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Apple Retail Stores to Gain Dedicated iPhone Activation Areas and Staff?

This is definitely happening. My Apple Store closed from Aug. 31 to Sept. 18 and I'm imagining this layout change will be there when it reopens.
 
I'd rather see an iPhone not tied to a certain carrier. The activation process would be obsolete then.

This is more like punching the customer in the face, breaking his nose and then saying "Our experts will help you dial 911. Have a nice day."
 
Apple just needs bigger stores.

First Floor: Macs + Software/Hardware
Second Floor: iPod + iTunes
Third Floor: iPhone + Accessories
 
Colrath said:
I bought my iPhone from an "expert" a couple months ago. Her only job wad selling and activating phones, never delt with the genius bar. She had her own color shirt, different from floor associates, floor manager and the geniuses. Was a quick process, only waited 5 min while I picked out my new case and car charger.

Didn't needed a dedicated table or anything, I just activated at an available MBP. (although there was like only two computers available out of like 6 tables). Very busy day, but still got out faster than when I bought my first cell phone from Alltell 3 1/2 years ago.
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That's how they've been doing it at all the stores. But by setting up a dedicated area that they can use rather than eating up the demo computers allows them to work better and take care of customers in both areas.
 
I had about a 2 hour phone call about this with an Apple Rep after filling out a customer service survey in regards to my iphone purchase. Looks like they're ignoring all of it.

Specialization is not the answer, it is the problem. Apple has a limited product mix, and each product line has minimal depth. Every employee on the front line should be fully empowered to handle EVERY potential customer service issue and make any kind of sale. When I bought a new iphone last week, all the people in the right colored shirts to sell me an iphone were busy, and there were guys authorized to sell accessories talking to me for 30 minutes because they had nothing to do. If they don't empower their employees to make decisions, there will always be a lackluster customer experience. If I walk in with an issue, and I don't have a genius bar appointment.. but its a common or obvious issue like the macbook power adapter fraying, ANY employee should be able to help me. If I want to purchase an iphone, and i'm authorized, any employee should be able to help me. "Oh, I'm not wearing the right colored shirt for that" is ********.
 
Wow. It took them over three years to realize that one of their top moneymakers might deserve specialized service. Better late than never.
 
Great - now the store will be even more of a mess. It's nearly impossible to buy anything in the Apple store anymore since they did away with the checkout line. Every employee is always engaged with a customer or being chatted up by some annoying twerp, so you have to stand there like a jackass until someone decides to help you. I went in last week to buy a pack of iPhone protectors. It took about 20 minutes: 1 minute to identify purchase, 14 mins of standing around trying to make eye contact with an employee to checkout and 5 minutes of the employee fumbling around with her little handheld gizmo. I wasted half my lunch break for a simple purchase. The store is pure chaos.

The Apple store is the worst place to go if you already know exactly what you want. The Apple "mini store" in Micro-Center stores are just as bad. Apple goods are best purchased online.
 
Buying an phone used to be so easy in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000. somewhere someone took a wrong turn.
 
great.

wow.

iPhone experts?


the store will be more of a mess




you guys sure find something to complain about. there is now a faster, easier way to get an iPhone - which will help bring in new customers and expand Apple, yet you are all complaining.
 
iWizzard said:
Buying an phone used to be so easy in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000. somewhere someone took a wrong turn.
Click to expand...

Silliest complaint I've ever heard.

All those phones did was plug into your wall and sit there. They didn't run apps, didn't provide simultaneous access to multiple network types, didn't allow you to read today's news, check email, record video, store and listen to 1000s of songs, etc. In fact, the "mobility" of that phone extended only as far as its cord would reach.

Those phones are still on the market (look in the Luddite section.) If you want a phone buying experience like that, you can still have it. Personally, I'm willing to jump through a few hoops for all the goodies a smart phone offers, but whatever.
 
Most likely these will only be in areas where AT&T is.

Man I wish this Apple/AT&T partnership didn't exist. :(
 
It's amazing the sheer amount of uneducated theorizing that goes on in here, even when the move being analyzed is something dead simple. It's a new section of the store dedicated to iPhone activations. The...wait for it...iPhone Activation area. The stores are still going to be busy, you're still going to have to wait to get help.
 
moracity said:
Great - now the store will be even more of a mess. It's nearly impossible to buy anything in the Apple store anymore since they did away with the checkout line. Every employee is always engaged with a customer or being chatted up by some annoying twerp, so you have to stand there like a jackass until someone decides to help you. I went in last week to buy a pack of iPhone protectors. It took about 20 minutes: 1 minute to identify purchase, 14 mins of standing around trying to make eye contact with an employee to checkout and 5 minutes of the employee fumbling around with her little handheld gizmo. I wasted half my lunch break for a simple purchase. The store is pure chaos.

The Apple store is the worst place to go if you already know exactly what you want. The Apple "mini store" in Micro-Center stores are just as bad. Apple goods are best purchased online.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with this. I went into my local Apple Store the other day to buy replacement earbuds for my iPhone. It took me about 3 seconds to find them on the back wall, and then several minutes of wandering around trying to catch the attention of someone who could take my money. (I'm curious if first-time Apple customers are confused by this -- it's a little weird for me even though I know they eliminated all of their fixed checkout registers.) After he rang up my purchase, he had to go searching around the store to figure out where my receipt had printed. He asked if I wanted a bag, but I said no since I could only imagine saying yes would require several more minutes while he went in search of one... I can see how the "roving cashiers" model might work for selling big ticket items like computers, but for small accessories, it seems like they ought to still have a dedicated cashier station.
 
aristobrat said:
How do you figure?

If a customer doesn't have anything bizarre going on with their credit or porting, buying an iPhone takes around 10 minutes. No way you could buy a cell phone in the 80s/90s/2000's that quickly. Crap, in the early 90's, they used to have to pick up a telephone and call an office to get your credit check done. That alone could take 15 minutes.
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around 10 minutes? have you ever been in an Apple/AT&T store?

the latter, i admit is much worse. it took me about an hour to buy my MacBook, and the last phone i got (not iPhone) at AT&T took me about an hour as well.
 
moracity said:
Great - now the store will be even more of a mess. It's nearly impossible to buy anything in the Apple store anymore since they did away with the checkout line. Every employee is always engaged with a customer or being chatted up by some annoying twerp, so you have to stand there like a jackass until someone decides to help you. I went in last week to buy a pack of iPhone protectors. It took about 20 minutes: 1 minute to identify purchase, 14 mins of standing around trying to make eye contact with an employee to checkout and 5 minutes of the employee fumbling around with her little handheld gizmo. I wasted half my lunch break for a simple purchase. The store is pure chaos.

The Apple store is the worst place to go if you already know exactly what you want. The Apple "mini store" in Micro-Center stores are just as bad. Apple goods are best purchased online.
Click to expand...

I agree. The store is a great idea, but the actual buying experience is usually pretty terrible.
 
michael.lauden said:
you guys sure find something to complain about. there is now a faster, easier way to get an iPhone - which will help bring in new customers and expand Apple, yet you are all complaining.
Click to expand...

Yes, it will bring in new customers and expand Apple, but how does this help with the in-store experience, which is frustrating as all hell?

Edit: nevermind, I see that you agree on the store experience.
 
intrepid00 said:
They are proably just getting ready for next summer. 3gs just wasn't worth the update but I bet the next will. Espically with mass of 3g users ready to get full upgrade price.
Click to expand...

This is EXACTLY what they are preparing for. The next mob of people clamoring to get the iPhone 4G coming July 2010. :D
I'm also willing to throw out my prediction of 512MB of memory and 1GHz processor or 800MHz dual core :p
 
michael.lauden said:
+1 to the fullest extent. but it still beats ordering online
Click to expand...

The buying experience at the Apple Store is terrible. Too many people just looking around or talking to employees. People who genuinely want to go in and get something always have to wait a heck of a long time waiting.
 
intrepid00 said:
How about they fix the problem of you standing around 20 minutes waiting for one thier monkies to register your purchase when they feel the need that they all need to give one person attention.

Except for the secuirty guard that lurks around in plain cloths but still has the dumb ear piece like he is SS.
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Yeah because that attitude makes retail employees give a crap about helping you.
 
Unless they have some sort of huge iPhone release coming soon, I don't see the need for this now, as I did with the iPhone 3G mania.
 
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