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Apple Stores Staff...clueless?

G

gernb

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 6, 2002
102
0
Maybe mine are isolated experiences, but it seems like most of the staff members at Apple stores know very little about actually using a mac. Even at the genius bar you don't really find anyone who has a comprehensive knowledge for troubleshooting, etc.

Also, I suppose it's only so much towing the company line, but it amazes me when you say stuff like, "I love OS X but the finder is SO slow" and they just look at you and go, "Hmm...I hadn't really noticed."

Anyone have a different experience with your local Apple store?

Just curious.
 
Be thankful you even have Apple store near you.
I am sure if they hired real mac users/fanatics they would sell a lot more macs.
 
think about it...

I spend a fair amount of time in two Apple Stores and I've found the employees to be very good.

First, the sales staff are very excited about Apple Macs. They like people and spend countless hours going over the same stuff with new customers that we all take for granted - and they're still excited about the product.

Second, the technical people (geniuses) take alot of abuse from angry customers - again usually people like us. Consider the fact that they see numerous problems every day. One of the geniuses in my local store today was working like hell on four separate machines at the same time in order to keep customers happy - and doing a fine job, too.

We above all should understand just how many novel problems come up with such complicated hardware and software (nothwithstanding that we use Apples and not Wintels). Computers - even Apples - will always confound us - hell AWE us - with things that we never predicted.

Give em a break...
 
No problems here

I've been to my share of stores, no problems.
Well they are *slighly* lower of their knowledge of macs in general than me, which Is prity good in my mind since I think most of us here are pritty educated.

No real problems at all to report, well besides trying to make us buy the product that I knew more about and then she backed off. ;)
 
Palo Alto store is good

The store in Palo Alto opened about six months after the local Computerware (an all Mac store for about 17 years) closed. I've recognized at least two former Computerware employees at the Apple Store. Which was a good move.

My only beef with the Apple Stores - restocking fees! The consumer shouldn't have to take the risk that he's been sold the wrong machine by the mighty marketing folk.

You just have to remember that you shouldn't expect to hear anything "critical" from an Apple employee.
 
Here is my experience at the Mac Store

50% = REALLY know what they're talking about

30% = know that they don't know what they're talking about, and will kindly direct you to someone who does

20% = don't know what they're talking about

I would say though that 95% of them are EXTREMELY helpful and cool.......I've had my best experiences, as a shopper, at the Mac stores.....

Often times, the employees have TALKED me out of purchasing various products......which I have always been impressed by and has made me come back more and more

For what its worth overall, 95% of everyone in that store are VERY helpful.....if you bump into one of the 5%, just talk to someone else
 
yeah

well they guy at the counter at the valley fair apple store seemed to know less then he should have, he was attempting to have an person over the phone buy jaguar and told him the wrong system requirements, he said 500 mhrz and OS 9. i over heard and corrected him after he finished "helping" us with our purchase. The guy at the genius bar is cool though he seems to be on top of things.

p.s the reasons why we went to the apple store was to have an exachange with our RTCW game which had no cd key in side it :( the guy at the counter said that we couldn't exchange it, then my dad asked to his magager and the manager said of course you can, and handed us a copy. The guy at the counter apolgized and patched things up. Arg bad day, but aleast i ended up with an airport and a RTCW :0



PowerBook G4 1ghz
 
Maybe not EVERYONE at Apple stores knows their stuff, but I have been impressed a couple times by just how much some employees know
 
Re: Apple Stores Staff...clueless?

Originally posted by gernb
Maybe mine are isolated experiences, but it seems like most of the staff members at Apple stores know very little about actually using a mac. Even at the genius bar you don't really find anyone who has a comprehensive knowledge for troubleshooting, etc.

Also, I suppose it's only so much towing the company line, but it amazes me when you say stuff like, "I love OS X but the finder is SO slow" and they just look at you and go, "Hmm...I hadn't really noticed."

Anyone have a different experience with your local Apple store?

Just curious.
Click to expand...

the stores were thrown together a little quickly

in the town where i live, the apple independent store has been there since before the macintosh, so its sales staff know their stuff, and are mac users themselves

they don't hire salespeople who are pc only types or new converts to the platform
 
I've had to come to the Apple Store a few times (with someone else) to have my iPod's Power Adapter fixed. The first time, the lady seemed very nice, not to mention she was helping someone else having trouble carrying their heavy iMac G3.

The second time around, there was a big guy at the bar, who seemed to be going through a particularly awesome amount of paperwork. When he spoke (which wasn't often) he spoke nicely.

Actually, on the second time around, he was also talking to another employee how warm it was in the section of the store we were in. I'm not sure if the person was his wife, or sister, or [X]girlfriend, but I did notice that after a few words the section of the store began to heat up a little more. :p
 
I live about 10-15 minutes away from the Glendale Apple Store, and the staff there have never been a problem. The geniuses seem knowledgable, though I have not had much experience with the sales staff (always know exactly what I want:p ). The Grove Apple Store near Hollywood was a different story until they took some people from Glendale to the Grove.

Don't know what Pasadena will be like.

Btw, all these Apple Stores are within 45 minutes of my house, so I have been to the Grove and Glendale quite a few times and will probably go to Pasadena a lot as well.
 
I asked a random salesperson at "The Grove" Apple Store in Los Angeles about which equipment might be suitable for amateur movie-making with Final Cut Pro. He had experience with exactly what I was talking about, and he gave me a fair assessment of CPU speed and monitor types and sizes. He didn't try to convince me that I needed everything to be top-of-the-line. I was surprised and impressed.
 
Originally posted by HasanDaddy
Often times, the employees have TALKED me out of purchasing various products......which I have always been impressed by and has made me come back more and more
[/B]
Click to expand...

That's a rare experience in the world of retail stores...

My expierence with apple stores has been little, being that the closest one is two hours away. I have been to two of them. At one I jsut goggled at the cool computers and at the other I needed a new backup battery. When I went to the counter to ask I held up the battery and said "Do you have a..." and before I finished he grabbed one off the rack behind the counter and handed them to me, I left quite impressed with the service there (and the merchandise:23" Cinema HD;) )
 
Re: Palo Alto store is good

Originally posted by Chemlaw
The store in Palo Alto opened about six months after the local Computerware (an all Mac store for about 17 years) closed. I've recognized at least two former Computerware employees at the Apple Store. Which was a good move.

My only beef with the Apple Stores - restocking fees! The consumer shouldn't have to take the risk that he's been sold the wrong machine by the mighty marketing folk.

You just have to remember that you shouldn't expect to hear anything "critical" from an Apple employee.
Click to expand...
what are you talkign about. i work at an apple dealer. you should have pay a restocking fee, its only fair. first of all we have to wipe out all the stuff you put on there, get the disks out and restore it. we have to clean it to get rid of all your fingerprints. we have to sell it as an open box, and if you registered it to apple we have to sell with the warranty already started. its not our fault you bought the wrong computer or you didnt know what you were doing. please realize how hard we work and how much crap we have to do to take back your machine. restocking fees are very necessary.

iJon
 
Re: Apple Stores Staff...clueless?

Originally posted by gernb
Maybe mine are isolated experiences, but it seems like most of the staff members at Apple stores know very little about actually using a mac. Even at the genius bar you don't really find anyone who has a comprehensive knowledge for troubleshooting, etc.

Also, I suppose it's only so much towing the company line, but it amazes me when you say stuff like, "I love OS X but the finder is SO slow" and they just look at you and go, "Hmm...I hadn't really noticed."

Anyone have a different experience with your local Apple store?

Just curious.
Click to expand...

I think they do not really notice any slowness, because they always use the fastest machines.
 
geniuses are cool

Okay, so according to a lot of you guys I am *very* fortunate to be able to drive to four (soon to be five or even six) reasonably close Apple Stores near my parents' houses in Los Angeles and mine in Cupertino. Basically, the people at the Glendale, CA apple store are decent folk, nice, kinda geeky. The ones at the Grove are AWESOME and they know a lot and they're really helpful. The one in Northridge is kinda lame and the guys there know _nothing_. The one in Palo Alto, of course is totally cool. What I like most are the glass staircases and the geniuses at the Apple Stores in SoHo and at the Grove.

I guess you got a stupid genius. Every single one I've encountered (even the sales staff) are very knowledgeable about many different subjects.
 
Re: Re: Apple Stores Staff...clueless?

Originally posted by redAPPLE


I think they do not really notice any slowness, because they always use the fastest machines.
Click to expand...

that way people are more inclined to buy a machine. when yo go to a car retailer they dont put the commodore exec. on the showroom floor. They normally have the grange or HSV's sitting there. why should computer stores be any different!?!
 
Iv'e been to the Apple Store in Houston so much that the sales staff is starting to notice me. They seem knowledgable about the macs in general, and if they don't know something, they will direct you to someone who does. One of the last times I went, the guy actually convinced me just to get an iSub instead of the JBL creatures because he said I probably wouldn't notice much difference with my powerbook speakers. That's pretty good considering that the iSub is half the price of the Creatures.
 
Indeed, the Palo Alto store rocks. I haven't been to the Emeryville store yet, but the PA guys have been very clueful and helpful. Even after all the time it's been open, they haven't slacked off. They're still providing a model retail customer service operation, which is practically impossible to find anywhere these days. Now if only they could do something about the parking in downtown Palo Alto...
 
I frequently walk into any of my local Apple stores and hear salespeople flat out lying to customers to get them to buy Apple products. It makes me sick. A lot of the salespeople are enthusiastic about the product they are trying to sell, but apart from what is on the specs sheet, few of them have a clue.
 
Originally posted by Beej
I frequently walk into any of my local Apple stores and hear salespeople flat out lying to customers to get them to buy Apple products. It makes me sick. A lot of the salespeople are enthusiastic about the product they are trying to sell, but apart from what is on the specs sheet, few of them have a clue.
Click to expand...
really could you expalin your experinces. i am very curious to know what the salesman said or did you make you feel this way.

iJon
 
i was once at a reseller. they had some imacs for sale etc. blah blah

basicallly this sales guy was telling this poor illiterate person that he needed to get an external modem to use with his imac because it didnt contain one built-in.

i would have steped in except that if the customer didnt read the spec sheet it is there own fault. it also wasnt an "apple" store of any sort. it just sold apples.
 
What store was this? Was it CompUSA?

If so, remind me never to step into [in]CompUSA again. That's just sick, and I feel bad, benixau, you had to see that. :(

Truly helpful people care more about people than money, and they are the nicest ones.

[offtopic] I saw on TV a while back someone working at a store without any pay and willing to do it, because he grew up working at the store for hardcore dedication. Now that's heart. And he's over 80 years old.[/offtopic]
 
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