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Apple Store employees

G

GigaWire

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 25, 2001
386
0
By now I am sure msot of us have visited an Apple Store or two. What I'd like to know is what you thought of the employees there. The Genuis Bar seems a little lacking @ my location. The sales people seem as informed about Macs as they were about the shoes they sold before the Apple Store opened. Maybe I'm being to critical, and I do not know all there is to know about a MAc, but the sales people especially, seem to be just that, with little to no knowledge about a Mac beyond their latest bulletins concerning whatever product they are meant to push that month.


cheerah
 
ASC

The Apple Store employees are hourly employees that have part-time jobs selling Apple Computers in a store. Many have little or no knowledge of the actual product (or past products) other than what they are told. They are great people, and do their job well, but simply aren't the resources that the people on this board need to go to and ask questions. For most consumers, yes. For those pro-users here, no.

Go to your local CompUSA. If it has an Apple Solutions Consultant there, 9 out of 10 times they are very informative and know a lot more than normal Apple users. There is a reason that they are put in CompUSA, where there has typically been less than stellar Apple resources the past few years. They have knowledge of past products, current products, and of other products from third-party manufacturers that will work with Apple products. Don't write off CompUSA just because there is an Apple Store in the area. Many times you can get better help from an ASC, than any other Apple rep.
 
i think that they're all pretty knowledgeable about the Mac and Apple (maybe a few are horrible).
I kinda like the one at the Grove because it's all nice and shiny and the people there are really cool.
 
Apple store employess generally seem to be more knowledgeable about their product than I am... for that reason I can't bag them.
 
From my experience working at CrapUSA for a year, I have come to the conclusion that the Apple reps that run the A.S.S. (Apple Store within a Store) corner are more knowledgeable than Apple store employees IMHO.
 
My local Apple authorized reseller is very knowlegeable. They have been in business for over 15 years and many of the employess have been there for over 5. Also the people there really are Apple nuts just like us.

As for the Apple Stores. I've been to one and they guy there seemed knowlegeable, maybe not a genius but enough to get him buy. Could I have stumped him in a game of Apple trivia? Most likely.
 
Having been a retailer for over 35 years with about 120 employees, I have a pretty good eye regarding any retail operation. My read is Apple Stores are very well staffed with employees that are knowledgable as well as enthusiastic about what they do. I have found them to be courteous and polite and caring toward their customers. I have many stores to choose from, including online, and I would go to an Apple store first for Apple products. I recognize pricing is always going right up there, but the difference is usually not significant enough to spend the time to shop them. Being an "early adopter", I usually find new product there before anywhere else. Inevitably, someone will not have all of the information, but it is usually available Apple an "A".
 
Originally posted by nptski
Having been a retailer for over 35 years with about 120 employees, I have a pretty good eye regarding any retail operation. My read is Apple Stores are very well staffed with employees that are knowledgable as well as enthusiastic about what they do. I have found them to be courteous and polite and caring toward their customers. I have many stores to choose from, including online, and I would go to an Apple store first for Apple products. I recognize pricing is always going right up there, but the difference is usually not significant enough to spend the time to shop them. Being an "early adopter", I usually find new product there before anywhere else. Inevitably, someone will not have all of the information, but it is usually available Apple an "A".
Click to expand...

For the most part I agree. The store I frequent (Palisades NY) seems to have a mix of knowledgable employess as well as your typical timeclock punchers.

One of the women that works there een recommended buying RAM for the iBook somewhere else!

Mostly, the people there are helpful, and I think that is why Apple chose for their employees not to be on commission. Helpful vs pushy.
 
The Genius at my local store tried to charge me $80 for a "o" key.
 
The one here in Tampa seems pretty good. I've gotten into lengthy discussions with some about various more technical aspects. They also don't seem too pushy. I was looking at the 12" PB today over there (sweet!!!) and a guy came in saying he'd had it with M$. The lady was very knowledgable and asked him what he did and wanted to do and led him over to the appropriate Mac (Dual 1.25 - the new one) because he wanted more power. She told him that the 1.43s were coming in soon too and might suit him better. She advised him to not buy AppleCare until he was familiar with the system and if any problems were recurrent. She also told him about possible new iMac updates and that, if they go up to 1GHZ or above, that might suit him as well too. She listened to my mom too and explained things - she wants a 12" PB.

The Genius seemed pretty good. He worked on a 15" iMac (flatscreen) and showed things to the customer and actually did the fixing right in front of him, explaining problems. It was out of warranty and he didn't charge them anything.
 
Originally posted by MacRoni
From my experience working at CrapUSA for a year, I have come to the conclusion that the Apple reps that run the A.S.S. (Apple Store within a Store) corner are more knowledgeable than Apple store employees IMHO.
Click to expand...

How much of a discount did you get on hardware when you worked there?
 
I frequent the Apple Store Biltmore in Phoenix and am very satisfied with my experiences.

There are a few employees that as you say are there just for the extra money and really don't know or care to know, but for the most part they are very helpful and knowledgeable.

My favorite employee by all means without a second thought is "Rad" (nickname) if anyone has ever seen him. He is part of the genius bar and fixed my iMac when nobody else seemed to know what the heck was going on. He has since helped me learn to program, explained the inside of a powermac and powerbook 15" to me, told me what to buy there versus what to buy elsewhere (he said to by ram elsewhere), and helped me decide on a major for college.

Quite helpful!


(wow, re-reading that it makes it sound like we are best buddies or something and he changed my life....well welcome to the world of apple!)
 
they teach the employees more the art of selling than knowing the products. i went to the official apple sales training. it was an extensive 2 day program. we didnt learn anything about products. but they taught us how to read the customer, convince them to buy that day and real serious sales stuff. i have found it pretty easy to sell macs because i have such a passion for them and really express my opinions on them. same as for the other employess at our business. the apple store im not sure of becasue i have only been to one. i didnt get a chance to talk to the employees because i told them i worked at a place like this and just wanted to check it out and they left me alone. apple is very smart in my opinon with sales, when you walk by an apple store it is eye candy, yo ucant help but go in. the smartes thign apple does is actually put the 3rd party products their to play with. you go into best buy, they have the cameras, camcorders, software, keyboards mice, games, but you never see then on a computer and how you will use them.but you gotta give us mac salesman credit, its a hard job selling a product to someone when it may be more expensive and completly different to what most people in the us are used too. its tough but i think because of all of us salesman and mac evangels on this site we will meet steve's demanding percent of 10% market share.

iJon
 
The guys at the store near me (Garden City/Roosevelt Field) are pretty good. Most of them double as a Genius because the bar is so understaffed. There's never anyone there, they're all out shopping at Sharper Image four stores down. Oh well.
 
What??~!?!?!?!?!

Originally posted by Mr. MacPhisto
She advised him to not buy AppleCare until he was familiar with the system and if any problems were recurrent. She also told him about possible new iMac updates and that, if they go up to 1GHZ or above, that might suit him as well too.
Click to expand...

Well if this is true, then that person should be fired immediately. Think about it. A salesperson not recommending an extended warrantee to a customer? Right there throws up a red flag. Second, Apple employees are restricted from talking about rumors, AND Apple Store employees aren't told ANYTHING about possible product launches. So either your lying (sorry, but that is a possibility), or that person should be fired ASAP. She may have been nice, but not at all a salesperson, and breaking all Apple policy.
 
Re: What??~!?!?!?!?!

Originally posted by ptrauber


Well if this is true, then that person should be fired immediately. Think about it. A salesperson not recommending an extended warrantee to a customer? Right there throws up a red flag. Second, Apple employees are restricted from talking about rumors, AND Apple Store employees aren't told ANYTHING about possible product launches. So either your lying (sorry, but that is a possibility), or that person should be fired ASAP. She may have been nice, but not at all a salesperson, and breaking all Apple policy.
Click to expand...
i agree with you completly. you never not reccomend applecare, what a lousy salesman. plus you are right apple store employees now nothing about new stuff. apple store employees are the dirt steve walks on everyday, and resellers are the worms in the dirt. we know nothing, but like apple store employees we get all our information from the same place, macrumors.com. its not so bad that you mention rumors, its when you promise their will be updates from those rumors, then your in trouble.

iJon
 
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