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BestBuy Apple Representatives

habubauza

habubauza

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
106
0
Just out of curiosity, who are these so called Apple Reps at the BestBuy stores that you see standing there? They really are absolutely clueless and I am surprised that Apple would allow people who don't represent their product well to work on their behalf. Just a few quick visits at the BestBuy stores' Apple Section yielded the following information from these Apple Reps:

1) The new Aluminum Macbooks have the exact same screen as the Macbook Air.

2) The current 17" MBP and previous generation 15" MBP screens are LCD screens and not LED backlit screens.

3) Open Box Macbooks bought at BestBuy will not be covered by Apple hence you should purchase our service plan.

4) The White Macbook has a Matte Screen. It looks glossy, but is in fact a Matte Screen.

In addition they are deleting sample pictures from iPhoto and movies off of iMovie and doing all sorts of weird crap on the computers. The computers are a mess, nothing loaded on them, just absolute chaos. Does Apple have any control over this? Didn't they just recently start selling Apple computers? Why are they so screwed up over there?
 
habubauza said:
...

2) The current 17" MBP and previous generation 15" MBP screens are LCD screens and not LED backlit screens.

3) Open Box Macbooks bought at BestBuy will not be covered by Apple hence you should purchase our service plan.

....
Click to expand...

They got half of #2 right. The current 17" and previous gen 15" MBP screens are indeed LCD screens.

#3 could possibly be true- since they are open box- not Apple Refurbs. But I don't know for sure.
 
anirban said:
They got half of #2 right. The current 17" and previous gen 15" MBP screens are indeed LCD screens.

#3 could possibly be true- since they are open box- not Apple Refurbs. But I don't know for sure.
Click to expand...


I had a previous generation 15" MBP and it was an Anti Glare LED Backlit screen.

I also purchased an open box Macbook from BestBuy as a gift and not only did Apple take responsibility for it, they replaced all the missing items for free (Install Disks and AC Power Chord.)
 
habubauza said:
I had a previous generation 15" MBP and it was an Anti Glare LED Backlit screen.

..
Click to expand...


Yes, the previous generation (since june 07) all the MBPs are LED backlit. I thought you were getting confused between LCD display and LED backlighting.


And its good to that Apple honors open box purchases from Best Buy.
 
I bought my Macbook from Best Buy for multiple reasons as related to a sale, reward points, etc. however I dont rely on Best Buy employees to help me with anything...most of them are just retail employees and not techies.
I always do my research prior to going to a store so I know exactly what I want when I get there. Its kind of funny at times when I get an employee that tries to teach me something or sway me to another product (recently happened when I bought a washer/dryer at Lowes) but I've already done more research than they would know and can out-smart them :D
 
Actually, there is usually an Apple (who is employed by Apple, gets a paycheck from Apple) rep (sales person) at Best Buy stores that sell Apple computers, but normal Best Buy employees sell them as well, and are the only people to do so when the Apple paid person is not.
 
I found the BB reps to be reasonably knowledgeable about the basics of the line. Its so funny how many expect hourly paid workers to be some sort
of faultless experts.

If one wants to ask serious questions, certainly go to an Apple store. In the
era of buy at the cheapest place, consumers have themselves doomed
the quality of help and service they now endlessly complain about.
 
You are calling these guys out in plural so are you saying that a majority of the reps are clueless? And the reps I've seen are employed by apple and have Apple Inc business cards at the table.

Anyway, a bad salesman can get someone to buy the wrong system and that sucks. But at some level you have to feel sorry for them because they have to deal with the "know-it-alls" that go to these stores and ask questions that they already know the answer to, simply so they can run home and brag about their nerd-superiority over the $7/hr "experts".
 
i asked a BB apple rep if the old MBPs they had were the glossy or matte screen version. He walked over to the 17" and said it would be like this and since he didn't see glare it was more of a matte screen. That 17" was a glossy screen I told him, I know the difference I have a MBP with matte, so he walked over to the MBA and said it would be like this and told me it was more on the glossy side. He had no clue, and better yet I went to purchase said MBP, they were out but still advertising it.
 
At the best buy I went to, to buy my macbook, there was a guy in a different uniform than the rest of the employees. He seemed to know all about the macs. When talking to a member of the "geek squad" would ask simple questions, and they would not have a clue. I asked where the apple tv's were, and a geek squad representative, said apple didnt make tv's, and bestbuy would not even carry them if they did.
 
urkel said:
You are calling these guys out in plural so are you saying that a majority of the reps are clueless? And the reps I've seen are employed by apple and have Apple Inc business cards at the table.

Anyway, a bad salesman can get someone to buy the wrong system and that sucks. But at some level you have to feel sorry for them because they have to deal with the "know-it-alls" that go to these stores and ask questions that they already know the answer to, simply so they can run home and brag about their nerd-superiority over the $7/hr "experts".
Click to expand...
But if you are selling a product, you should be a "know it all" also. You should research what you are selling and be the best there is on selling stuff. I found it sad once many years ago when I went to Jeep dealer and they guy didn't know anything about the Jeep Liberty. He tried to tell me it was front wheel drive (it's rear wheel). How can a person not know what he is selling?
BTW they get paid pretty well also. We have BB work for us at my company and they aren't that bad.
 
While it's certainly true that BestBuy employees sometimes don't know what they're talking about, you need to remember a few things:

1) You're on an Apple forum. Expecting someone working for $10/hour to have the same level of knowledge as you is a bit unfair. Especially when you're expecting him to know that the panel in the MBA is different from the MB... I wouldn't know that if I didn't frequent this forum.

2) BestBuy employees are expected to have some knowledge of everything in the store. I know, they have their departments and whatnot, but that doesn't stop people from asking the TV guy about computers. It's a fact of life that anyone in retail has to be able to answer at least basic questions about things outside their section.

So yeah, if you go into a BB asking very specific, technical questions, you probably won't get a good answer. But that's not really their job: their job is to help the consumer find a computer that works. Things like what panel is in the MB or whether the display is LCD or LED aren't going to make a big difference there...
 
I think you are being a bit unfair. I've been through nearly every piece of training material Apple sends out to retail employees and it does not go into detail that you will find on a website that's only purpose is to discuss macs. I've read the documents and it would lead you to believe that the macbook air and macbook have the exact same screen.
You can't expect hourly paid employees to have an infallible knowledge of the 40+ laptops that BestBuy carries, it's illogical. You can't even get exact answers from Apple retail stores and they only sell about 12 different computers.
 
urkel said:
You are calling these guys out in plural so are you saying that a majority of the reps are clueless? And the reps I've seen are employed by apple and have Apple Inc business cards at the table.

Anyway, a bad salesman can get someone to buy the wrong system and that sucks. But at some level you have to feel sorry for them because they have to deal with the "know-it-alls" that go to these stores and ask questions that they already know the answer to, simply so they can run home and brag about their nerd-superiority over the $7/hr "experts".
Click to expand...

Can't agree more.
 
They may not be making much, but that doesn't excuse the fact that they're usually clueless. I was in Best Buy today and the Apple rep. was a complete idiot.

1. He told a customer that the iMac's were the latest and greatest and there's no new versions for a good couple of years.

2. He said that 30" iMac's are available, but Best Buy doesn't sell them.

3. He claimed that only the Best Buy service plan is worth buying. Even though its over $100 more than Apple Care, it's much better because apparently, Apple takes weeks to get a Mac repaired if it's not from Best Buy. And, they don't support power surge failures :rolleyes:

4. When I asked for the MX 5500 Mac version, he looked amazed saying "No, we have our own keyboards. We don't deal with that crap." I was just speechless...
 
fendol said:
I don't feel the need to demand from hourly working subjects to be experts on their produtc, what I do demand is that a salesman working on a commission basis, or commission and wage knows most or everything that needs to be known about the product at hand :apple:
smiley2.gif
cheers.gif
Click to expand...

Which describes no Apple Store or BB worker.
 
Demosthenes X said:
2) BestBuy employees are expected to have some knowledge of everything in the store. I know, they have their departments and whatnot, but that doesn't stop people from asking the TV guy about computers. It's a fact of life that anyone in retail has to be able to answer at least basic questions about things outside their section.
Click to expand...
They don't know the whole store, they are assigned to a department. You have TV guys working in the TV department, Computer guys working in the computer department and so on. In most cases when I ask a TV guy a computer question I get "I don't work in this department, let me bring you to a person who does" or something like that.
 
nothing irks me more than when im in best buy listening to the Best Buy apple people tell flat out wrong information.

one time i actually pulled a customer aside after he was done asking questions and informed him of the correct information.

drives me crazy
 
habubauza said:
1) The new Aluminum Macbooks have the exact same screen as the Macbook Air.
Click to expand...

I recently returned my Macbook and purchased an Air instead. The employee at the Apple Store told me that the screens were the same, when I told him I wasn't happy with the Macbook screen. This was at an actual Apple Retail Store.
 
you know that is what you get for buying a mac at a non apple retail store. if i buy my next apple from best buy then i'm just going to have them get me the damn box and shut up. best buy is kind of like walmart if you really think about it.
 
I read many of your reply's and perhaps some of you are right. It may be a little unfair to expect the BestBuy employees to be all knowing. I just got frustrated because I recently was in a quandry over what to do to upgrade my macbook and when visiting a Best Buy store they asked me what I was looking for and after I told them that is when I got bombarded with a lot of information, much of it incorrect. It's not just me either, I have noticed many consumers coming in armed with a lot of knowledge, much more than the Apple Reps. As a matter of fact, it seems like that's the case across the board, not just Apple computers, but materials and goods of every kind. Maybe it's the internet, just so much information out there. I guess you can't expect every employee at retail store to be as enthusiastic as the potential buyer who does extensive research. Sorry if I offended any Best Buy people in the forum.
 
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