Wow thats really sad.
And I thought my dependency on stimulants for my ADD was bad. I'm willing to bet the person you quoted doesn't feel too hot now.
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The Apple Retail buying experience is broken
- Thread starter SiMBa37
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Wow thats really sad.
And I thought my dependency on stimulants for my ADD was bad. I'm willing to bet the person you quoted doesn't feel too hot now.
Remember these are retail employees some are good, some are so so. Most of the genius staff are pretty good. Best buy sucks in my opinion if you can't just grab what you want, like an iPad. I have waited 20 minutes to wait for a living soul to help or trying to have one employee find the person working in the electronics department. For the most part I have had good service at the apple store. I would rather go there then Best buy any day. I prefer shopping at Amazon any day then BB. The apple store is awesome for my father inlaw who now uses apple PCs, it really cuts down on him calling me.
Every BestBuy employee I've ever talked to has been a complete idiot. The last time I talked to one, I asked why the movie looked so strange (they had 120hz setting on), and he told me that was just how the movie was filmed. LOL.
No true. On the way back from the coast I called three Apple stores to see which one had what I wanted. I went to that store and bought it.
Not all experiences are the same. I walked in and politely interrupted two staff who were chatting. Told them I wanted an iPad, dude radios back to have one brought out while he helped me get a case. I paid, I left, and got back to the car at the same time as the wife who bought a slice of cheesecake which tells me she had to stand in line because her store was closer to the car.
"Transactional" experience? WTH does that even mean? I guess its like "retina" display... Apple just trying to coin new words and marketing experiences for both its consumers and its employees. What snobbery. The only time i've heard of transactional experience is when a lawyer or legal consultant is presenting his background experience.
Anyway, my sister and I both agree with OP, the Apple store experience is a joke. My personal favorite is that every time, EVERY TIME, I set an appointment they are "running a little late" read: 30 mins at least past my appointed time. HOWEVER, if I show up even 1 minute late to my appointment, they cancel or are about to cancel my reservation. Extremely frustrating. Once you get to a "genius" he looks at the end of your nose in disbelief when you try to explain there's something wrong with his company's product.
In addition the floor is like a zoo, or a madhouse, full of noobs (sorry, but its true) everywhere. I have such low tolerance for noobs!!!!!!
Aside from being a cattle farm for noobs, it is the only electronics retailer where you can walk in for a swap (assuming you are dealing with iphone/ipad/ipod) of your device without having to send it in and wait a week. Instead, you have to suffer through a terrible retail experience for about 1 hour. Again, no other electronic retailer offers that you usually have to go to a repair center or send it in - so points to Apple for actual speed to get a swap in.
However, I've had a friend leave his macbook pro at Apple - and they took 2.5 weeks to fix his hard drive (this is in London) which is pathetic.
If you know what you want you can generally get someone out on the floor who can process your transaction (Transactional???). However, be prepared, if you ask questions on the floor you will get incorrect questions designed for leading you to buy their stuff.
All in all - the Apple store gets a huge thumbs down because I can't deal with so many noobs around me. Additionally, like a few people have mentioned in this thread, I see too many employees in unprofessional looking blue shirts and ipads standing around with each other, or creating queues in poor locations.
My diatribe ends like this: APPLE WANTS THE QUEUES TO BE LONG AND WANTS TO USE YOU TO MAKE THEIR STORE LOOK GOOD. More people = better advertisement for people walking by the Apple Store to take a closer look at the products. It is therefore against their best wishes to make this system any better. Of course they can offer online inventory or answer your question on the phone if they have X ipads in stock - but why should they when you're probalby ready to come to the store anyway ? and then your friends will see you there? or people on the street, and this will pique their interest in apple products.
If everyone walks off the cliff - most of the rest of the people will follow
Anyway, my sister and I both agree with OP, the Apple store experience is a joke. My personal favorite is that every time, EVERY TIME, I set an appointment they are "running a little late" read: 30 mins at least past my appointed time. HOWEVER, if I show up even 1 minute late to my appointment, they cancel or are about to cancel my reservation. Extremely frustrating. Once you get to a "genius" he looks at the end of your nose in disbelief when you try to explain there's something wrong with his company's product.
In addition the floor is like a zoo, or a madhouse, full of noobs (sorry, but its true) everywhere. I have such low tolerance for noobs!!!!!!
Aside from being a cattle farm for noobs, it is the only electronics retailer where you can walk in for a swap (assuming you are dealing with iphone/ipad/ipod) of your device without having to send it in and wait a week. Instead, you have to suffer through a terrible retail experience for about 1 hour. Again, no other electronic retailer offers that you usually have to go to a repair center or send it in - so points to Apple for actual speed to get a swap in.
However, I've had a friend leave his macbook pro at Apple - and they took 2.5 weeks to fix his hard drive (this is in London) which is pathetic.
If you know what you want you can generally get someone out on the floor who can process your transaction (Transactional???). However, be prepared, if you ask questions on the floor you will get incorrect questions designed for leading you to buy their stuff.
All in all - the Apple store gets a huge thumbs down because I can't deal with so many noobs around me. Additionally, like a few people have mentioned in this thread, I see too many employees in unprofessional looking blue shirts and ipads standing around with each other, or creating queues in poor locations.
My diatribe ends like this: APPLE WANTS THE QUEUES TO BE LONG AND WANTS TO USE YOU TO MAKE THEIR STORE LOOK GOOD. More people = better advertisement for people walking by the Apple Store to take a closer look at the products. It is therefore against their best wishes to make this system any better. Of course they can offer online inventory or answer your question on the phone if they have X ipads in stock - but why should they when you're probalby ready to come to the store anyway ? and then your friends will see you there? or people on the street, and this will pique their interest in apple products.
If everyone walks off the cliff - most of the rest of the people will follow
I have had few retail experiences as good as those I've had at Apple stores, and I've had them consistently.
I switched to Mac & iOS specifically because of those experiences. That is why the stores exist in the first place.
At my studio, when we bought it, the main computer was an old PowerMac G5. Once we added all of our plugins and so on, it just couldn't handle it. It froze up, crashed and we were screwed. No warranty, no AppleCare, no nothing...and we had three projects started already.
We grabbed the machine, scheduled an appointment, and went to the Apple store, not really knowing what else to do. When we got there, we didn't know where in the mall it was, and didn't want to haul that thing all over the place, so we called and asked.
The person on the phone asked us where we were parked and said to just wait, they would send someone out. Someone came out in just a few minutes with a handcart. They took our machine in to the store, checked us in, and started troubleshooting our old, bought used machine. They got it up and running fairly quickly. They recommended a new machine, as it was obvious that our current one wouldn't work.
We weren't prepared to buy one that day, we had to limp along with the G5 for a bit longer. They still took the time to go over the MacPro 8 core, and talk to us about Joint Venture. I know it was all selling, but that stuff saved us. We upgraded a few weeks later and got the extra service. They helped us get everything up and running with that too. Transferred our files etc.
A few months back we had some trouble with the computer. We still don't really know what the problem was, but we dropped it off for service and they gave us a MacBook Pro as a loaner so we could keep working while they worked on it. We got it back the next day working perfectly. They said we had some things set up wrong--apparently we did--because it worked perfectly afterward.
What other computer company does this?!? I know we paid extra for it, but when you absolutely need your computer up and running that kind of service is priceless. The fact that we can take advantage of all of that from a retail store is amazing.
Since then, I've switched my personal machines and mobile devices to Apple products as well. I get the same quality service every time I go into the store. Yes, sometimes it's insanely busy, but it's busy for a reason--because people like their stores.
If I want to get in and out, I let the greeter know that I know exactly what I want and just need to buy it. They get someone right away and I'm usually in and out. Sometimes everyone is busy and I wait in queue. It's not a big deal, I know that the people ahead of me are probably getting the same kind of service that I've received and been very happy with--and that I will continue to get. I see this as a benefit of owning a Mac.
I understand that it's frustrating to wait, especially when you see employees who appear to not be helping anyone, but it's no secret that Apple's stores are incredibly busy. If I'm in a big hurry, and just can't wait around, I'll usually delay my visit to the store. If my girlfriend is along (who is very impatient when shopping for anything but clothing or bath products) I will choose to visit the Apple store another time. It's just not realistic to expect to walk in and out, even though it can be done most of the time.
Apple's retail stores are far, far from broken. It's too bad that some people are unhappy with their experience there, but that's life. Not everyone will always be happy with everything.
I switched to Mac & iOS specifically because of those experiences. That is why the stores exist in the first place.
At my studio, when we bought it, the main computer was an old PowerMac G5. Once we added all of our plugins and so on, it just couldn't handle it. It froze up, crashed and we were screwed. No warranty, no AppleCare, no nothing...and we had three projects started already.
We grabbed the machine, scheduled an appointment, and went to the Apple store, not really knowing what else to do. When we got there, we didn't know where in the mall it was, and didn't want to haul that thing all over the place, so we called and asked.
The person on the phone asked us where we were parked and said to just wait, they would send someone out. Someone came out in just a few minutes with a handcart. They took our machine in to the store, checked us in, and started troubleshooting our old, bought used machine. They got it up and running fairly quickly. They recommended a new machine, as it was obvious that our current one wouldn't work.
We weren't prepared to buy one that day, we had to limp along with the G5 for a bit longer. They still took the time to go over the MacPro 8 core, and talk to us about Joint Venture. I know it was all selling, but that stuff saved us. We upgraded a few weeks later and got the extra service. They helped us get everything up and running with that too. Transferred our files etc.
A few months back we had some trouble with the computer. We still don't really know what the problem was, but we dropped it off for service and they gave us a MacBook Pro as a loaner so we could keep working while they worked on it. We got it back the next day working perfectly. They said we had some things set up wrong--apparently we did--because it worked perfectly afterward.
What other computer company does this?!? I know we paid extra for it, but when you absolutely need your computer up and running that kind of service is priceless. The fact that we can take advantage of all of that from a retail store is amazing.
Since then, I've switched my personal machines and mobile devices to Apple products as well. I get the same quality service every time I go into the store. Yes, sometimes it's insanely busy, but it's busy for a reason--because people like their stores.
If I want to get in and out, I let the greeter know that I know exactly what I want and just need to buy it. They get someone right away and I'm usually in and out. Sometimes everyone is busy and I wait in queue. It's not a big deal, I know that the people ahead of me are probably getting the same kind of service that I've received and been very happy with--and that I will continue to get. I see this as a benefit of owning a Mac.
I understand that it's frustrating to wait, especially when you see employees who appear to not be helping anyone, but it's no secret that Apple's stores are incredibly busy. If I'm in a big hurry, and just can't wait around, I'll usually delay my visit to the store. If my girlfriend is along (who is very impatient when shopping for anything but clothing or bath products) I will choose to visit the Apple store another time. It's just not realistic to expect to walk in and out, even though it can be done most of the time.
Apple's retail stores are far, far from broken. It's too bad that some people are unhappy with their experience there, but that's life. Not everyone will always be happy with everything.
I agree. I have not been to another electronics retailer who has near as good consistent customer service. In fact, I have never had another electronics retailer or manufacturer accept out of warranty or clearly damaged out of warranty merchandise, and replace it for free.
I am not going to tell you that all of my experiences have been perfect at apple stores, but the good ones outweigh the bad ones by far.
The worst experiences I have had at apple stores involve asking the staff if this bluetooth ten key will be compatible with an ipad, and having the staff member say no, it doesn't show any app for that listed on the box. Only to ask another salesperson, who said it absolutely is compatible with an ipad. The latter salesperson was correct and made the sale.
I have a love/hate relationship with Apple stores - they're great as a showroom, not so great when you actually want to buy something, if they're busy.
Several times I've wanted to wave my credit card in the air just to get someone's attention - I go in, want to buy a case or a piece of software, and it's so busy in the store that either nobody sees you walking around with an item, or you don't want to be rude by interrupting a salesperson who's with a customer. It seems like salespeople are the only ones capable of checking people out 99% of the time, and if they're all deeply invested with customers...
Seriously, they should have a self-checkout system in place for people who just need a quick item or two and get out of there.
+1
I had a similar experience, but come to find out, while plenty of retail customer experience looks nice on a resume, and that may be why you're invited to the "secret meeting", they don't care as much about that as your personality.
You can have 20 years of retail experience, but if you don't "fit" with what they're doing, you'll never get hired. There's a reason they say it's harder to get a retail job with Apple than to get accepted at some ivy-league universities.
I found out later from a friend who works there, that they don't make commission, but are still expected to sell, keep numbers up, etc - i.e. typical retail. The only nice thing about working there is the outfit and getting 25% off a Mac once a year.
Ok, so....you were OUTRAGED when they didn't come up to you but DARNIT, STAY AWAY FROM ME! Is that right?
Each Apple Store is different. There have been many times that I did not have someone come up to me so I either went to someone personally OR went up to a desk such as a Genius Desk or checkout counter and waited for someone there.
Both times I went to the desks, the person got me what I wanted and I was out quickly.
