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Apple Won't Allow Swapping of Bands at Apple Watch 'Try-On' Appointments

This kind of makes sense since it will save a lot of time, but at the same time they could have had some dummy models that are not functional but you can mix and match the casings and bands.

Seems like they could have had one section with working models where you could play with the device and act as if it was on your wrist and then when you are ready to buy you can try different casings and bands.
 
Glideslope said:
I thought it was about the customer? :eek:
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No, it is about customers.

If you let one customer stand there swapping bands endlessly without making a decision and eating into other appointments, chaos will ensue. There is no perfect solution here, but they're doing their best to create a system that caters to the largest number of customers in the most efficient manner possible. I'm not sure what more people want.
 
Patriot24 said:
You know when you're in line at the ice cream shop and you get annoyed at the people in front of you that are trying way too many samples of all of the flavors rather than simply picking the one? That's what Apple is attempting to avoid.
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I get your point, but it's a shoddy way to treat customers spending $1000 or more.

If you were bulk-buying $1000 worth of ice cream, two tastes would seem a bit mean.
 
HenryDJP said:
You're missing the point. Apple set these appointments up simply as a courtesy because they know it will be a big crowd of customers swarming the stores to buy one. They appointments are only 15 minutes. Have you ever worked in retail? Customers take much longer than necessary. Allowing them to switch bands will slow everything down and other customers will get pissed. Some control has to take place.
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Exactly. If they were to allow customers to just swap bands around and try on all these different combinations, the appointments would last an hour or more. By their very nature, these try-on appointments are going to develop into long drawn out sessions unless Apple does something to limit their length. Makes perfect sense to me.
 
baller1308 said:
This kind of makes sense since it will save a lot of time, but at the same time they could have had some dummy models that are not functional but you can mix and match the casings and bands.
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Like lego? Cheap and cheerful and not a theft risk.

That's really not a bad idea.
 
HenryDJP said:
It's been on MR news multiple times that authorized resellers will be offering the AppleWatch. Nobody "needs" this watch on launch day.

If you need to take time to pick out the right band to suit your style you should wait until after the initial launch craze. That way you don't need to deal with the appointment hooplah.

Also if you feel the watch is too expensive then there's really no point in you making a stance about needing time to pick out bands. Don't buy it, simple as that. Sheesh, the down payment alone on a $20,000 car can be several months wages for some but they still buy it. I think you're stretching that a bit. If anyone is tripppin' about the watch costing 2 weeks of their wages they should not be buying the AppleWatch, and if they do their priorities are way out of place.
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You appear to have misunderstood my post. But whatever. Don't worry yourself over it, I'm not buying the :apple:Watch. I was merely posting my opinion on the lack of being able to try on a few different bands at an appointment. Especially since, for a watch, it's pricey. And knowing Apple it'll likely be obsolete in a few years.
 
samcraig said:
The availability of Android Wear is also irrelevant. And who said that because the Apple watch with fail, THAT'S why their will get an Android Watch.

First of all - until Google has and Android Wear App in the Apple ecosystem, it would be foolish for someone without an Android phone to get an Android Wear device. And there's ZERO reason for someone in the Android ecosystem (without an iPhone) to get an Apple Watch.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. So they aren't irrelevant. However trying to talk about the technology landscape in 2015 and using adoption rates from 2007 as an indicator is.
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My comment goes out to the posts saying that the Apple Watch won't sell until revision 2 or 3 or ever. How would anyone know that other than to bash a product that hasn't released yet. All you can do is use past indicators - so it is not totally irrelevant. I will take your posts as relevant if you commented on those posts saying this won't sell until revision 2 or 3 with the same wording you used to reply to my post.

Android Wear products stink and didn't sell... let's not try to have an excuse why they didn't sell. Plastic doesn't sell compared to Apple metal/steel products. Just look... Samsung bashed apple for their products and not having replaceable battery and adding memory cards and metal that bends. Now, Samsung releases their Galaxy 6/Edge 6 with all metal and no replaceable battery and no external memory card slot. Copy copy copy apple...

I am not sure if you are an Android user posting on Apple message boards or just posting what you feel is relevant versus what is not relevant based on your opinion only?
 
Arran said:
Agreed. I was a bit hyperbolic, but when in Rome. :D

My fundamental point was that there was a clear need for an easier smartphone in 2007. I think we're agreed on that, yes?
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For the "general public" I think that the desire to do more with their phone, yes.

For business people - I have mixed feelings. I think more of the "frustration" came later. Just like how it works today - people aren't upset with what they have until they see something "better." (In quotes because subjective.)

Also - there's that whole psychology of upselling. People like what they have - but - then when they compare it to something they could also have for just a little bit more... ;)
 
BlueMoon63 said:
Android Wear products stink and didn't sell... let's not try to have an excuse why they didn't sell. Plastic doesn't sell compared to Apple metal/steel products. Just look... Samsung bashed apple for their products and not having replaceable battery and adding memory cards and metal that bends. Now, Samsung releases their Galaxy 6/Edge 6 with all metal and no replaceable battery and no external memory card slot. Copy copy copy apple...

I am not sure if you are an Android user posting on Apple message boards or just posting what you feel is relevant versus what is not relevant based on your opinion only?
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Android Wear products stink? Why? Can you elaborate? How much time have you used any of them? What do you not like about them? Where did I excuse whether they sold or not?

And why invoke a copy copy copy argument here. COMPLETELY irrelevant.

Rant away.

I own a variety of tech from various manufacturers. I don't belong to one "camp" or ecosystem. I enjoy them all.
 
samcraig said:
Android Wear products stink? Why? Can you elaborate? How much time have you used any of them? What do you not like about them? Where did I excuse whether they sold or not?

And why invoke a copy copy copy argument here. COMPLETELY irrelevant.

Rant away.

I own a variety of tech from various manufacturers. I don't belong to one "camp" or ecosystem. I enjoy them all.
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I work for a company that designs components for a vast majority of smartphones and related products and have used all products from all companies for many many many months. I am an electrical engineer. There has not been a watch product worth looking at so far besides Apple Watch because of terrible design, plastic, cheap bands, no functionality, inferior interface, quality and size. Then we look at sales of all products released so far and they have all failed. I feel like I have a much better opinion than most and I can easily compare the moving landscape of products and what works.

Why invoke a copy argument? Easy... You asked me why comment on Android Wear and they didn't sell and why it stinks. When Android fails, they switch to Apple design options. No rant... I think you will find you are in the minority here.
 
BlueMoon63 said:
I work for a company that designs components for a vast majority of smartphones and related products and have used all products from all companies for many many many months. I am an electrical engineer. There has not been a watch product worth looking at so far besides Apple Watch because of terrible design, plastic, cheap bands, no functionality, inferior interface, quality and size. Then we look at sales of all products released so far and they have all failed. I feel like I have a much better opinion than most and I can easily compare the moving landscape of products and what works.
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Thanks for your resume :rolleyes:

Design choice is subjective.
Not all Android wear is plastic and/or have plastic bands
No functionality? Ok - now I know you're ranting for the sake of randing
Inferior interface? Subjective. And how much have you used the Apple watch to determine it's superior?
Size? Again - subjective and not really valid.

If these are your opinions - that's one thing. But they certainly aren't a universal truth.
 
spentan said:
Apple has a 15 day money back return policy, I don't see the issue with buying a few of the bands, trying them out, and returning them if you don't like it.

I'm 6ft 9in and 420lbs on a good day, I measured a piece of paper that went around my wrist, it was just over 200cm, so I will definitely need to try them on.

Looking at getting one with the leather magnet loop, a sport band, and maybe a link bracelet if it fits well.
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Pretty please tell me you mean mm not cm.
 
Narcaz said:
Your car analogy doesn't really work here. (Btw. Who buys a ferrari in a store, which sells Fiestas in the same room?). This is definitely new for Apple. So far the 11'' MBA buyer gets the same attention and assistance as the 5K iMac buyer.
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Okay, so let me change the analogy since you're not happy with it.

Would you expect to get the same amount of attention in a jewellers whether you're buying a $10 pair of earrings, or a $30,000 watch?

No.
 
Brian Y said:
Okay, so let me change the analogy since you're not happy with it.

Would you expect to get the same amount of attention in a jewellers whether you're buying a $10 pair of earrings, or a $30,000 watch?

No.
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How many jewelers have a spectrum that large. Regardless, a smart business and one that is customer centric wouldn't differentiate. Because that same customer spending $10 on a earrings or new posts could very well be the same customer that buys that 30K watch later that day, week or year.
 
samcraig said:
Thanks for your resume :rolleyes:

Design choice is subjective.
Not all Android wear is plastic and/or have plastic bands
No functionality? Ok - now I know you're ranting for the sake of randing
Inferior interface? Subjective. And how much have you used the Apple watch to determine it's superior?
Size? Again - subjective and not really valid.

If these are your opinions - that's one thing. But they certainly aren't a universal truth.
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LOL roll your eyes at yourself. You asked how I would know about the products made by others. You asked, I gave you how I would know. Don't ask if you don't want to know or don't like the response.

Yes, everything is subjective and the subjective goes out to sales - right? They didn't sell (other companies watch products) so I am subjectively saying that they failed because they didn't sell for all of the reasons I gave.

Never said I have used the Apple Watch and you dropped my quote... I said the Apple Watch is the first watch worth looking at because the others failed because of cheap, terrible design, etc. It is yet to be determined how well it will sell.

Let it go...
 
Cook should focus on bringing out the next iPhone that looks almost the same as the previous iPhone but is slightly bigger than the previous iPhone. This is :apple: innovation and is more important than dabbling in politics.
 
darkknight14 said:
Does anyone know if you can buy the SS space black watch with any band for cheaper? Can only see it priced at $1,049

http://store.apple.com/us/buy-watch/apple-watch?product=MJ3F2LL/A&step=detail
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Unless I am mistaken, the Apple Watch can use any of the bands you see listed for the Apple Watch but some are for the smaller or larger version only. I wanted the Stainless Steel Space Black with the Space Black Link Bracelet but not for that price. I was planning to at least look at the SS Space Black Watch with some of the black bands besides rubber.

I'm honestly having a hard time justifying the price since I am only interested in the SS Version of the Apple Watch. I would prefer at least a few bands to switch between, but I would be spending well over $1000 for a watch.

I have 6 watches that all range in price from about $250-$500 (Seiko, Tassot, Zeppelin) and I would definitely prefer the Apple Watch in SS Space Gray with at least a leather band but the price is getting me to hold back until I see some new feature.
 
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samcraig said:
How many jewelers have a spectrum that large. Regardless, a smart business and one that is customer centric wouldn't differentiate. Because that same customer spending $10 on a earrings or new posts could very well be the same customer that buys that 30K watch later that day, week or year.
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Most do.

http://www.ernestjones.co.uk/webstore/d/1126636/tresor+paris+blush+6mm+pink+crystal+stud+earrings/

http://www.ernestjones.co.uk/websto...+for+bentley+men's+black+leather+strap+watch/

And no, people who buy $30k watches don't buy $10 earrings.
 
Patriot24 said:
No, it is about customers.

If you let one customer stand there swapping bands endlessly without making a decision and eating into other appointments, chaos will ensue. There is no perfect solution here, but they're doing their best to create a system that caters to the largest number of customers in the most efficient manner possible. I'm not sure what more people want.
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Ok, I see. The purpose of having swappable bands is to purchase different ones after the Watch Purchase? Besides, what's wrong with some chaos anyway? :apple:
 
Brian Y said:
And no, people who buy $30k watches don't buy $10 earrings.
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No. Perhaps not. But my point was that a customer can come in and spend very little in one visit. That doesn't mean their store experience should be any "less" than someone's who spends more. Because at the end of the day, that customer will either visit you again and be loyal over time (and have a good LTV) or may, indeed, purchase other items of greater value "next."

In your scenario, a jeweler who doesn't treat their customer special, regardless of spend might and will likely lose out on the bigger purchases. Everyone wants to feel special whether they are spending $10 or $10K with a brand. Today's purchase of some cleaning fluid for a pair of glasses might be tomorrow's high-end brand sunglasses purchase.

is this a reality for many/all brands. No. But with internet shopping, competition, etc - it's becoming more and more important for brands to ensure their customer experience is better than anyone else's.
 
Hello people. Don't you think this is because people will bring in aftermarket bands and want to try them on? Which would not be very Apple like for the experience. Too much hate in all of yours hearts. I love you though. But let's try and build a better place! Who cares if you can or cannot.

But what I do care about is how angry everyone is. Smile :) laugh. Enjoy life.
 
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