iPhone 11 Today I tried to buy an iPhone 11 at the Apple Store...

[naturalstar]

OK. Sorry to play the devil’s advocate here but do you really need a new phone today? Can’t it wait a few weeks or months that everything settles down?

There is no point of hurling: you’ll get the same phone, you’ll get a better software and you won’t have to queue at all. See, problem solved.

My reply would be this:

Unless inventory is zero on the specific item a customer wants to buy, why should the buyer have a difficult experience in making that purchase? Why should the buyer have to wait when they are ready to purchase that day? It’s different if someone is traveling or can’t purchase until enough money is saved or whatever circumstances a buyer may have that delays their purchase.

However, again, if the inventory is there, it is not in the best interest of that business to make it difficult for a customer to make their purchase. It’s okay if some purchases are strictly “transactional” vs “transformational”. The point is what the end user ultimately wants in their buying experience and that they feel satisfaction from that experience.

 

[gigatoaster]

Want & need & really need it are very different things. But yeah for specific cases “really need it” is a good reason like a broken phone. But I’m sure it’s the minority of the people in this thread. We need to be honest to ourselves: what’s the point of hurling, frankly? It’s a bad behavior and everyone should think twice: timing is of essence.

I mean everyone is free to make their one decision, what I would suggest is to make a wise one.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The funny thing is if you reserved a product for pick up and then had to wait in line for an hour to collect it, you’d be within your rights to ask for a discount for the inconvenience. With Apple though you should feel honoured they’ve allowed you to spend hundreds of pounds with them and should simply suck it up lol

 

[culo77]

Best comment of the year. This cracked me up!
Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

Thank you. It's boggling that I refuse to go to the two Apple stores close to me and drive an extra 20-30 minutes because that store actually understands customer service. I can't imagine the experience I would have had at those other stores.

This was amazing!
I really needed this laugh right now. Thank you!

Your welcome.

Great character descriptions!! Only Apple turns a simple phone purchase into a falsely complex operation for no reason whatsoever. If they think it gives potential customers a positive image and feeling of “Wow, I better start buying overpriced tech from an Apple store, look at the enjoyable and logical purchase experience”, in my opinion they are very wrong.

It does seem like they lost the original concept of the Apple store about 10 years ago. I kind of went, "yeah I like coming here, well let me spend more money" to "this seems oddly forced and manufactured, where can I buy this elsewhere"

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Want & need & really need it are very different things. But yeah for specific cases “really need it” is a good reason like a broken phone. But I’m sure it’s the minority of the people in this thread. We need to be honest to ourselves: what’s the point of hurling, frankly? It’s a bad behavior and everyone should think twice: timing is of essence.

I mean everyone is free to make their one decision, what I would suggest is to make a wise one.

Shopping is painful enough as it is and not everybody has the ability to think of ‘time being in the essence’. Have you ever spent more than 5 minutes in an Apple Store? It’s absolute hell and usually extremely busy. If the product is available and payment is simple, it shouldn’t be a drawn out experience.

 

[naturalstar]

Want & need & really need it are very different things. But yeah for specific cases “really need it” is a good reason like a broken phone. But I’m sure it’s the minority of the people in this thread. We need to be honest to ourselves: what’s the point of hurling, frankly? It’s a bad behavior and everyone should think twice: timing is of essence.

I mean everyone is free to make their one decision, what I would suggest is to make a wise one.

Want vs need is irrelevant here. It’s more significant if we were talking about consumers who are making bad financial decisions (a topic that gets discussed often enough). What this discussion centers around is a consumer going to a retail business (brick and mortar, in this case) to make a purchase or pick up a purchase made online.

The timing of when a person determines to make said purchase/do the pickup has some play, but most stories here are about going to an empty store and still having to cue up, waiting up to 4 hours to make a purchase in an empty store, or waiting hours beyond their scheduled pickup time to get their final purchase. None of that makes any sense - needs vs wants is pretty irrelevant in these circumstances. It’s a dumb process and procedure in place by Apple.

 

[gigatoaster]

Personally I bought a new MacBook Pro last year. The store was busy but overall I was satisfied with the experience. I bought also a Mac mini last year and I booked it online, though. Even the sellers were surprised to see it, meaning it was the first they saw, when I opened the box.

I mean, I do understand the frustration, of course everyone wants the best experience, especially if someone can’t afford more than 6 or 7 iPhone per month because for some people it can represent a lot of money.

Sorry to insist but need/want is actually the heart of the problem here. I don’t want to go into the philosophical rhetoric but understanding what you need and when is the first step to a buying process. I would say a wise one or educated one.

You are describing the situation of an empty store and queuing. For that case, what’s preventing you to interrupt someone and ask politely what is happening? It’s important to communicate to avoid potential frustrations.

Now here is a another suggestion: why not giving feedback about your bad experience to Apple with location & time? That could be a good way to transform this frustration into something good: continuous improvements. You should have received a survey after your purchase. Did you take the time to fill it? I believe so if you have time to discuss this matter here.

 

[Ambulater]

I too experienced this last week at the Apple store at South Pointe Pavillions in Omaha, NE. What put me off is that you had to go stand in the line behind the rope just to ask a simple question. There was a guy standing right there at the door, but all he was doing was directing people into line if they had any questions. So you couldn’t even ask him something like, “Is this in stock?“ or “How does a trade-in work with the IUP?” without going and standing behind the rope.

There wasn’t even much of a line, just 3 or 4 people when I was there which makes me think they could have handled this in a much more customer friendly way.....it’s not like they were overwhelmed by crowds that needed to be contained in some way. Seemed really weird and not like any experience I’ve ever had in a retail store before. Can you imagine walking into a clothing store and you just want to ask if they have a shirt in your size, but rather than answer you the salesperson says you have to go stand over there behind a rope along a wall?

 

[PBz]

I too experienced this last week at the Apple store at South Pointe Pavillions in Omaha, NE. What put me off is that you had to go stand in the line behind the rope just to ask a simple question. There was a guy standing right there at the door, but all he was doing was directing people into line if they had any questions. So you couldn’t even ask him something like, “Is this in stock?“ or “How does a trade-in work with the IUP?” without going and standing behind the rope.

There wasn’t even much of a line, just 3 or 4 people when I was there which makes me think they could have handled this in a much more customer friendly way.....it’s not like they were overwhelmed by crowds that needed to be contained in some way. Seemed really weird and not like any experience I’ve ever had in a retail store before. Can you imagine walking into a clothing store and you just want to ask if they have a shirt in your size, but rather than answer you the salesperson says you have to go stand over there behind a rope along a wall?

This. 100%. I was directed to the line.. while 2-3 Apple employees stood and talked in front of us.. one guy kept coming down the line and smiling at us... I was third.. at least 45 minutes to get to making a transaction. They literally were waiting on a rep to be assigned to us.. 3 Apple employees talking while waiting for ANOTHER employee to be assigned to us to take our $.

It is a **** experience.. I don’t care what Apple training calls it.
Apple always emails me for feedback on the rep. I will not leave bad feedback on a rep that helps me but moving forward I will be providing my true feelings for the ‘experience’

 

[QquegChristian]

OK. Sorry to play the devil’s advocate here but do you really need a new phone today? Can’t it wait a few weeks or months that everything settles down?

There is no point of hurling: you’ll get the same phone, you’ll get a better software and you won’t have to queue at all. See, problem solved.

Apple’s business model relies on quite a few people to believe they need a new phone today.

I have a very specific internet video project I’m working on. I was going to rent a Canon XC10 or XC15 (4K video cameras that are really easy to use) for $300 but realized I could probably get 80% of the results with the iPhone 11 Pro and the client would never know the difference.

I got the phone, a tripod bracket, an HDMI AV adaptor to monitor, the Filmic Pro app, and the Filmic Pro remote app to control my phone from my wife’s iPhone while shooting.

Last night I did my first shoot on this job and it worked out pretty damn well. It’s not as good as the Canon option, but I don’t get enough of these types of jobs to own that specific camera outright. (I own a 5Dmk4 and have shot movies on everything up to a RED in 8K raw).

If I didn’t buy this phone this week, I would have rented the Canon camera and stuck with my iPhone X for another year. This job was the one thing pushing me over the edge. It was now or never and Apple did a very good job convincing me I could consider the new phone as a replacement for a real camera. For this job (which is only going on Instagram) it definitely can.

 

[Mt44]

I don't think Apple is clueless on this front. I think they're 100% against doing "transactional experiences" like that in their stores.

I base that on the endless "be transformational, no transactional" coaching sessions that were given at the Apple Store I worked at.

But what Apple does is worse than transactional. It’s obstructive and wasteful. It is the furthest thing from transformational, other than transforming free time into wasted time.

 

[Newjackboy]

Its like this in all the London stores I visit. So infuriating.

Often, I have ordered and paid online for store pickup. Still takes ages. Not clear who to go to. Lots of shifting people around. BS info given from workers with those reservation ipads.

When you do get someone, it takes them 10 mins to walk 5 yards to the back and bring out your item..

Crap experience overall

 

[PBz]

The next time I buy something if this happens I am going to cancel the order to make a point. When I waited 45 minutes for my phone last week I told the guy I was about to leave and he scurried off to find someone to assign. It wasn’t immediate. He was shocked that I would consider leaving the line.

 

[Shadowbech]

I too experienced this last week at the Apple store at South Pointe Pavillions in Omaha, NE. What put me off is that you had to go stand in the line behind the rope just to ask a simple question. There was a guy standing right there at the door, but all he was doing was directing people into line if they had any questions. So you couldn’t even ask him something like, “Is this in stock?“ or “How does a trade-in work with the IUP?” without going and standing behind the rope.

There wasn’t even much of a line, just 3 or 4 people when I was there which makes me think they could have handled this in a much more customer friendly way.....it’s not like they were overwhelmed by crowds that needed to be contained in some way. Seemed really weird and not like any experience I’ve ever had in a retail store before. Can you imagine walking into a clothing store and you just want to ask if they have a shirt in your size, but rather than answer you the salesperson says you have to go stand over there behind a rope along a wall?

Now that is odd because they did not put me in back of the line when I had to do a trade in or pick up an AirPods or buy something at the Apple store. They either queued me up to the next available specialist or put me in the express checkout lane, sincd I wasn’t there to buy a phone.

 

[ZeitGeist]

No matter what you need to do there, appointments are key. I know it's stupid. **Blame Angela** Ordering in-store pickup through the app is the best way to go.

You pretty much nailed it. She was more concerned about Jony’s fixation one luxury branding than actually making the stores more efficient and effective.

Fortunately that will all change over the next 24 months.

 

[ZeitGeist]

It's all for show... Its the same reason why the "Apple store goes down" when new products are being announced... A Trillion dollar company doesn't know how to update a website without taking it down completely for hours? That stupid little gimmick is getting so old.

If only it were a gimmick.

 

[JamieLannister]

I’ll say this:

If you think this is a bad experience then you haven’t witnessed the true nature of getting service for a samsung device. I have done so in the past and let me just say that the biggest reason I will buy an apple device over any other device is the fact i can walk into a store and have a replacement within warranty and/or a battery replacement out of warranty without having to worry. I’ve had numerous Gear S3 watch issues that drove me crazy because there is no service at all from samsung when you need help with their devices. I still own many samsung products but please don’t let them go bad because based on past experiences, they are just going into the dumpster.

I purchased 3 phones - the 11 pro max, 11, and 11 pro ended up keeping both pro models. My experience is exactly the same - paid full price online all pre-paid for and can’t even walk into an apple store and be done. I have to wait in a queue with other geeks who didn’t pay and then i have to line up inside the store TWICE then finally someone goes into the stock room to pick up my pre-paid phones. All 3 times I had the exact same experience and each was with a different apple store within 20-30 miles of each other!

I would totally write to apple to complain about my experiences. This is not how you treat people who pre-paid for your products and I do not expect to wait in multiple lines just to get what I paid for. There should be a queue set up for questions about inventory and misc, a line for non-preorder/pre-paid, and a VIP line for those that ordered and paid in full.

All these lines are drummed up to look like there is high demand. When I see those lines I just cringe but end up having to wait with these peasants!

 

[Khedron]

I too experienced this last week at the Apple store at South Pointe Pavillions in Omaha, NE. What put me off is that you had to go stand in the line behind the rope just to ask a simple question. There was a guy standing right there at the door, but all he was doing was directing people into line if they had any questions. So you couldn’t even ask him something like, “Is this in stock?“ or “How does a trade-in work with the IUP?” without going and standing behind the rope.

There wasn’t even much of a line, just 3 or 4 people when I was there which makes me think they could have handled this in a much more customer friendly way.....it’s not like they were overwhelmed by crowds that needed to be contained in some way. Seemed really weird and not like any experience I’ve ever had in a retail store before. Can you imagine walking into a clothing store and you just want to ask if they have a shirt in your size, but rather than answer you the salesperson says you have to go stand over there behind a rope along a wall?

Complete incompetence.

Nowadays I find more organised businesses have a main line for people to queue and then someone with a tablet also going along the line asking people what they need so any easy things can be immediately addressed.

 

[Khedron]

But what Apple does is worse than transactional. It’s obstructive and wasteful. It is the furthest thing from transformational, other than transforming free time into wasted time.

When I got my Apple TV I remember walking right past the Apple Store on my way to buy it from an Argos store. Just no point in dealing with Apple's nonsense if you already know what you want.

 

[JagRunner]

I had a better experience at the DMV when I was renewing my drivers license.

I showed up at 7am to beat the crowds. They open at 730am. I got there and it legit looked like a line in front of Best Buy on Black Friday. I thought I would be there a while. While we waited outside the door an employee with a cart went down the line asking why each of us were there to make sure we had the correct forms. If we didn't have the form he handed us one with a clip board. I already had my forms so I wasn't worried. The door opened at 730am....as we walked into the building a guy at the front directed us into different lines based on why we were there. Some were there to test and others were there to renew a license like myself. I was in by 730am and out at exactly 741am...form processed, new picture taken...temp drivers license paper given to me....all in 11 minutes lol I was shocked! When I saw that line at 7am I thought I would be there for at least a couple of hours.

 

[PBz]

I’ll say this:

If you think this is a bad experience then you haven’t witnessed the true nature of getting service for a samsung device. I have done so in the past and let me just say that the biggest reason I will buy an apple device over any other device is the fact i can walk into a store and have a replacement within warranty and/or a battery replacement out of warranty without having to worry. I’ve had numerous Gear S3 watch issues that drove me crazy because there is no service at all from samsung when you need help with their devices. I still own many samsung products but please don’t let them go bad because based on past experiences, they are just going into the dumpster.

I purchased 3 phones - the 11 pro max, 11, and 11 pro ended up keeping both pro models. My experience is exactly the same - paid full price online all pre-paid for and can’t even walk into an apple store and be done. I have to wait in a queue with other geeks who didn’t pay and then i have to line up inside the store TWICE then finally someone goes into the stock room to pick up my pre-paid phones. All 3 times I had the exact same experience and each was with a different apple store within 20-30 miles of each other!

I would totally write to apple to complain about my experiences. This is not how you treat people who pre-paid for your products and I do not expect to wait in multiple lines just to get what I paid for. There should be a queue set up for questions about inventory and misc, a line for non-preorder/pre-paid, and a VIP line for those that ordered and paid in full.

All these lines are drummed up to look like there is high demand. When I see those lines I just cringe but end up having to wait with these peasants!

Not talking about service. Talking about simply buying a phone they have in stock... and lots of Reps talking to each other and smiling.

 

[MaskedCarrot]

I was shocked today when I was at Tyson's Corner Mall and walked past the Apple store, which was the very first Apple Store BTW, and there was still an actual line! Maybe 15 people.

The store was packed though, but I was just amazed that almost 2 1/2 weeks after launch there was still a line.

 

[noobinator]

I was shocked today when I was at Tyson's Corner Mall and walked past the Apple store, which was the very first Apple Store BTW, and there was still an actual line! Maybe 15 people.

The store was packed though, but I was just amazed that almost 2 1/2 weeks after launch there was still a line.

It’s still only been out for 10 days tho.

 

[AustinIllini]

Not taking apples side but, if one doesn’t have the time to wait it out, why not order online for mail delivery.

Yeah, I don't get the complaining about waiting in a line for a product they didn't order.

 

[MaskedCarrot]

It’s still only been out for 10 days tho.

Ya my bad. I guess I can't count tonight.