Apple Stores reportedly continue to see cutbacks as focus shifts to revenue - Page 3

This might finally push me to making a platform switch to Microsoft Surface. First it was the draconian App Store policies and now destroying the retail experience that so many of us depend upon every day of our lives. The Apple retail experience was so good many of us make a habit of visiting international stores on vacation.

 

This is seriously bad news for consumers.

The nice thing about retail is if the customer experience sucks, people stop going and the store either responds or closes. I will hold my opinion and see how things are in 6-12 months but since I buy most of my stuff online like many others I am curious how this will affect Apple in the long term.
 

This is a mistake, any company that focuses on revenue first over customer satisfaction will achieve neither.

 

That was one of the core tenets of SJ's philosophy when he took Apple back. I would have hoped that this particular lesson would have been a permanent fixture.

As I am writing this, there are 75 posts on this thread. Of these, 15 are by members with over 1000 posts. The remaining 60 are by members with less than 1000 posts -- often numbering in single or double digits.

So, 80% of the posts in this thread are by relatively new members.... FWIW.


As to the topic of this thread: if Apple is sacrificing customer satisfaction and customer experience for revenue, It is a big mistake, IMO -- and will have the opposite effect.

So far, all we have is anecdotal information -- some of it positive and some of it negative.

"Retail" is hard to do right -- especially when the staff requires expertise and training. Morale must be maintained, while at the same time staff levels must be adjusted to compensate for attrition, seasonality, product cycles and external influences.

So far, Tim Cook has proven to be a very savvy and effective executive. I have seen no evidence that Tim has done anything but enhance the "Apple" left by Steve.

IF there's a fire on an airplane, it will be because you insisted on using an unsafe battery. It's not Apple's fault that you'd prefer to use an unsafe battery rather than replace it. Apple has not obligation (legal or moral) to replace your battery for you after the warranty has expired. They did do so for some people, but only when the number of charge cycles was below some limit. Apple doesn't owe you a lifetime supply of batteries.


I think it's worth nothing that complaints from a few disgruntled employees should be taken with a grain of salt. Apple has done an exceptional job of creating customer happiness and adding some focus on revenues does not necessarily interfere with customer happiness.

Maybe the sales person thought he was doing you a favor by bringing up AppleCare. I would never buy a laptop or tablet without AppleCare and would consider that any sales person who didn't bring it up was neglecting his obligation to inform me of desirable options.

And I doubt if you were dealing with a Genius in buying a new iPad. Not all Apple Store employees are Geniuses.

That's been my experience, too. In fact there have been times that it has been hard to navigate the store because the number of Apple employees is greater than the number of customers. There are undoubtedly times that the number of employees COULD be cut back without harming service in any way.

If it really interferes with customer service, Cook will probably take action. He seems like the kind of guy who's not going to get too worked up over all the whining that accompanies any change, but if the change truly does cause a drop in customer service, he's likely to step in pretty quickly.

Let's see:

- You're considering switching platforms - with all the time, cost and energy that entails - because of a rumor of a slight cutback in number of retail store employees (but no evidence that it has actually happened)

- You want to change your computing platform because of some minor App Store details (which you call 'draconian') -- most of which only affect developers, not end users

- You depend on Apple's retail store policy every day of your life?

I call 'troll'.

Then don't buy it.

But many people consider insurance to be absolutely essential for a portable computing device. I know that I do. The risk of damage is very high and the cost of repairs is equally high. While I am always amused when Best Buy offers $29.99 insurance on a $49 device, AppleCare is a great deal. As such, I would consider a sales person who didn't mention it to be neglecting their responsibilities to me as a customer.

It's not hard to say 'no, thank you'.

Someone's going to get fired. There is no way they should be focused on "maximizing revenues" over customer experience. That's a strategy to fail.

Citing "inside sources"? I call BS on this, or their "inside sources" are folks who have an ax to grind.

I H A T E that guy. Typical corpo freak piece of garbage that will try to improve the operation numbers at any cost so he can look good. I have seen this kind of human trash in big companies many times. A "peter principal" case.

 

There better be no impacts on the Montreal downtown store, going there is already like going into a busy hospital ER, youre lucky if you can talk to support in less than a hour. 

MR did the same thing. I guess these sites are more interested in page hits the anything else.

I'll just remind all the Tim Cook haters that it was Steve Jobs who recommended Cook replace him as CEO. Care to explain that one away? Because I don't think you can.

This whole AppleCare stuff, I live in uk and have friends in the USA. I simply inform the guy at the store, that if he can match the USA price, then we have a deal....that usually shuts them up!

Apple makes more money per square foot that any other retailer in the US:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20096519-17/another-apple-win-retail-sales-per-square-foot/

Apple makes $400,000 per employee:
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-23/tech/30654463_1_apple-exxon-mobil-iphones

Doesn't sound like a desperate situation.

I never liked the idea of Apple opening so many stores because I figured inevitably they'd reach a saturation point but there doesn't seem to be an issue with how the stores are performing.

Even with the data we don't get to see that might show up some dead weight, it's hard to see how 45,000 or so staff can be making a significant impact on their profits. Still, it's their call to make, we can only judge by the impact caused.

My local Apple store is normally swamped. It is almost to the point you need an appointment to buy anything there. The main point of the Apple Store was to give visibility to the brand that they felt was not well represented in other retail outlets - which means my local stiore has issues with this goal. This PR function did not have a lot of profit motive, although the past reporting on sales per square foot or by employee seemed to be more than any other retailer on the planet. The question of store need may be dwindling as more purchase online, BUT it would seem to me that the need for PR is stronger than ever with potential "evil" status being touted by the press in the patents area. Ultimately Apple will need to decide if more market penetration is important in converting non-Apple customers or if they see a new path (as they seem to do in all their endeavors) to reach their goals in this area.

Let's boost revenue by cutting staff and training for them.  Wait, uproar? OK, we'll have staff be rated by how many accessories they can hawk!

 

Browett needs to be shown the door ASAP unless Tim Cook / Apple really want to destroy the stores.  High pressure sales from people hovering and looking to sell you everything you don't need are exactly what the Apple Store experience hasn't been, and a brief uptick in MARGINS isn't going to translate into long term growth of any kind. Browett is clearly not the one for this job, and if Cook and company don't see this it really doesn't bode well long term.

Utterly disgusting, Apple. Cook is known to squeeze the component supply chain until the pips squeek, but for the most valuable company in the US cheap-skating it's own workers (are they trying to rival FoxCon in that respect?) is despicable. I think we should blame Cook for this debacle; this might have happened under Jobs but this would have been reversed quickly - can you imagine this dragging on for so long under Jobs? Get rid of Browett, he's now toxic and synonymous with poor management. Tim Cook, please go on a personnel management course, you've spent too much time on the supply chain side. Also, as someone who was present at the WDC2012 keynote, please take some presentation course - you came over as weak and ineffectual.

Unless he's part if some black/grey market ring I also seriously doubt Apple retail is a part of his everyday life. Some people just don't know how to tone down a lie so that it's believable.

Really, I don't like this. Someone I know recently pledged not ever buy a PC again because the customer service, the being on hold with Indian people, etc. With Apple, this didn't happen. I don't know where it's going now.

Totally agree …. Steve Jobs is about experience, this guy doesn't fit into Apple (hope is not another Scully)… If he continues soon by 2017 the same thing will repeat … 90 days to bankruptcy … only difference this time there wont be another Steve to resurrect apple..

apple's trading at 675 right now. 

I had the exact same issues and same resolution.

This is really disappointing.  For all the fanfare, I find the service at Apple Stores to be less then stellar.  Their are too many people who just seem to stand around and take your name, and not nearly enough to help with sales and resolving service problems.  I hate that I have to make an appointment just to come in and have a bad power supply or other minor issue resolved, and then I still end up waiting around 30 minutes or more.  

 

I had an problem with moving an iPad2 to a new Verizon share plan, and Apple told me I needed a new SIM card.  IPad2s don't HAVE sim cards.  Oy.

 

Well, you could tell us about how much you hate making an appointment to get your Dell or HP repaired... Or would that story be more like waiting on hold for 30 minutes to talk to "Fred" in India, who eventually will give you an RMA number so you can ship your computer away for four weeks?

 

I think a little perspective is in order.

 

I could not agree more. Apple is about user experience. Apple sells hardware (all the rest, the software, music, etc.) is about creating the user experience for the hardware sale which makes the money.

 

There is a saying here: "Trust comes on foot but leaves on horseback". Fill in "customer loyalty", "brand image" etc. Guys like these can damage Apple much faster than Apple can build. The bottom line follows from user experience, it is an outcome of the process, not something you can steer on. Steering on outputs (like results, bottom line) is a bad thing to do. You can measure outputs, but you should steer on inputs.

So Apple is supposed to have 10,000 people in each store so that no one every has to wait?

Please explain who does service better than Apple. You make an appointment (in my store, you can usually get one the same day and never more than 2 days in the future), show up on time, and I've always seen the Genius within 5 minutes of my scheduled time. Undoubtedly, emergencies happen and it may occasionally take longer than 5 minutes, but that's not the norm. They fix your problem for you, often at no charge. If you have to leave the computer, it's generally fixed the next day.

By any standard, Apple's customer service is miles ahead of anyone else in the industry. Try to get that level of service from Dell or HP. You can do it - if you're willing to pay hundreds of dollars for their premiere service, but standard customers have to deal with tech support who can't speak English and are incompetent to do anything more than read a script - and delays of weeks to ship your computer back for repair.

iPad2s don't have SIM cards? Really?
http://www.ipad2jailbreak.com/how-to-insert-sim-card-in-ipad-2

Maybe it's not the Apple employee who is confused.

That said, it's unreasonable to expect perfection from retail employees. Apple Store employees are, by and large, excellent employees and very knowledgable. That doesn't mean that there are no exceptions.

If - IF - the customer experience suffers and coarsens in the Apple Stores, then the hard-won goodwill built up over the last few years will evaporate, much to Apple's chagrin. In turn, say goodbye to Apple retail supremacy. None of us goes into an Apple store because it's an average American retail setting; it's above average - WAY above average. Customers are notorious fickle and Apple isn't immune to defections from its product lines. No company is.

Fiat, by any chance?

 

Apple wouldn't replace your swollen battery even though it was out of warranty? You poor thing.

A couple of things… First, Tim Cook knew exactly who he was hiring. Tim Cook is an operational genius, it makes sense that he would hire a retail chief that would emphasize revenue. Steve Jobs = technological visionary. Tim Cook = stock visionary. We are going to be seeing more business and operational changes under Cook, as I'm sure he would like the retail stores to operate as efficiently as corporate.

 

Second, there are way too many employees at the typical Apple Store who do nothing but stand around and talk to other Apple Store employees. We have two Apple stores here in the Phoenix area, and I've been to both. It's great if you go there to geek around, play with devices and browse. However, try going in there to buy something specific. You have to wade through an ocean of people wandering around aimlessly and a ton of blue shirts standing around laughing with customers but doing nothing to sell product or help those of us who are ready to buy.

 

I would guesstimate that about 20%-30% of the staff at the two local Apple Stores could easily be laid off with only positive benefits to the store. When you pay your employees to stand around talking to your other employees, there's a problem. This type of behavior is common at Apple Store.

Your FWIW is worth SFA, Dick.  I have a post count about one tenth of yours, but I have been a registerd poster here longer than you, and was a lurker for a couple years before that.

I recently bought two Apple products, including a Macbook Pro Retina, and didn't for one second consider getting Applecare.  As I alluded to in another post, Apple is employing sharp practice in it's selling of Applecare here in Europe.

Wasn't Steve rather ill at the time?

John Browett really needs to be fired. This will definitely damage employee morale, damage customer relationships, & ultimately kill sales and the profits he's seeking to add to an already swollen bottom line. Unlike Apple products, John doesn't work!

And yet the planet's population still grows...people need to stop making so many babies. 

And you think you're going to have a… better… time over there. Sure thing… 

so you're suggesting Steve wasn't in the right frame of mind to decide who should be the next CEO and the board shouldn't have gone with his recommendation? Who else should they have picked for CEO?

Everyone... Write to Tim with your objections.... Bowett has to go... He is trying to turn apple store into a car dealership..

Write and state your minds

Tcook at apple dot com

emphasizes revenue over customer experience.

 

 

This does not make any sense in connection with Apple. 

 

Is this an *actual* strategy??

 

I'm sorry but I just don't get this. It doesn't make any sense. 

 

For what it's worth, I just did. 

 

Actually, I posted (and was quite active) under a different name, "dicklacara", for several years before I started using my current name.   I chose 1,000 posts as a threshold, because it was relatively easy to scan the 75 posters...  I think 300-400 would have been a better threshold -- or, better, join date.   You are a long time member and most (including me) would consider you a regular.

 

What I was trying to indicate is that a plurality of posters to this thread had a noticeably small number of posts (6, 24, etc.) -- and many of these were knee-jerk reactions to an article that was unsourced and had no citations to back it up.   All-in-all, this article and thread are much ado about nothing that can be substantiated.

 

This article should have been prefixed with:  What If:

 

 

Whenever I buy a product (Apple or other) that has one (or a few) expensive fragile parts and/or is intended for rugged (mobile) use, I consider the warranty.  In the case of an Apple product, the AppleCare warranty is usually a good investment -- especially for iPhone, iPad or MacBook.

 

As I understand it, the EU requires a 2 year standard warranty, and AppleCare just extends that for an additional year -- so that may not be such a good deal.  In the US, 1 year is standard and Applecare extends that for an additional 2 years.   I suspect Apple needs to change its terms to make Applecare viable in the EU.

 

 

 

Tim Cook had been COO for several years, then Acting CEO for about a year (AIR), before Steve recommended him to replace him as permanent CEO.   If Steve was astute enough to introduce the iPhone and put Tim Cook in place -- I don't think you can question his judgement on one and not the other.   Also, Steve's illness, apparently, did not affect his mental and reasoning capabilities -- which appeared intact through his last several public appearances.

Edited by Dick Applebaum - 8/28/12 at 9:56am

Agree with every point. But ifoapplestore is the most solid source of info on Apple Stores that I know of.