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How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

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Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#251

Post by selflesssieve »

derefr wrote: post #3

I’ve also noticed the “it’s impossible to actually buy anything” problem with Apple Stores, especially in stores that get any appreciable amount of foot traffic. (Where I live there is at least one Apple Store in a mall that hardly anyone visits, and that one is just fine for service.) However—and I’m not saying this as a defense, just as an interesting fact—at one point when I was waiting around trying to get the at…

Went to go buy an apple watch and wanted to try the different sizes and feel the weights of the different models on my wrist. I signed in and was told that someone would come find me- that I just need to wait by the table. So I sit by the table for 25 minutes. I inquire around the table as to who's been helped/ try to gauge how many people are in front in "line". I wait for 20 minutes without any Apple employee coming to the table to help anyone. I see about 5 employees standing around- not sure what their purposes are. I find someone in a blue shirt and khakis and tell them that I want to give them money but there has been zero progress in the watch selling, but there are other people in line in front of who also are interested in giving them money but likewise not being helped. The person issues me the standard retail apology without any additional information. 5 minutes go by without any other communication and I leave the store without a watch.

It was off-putting to say the least.

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#252

Post by sandworm101 »

madengr wrote: post #195
sandworm101 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> figuring out how to flag someone down if they're busy. For that reason alone, I've stopped recommending Apple products to my older relatives. Be cute. Wear cool clothes. Don't be old. Look like an "influencer" with a million followers. The more you look like the people in the apple commercials the faster they will get to you. Above all things, apple stores are image-conscious. They are welcoming to people who fit…

Funny that they should ignore the old fogies without influence, as they are the ones that can most afford the Apple junk. I’m pushing 50, and I don’t need a fucking loan to buy an iPhone.

You won't be spending as much in their apps store. That's where the real profit margins are.

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#253

Post by clay_the_ripper »

Unlike many of the comments here my experience at Apple stores has gotten a lot better recently. I’ve been in twice in the past month for some hardware fixes, and both experiences were great. I got an appoinemt the same day, service was fast and professional and I found there to be an excess of people wanting to help me. This was in San Francisco by the way so I can’t speak for other areas. Prior to this I found that appointments were booked more than a week out and there were long wait times even for when I showed up for said appointment. I love the Apple store and find it to be the best retail experience in the biz right now.

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#254

Post by ceejayoz »

groovybits wrote: post #224
sandworm101 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> you've personally witnessed a person denied customer service simply due to the fact that they do not dress in expensive clothing? Nobody is talking about denied anything. This is about speed and priority. It is no surprise that well-dressed attractive people get better customer service. This is just a little more true at apple than at other electronics stores.

> Nobody is talking about denied anything. This is about speed and priority. Take this example: I show up in a store at 1200, and am told the waiting time is approx 30 minutes. I wait in the queue. Another customer shows up in the store at 1220. This customer is more well-dressed than I am. This customer also waits in the queue. At 1230, the more well-dressed customer is chosen to be serviced before I am, a customer…

> I have just been denied customer service in favor of the other customer, no?

Maybe. Perhaps they booked an appointment in advance instead of doing a walk-in and it had nothing to do with their clothing, or there are multiple queues for different types of service.

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#255

Post by ibeckermayer »

asdff wrote: post #217

I'm disappointed with the lack of autonomy that the staff has in the Apple Store. In any interaction with the genius staff, they go off the official playbook to the point where it doesn't even make sense sometimes. I have a macbook pro where I've replaced the disk drive with an SSD and boot off of that. One day it stopped booting from that drive, so I brought it into the genius bar to see if the drive was dead or if…

Amazing. Somebody should write a “1984” centered around the sinister stew of the marriage of corporate/government bureaucratic rot and authoritarianism we’ve wound up in.

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#256

Post by totaldude87 »

USA: Went to apple store to replace my iPhone 6 battery, after waiting for two hours, an assistant told me to hand of phone and asked me to come back after 3 days (&probably wait 2-3 hours before i get my phone). didn't replace the battery

UK: Went to buy iPhone, had to wait few mins in "line" , bought and came back within 1 hour on opening day ..

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#257

Post by musicale »

It seems that it's not scaling out well at all as Apple products become more popular. It is definitely annoying how all of the appointment slots are constantly filled, which indicates that demand exceeds supply. However, at my local Apple store they check you in and then text you when they are ready so you don't have to wait in the store.

Bizarrely they didn't do this when I bought a phone, and instead made a bunch of us wait outside in the sun for 90 minutes or so. With Apple-logo umbrellas and water. This was the preorder group with assigned time slots, mind you (there was another line for walk-ins.) I would have preferred to check in and have them text me when my phone was ready, as they normally do with service appointments.

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#259

Post by brianwawok »

asdff wrote: post #232
dangwu wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What B&M store lets you freely grab a $2000+ laptop and bring it to checkout on your own?

You can do all of this in best buy with just pointing with your index finger at a rep, then the laptop, not needing to utter a word during the entire transaction, and be back in time before OPs reps find him again in the apple store. Only at Apple and a car dealership does it not take five minutes to buy a product off a shelf.

For a while I was buying a laptop every 2 weeks from the Apple store for my business. I would walk in, say I need 1x of Model XXX macbook YYY, guy would go get it - I swipe card on phone, and back out the door in 5 minutes. Was pretty painless. Maybe it's how direct you go in? Or maybe they just had me memorized...

Re: How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster

#260

Post by snowwrestler »

chadash wrote: post #8

I live near an Apple store and frequent it every few months when I need to fix a phone or laptop, or buy a dongle, etc. The store near me gets lots of foot traffic, but the experience is just fine. There are usually at least 2-3 employees who will come up and ask me how I'm doing and what they can help with. Given the size of the store, the number of employees is surprising actually. And it's as easy as ever to book…

I think the "add a year to the warranty" feature is pretty common among credit cards. Last I checked, all my credit cards offered that. It pays to read the fine print!
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