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Genius? Not really!

C

crypticlineage

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 24, 2010
148
0
Picked up family's second mbp 13", wife's first today from Houston Galleria store.

Asked the genius to confirm that the new machine will receive a free upgrade to Lion. She goes "I don't think....ummmm, I am not sure.... err, I do not know."

Manager shows up, confirms that the mbp will receive a free upgrade. I throw in second question. Can you confirm that I can install for free on all my mbp's? He says, "can't do", no such thing.

I ask: Did you follow Steve's WWDC talk? He says: No. :eek:

I said: "I am shocked that you guys do not know anything".

Manager: "You'd be surprised but we get no more information than you do".

Me thinking: "Are you kidding me?, You're an apple store manager in one of the largest cities in America, and you don't keep up with the news?"

To make things worse, he did not even know about macrumors. I had to tell him to google it so he can find the information on there.

Seriously, I am tired of this Genius ********. Do these people really deserve their title? I think they're bringing shame to Apple with their limited knowledge.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"Genius" is only their job title, not an indication of their education, knowledge or experience. Also, until Lion is released, it's not really their concern. They also have no need to know about this forum.
 
OK...let's begin.

Apple retail stores are told nearly nothing before products launch...if you read MacRumors, you'd know that Apple is very secretive about this.

Next, any employee of Apple is not allowed to go on sites like MacRumors - it's against Apple's NDA, ToS, etc.

I think that these people most certainly deserve their title, because whenever I have a question or issue, they get it solved ASAP.

Read up before you post.
 
The up-to-date program is well-hidden.

I've generally been happy with the Genius Bar with the exception of my most recent visit. A flat rate of $1240 to fix my MacBook Pro. =[
 
celticpride678 said:
OK...let's begin.

Apple retail stores are told nearly nothing before products launch...if you read MacRumors, you'd know that Apple is very secretive about this.

Next, any employee of Apple is not allowed to go on sites like MacRumors - it's against Apple's NDA, ToS, etc.

I think that these people most certainly deserve their title, because whenever I have a question or issue, they get it solved ASAP.

Read up before you post.
Click to expand...

They can't post.. they can read.. unless mr is secretly passing all user ip to apple! :eek:
 
crypticlineage said:
Picked up family's second mbp 13", wife's first today from Houston Galleria store.

Asked the genius to confirm that the new machine will receive a free upgrade to Lion. She goes "I don't think....ummmm, I am not sure.... err, I do not know."

Manager shows up, confirms that the mbp will receive a free upgrade. I throw in second question. Can you confirm that I can install for free on all my mbp's? He says, "can't do", no such thing.

I ask: Did you follow Steve's WWDC talk? He says: No. :eek:

I said: "I am shocked that you guys do not know anything".

Manager: "You'd be surprised but we get no more information than you do".

Me thinking: "Are you fu**ing kidding me?, You're an apple store manager in one of the largest cities in America, and you don't keep up with the news?"

To make things worse, he did not even know about macrumors. I had to tell him to google it so he can find the information on there.

Seriously, I am tired of this Genius ********. Do these people really deserve their title? I think they're bringing shame to Apple with their limited knowledge.
Click to expand...

You are aware that "Genius" doesn't actually refer to their IQ, right? It's a job title, a cutesy one created by Apple. Geniuses and Managers have a lot of responsibilities - but none of them include reading MacRumors or watching WWDC videos. Any and all information that is needed to help customers and do their jobs is provided internally. Period.

God forbid someone not know the answer to a question - they should have had her shot on the spot.
 
Genii are there to help you with technical issues with your computer. They don't necessarily know all the latest terms and conditions of every promotion, that's what Customer Service (or Google) is for. Also, I know from a friend who works at the Apple store that a lot of the time they hire managers for their retail management experience, and not because they actually know a lot about the products.. so yeah. Don't trust them for accurate info.
 
Apparently a 1st year engineering student doesn't have the correct 'qualifications' to work in the deli at Coles. But I was eligible for the genius job at my local Apple store. To bad the job isn't casual!
 
They are not geniuses they are retailers. Geniuses are the ones who work at the desk at the back and actually fix your problem. I have asked at least 4-5 people myself and all said no that cannot be possible. Whatever it might be, it was announced officially and knowing Apple they wouldn't back down on it.
 
God forbid the manager have other things to do than spend his/her day poring over Internet forums.

They get the info from Apple and they know better than to speculate. Better to say "no I don't think so" and then find out yes than say "certainly you can" and then find out you can't.

Why were you asking questions to which you already knew the answer?
 
Genius are mostly technicians and 'vendors' anyway, they do what they are told. And why would the manager know about MacRumors? lol
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

They're most likely discouraged from reading rumour sites. They are told what they need to know.
 
While at university I worked in a computer shop. The amount of idiotic, moronic, internet heros who came in to ask the most pointless of questions.

If you know the answer then why ask; answer - too some how justify your pathetic existence.

Seriously, why should someone working in a retail environment be an expert on the licensing specifics of a product not yet launched
 
I hate doing my job based on "need to know" basis's. Sure, management says that's how it works best, but I always work better when I have an understanding of my coworkers positions / responsibilities combined with a bit of outside the box thinking. However, I learn to integrate that into my job in such a way that it also doesn't interfere with such "conflict of interests" such as speculation of MacRumours.
 
Just because they work at an Apple store doesn't mean they are up to date / obsessed with apple / like computers.

Just because someone is a waitress doesn't mean they know how to cook everything or even like food.

They are there for money.

P.S. You are part of the reason why people hate working retail.
 
Hopefully the genius was smart enough to take your comments with a grain of salt.

And I doubt Apple employees are encouraged to acknowledge 3rd-party Apple rumor blogs.
 
in indonesia no genius bar is present


we simply take our mac to the store and get things sorted out


but must pay 100$ a year for getting no charges for everything they do
 
crypticlineage said:
Asked the genius to confirm that the new machine will receive a free upgrade to Lion. She goes "I don't think....ummmm, I am not sure.... err, I do not know."

Manager shows up, confirms that the mbp will receive a free upgrade. I throw in second question. Can you confirm that I can install for free on all my mbp's? He says, "can't do", no such thing.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you are wrong on the bolded part. You don't get a free update for mac's purchased outside the promotional period.
 
Lots of apple fanboys ITT.

Yes I expect apple employees to know everything about apple products.

If I wanted to buy a car and some salesman couldn't figure out which models had air conditioning I'd think it unprofessional.

And don't act like working at apple is so demanding job, learn products, act like you give a ****, smile real big.... and you should stay updated on newer things.

If you don't want to go through the "pain" of keeping up with your company go work somewhere where no one asks you anything.
 
Queen of Spades said:
You are aware that "Genius" doesn't actually refer to their IQ, right? It's a job title, a cutesy one created by Apple. Geniuses and Managers have a lot of responsibilities - but none of them include reading MacRumors or watching WWDC videos. Any and all information that is needed to help customers and do their jobs is provided internally. Period.

God forbid someone not know the answer to a question - they should have had her shot on the spot.
Click to expand...

They may not be following rumors, but the manager should have at least known what had gone down at the WWDC. it's public knowledge, and should have been passed around internally as well.
 
42streetsdown said:
They may not be following rumors, but the manager should have at least known what had gone down at the WWDC. it's public knowledge, and should have been passed around internally as well.
Click to expand...

Why?
The manager has 10,000 people in their store who wants to buy what is now, not later. The manager is not in charge of forcasting future sales, that's their head office's job. The manager has 300 staff, millions $ / year in sales, and that only happens when selling what is available today. Telling a customer to come back in 1 month to buy is a horrible tactic in terms of sales management. You need to sell while they are in your store, today, with what you have to offer, today.
 
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