They could assign a value to each repair. For example, a broken stylus would be a 1 drink repair. A broken screen could be a 3 drink repair. And a device snapped in half would be a kegger.
I think we’re onto something here!
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Samsung Wants to One-Up Apple's Genius Bar With New WeWork 'Care Centers'
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I think we’re onto something here!
What? All Apple stores I know will just flat out turn you away if you haven’t made an appointment, you don’t even get the option to wait. With an appointment the wait is usually about 15-30 minutes of awkwardness and getting shoved around by others.
Headline has been corrected due to some glaring mistakes.
Samsung Wants to One-Up Apple's Genius Bar With New WeDon’tWork 'Don’t Care Centers'
Samsung Wants to One-Up Apple's Genius Bar With New WeDon’tWork 'Don’t Care Centers'
Free water? Coffee? Looks like Samsung is also copying every oil change shop in the country.
Snark aside. The two times I went to Microsoft’s copy of the Genius Bar they gave me a can of diet soda. Then I paid $500 to get my wife’s Surface fixed.
The free soda was a smart move though. It’s a tangible product in a can, not just a paper cup of coffee. Makes you feel like they are being generous before they bend you over and charge hundreds to fix something you could’ve fixed for free back before every device was glued shut.
Snark aside. The two times I went to Microsoft’s copy of the Genius Bar they gave me a can of diet soda. Then I paid $500 to get my wife’s Surface fixed.
The free soda was a smart move though. It’s a tangible product in a can, not just a paper cup of coffee. Makes you feel like they are being generous before they bend you over and charge hundreds to fix something you could’ve fixed for free back before every device was glued shut.
So does that mean that a Samsung VP prefer Apple products to Samsung products? Or was he just wasting the "genius bar" employee's time while he was spying on Apple's retail experience?
[doublepost=1509417741][/doublepost]Samsung is not a sexy brand. It will tell you when the milk is sour and the cheese moldy. Cool stuff.
Samsung is teaming up with co-working startup WeWork to create customer "Care Centers" that are similar to Apple's own in-store Genius Bars, reports Fast Company.
Apple's Genius Bars are designed to allow customers to receive technical support and repairs on a range of Apple products, including Macs and iOS devices. Samsung's upcoming Care Centers will work in the same way, but Samsung wants to one-up Apple with a better waiting experience.
At one of three pilot service centers opening in WeWork locations in Detroit, Miami, and New York later this month, Samsung customers can come in and get help for their products while also using the WeWork facilities.
A WeWork facility in New York
Because it's a co-working space, WeWork gives customers a place to get their own work done while also enjoying fresh coffee and fruit-infused water.
Samsung Electronics America VP of design Mick McConnell tells Fast Company that he came up with the idea while waiting for an hour and a half at a Genius Bar at an Apple retail location. "I was like, there's gotta be a better way to do this," he said.Samsung is taking over a portion of each WeWork location and installing a steel and glass box with shared tables and Samsung workstations. The space features a midcentury-inspired design that matches up with the rest of the WeWork facility, but with special touches like higher-end furniture and Samsung video conferencing systems.
Samsung Retail Design project director Danny Orenstein told Fast Company that the aim is to make Samsung customers "feel welcome" at WeWork while also making WeWork subscribers feel comfortable working in the Samsung space in an effort to expand Samsung's potential customer base.
Along with offering Care Centers at select WeWork locations, Samsung also plans to host after-hours talks with creatives in WeWork spaces, much like Apple does at its own retail stores.
Samsung will use the WeWork spaces to experiment with what works and what doesn't work before considering expanding to additional locations. WeWork currently has 235 locations, and should the project pan out, it could mean a major expansion of Samsung customer support locations.
At the three centers opening this month, Samsung will offer "tier 1" support, letting customers get help with using features on their phone. Staff can also send Samsung equipment to repair centers, but there are no on-site repairs available.
Article Link: Samsung Wants to One-Up Apple's Genius Bar With New WeWork 'Care Centers'
no WeWork membership for me, no way I want to work in a crowd place with a bunch of pissed android users.
I work out of a WeWork competitor (the awesome Industrious co-working office space 
) and the last thing I want is a daily train of random people coming in and out of my office space. Sure, they have a Samsung room, but nothing really stops people from wandering around... I don't see this as a win for the people working at WeWork...
) and the last thing I want is a daily train of random people coming in and out of my office space. Sure, they have a Samsung room, but nothing really stops people from wandering around... I don't see this as a win for the people working at WeWork...
if he didn't make an appointment ahead of time then 1.5 hours is rather typical for a walk in wait
[doublepost=1509420727][/doublepost]
then you haven't been in an Apple store in a while. cause every one of them has walk ins. unless of course you are showing up at like 7pm. then even that list could be full
I think i know what’s going on...
Samsung Electronics CEO resigns, says company is in “unprecedented crisis”
https://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2...igns-says-company-is-in-unprecedented-crisis/
Samsung Electronics CEO resigns, says company is in “unprecedented crisis”
https://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2...igns-says-company-is-in-unprecedented-crisis/
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just bad staff who were misinformed, or just didn’t want to deal with people. The two I’m thinking of are in the Bay Area and are always way too packed, and with grumpy staff.
Not sure how that will cope with the volume i see go through Genius bar here in Sydney.
I would be grumpy having to work in environment where I have to tell frustrated customers day in day out they they need to wait an hour. Whilst I love the quality of the Genius outcome, getting to the bar is a nightmare.
I would be grumpy having to work in environment where I have to tell frustrated customers day in day out they they need to wait an hour. Whilst I love the quality of the Genius outcome, getting to the bar is a nightmare.
In my part of the world Samsung sales/service centre are all over the place whereas there isnt even an apple store. Think the iphone users would wish Apple can do something like what Samsung is doing (instead of them ending up without phone for several weeks when they ship off their phone to apple in another country/city to be fixed)
so instead of fixing your phone you wait in line for a Tea Infused Latte and then they tell you you have to send your phone in for repair - NICE!!!!
Or check in.... they take your cell number, you wander around the mall, get a text when its lamost your turn... and go back. People love to find a reason to complain.
P.s. ive never seen angry peoplemat an Apple store.
As someone who worked at Apple, the issue is that some people go in and make 3-4 appointments because they don't know what day they're going to go and so they book multiple slots. Then, they show up when they want.
Also, stores can have multiple people working repairs, but it's never enough. There are always people waiting to be helped. We had to have a change of clothes at the mall for lunch, because if we didn't we'd get mobbed by people wanting tech help on our lunch break.
Seriously, when you work at the store it never ends. We could have had all the appointments in the world and we'd always be booked.
Exactly my point, apples making customers and staff frustrated, they need a slightly different approach.
Yelp and google reviews for many of the stores around here would lead me to believe they do exist.
I have plenty of GR experience. And believe me, Apple tried other options. *ahem* Browett *ahem* and his "multi-tasking", but that wound up FAR worse. The store used to still have people make reservations, but be 40+ minutes late on the appointments. That was double bad. Now things generally run on time or early, but the idea of a "walk-in" has all but disappeared.
We used to try and complete 40% of our Mac repairs, and do all iOS device repairs in the appointment window, but we used to have less than a quarter the volume that the stores do today.
When I started, I would generally only take 3-4 appts per hour, as we never filled our queues. When I left, we had more queues than space in the store, and there were no open reservations period.
Samsung thinks they've solved it here, but it will only work until everyone with a broken Galaxy screen realizes that they can go to this new "store?" for repairs, then volumes will increase, and barring massive HR investment in technicians, they're going to have queues and wait times.
[doublepost=1509426438][/doublepost]
We didn't often see the multiple appointment thing at our store, but that just makes the workload higher. Those "free" appts give some cushion.
You guys were allowed to wear your shirts in the mall? For us, it wasn't even a matter of being mobbed, we were instructed to throw a sweater over, or jacket on.