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Don't Buy Your Mac in Beijing

M

MBP17er

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 22, 2013
28
0
Tokyo, Japan
If you do, you won't be able to take photos when you purchase your Mac.

Why?

Because one of the Apple employees will come over and tell you to stop taking photos.

True story.

Incredible.
 
Thanks for the heads up. Kinda weird they don't allow you to take photos. Will keep this in mind
 
Are you sure it was a real :apple: store, did it actually say Fauxpple on all the signs ? Does your Mac run linux with a mac skin now you have booted it up ? :p
 
@Sa1en. Thanks. I agree. How do we contact them? I mean in Cali?

@Macsonic. No problem. I agree it's strange.

@Nightarchon. A real store. Xi Dan, Beijing.

@Spacecadet. Because there's not an Apple store anywhere that treats Apple customers like that, AFAIK.

@Ohbrilliance. Well, you might say that. But you might also not be Apple.

It was an Apple store. I wasn't aware that a manager of an Apple store anywhere, on his own (leased or owned) private property, could tell an Apple customer no to something like that. Obviously, it wasn't an Apple store.

It was a Chinese computer store with an Apple logo on it, and with Apple products in it, and people pretending to be Apple employees that managed to trick Cupertino into running a semblance of an Apple Store.

And that's disgusting considering it was a real Apple store. I use the word real advisedly.
 
FWIW, when I worked for Apple Retail (US) a few years ago, there was a written Apple policy that prohibited photography in the store. When this policy was discussed during initial training it brought up lots of discussion, and the managers doing the training basically said to use your best judgement.

They explained that someone with a professional looking camera taking pictures of the store was something they'd look to not allow, where as a family taking a picture of themselves with their first Mac wouldn't bother them.

No clue if they've updated that police since then.

Here are two older articles making reference to employees mentioning Apple's "no photography" policy:

http://retailgeek.com/please-do-not-have-fun-in-our-store/
http://scobleizer.com/2007/07/08/dont-try-to-use-your-iphone-inside-an-apple-store/
 
Still not sure why you'd want to take pictures? Many retailers have some form of "no-photography" rules in their stores - usually to keep competitors' prying eyes away.

Anyway, here's a couple ways to contact them:

"Tim Cook's" e-mail (like with Steve Jobs, they occasionally forward them on to the man himself) tcook@apple.com

Customer service: 1-800-676-2775

As aristobrat mentioned, they most likely have an active policy prohibiting certain photography.
 
Not sure why we did.

Well, we will return the product. 2,5 K USD worth of product.

**** em.

I'll buy it in Hong Kong, where I can take photos all day long.

That's the Apple I know and love.

I'm surprised that a small point and shoot camera that cost 50 bucks would be a problem, when that girl on Youtube dances all day long in Apple stores and puts it on Youtube.

I've also never had a problem anywhere in an Apple store doing this.

----------
thekingofnerds said:
Still not sure why you'd want to take pictures? Many retailers have some form of "no-photography" rules in their stores - usually to keep competitors' prying eyes away.

Anyway, here's a couple ways to contact them:

"Tim Cook's" e-mail (like with Steve Jobs, they occasionally forward them on to the man himself) tcook@apple.com

Customer service: 1-800-676-2775

As aristobrat mentioned, they most likely have an active policy prohibiting certain photography.
Click to expand...

OK Thanks. But I'll say this: Apple isnt "many retailers".

That's why Im Apple's No 1 fan.
 
MBP17er said:
Not sure why we did.

Well, we will return the product. 2,5 K USD worth of product.

**** em.

I'll buy it in Hong Kong, where I can take photos all day long.

That's the Apple I know and love.

I'm surprised that a small point and shoot camera that cost 50 bucks would be a problem, when that girl on Youtube dances all day long in Apple stores and puts it on Youtube.

I've also never had a problem anywhere in an Apple store doing this.
Click to expand...

It's probably China more than it's the Apple store.
 
MBP17er said:
I'm surprised that a small point and shoot camera that cost 50 bucks would be a problem, when that girl on Youtube dances all day long in Apple stores and puts it on Youtube.
Click to expand...
Beijing is the city where scalpers are booking all of the Genius Bar appointments and then selling them, no?

Between that and the other issues that Apple's run into in Beijing, I feel bad for your experience, but I'm also not surprised that Apple would be "by the book" with their stores there.

Not sure what the solution would be. They obviously don't want to have disappointed customers (like you). But they're also in a location where it seems like they're frequently being taken advantage of.
 
Sure but please tell me, how is a customer taking photos inside an Apple store being taken advantage of?

People do it all the time in NY, Tokyo, HK and elsewhere.

I think they are just acting all third world on the customers by doing this. It's quite a shame.
 
MBP17er said:
Sure but please tell me, how is a customer taking photos inside an Apple store being taken advantage of?
Click to expand...
The example I gave was regarding the Beijing scalpers booking every single Genius Bar appointment, forcing Apple customers to have to pay the scalpers in order to get one.

Another example would be how unruly the Beijing crowds became during the iPhone 4s launch, forcing Apple to close on the first day.

I'm speculating that because of the unique way that some folks around Beijing seem to act, Apple may be enforcing ALL of their policies in the Beijing store -- including their "no photography" rule.

Just a guess. Have you contacted Apple? What was their response?
 
MBP17er said:
If you do, you won't be able to take photos when you purchase your Mac.

Why?

Because one of the Apple employees will come over and tell you to stop taking photos.

True story.

Incredible.
Click to expand...

Incredible that you feel the urge to take pictures of yourself while buying a computer. That your choice of store depend on the ability of you taking picture of yourself while buying a computer. It's not like an Apple Store is an arena or a theather and your mac Bono or Anthony Hopkins, what's the sense in taking this picture, and above all giving this act all this importance?
 
You are making a big deal out of nothing. If its against store policy for you to take pictures then just don't do it.

I don't see how this is an issue unless they used force or took your camera away on first offense.

MBP17er said:
Sure but please tell me, how is a customer taking photos inside an Apple store being taken advantage of?

People do it all the time in NY, Tokyo, HK and elsewhere.

I think they are just acting all third world on the customers by doing this. It's quite a shame.
Click to expand...

They are not acting 3rd world, they are just trying to save you from future embarrassment.
 
Seriously. You took a photo of yourself buying a computer on private property and when you're asked to stop, you stereotype an entire country as third world.

Congrats. You just succeeded in making yourself look like an elitist douchebag.
 
MBP17er said:
If you do, you won't be able to take photos when you purchase your Mac.

Why?

Because one of the Apple employees will come over and tell you to stop taking photos.

True story.

Incredible.
Click to expand...

Mate, I logged in late just to comment on this thread.

Its weird to take photos of yourself buying a computer. There i said it everyone

I cant believe you think its incredible - its incredible that im bothering to post here.
 
MBP17er said:
...
I think they are just acting all third world on the customers by doing this. It's quite a shame.
Click to expand...
Of they could just be enforcing the Apple photography policy as written with no exceptions.

And if you think no photos allowed in a store is 3rd world, then there are a lot more 3rd world countries than you think there are.
 
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