I'm going to Apple heaven

[winwintoo]

I was in the local Electronics/Pharmacy store this afternoon and after making my purchases, I wandered around and looked at the new 17" iMac they had set up. There was a man looking at it at the same time and I commented how nice it looked. A few minutes later, the salesman approached and told the guy that his stuff was ready. The guy said "wait a minute, I think I might change my mind. Which is better, that machine I bought the other day or this iMac?" The sales dude says "depends if you're asking me or Margaret" The other guy says "who's Margaret?" The sales dude points to me and I got to give my spiel about how much I like Macs and how there's no viruses and no pop-ups and so on.

When I left, the guy was making arrangements to bring back the new windoze system he took home the day before 'cuz his wife really wanted a Mac.

Margaret 😀 😀 😀

 

[CaptainCaveMann]

Left work early yesterday and decided to stop in CompUSA to browse. Ended up buying a Logitech MX1000 and a JBL Creature II. I already have a nice set of Altec Lansings but these Creatures will match my G5 iMac so nicely. I really dislike CompUSA and there is an Apple Store across the street but Apple's store has such a limited selection of items.

Hanging around the Apple section when a guy came over to admire the PM G5. The Apple rep wasn't there and some sales guy came over to "help" him. Guy was a PC user and was asking about buying a Mac, its expandability and use in a Windows environment. Sales guy reply, well it's really expensive, has no rebates, not much is offered in the way of expandability and won't work with Windows. Being a sales guy myself and a reseller in the 90s, I sidled over and asked the sales guy, why do you say that? He had no real answer.

I started talking to the guy and asked him a few questions. Showed him the software he'd get with a Mac (everything he'd need except Office and Dreamweaver). Told him that many products in the rest of the store will work on a Mac and told him how I use my Mac to VPN into my corporate network. He really wanted more information but CompUSA does not have Internet access on their PCs. Sent him to the Apple Store across the street.

A woman had been listening to me and then came over and asked me questions about my new iMac G5. I had mentioned to the guy that I just got one. She said what I was saying was contradictory to what other sales people in the store had told her. She wanted a Mac but was very confused. Told her everything I said was fact and if she wanted to see it all in person, she should go across the street to the Apple Store to see it. She said she would.

Also butted into another conversation with one of their "network specialists". Customers wanted a wireless network but didn't want to spend Apple's price for Airport base station. Was told he didn't really have any other option. I grabbed a Linksys and D-Link product and just walked over and asked him if these would work on my Mac since they both display the OS X logo on the box? Utter silence! Told the guy all he needed was the new AE and sent him across the street to get one.

Been a long time since I did anything like that. When I was a reseller, I would do it all the time in other stores. The lack of knowledge and incompetence of these employees is ridiculous. They also give out a lot of incorrect Windows advise as well.

Mr. network specialist quoted me $79 for the speakers although they were $99. I asked because the sign advertised the grey ones for $99 and I thought the white ones might be more since there was no sign. After a nice conversation with the manager, he honored it. I politely and firmly told him about the conversations I witnessed in the store and that an employee had quoted me a price and I expected it to be honored. Also asked him if it would be a good idea to write CompUSA corporate and Apple about my experiences in his store. All in all, a fun visit.

Man you are so right! I cannot tell you how many times i have ran into a salesman and got the feeling that I knew more about the product in question that HE did. You are absolutely right most salesman are incompetent and dont even know much about what they are selling and you know its happened to me in more than just a computer store.Also at a car dealership. How many times have you gone to a car dealer and the salesman quoted you wrong horesepower figures and all kind of other non sense such as " this car is turbocharged" i said to him really well lest go open the hood and you can point to where the turbo charger is yea he ws pretty stumped i said do you even know what a turbo charger is?Another time i was going to buy a new truck and told the man i wanted a 4 wheel drive and he said this truck is 4 wheel drive i said no it isnt the sticker says its not and he told me the sticker was wrong it was a common mis print and i said ok lets look!So i got him on the ground and showed him the lack of axles in the front of the truck and the lack of a transfer case he was amazed hahaha.Really businesses should send their sales people to school to learn all about the product it would make them look a lot less incompetent.Just my 2 cents

 

[Elan0204]

That was a great story, rdowns, thanks for sharing it.

As for mail in rebates, I heard a statistic once, and unfortunately I don't know if it is true or have any proof to back it up, but I do believe it is accurate. Anyways, the statistic was that only about one third (1/3) of all mail in rebates are actually mailed in for redemption, and only about one third (1/3) of those rebates that are mailed in are actually paid out to the customer. That means that only 1 out of 9 customers that buy something that has a mail in rebate will actually ever get their cash back. Why do you think mail in rebate promotions are so popular?

 

[absolut_mac]

Good job!

When I left, the guy was making arrangements to bring back the new windoze system he took home the day before 'cuz his wife really wanted a Mac.

Margaret 😀 😀 😀

You're a baaad influence on those around you Margaret - hahaha, just kidding.

Good job, keep up the good work 🙂

 

[Apple Hobo]

I guess Mac users are like that Mr. Wendy guy on the Wendy's commercials. 😀

I, um, don't "officially" work for Apple.

I'm surprised that Sales Drone didn't try to kick you out of the store after you owned him in front a customer. 😀

 

[jared_kipe]

Can they fog a mirror 😀 😀 😀

Margaret

I'm not sure I understand you.

 

[jared_kipe]

Rebates have been a load of crap for me (and others.) Companies suck you in with the promise of $100 back, but then the never get back to you, or just keep you waiting until the offer expires and you get nothing. I had that happen when I got my iBook at Micro Center. There was a write-up about it in the Boston Globe earlier this year, I believe.

If rebates are so great, what's the need for this website? 🙄

Sometimes rebates work in your favor, I got a decent samsung color phone for like $20-30 and I also got a nice 19" samsung CRT for like $10 more than it would have cost to get the 17" samsung for around $100. I don't look for rebates, but if they are there, I count them into overall price, and if this means I can get a slightly better product for roughly the same price.

 

[rdowns]

That was a great story, rdowns, thanks for sharing it.

As for mail in rebates, I heard a statistic once, and unfortunately I don't know if it is true or have any proof to back it up, but I do believe it is accurate. Anyways, the statistic was that only about one third (1/3) of all mail in rebates are actually mailed in for redemption, and only about one third (1/3) of those rebates that are mailed in are actually paid out to the customer. That means that only 1 out of 9 customers that buy something that has a mail in rebate will actually ever get their cash back. Why do you think mail in rebate promotions are so popular?

I don't know exact statistics but rebate redemption rates are pretty low. It all sounds good to the consumer in the store but many don't follow through. Often, you have to go online and hunt down the rebate form. If you don't follow directions to a t, you will not get your rebate. Look at it from a seller's point of view, give 100% of buyers a promo price or give 100% of buyers the opportunity for a promo price knowing full well that most won't follow through.

I thing I'm going to finally take the Tivo plunge and have one in my Amazon shopping cart. A 40 hour model for $80 after $100 rebate. Not 5 minutes ago I downloaded the rebate form; theirs seems pretty straight forward.

 

[stevehaslip]

i feel really bad when i am in a shop when someone is being told the wrong thing, giving apple a bad name because they don't play nice with the windows world??! So i quite often find myself going over and butting in the conversation purely on the principle that that the salesman is talking out of his arse. I'm always polite and only offer advice if wanted, but quite often find myself giving my email address if they want any further advice. The salesmen see me coming and one even asked me a question about macs!!

I don't declare myself a genius or a god when it comes to macs but i just wanted to give people the other side of the story. I don't preach and convert people to apple, but if someone can save a few bucks by buying another computer or by getting an educational discount why shouldn't i lend a hand?

 

[Blue Velvet]

I think this whole issue is one of the principal driving forces for the concept of the Apple Stores...

In the UK, PC World stock Macs and the rubbish I've heard there is heartbreaking. Also, the machines look grubby. They're also password-protected so you can't have a play with them straight away...

C'mon Regent St. Apple Store!

 

[mojohanna]

Lets all keep in mind that just because someone has a wealth of knowledge, it doesn't mean that that person is a good salesperson. You could know everything there is to know about a mac or any other product, but if you cannot relate it to the needs of the customer, your knowledge is worthless.

 

[question fear]

I'm not sure I understand you.

"can they fog a mirror" = are they breathing?

 

[crazy norwegian]

...

Yes, ah rebates! I recently bought a new washer, very expensive front load model. The retailer who sold it to me said it had 350 in rebates. I said "Cool, now it isn't so expensive!" Then he went on to print out all the rebate forms and energy saving kickback stuff, filled them out for me and included envelopes for me to mail them in - with stamps! I mailed them on my way home and while it took a while to get em, they all came as checks and tax credits as advertised.

Now this is service and this guy is one smart guy, I will buy all my large appliances from him in the future, because he made it so easy for me. Now why can't other retailers (not manufacturers - we know why they don't do it), do stuff like this?

I think it is called "customer service"? Give us a deal and great customer service, and we will come back ... and back ... and back ...

crazy n

 

[absolut_mac]

About those rebates, I agree with you 100%!

Then he went on to print out all the rebate forms and energy saving kickback stuff, filled them out for me and included envelopes for me to mail them in - with stamps! I mailed them on my way home and while it took a while to get em, they all came as checks and tax credits as advertised.

Heck, even as busy as Fry's are, while they don't supply stamped envelopes and fill out the forms for you, they did supply all the necessary documentation, duplicate receipts etc.

I have received every rebate that I ever mailed in, except a $10 rebate for a Lexar CF memory card. It might just be a one off loss, or maybe Lexar don't honor their rebates. Maybe someone else can comment on this.

 

[wdlove]

I was in the local Electronics/Pharmacy store this afternoon and after making my purchases, I wandered around and looked at the new 17" iMac they had set up. There was a man looking at it at the same time and I commented how nice it looked. A few minutes later, the salesman approached and told the guy that his stuff was ready. The guy said "wait a minute, I think I might change my mind. Which is better, that machine I bought the other day or this iMac?" The sales dude says "depends if you're asking me or Margaret" The other guy says "who's Margaret?" The sales dude points to me and I got to give my spiel about how much I like Macs and how there's no viruses and no pop-ups and so on.

When I left, the guy was making arrangements to bring back the new windoze system he took home the day before 'cuz his wife really wanted a Mac.

Margaret 😀 😀 😀

That is a great story also winwintoo. You gained us a switcher, but more importantly you may have save a marriage in the process. 😀

 

[Regular_John]

ahh yes stupid sales men. In the last 2 months I've had 1 guy accidently charge me for a 20 GB iPod despite the fact I was buying a 40 GB (nice $140 savings there 😀 ).
Just about 2 weeks earlier I went to purchase a self install DSL kit from a local electronics shop :
Me:"Excuse me, all these DSL boxes are just empty demo boxes, can I like buy the actual kit"
Clerk:"Oh just buy the kit, everythings done online now"
Me:"No I understand that, these boxes are empty, pick one up"
Clerk:"Oh hold on, I'll get some one from this deparment"
Clerk#2:"So what do you need to know? Like system specs?"
Me:"No. I simply want to buy one of these kits, all these boxes you have here *picking up a box and shaking it* are empty. I need the buy the kit"
Clerk#1:"Let me check in the back"
comes back a few minutes l8er
Clerk#1:"Yeah we don't actually have any of the kits here, we just have the boxes right now, we can order you one"
Me:"Um no thanks, I'll go elseware"

 

[solvs]

That's like a Monty Python sketch. I can totally see that happening. Sometimes reality is stranger than TV.

 

[zyuzin4]

ugh that reminds me of the time when compusa was using a mpeg movie trailer at 300 resolution FULL SCREEN to show off the 22" Cinema Display. I almost died...a man in the Apple section saw me looking at it and asked why it didn't look very good especially for that expensive of a monitor. I told the man because it was a crappy file that they were displaying. I then asked the employee if he had an opened DVD to show off the screen and the stupid teen (although he was older than me at the time) couldn't have cared less.

It is like the TV section at Frys or Best Buy where they have the newest of HDTV's being shown with antenna split 10 ways GRR

 

[Will Curran]

Go reward yourself with a shirt from ThinkGeek

 

[winwintoo]

Construction season is winding down here - the snow is starting to fall and people aren't going to be building decks and so on, so the Home Depot is cutting back on hours, but the good news is that the brand new Best Buy is taking applications only 3 blocks away ------ wait a minute maybe that's bad news 😱 😱 😱

Margaret

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

This is exactly why I want to get a retail job this spring/summer. I can't stand ignorant salespeople.

 

[puckhead193]

Does compusa or bestbuy make you take a "test" before your hired to sell computers? Does apple make you take a test? Sometimes the people in the apple store, scare me because they don't know anything.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Why don't salesmen care about Apple

Let's get down to the real reason retail salespeople don't care about Macs:
They don't make any money selling them.

Who is to blame:
Apple.

The profit margin on Macs that Apple permits the dealer to make is stupidly low. You might think the store is making out bigtime when you slap your hard earned bucks on the table for a new iMac G5, but chances are the gross profit for the store on that unit is less than $100 (or even less than $30 on some entry-level machines). The salesperson typically makes a quarter of that, so they literally make more commission selling Microsoft Office than they do selling a G5 Mac.

Apple decided years ago to sell through big box and electronics discounters: that killed off many of the Apple-specialist dealers who relied on making a 15% - 20% margin to finance staff, support & customer service. Then Apple rolled out the online Apple Store, and set the retail price point at 3% - 8% above the wholesale cost.

Apple also does not do enough to incent the salespeople in the stores to sell Apples - other companies provide extra commissions and incentives direct to sales people. So if a salesperson is going to spend half an hour with a new customer, are they going to gravitate toward the machine they will make $10 commission on, or the machine they can make $50 on, plus add on the software and accessories, close the sale easily with a rebate offer, and then maybe get a spif from the manufacturer on top?

I buy lots of Macs for my customers, and a senior salesman at a shop that is known for above average customer service admitted to me "I hate selling Macs, it's a waste of my time - I can't make any money selling them". Bottom line: The guy has to make his mortgage payment - and spending time with a Mac customer is an act of charity. The way that Apple have the wholesale chain set up, there is no way they are going to build any loyalty in their mixed environment retailers.

Trevor

 

[Les Kern]

Well, first, this is about the biggest proof I've seen yet that mac users are fanatics 😉. But, yeah, it's annoying as hell that NO salesperson at a place with PC's knows crap about macs, and will steer mac sales to PCs.

I'm not sure if it's really just that. Remember, they are out to make money, and they know they can make a heck of a lot more with the PC markup. Macs just don't have the price breaks. They simply can't compete. So, you have a saleman wanting to make money, and trying to sell to the unsuspecting or ignorant public. Great combo to keep Windows number one. Even if they felt Mac were better, do you really think they would spend a half-hour demoing a Mac and get 1/4 the money for a sale? Nope. That's why Apple stores are so damned important, because folks WILL buy a better product even if it means a *perceived* 10% markup over a similar PC. If Apple does this right, I'd like to see an Apple store in every city over 50,000 people.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Just noticed...

Does this mean that you are going to Microsoft hell?