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Talked to an apple employee at one of the stores today, guess what he said

macguy360 said:
So funny thing, I am walking through the mall today and I decide to go into an Apple store to look around. While I am there I stopped and talked to one of the Apple employees at the front door and ask him when the store was opening on Friday for the iPad 3 release. This is how the conversation went.

Me "When is the store opening on Friday for the iPad 3 release?"

apple employee "We will be opening at 8am but I am sure lines will form earlier"

Me "How will people line up since it's at the mall and the mall won't be open yet?"

Apple employee "The mall will open up around 4 or 5am to allow people to come in and line up in front of the store."

Me "That's awesome, I wish the store had the new iPads out on display so we could go ahead and see them."

Apple employee "It doesn't really matter, they're the same thing as the iPad 2."

Me "Well thanks, have a good one"


That was it, I walked out and continued walking around the mall. I couldn't believe it. He was so jaded about the new iPad coming out. As far as I could tell none of the Apple employees were really excited about the new iPad coming out. In fact, while I was in the store looking at iPhone cases I was overhearing one man who was in the process of buying an iPad 2 and the apple employee didn't try to dissuade him to wait for the new iPad. He was totally trying to talk the man into buying peripherals for the iPad 2 and telling him how great it would be to have it. The man looked to be elderly and what I would consider to be most likely unknowledgeable about the new iPad even coming out.

You would think with just days away, the Apple employees would be like "Come back friday and checkout our new awesome iPad, it is going to be amazing!" but it didn't seem like that type of atmosphere at the store at all. Just my 2 cents.
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You can not expect an Apple employee to be as excited as you are about a new Apple device. They do this for a living and you are doing this out of excitement. They have had any days off canceled and will work long hours to make the "hoards" happy. How many of you will genuinely thank the geek who gets your new iPad 3 quickly and get you out the door?:confused:

You do not even want to know what the average Apple employee think of us crazy people. We all have been on these forums for so long some of us forget that our obsession is NOT normal.:p
 
Stealthipad said:
You can not expect an Apple employee to be as excited as you are about a new Apple device. They do this for a living and you are doing this out of excitement. They have had any days off canceled and will work long hours to make the "hoards" happy. How many of you will genuinely thank the geek who gets your new iPad 3 quickly and get you out the door?:confused:

You do not even want to know what the average Apple employee think of us crazy people. We all have been on these forums for so long some of us forget that our obsession is NOT normal.:p
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Exactly. If you based real life on these forums, life is the iPad.
 
macguy360 said:
So funny thing, I am walking through the mall today and I decide to go into an Apple store to look around. While I am there I stopped and talked to one of the Apple employees at the front door and ask him when the store was opening on Friday for the iPad 3 release. This is how the conversation went.

Me "When is the store opening on Friday for the iPad 3 release?"

apple employee "We will be opening at 8am but I am sure lines will form earlier"

Me "How will people line up since it's at the mall and the mall won't be open yet?"

Apple employee "The mall will open up around 4 or 5am to allow people to come in and line up in front of the store."

Me "That's awesome, I wish the store had the new iPads out on display so we could go ahead and see them."

Apple employee "It doesn't really matter, they're the same thing as the iPad 2."

Me "Well thanks, have a good one"


That was it, I walked out and continued walking around the mall. I couldn't believe it. He was so jaded about the new iPad coming out. As far as I could tell none of the Apple employees were really excited about the new iPad coming out. In fact, while I was in the store looking at iPhone cases I was overhearing one man who was in the process of buying an iPad 2 and the apple employee didn't try to dissuade him to wait for the new iPad. He was totally trying to talk the man into buying peripherals for the iPad 2 and telling him how great it would be to have it. The man looked to be elderly and what I would consider to be most likely unknowledgeable about the new iPad even coming out.

You would think with just days away, the Apple employees would be like "Come back friday and checkout our new awesome iPad, it is going to be amazing!" but it didn't seem like that type of atmosphere at the store at all. Just my 2 cents.
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If you've ever worked in sales you would know that you sell the products you have in stock! Stores wouldn't make any money if they told everyone to come back in a few days!
 
Regarding the old guy buying an iPad 2...

If I were working retail, unless I received explicit instructions to pimp the newest product, I would definitely help that fellow feel good about his iPad 2 purchase. As others have said, iPad 3 launch will be hellish... that guy isn't going to come back at 5 AM and line up for it. That guy doesn't care about the higher resolution display or 4G -- if he did, he'd be asking about it, and he'd likely be in the know regarding the iPad 3. An iPad 2 would seem to suit his needs, the price is lower... it's relatively win-win for him.
 
Maybe he was having a bad day, not looking forward to the wicked rush of launch day, or bummed because he wasn't able to get one for whatever reason. By the time we get to interact with someone, they've already had a set of experiences that largely determine how they're going to behave to us. Often their attitude has little to do with us or the issue at hand.

Human nature.
 
Apple employees are normally trained to take a calm attitude to CS. What you experienced was probably several things happening all at once. iPad 3 units on display normally will arrive about a week after the launch. You won't be able to take a look at the 2012 iPad on launch day because Apple stores are afraid to have display units which could be stolen. Possibly only the 5th avenue store will have display units but I highly doubt it. The other thing the Apple employee did was to deter excitement over the launch so there won't be crazy expectations during the launch. Safety of the employees and the store are top priorities at the stores. It's for that same reason the Beijing store shut down on iPhone 4S launch day.
 
I tend to avoid Apple stores like the plague based on bad experiences. Always crowded with people just standing around.

I stopped by to purchase a OSX DVD to use for a fresh OS install on my macbook pro. I wanted to be sure that the software was a FULL install and not just an upgrade, because an upgrade only would not fit my needs.

I step in the store, pick up a copy off the shelf, and seek out assistance... With all the chaos of people, I wait about 15 minutes. The first thing I notice is that the apple employee is wearing an iPhone or iPod around his neck like some sort of necklace. Right, anyway... I'm there on a mission with a purpose, so I ask my simple question: "Is this OSX Leopard DVD a full OS install? I would like to install the operating system from scratch and not upgrade."

He looks at me with a blank stare... "Well... You know, I'm not sure. But you won't get the iLife suite!!!"

That's fine with me. I just want to reinstall the OS. He then tells me I'll need to schedule an appointment with a technician to come in at a later time to receive my answer... Nope, that's not going to fly. I have a simple question about my purchase, I do not need technical assistance. It's a simple question that anyone selling the product should know.

He grabs another employee and I ask the same question. Same blank stare... "I'm not sure, you won't have iLife on it then!"

Yikes. Okay, manager time please. I need to get back to work soon... The manager finally comes over with a technician from the back of the store... Guess what he told me... Yep, "You won't have iLife!!!" The technician, fortunately, was able to answer my question.

Am I being too harsh? I don't think so. My store experience wasn't ruined by the ridiculous looking iPod/iPhone necklaces or the "revolutionary" receipt by e-mail magic, but it was ruined by lack of product knowledge. I do love Apple products, but I'm starting to believe that their sales staff are taught to sell "shiny" and "pretty" versus understanding the specifications of the technology they sell.

Just my opinion. Sorry to rant. I'm still an Apple fan, I think the build quality and attention to detail of their products are light years ahead of anyone else.
 
lulla01 said:
You can't expect all retail employees to be excited about their 14.00 per your job at all times throughout the day. Can you imagine how many times a day they are asked that same question? They probably hate the iPad
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As part of the training, apple needs to send such employees to work in a Walmart store for a month, with them also earning the equivalent $8.50 an hour. They'll be back singing like canaries and even using the sir and mam again.

Anyone who works with this cool stuff yet thinks their job sucks needs a reality check. Heck, half of the college grads in this country don't even make $14 an hour.
 
Sounds like a very smart sales associate.

When all I have to sell you currently are the iPad 2's, no way would I be encouraging you to wait for the next new thing either.

I need more sales guys like that! They always want to sell what we don't have rather than what we DO have.
 
"Google's median starting salary is $82,600, significantly higher than Facebook's $59,100 and Apple's anemic $43,100, according to salary information site Payscale.com."
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/blogs/pre...laries-Beat-Out-Apple-Facebook-123373858.html

I wonder if Apple's median starting salary is so low because it has much more of a brick-and-mortar retail front that Facebook, Google, and Microsoft (for the most part) don't have.

I would assume that college grads who get jobs working for corporate Apple as a product manager, code monkey, etc start in the 50s-60s depending on area while their "geniuses" at the retail stores make hourly rates comparable to other retail stores ~$8.50-$12.00 and perhaps commission.

"Apple Genius" doesn't strike me as a college grad career launchpad; it strikes me as something you do in high school, college, or in transition to pay the bills.
 
ReallyBigFeet said:
Sounds like a very smart sales associate.

When all I have to sell you currently are the iPad 2's, no way would I be encouraging you to wait for the next new thing either.

I need more sales guys like that! They always want to sell what we don't have rather than what we DO have.
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If the old man happened to have no idea that the iPad 3 was coming out in a few days, there's the possibility that he could be angry with the sales associate for not even telling him. Then he could decide that he doesn't want to be an Apple customer anymore.

The fact of the matter is that Apple products sell themselves. The main purpose of the brick and mortar stores is to provide a higher quality of customer service that you don't get from buying other computers.
 
macguy360 said:
If the old man happened to have no idea that the iPad 3 was coming out in a few days, there's the possibility that he could be angry with the sales associate for not even telling him. Then he could decide that he doesn't want to be an Apple customer anymore.

The fact of the matter is that Apple products sell themselves. The main purpose of the brick and mortar stores is to provide a higher quality of customer service that you don't get from buying other computers.
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I've frequented the stores more frequently since October when I picked up the MBA and I've found out more on MR, than the idiots that work at these stores, though I can only speak for the Bethesda and the Tysons corner store here.
 
macguy360 said:
The fact of the matter is that Apple products sell themselves. The main purpose of the brick and mortar stores is to provide a higher quality of customer service that you don't get from buying other computers.
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I also feel B&M stores are able to sell more. As seeing and feeling a product in person affects the buying process differently and stimulates various sensors that buying online can never do.

I stepped into a computer parts store the other day, first time in close to 9 years, and was reminiscing the old computer days.

It was awesome and I just felt like buying and trying everything. Whereas, when it comes to online stores, I only purchase what I need.
 
mobilehaathi said:
God forbid we think of retail employees as humans...
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Nice anecdote alert ---

A year or so ago I went to an Apple workshop at an Apple store on accessibility in Apple products. As I've been an Apple user for years and been severely sight impaired for sixteen years (and am a massive geek girl) I knew far more abut the accessibility of the products than the two employees taking the workshop, but they were extremely enthusiastic and helpful (and I'm not the usual attendee for such things to be fair.)
One of our friend uses a braille display (with a windoze machine) rather than an audible screen reader. He had brought it along and was interested in the "it just works" aspect of plugging it into a mac. Holly, the girl taking the workshop, plugged it into an imac via usb and fired up Safari to the bbc news website, and Chris started reading the headlines to her via the braille display.
Holly was genuinely, genuinely thrilled that it had just worked and that a peripheral that she had never seen could get a blind person info in a matter of seconds. I have never seen anyone so pleased. She thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

So they're not all jaded.
 
Blorzoga said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B176 Safari/7534.48.3)



The salesman did nothing wrong. Apple is a business, not a charity. They're in business to make money and enhance their shareholders' investments. I doubt the store manager instructed anyone to turn sales away. And if the customer was that out of touch that he didn't know a new iPad was coming out, I doubt he'd be savvy enough to understand or even care about the new features. Not to mention the fact that the prices of ipad2s dropped $100.
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Not giving your customer full and pertinent information about the product you are selling is shady. Sure, Buyer Beware and all that, but this was some bad customer service. The customer should have been told that a new model is coming out and that it will be better but cost $100 more. Now bear in mind, for this old guy, the iPad 2 is probably already "retina" level display. And it is a nice device. It is rational to decide to save the $100 and get the tried and trued device now. But the customer should have been given that information. There is no way it is ethical to make the sale without disclosing it.
 
maclook said:
I agree based on the number of babes that started working at my local Apple Store. That may be shallow but they're way to hot for me to take computer advice from. They're good at working retail though so it doesn't matter.
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Let me guess. You have a minimum wage job, if any job at all, little to no education past high school, and you rely on someone else to take care of you?
 
Worst experience I've had at an Apple store was not in NYC funny enough. It was in the Mall of Georgia where I needed to pick up a Macbook Pro to replace one of my units. The rep at the door said that he couldn't help me because he was a "greeter" and then it took them 45 minutes to ring up the sale. Apple store employees can be really idiotic. It was possibly one of the worst sales experiences I've ever had because if I was in NYC, I would have been out the door in about 5 minutes.
 
OK, clarification time...

Apple starts retail sales employees in California, regardless of PT or FT in my experience, around 11 or 12. The Genii make 16-18 on average, and managers seem to be more in the 25 range and up (undeservingly, because most of them don't know @#$% about any computer, let alone a Mac). If this is the case in Cali then it may be lower elsewhere. Guess what the sales employees started at when retail was first rolled out for Apple?

20

Just like the rest of us, Apple is getting what they're willing to pay for, and what angers me about it is they could obviously afford to pay their people better which would generally lead to higher quality employees with less reason to feel disgruntled. Anyone who hasn't noticed a slip in the quality of service in the Apple stores over the past decade probably hasn't been paying close attention. If you have employees in your local store who are like myself when I worked for them in retail then you're probably getting great service from an Apple user/fan who loves the products and the company so much that they're willing to deal with being underpaid so they can still feel plugged in to such an awesome experience. Unfortunately, the feeling wears off, and career-caliber employees like myself have to wake up eventually and realize that warm fuzzy feelings and chasing an illusionary carrot don't pay bills and buy you a house.

Does this shed any light on why Apple store employees aren't living up to our expectations? Considering that all their managers come from the Gap and Banana Republic and get paid all the money that the employees who actually do things deserve I'd say it's still doing better than I would expect. Don't thumbs down me too bad on this one, I'm just keepin' it real.
 
TallManNY said:
Not giving your customer full and pertinent information about the product you are selling is shady. Sure, Buyer Beware and all that, but this was some bad customer service. The customer should have been told that a new model is coming out and that it will be better but cost $100 more. Now bear in mind, for this old guy, the iPad 2 is probably already "retina" level display. And it is a nice device. It is rational to decide to save the $100 and get the tried and trued device now. But the customer should have been given that information. There is no way it is ethical to make the sale without disclosing it.
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You guys are totally basing this on the OP statement without knowing whether the old guy had been talking with the guy and had already said he didn't care about "all that fancy stuff". To say it's shady business practice without knowing all the facts is shady in and of itself.
 
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