All iPads Mini vs rMini... According to Best Buy "Salesman"

[FrankB1191]

I used to have a bike shop back in the early 1990's. That wasn't my first retail experience, and I could count the decent salesman I've seen since than on one hand.

My wife and I were at Best Buy tonight, redeeming a coupon, and still trying to decide about a rMini. A couple came over to the iPad table, and asked the "salesman" about he difference between the old and new Mini. He said that pictures would look nicer on the rMini, but there wasn't much else. They thanked him for saving them some cash, and he hurried off to get an old Mini. I opened up Newsstand on both Mini's, and asked them to look at the text from a "New Yorker" article. Their eyes popped out, and when the Mini 1 was brought over, they told the guy to fetch a rMini. They told me that the tablet was for their daughter, and that she would be using it for reading. While the Air might have been better for that purpose, their daughter didn't want the larger tablet.

I wonder how many customers are sent home with the wrong device, and the wrong information when they seek advice from these talking mannequins. I had my Air at the same Best Buy last night, and three tablet salesman passed it among themselves in amazement: they had never held one that wasn't tied to the security cable on the display! Amazing.......

 

[jita1]

LOL! So, no mention that the new Mini has the latest and fastest processor and 64 bit architecture? Maybe too much info for the average consumer but I agree that dude isn't a very good salesperson. I've also worked in retail, selling electronics and it's important to research and know your products.

 

[KylePowers]

My local BB doesn't even have rMini's on display

 

[nostresshere]

A7 processor is a big deal...maybe not so much today, but going forward it will.

Screen is of course better.


I was in Best Buy the other day, sales guy did not know which one was mini, and which was mini-r.


Will old mini be fine for some people? Sure. Would I do it? Not for $100 difference.

 

[shadowjeff]

I was in Best Buy the other day, sales guy did not know which one was mini, and which was mini-r.

Heck even an apple store sales rep couldn't tell the difference. She had to go into settings and check the serial number to find out. It's really easy to differentiate them, the retina mini has a microphone at the back.

I'm surprised the besbuy rep didn't try to sell the retina mini since it cost more. Or maybe he was trying to clear out old mini stocks.

 

[deeddawg]

In other news, elementary school children can't solve differential calculus equations....

Just not understanding why misinformation on the part of BB employees is a surprise. My skin crawls every time I go near the place.

Or were you just venting?

 

[KPOM]

Unless he had no retina devices in stock I'm surprised he'd "down sell" them. Maybe Best Buy has some "spiffs" in place to unload the older models?

Even if people don't understand the concept of 64-bit vs 32-bit or ARM v8 vs ARM v7, "this one has technology from 2011 and this one is all new" should be easy enough to understand.

 

[FrankB1191]

In other news, elementary school children can't solve differential calculus equations....

Just not understanding why misinformation on the part of BB employees is a surprise. My skin crawls every time I go near the place.

Or were you just venting?

Good question. A bit of a rant, and a bit of "this site isn't as bad as some might think owing to quarreling".

Now go out and inform friends and family.

----------

Unless he had no retina devices in stock I'm surprised he'd "down sell" them. Maybe Best Buy has some "spiffs" in place to unload the older models?

Even if people don't understand the concept of 64-bit vs 32-bit or ARM v8 vs ARM v7, "this one has technology from 2011 and this one is all new" should be easy enough to understand.

Tons of retina stock at this store. The new iPads are in a cage near the iPad table, and the older stock is on the other side of the store. I was looking through the new stock cage, trying to see which serial numbers they had. As much as I'd like to remain immune from the burn in/yellow screen/whatever fears, I just had to take a look.

P.S. They must have had 30-40 rMini 128GB tablets in the cage, and all seemed to have the DLXL prefix.

 

[ob81]

It is funny that you bring this up. My Best Buy had an Apple rep that knew the products very well back in the day. I didn't notice it, but now they don't have a specialist back there. I hear them answer a lot of things wrong or not at all.

Oddly enough, the Samsung section has a dedicated guy in that section now though.

 

[FrankB1191]

It is funny that you bring this up. My Best Buy had an Apple rep that knew the products very well back in the day. I didn't notice it, but now they don't have a specialist back there. I hear them answer a lot of things wrong or not at all.

Oddly enough, the Samsung section has a dedicated guy in that section now though.

I failed to mention that this BB has an Apple rep, and he was there tonight. He spends most of his time giving classes there, and tending to the laptop and desktops. He's a great guy, and I've spoken with him several times before. Samsung has a rep there as well, and they are not well versed in their products. My wife bought a Note 8.0 when they first came out, and THREE Samsung reps were unable to open the handwriting to text feature. They had to call a Clear MiFi salesman over to open the program, and then he went over it with them for a few minutes.....

 

[Mxbzz]

I went to BBY today to play with the Retina and check the screen out myself. An elderly woman asks a saleslady the difference between the Retina Mini and the previous gen. She responded by saying, "The new Mini has Retina...so it has a better camera". I couldn't help but smile, and the elderly woman picks up 4 rMinis for her grandsons and daughters (except they were all sold out, so she left with none)

Before I knew the rMinis were sold out, I asked another employee if they had any black 16 rMinis available. The employee gives me a dumbfounded look and asks me, "..Is it released already?". I can't blame him, as the sales display still has the rMini as "Coming Soon".

Lastly, the original saleslady (while trying to hunt down the rMinis for the elderly woman) asks another employee how to distinguish the previous gen Mini and rMini boxes.. It was an entertaining experience at the store to say the least

 

[BygSii]

Wal-Mart Connection Center associate here. I'll shed some light on working in a department store. I classify myself as a geek, not a nerd, because nerds don't have girlfriends.

I know the Retina Mini has 64bit architecture. I know it has the faster A7 1.3Ghz dual core processor. I know it's slightly thicker and heavier. I know that the Retina screen is four times sharper, and etc, etc. I've been into electronics since I got my first game boy. So there are those out there who know what they are talking about. I get asked questions daily from other associates that they don't know the answer to a question that someone has asked. I'm not here bragging, I'm just here saying that you can find knowledgeable associates if you look for them.

To the non knowledgeable associates. They are out there. LOTS OF THEM ARE OUT THERE! Heck, I even have to work with a lot of them. Some of them just need a job to pay bills. Some of them think that "Oh! I get to play with electronics all day! Yay!" For some of them, it's their job and they could care less about it.

One thing I could care less about are time constraints to working the sales floor. Checklist of things that need to be done, written by the manager. But I have to work more on some days and talk less on said days. On a busy day, if I see an older couple, and they ask me what is the difference between the iPad mini and mini with Retina is, I might just say "Well, one is $299 and the other is $399." If they are done talking, I go back to work. If they ask "Why?" I'm going to say "The more expensive one has a sharper screen" and then go back to going about my business. So if someone over heard me say that, they might assume that, well, I'm stupid! Now if someone catches me when it's a slow day, I'll go over all the differences about the two devices with them.

So If you want great customer service, you really have to be there at the right day, and at the right time.

 

[tl01]

I've been thinking about upgrading my kid's minis to r minis... And even my 7 year old could see the difference in the type clarity. He wears glasses and I showed him two different sets and he picked out the retina both times.

 

[xraydoc]

So If you want great customer service, you really have to be there at the right day, and at the right time.

Or, instead, one could shop at a store that actually gives a damn about their customers.

 

[mcdj]

tl:dr = ex burger flippers make bad electronics salesmen.

 

[FrankB1191]

tl:dr = ex burger flippers make bad electronics salesmen.

LOL! More than understandable. The funny thing is, there are so many of them in the store. It's not uncommon to have 4 salesman on one customer.

 

[Binarymix]

FutureShop is worse.

Not only do they have no clue what they are talking about, they just stand there and don't seem to even want to help!

I've literally done slow laps around the entire store, and all the salespeople were standing in pairs chatting with each other, none came up and asked if I needed help with anything.

It boggles my mind how the Manager can't see this, or doesn't do anything about it.

 

[SHirsch999]

FutureShop is worse.

Not only do they have no clue what they are talking about, they just stand there and don't seem to even want to help!

I've literally done slow laps around the entire store, and all the salespeople were standing in pairs chatting with each other, none came up and asked if I needed help with anything.

Wow, I must be tired. For some reason, I read this as - all the salespeople were sitting in chairs patting each other. Anyway, this is the reason why I never go into a store like Best Buy and talk to their salespeople. I'd rather do my research online and not listen to someone solely interested in making his commission.

 

[stu.h]

Heck even an apple store sales rep couldn't tell the difference. She had to go into settings and check the serial number to find out. It's really easy to differentiate them, the retina mini has a microphone at the back.

Or 4 times the resolution!

Crazy isn't it?

 

[KPOM]

Or, instead, one could shop at a store that actually gives a damn about their customers.

Exactly. Customers aren't distractions from work. They are the reason for your work.

 

[tim100]

I used to have a bike shop back in the early 1990's. That wasn't my first retail experience, and I could count the decent salesman I've seen since than on one hand.

My wife and I were at Best Buy tonight, redeeming a coupon, and still trying to decide about a rMini. A couple came over to the iPad table, and asked the "salesman" about he difference between the old and new Mini. He said that pictures would look nicer on the rMini, but there wasn't much else. They thanked him for saving them some cash, and he hurried off to get an old Mini. I opened up Newsstand on both Mini's, and asked them to look at the text from a "New Yorker" article. Their eyes popped out, and when the Mini 1 was brought over, they told the guy to fetch a rMini. They told me that the tablet was for their daughter, and that she would be using it for reading. While the Air might have been better for that purpose, their daughter didn't want the larger tablet.

I wonder how many customers are sent home with the wrong device, and the wrong information when they seek advice from these talking mannequins. I had my Air at the same Best Buy last night, and three tablet salesman passed it among themselves in amazement: they had never held one that wasn't tied to the security cable on the display! Amazing.......

don't ask for someones advice if you don't want it. any purchase has trade off such as price vs functions. when tv went to flat panel my friend purchased a rear projector in his opinion it was a better tv and price, we see how that turned out. the lesson is do your own research people will give you bad advice even if sincere.

 

[RolandNights]

Threads like this always make me sad. I used to work at Best Buy and the easiest products to learn were the Apple products. If we were really busy, sometimes someone from a different department would come over and help and get caught sitting on their hands. But in general, our Apple specialist was really good about training all the employees on the Apple stuff.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

So If you want great customer service, you really have to be there at the right day, and at the right time.

Great customer service should happen every day, every shift. Not just on "slow days" when you supposedly have more time.

 

[iDuel]

Wal-Mart Connection Center associate here. I'll shed some light on working in a department store. I classify myself as a geek, not a nerd, because nerds don't have girlfriends.



So If you want great customer service, you really have to be there at the right day, and at the right time.

Don't get mad, but you may not be the good salesman you think you are. Customers should always come first, because they are the reason that you are employed.

 

[racer1441]

Best buy is great to go in and see a product you are thinking about then buy it from a store not staffed by morons.