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And when you buy an Android Wear watch are they 'telling you' what bands you can buy with the watch, or do you have endless options?

I love how people have problems with Apple 'just because'.

I have issues because they always seem heavy handed with telling people what they want on several occasions. It is their overall attitude that can get a bit annoying over the years.
 
I'm considering getting the 42mm silver aluminum sports case, along with a Milanese band, but only if it matches. If it doesn't match, I'd want to try another combo to see if it matches. So this article is saying, "we will not allow you to the opportunity of doing that"? Am I correct in what I'm reading? If so, won't this cause a lot of confusion, returns/exchanges, etc? And if so, are people on here actually defending this??

I can tell you now it's not going to match because the band connector on the milanese loop is polished stainless steel. You can try the combo at mixyourwatch.com to see if you can live with it. The link bracelet looks a bit better as its brushed steel but I'm guessing someone looking at the link bracelet won't be interested in the aluminum watch.
 
And how is this relevant? Most Macs get repaired, most iOS devices get replaced. If I have a problem i get it resolved in both cases. It doesnt matter if i bought a base rMBP or a maxed out 15 rMBP (price difference nearly 1200$). If i buy a SportWatch and don't know how to pair it, i have to google while the SS Watch buyers get special support, because they payed more for same device with a different case and band? If you can't see a difference there, then there is no need to discuss issue this any further.



It could happen when the Edition Watch outsells the Sport Watch. I mean you need room for the special service ;)

It's relevant because your argument was that cheap and expensive devices get the same treatment at the genius bar - which simply isn't the case.

You said:
Slightly exaggerated one could say you get the same attention and support from a Genius whether you buy an Apple TV for 69$ or an MacPro for 3999$.
 
Apple Won't Allow Swapping of Bands at Apple Watch 'Try-On' Appointments

You're not grasping the whole point. Put yourself directly in the situation. Say there's a customer in the middle of his 15 minute appointment. You are next in line. Then that customer goes, "Uh, Um, Well, Uh....let me see this Watch in a different band.....Uh...I don't like that one....how do you use such and such a feature.... blah blah blah.". Then you patiently wait until you now realize you've been patiently waiting for 45 minutes because of this picky customer.
Well, if you don't see the issue then please enjoy standing and waiting while that customer takes his sweet sugary time.


I understand that completely. I'd think that if all I need to see is how I like the aluminum band with the Milanese loop, that that wouldn't even take 15 minutes anyway. It seems more appropriate to give us a 15 min time limit to try the watches and bands, than to say regardless, you can't try them. Again, by not doing this, this will cause tons of returns and exchanges, and of course customer frustration.
 
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What combination is Apple not offering that you need to try on to know if you want it?

All of them, only a fool would buy a fashion item without trying it on. And at the moment that is what it is, a fashion item. If you buy overpriced, then you want it to look good on you.
 
I can tell you now it's not going to match because the band connector on the milanese loop is polished stainless steel. You can try the combo at mixyourwatch.com to see if you can live with it. The link bracelet looks a bit better as its brushed steel but I'm guessing someone looking at the link bracelet won't be interested in the aluminum watch.


When I check mixyourwatch.com, it looks fine, despite the fact that one is polished steel, and the other is brushed aluminum. So I'm interested in seeing how it looks in real life to me.
 
All of them, only a fool would buy a fashion item without trying it on. And at the moment that is what it is, a fashion item. If you buy overpriced, then you want it to look good on you.

Well customers will be able to try on any of the the models available for sale. But if you want to try on the rose gold watch with lime green fluroelastemer band I guess you're out of luck.
 
I don't know why anyone would want to try a different band than the one Apple has chosen for the watch. Obviously they know which one is the best for a particular watch. :p
 
When I check mixyourwatch.com, it looks fine, despite the fact that one is polished steel, and the other is brushed aluminum. So I'm interested in seeing how it looks in real life to me.

Well then I guess you buy the milanese loop and return it if you don't like it. Or maybe wait until the initial chaos dies down and bring in your sport watch asking to try it on with a milanese loop. Apple wants to sell bands so I doubt they'll refuse your request. My guess is they're not expecting a lot of people to be interested in combinations outside of their pre-determined models so for the initial launch rush they are controlling what people can try on in store.
 
Two people who became rich by being very good at understanding what people want and how to sell it to them. Why do you think they're not up to the job?

Actually they don't care what people want, their specialty is convincing people to want what THEY want you to want. And they are without equal where that is concerned.
 
And when you buy an Android Wear watch are they 'telling you' what bands you can buy with the watch, or do you have endless options?

With the primary exception of Samsung watches... where they try to sell their own optional band colors... most other watches out there allow you to use any standard 22mm wristband.

For example, I just got in an LG R to play with, and for fun I ordered a black Milanese for it off eBay.

With luck, we'll soon have the same ability on the Apple Watch via third party adapters.

Well customers will be able to try on any of the the models available for sale. But if you want to try on the rose gold watch with lime green fluroelastemer band I guess you're out of luck.

The question is: why won't Apple let people swap bands to see how they look?

After all, the entire reason for the 15 minutes seems to be to pick out the case and band(s).

(The watch itself is kept in sales demo loop mode, according to 9to5mac.)
 
I am so happy I have zero desire for one of these watches. Seems like a very expensive headache to have to deal with what type to get and what band to get with it. Am I the only one who is relieved that none of this matters to me one bit? ;)
 
I understand that completely. I'd think that if all I need to see is how I like the aluminum band with the Milanese loop, that that wouldn't even take 15 minutes anyway. It seems more appropriate to give us a 15 min time limit to try the watches and bands, than to say regardless, you can't try them. Again, by not doing this, this will cause tons of returns and exchanges, and of course customer frustration.
Customers will be able to hold the watch up to other bands, and tons of returns and of course customer frustration will be avoided by the customer seeing that some combinations are really not worth snapping the current band off and snapping the inappropriate band on.

A relatively small percentage of customers will insist on buying a mismatched band anyway, and of those, a good number will keep the mismatched band because they like the incongruence of it--it's the reason they wanted it in the first place, or because they don't think it looks bad.

Those few remaining who realize they made a mistake in thinking the band would go with the watch may return them, just as someone who bought a mini-DV to DVI adapter would bring it back after realizing the monitor they have at home doesn't have a DVI input. Apple can handle this tiny trickle.
 
All of them, only a fool would buy a fashion item without trying it on. And at the moment that is what it is, a fashion item. If you buy overpriced, then you want it to look good on you.

You're not going to have time in 15 minutes to try all the possible combinations. Since that's the absolute bar you've set, and Apple can't oblige you, you should step aside and let the folks who can narrow their choices down to a couple from the pre-combined set go first.

If there is enough demand for it, Apple or someone else will eventually have special band-swapping events for shoppers like you. It may take several visits to get through all of them, but you can create a matrix scorecard to grade the ones you've tried, and when you get through every pairing, you can tally the scores and decide which one is the one for you.
 
Appointment time

For those of you who feel 15 minutes us too short.....
If you feel you'll need more time, why not plan for it and schedule a second appointment right after the first, or maybe a third, or fourth? You could conceivably block out, say, an hour of time I bet.
The 15 min time frame is a non-issue, unless, of course, you just want something to complain about.
 
They obviously don't know the first thing about how to properly serve the customer. Not going to sell many watches that way.
 
They obviously don't know the first thing about how to properly serve the customer. Not going to sell many watches that way.

I don't think anyone would be able to properly serve some of the posters here. :eek:
 
I am so happy I have zero desire for one of these watches. Seems like a very expensive headache to have to deal with what type to get and what band to get with it. Am I the only one who is relieved that none of this matters to me one bit? ;)

Yep,

On one hand, I'm really curious to see what Apple has come up with. But I'll only get one if the refurb store gets the price down to $99. I can justify that amount just to satisfy my curiosity and get a small wrist-worn notifier and shuffle for mowing the lawn. That's all I really want right now. Not worth $350 to me.

----------

After all, the entire reason for the 15 minutes seems to be to pick out the case and band(s).

Maybe they need time to pitch you the new Apple Care ++ (watch edition)?

It does seem odd that they restrict you to 2 bands. I wonder how many stores will just ignore this rule. Is a salesperson seriously going to say NO to a customer who is standing in front of them with a credit card in their back pocket? I don't think so.
 
With the primary exception of Samsung watches... where they try to sell their own optional band colors... most other watches out there allow you to use any standard 22mm wristband.

That's NOT what I was saying. Way to change the subject!

Samsung 'forces' you to buy the bands THEY choose when you buy their watch - same as Apple. But Samsung gives you LESS options WHEN you buy the watch.

You changed what I said, and responded to that - you never responded to what I originally said.
 
That's NOT what I was saying. Way to change the subject!

Samsung 'forces' you to buy the bands THEY choose when you buy their watch - same as Apple. But Samsung gives you LESS options WHEN you buy the watch.

You changed what I said, and responded to that - you never responded to what I originally said.

No. You weren't clear and he simply interpreted it one way. And I can clearly see how he might have done that given your comment.
 
No. You weren't clear and he simply interpreted it one way. And I can clearly see how he might have done that given your comment.

Same here. I went back and re-read the comments to see what the fuss was about. Like you said, it wasn't terribly clear and I just gave up trying to unpick it.

Kudos to you for responding - I couldn't be bothered. Lazy me.
 
With all the bad business decisions that apple makes, it's a wonder they sell anything at all.

Boggles the mind that they haven't provisioned hrs of one on one time in order to get these watches sold.

 
I just realized something about this watch ....

Up till now, I've been in the crowd saying the Apple Watch is pointless, too expensive, and not something Apple really needs in its product line.

But an odd thing happened last week. My workplace decided that as part of a new "wellness plan", they wanted to gift everyone a FitBit (with options to pay a little bit for upgraded versions). Like many people there, I really didn't pay any attention to these fitness trackers before. I have the "Human" app installed on my iPhone 6 and it does a decent job of tracking how many minutes a day I spent walking. It's mildly interesting and sometimes gives me a bit of motivation to take that extra flight of stairs or what-not, just to achieve a daily goal. But all in all, it just runs in the background and I often ignore it.

Since my job was paying for most or all of it though, I started reading up on the FitBit. What I realized is, it's considered the "best of the bunch" for dedicated fitness trackers, but that's not saying a whole lot. There are plenty of complaints, from the bands being difficult to put on or remove, to it miscounting steps taken by as much as 50%. (Since the FitBit has no GPS, it has no way to tell if you're in a car or on a train, vs. walking or running. It just goes by vibrations it senses.)

I suddenly realized that if I really want to start using something like this, the Apple Watch is the smarter choice. Sure, it costs more, but as an iPhone user already, it does FAR more than a FitBit will. (The FitBit's iPhone integration extends only as far as some models offering a caller ID display on the wristband.) So now, I may resell the new FitBit and invest in the Sport version of an Apple Watch, after all.
 
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