who have... "yeah, so?"

At least from what I hear, Apple store employees are compensated well for what the do. They are actually paid a normal job wage versus barely hovering above minimum wage for many other stores.

For example, I know first hand that Best Buy pays some of its top sales people no more than $10 or $11 an hour and Geek Squad agents get from $11 to $12 an hour on average, most positions paying well under $10 an hour. Compared that to rumored pay of $14+ an hour at an Apple store ($17+ possible for Geniuses/Techs), I think Apple definitely treats their people better.

 

[macmidi]

I'm old

Every time I walk into an Apple Store, I see that all the employees seem like they're half my age. Because they are!

We've been using Macs since before a lot of them were born (1987).

Oh well -- getting old!

 

[calvin2006]

I dunno. I work retail and if that crapple site is accurate, I at least have good co-workers (I couldn't fathom one of my managers not understanding that some one just had a mis carriage and punishing them for calling in sick for that or not allowing an employee to go to his gf who collapsed at the hospital).

Yeah, retail does have you dealing with a lot of customers. And you don't tend to get paid well or get good benefits.

But not all retail has crappy managers or even corporate who encourages that level of crappiness (two lates in 60 days and you're fired *no matter why the reason*? I can understand the first part, but they should allow for being able to make exceptions for stuff like miscarriages/deaths and other stuff that shows some actual empathy towards their employees).

OK, I stand corrected. I was just going off what this article noted in the post. But, wow, that is pretty bad. I worked at Robinson's-May and Macy's retail, and we never had those kind of attendance restrictions. In fact, if you were relatively on time, no one cared (like, within 15 minutes or so of your shift).

 

[Digital Skunk]

Basically, it is a typical electronics retail store.

As someone with 5 years of experience in such stores, I can tell you that working for Apple seems at least on paper more pleasant than many others.

I think the only main difference is how product releases were handled. Some stores keep employees in the loop about upcoming updates to products (not Apple products though) so that they can push the old stuff out the door before the new stuff arrives.

All major stores are going to have the same types of customers though. When I was at the Geek Squad I had far worse than people trying to update Facebook on the display computers or yelling at us, I have had stuff literally thrown at me by customers. So yeah, no big deal.

I suppose stories like this will be fascinating to people who've never worked a big box store before, for those who have... "yeah, so?"

I agree, but the major difference between Apple and others is that they want us to push the attachments, and we get no extra incentive . . . . other than keeping our job.

I've had a landline phone thrown at me when I worked for Ritz.... it was *********** scary.

 

[rcandre2]

Anyone really know what a Specialist makes? The only numbers I could find were from back in 2007. Thanks!

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Anyone really know what a Specialist makes? The only numbers I could find were from back in 2007. Thanks!

I was one of the highest paid non Lead, Genii in the region (I trained multiple locations.)

I was capped at $20.00, didn't get a raise for 2 years.

Specialist pay in CA was $10.00-15.00
Genius pay in CA was $16.00-$20.00
Lead Genius pay was $22.00-$25.00

Lets put it this way. After I left Apple I basically was a Genius at a Corporation. Fixed Macs etc. Made 28 bucks an hour. Apple really under pays its techs for the amount of work they are expected to do. The specialists are paid pretty well IMHO. Managers are GROSSLY over paid.