there's always only one genius in a store, and a bunch of people in genius tees that run through a standard list of tests, then ask the smart guy what to do next.
it always seems like there's as many people walking around with macbook air's adding people to a genius queue as there are people trying to fix things.
The first thing Apple needs to do is realize that those 'assistants' are anything but 'Geniuses' -
:-) May be some of them are good, but I must say, the report that said one Genius claimed the proximity sensor problems in iPhone 4 were "due to reflective (wax in your) ear" was a classic moment in the history of "geniuses"!
which actually makes me wonder if the Apple stores have any training or equipment or employees capable of working with the deaf or the blind.
With a deaf person, I suspect it can be a little easier. After all, both can see the screen and type to each other. With a blind person, sure you can talk to each other, but do not expect an Apple Store employee to know anything about VoiceOver.
I didn't have access to a computer for about 18 months prior to buying my iMac. Not sure how I survived. I am low vision, and the Apple Store worker knew that. He did not demonstrate anything to me beyond Safari and iTunes. I remember being impressed with radio inside iTunes.
I would not expect anyone to be well versed in dealing with deaf or blind people, unless it is already a factor in their life.
So call Microsoft and tell them you use Jaws or Window Eyes. See how far that gets you.
If a blind person can tune a piano, an iMac should be a piece of cake. For what it is worth, Ronnie Milsap has been taking stuff apart all his life.
I don't think that waiting in line for a half hour to be helped is good service.
Compare that to the doctor offices... Last minute emergencies, or making up for closed days during some bad snow storms etc... Then, when you finally see the doctor, they rush you right out etc..
Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymouse
Plus, the new Friend Bar service is expected to decrease Genius Bar wait times as well.
Hm.. my apple store already serves within 30 minutes, even during busiest times. If you have an appointment and you come right on time it's usually a 15 minute wait.
I would be OK with sharing a Genius with a person who has the same problem as me, but helping people during "downtime" or "reboot" would just ruin the service for me.
See above about the doctor office... If it's just a Reboot, that's no big deal... If it extends into a long period of time, where they try to joggle too many patients, that can be a problem, but then, think of a car repair shop, where mechanics could be joggling several car lifts at the same time, and most of those car places are not as "Cozy" as Apple Stores!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SSquirrel
Do you really need to be making small talk with the Genius staff while your system is rebooting? Let them use that 5 minutes to solve someone else's problem or at least move it along to the next step.
Yeah I live in Louisville KY. There are stores in Indy and Cincy, both within 90 minutes, but the Louisville store is always jam packed full of people and hard to move around in, especially if you have a large stroller w/you like I do heh.
Yep, Small Talk stuff could get silly, but... If they pair a few people with similar issues, or even if not similar, while 1 Tech is helping another patient, the other paired patient can watch and learn, kind of like a Mini Class Room... If that "hang" doesn't get out of hand..., it could shave off a few minutes of wait time for others..., maybe!?
It's all work in progress and it will work itself out! It is still better than anything else out there! Imagine if you use Android, and you need to make it work with your laptop, syncing etc? You'd be climbing walls at Verizon Store, dreaming of what it would have been like to be at Apple Store! It's a Night and Day Difference! Same with all other carriers! Think Integration, End To End Solution by Apple vs. all the rest! It's all about SUPPORT, rather than playing a Monkey In The Middle between various vendors, who rarely offer Phone Support!
All this is Good Growing Pains for Apple!
Having more Free Show and Tell Videos on Apple Site, ala Private Tutoring would cut down on In Person Time at Apple Stores, which would free up time for more helpers at Genius Bar!
Another idea would be Apple Care via Screen Sharing!
Tech Support could move your mouse remotely, and narrate their repair! At the end of the session it would be nice to be able to Save a Video Transcript on your Mac [Privacy], so that you could review it later! Maybe even Save it on your and Apple Care Servers, if you are not concerned about Privacy! But then who is to stop Apple Care from taking Screenshots? Either way, it should be considered! Maybe you can even send that Video Transcript to Apple with extra Text and or Audio Comments Attached, if there is a further follow up needed? That kind of FaceTime would be GOLDEN!!!!
With 25 more stores coming to China in 2011, and more in US and the rest of the world, Apple is doing a tremendous job!!! I heard about that on on MacOSKen http://macosken.com Also, Windows Phone, Google, BlackBerry - are copying iPhone & Mobile Me "Duet"!!! Let's hope the "hold it the right way", as they give Apple digs... !
P.S. on the dreaded iPhone 4 Topic:
From now on, Consumer Report, "The Voice of God"!, and all those who have weighed in on this topic, should be REQUIRED to put EVERY iPhone Challenger under the same scrutiny as they put iPhone 4, at least as far as the reception!!! Then, let all those Testers fight it out, trying to prove that it is their Test Methodology is the most Kosher, THE "Voice Of God"!!! So maybe this Consumer Report "Can't Recommend" thing will turn out to be a BLESSING for Apple?
I can't wait to see Steve Jobs joke about that in a year, as he introduces iPhone 5 or iPhone 4G! He'd say: we are confident that Consumer Report and such will LOVE it "as much as we do"! That would get a huge laugh, huge Media Coverage, and will be a "Big Fcuk You" and "Bring It On!" to Whom It May Concern!!!
Hey, I can dream a little, right?!!!
Of course in the Larger Picture of All Things Apple, it's all Small Stuff, and the Best Is Yet To Come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am feeling extremely optimistic about Apple's Future!!!
honestly, it doesn't take that long to reboot a computer. maybe they'd have time to show someone how to hold an iphone properly, i dunno.
"Yes hi. iPhone 4? Don't grip the bottom of both sides together." Done. I hold my phones about halfway up, more balanced that way. It would feel unnatural to hold a cellphone by the very bottom bit.
Such niggling. This amounts to fine-tuning a customer service process that already scores one of the highest satisfaction ratings in retailing.
As to waiting on two customers at once: Early this year I brought in a MacBook with a failing hard drive. Fortunately, my backups were current on my Time Capsule. To confirm my suspicions, the guy at the Genius Bar used a disk to try reloading OS X. That takes a good bit of time, and the logical thing for him to do was help another customer. It took about 20 minutes to confirm that the drive had developed some bad sectors, and it was replaced under AppleCare.
What's so hard to grasp about that concept? Those who don't like the Apple support they're getting are welcome to buy Dell, HP or what-have-you, where you can phone in and spend an hour enjoying the hold music.
If your time's that short at the Apple Store, get online and make an appointment. What's so hard about that?
Compare that to the doctor offices... Last minute emergencies, or making up for closed days during some bad snow storms etc... Then, when you finally see the doctor, they rush you right out etc..
I'd rather compare it with other retail stores. IMO, waiting for a half an hour to be helped is lousy service.
In CVS, if the line is more than about 1 minute long, they take care of it. If I had to wait 30 minutes just to drop off my prescription, I would find another paharmacy.
Apple should staff their stores adequately instead of expecting customers to wait until it is convenient for Apple's employees.
I think that the stores just need more staff in general. Two weeks ago, I went to my local store to buy 5 systems for work, and I was told I had to wait in a queue for 20 minutes before someone would be available to help me.
The stores are cool, but the service in them I think needs to be improved.
I'd rather compare it with other retail stores. IMO, waiting for a half an hour to be helped is lousy service.
In CVS, if the line is more than about 1 minute long, they take care of it. If I had to wait 30 minutes just to drop off my prescription, I would find another paharmacy.
Apple should staff their stores adequately instead of expecting customers to wait until it is convenient for Apple's employees.
! Apples and Oranges - Apple Store is no CVS! Comparing a Prescription Drop Off, which can be done online, or Faxed and Called in from the Doctor's Office, so that it's ready for when you get to the store, or you can be told that it's not available, and be directed to another branch vs. bringing a Sick Computer, where the "Illness" is yet to be either diagnosed, or confirmed, subject to replacement parts availability, if it is a hardware issue - thus your CVS Analogy is Apples and Oranges! But I am not looking to argue, I just respectfully disagree!
Yes, we all would like to see faster service everywhere, but that costs$! Better yet, how about House Calls, like doctors used to do in the previous Century! And let's not get into a debate about Apple's 40 Billion $$ in Cash, and how it should be spent!
We all want only the best people working at Apple Store! The all have to be trained to Apple's high standards, compared to CVS or Cell Carriers stores, and most stores! We don't want just polite bodies sporting Apple Logos at Apple store! And then, there are Geniouses, where not all of them really are! Let's not water down the caliber to shave off a few minutes of wait time!!! Apple is growing extremely fast, and nothing happens overnight!!!
At some really busy stores, like in NYC are, yes they should have more staff! But, even then, not all stores are equally busy at all times! So, it would take some scheduling fine tuning etc.
During that Half Hour Wait, if need be, it's not like there is nothing to do at Apple Store! One can play with some software demos, reply to a few emails via Mobile Me, do some Searching online, watch YouTube, return a few phone calls, read....!
If the store is in a Mall, you could go to another store, or go eat! It's not like you'd be required to stand in line, or sit at the doctor's office, waiting for your Number/Name to come up, and be told to turn your cell phone off, cause it interferes with their medical equipment!
If Apple Store could Text/Email you on your iPhone when you Name/Name Number gets closer, you'd go back, so not to miss your turn! I am borrowing that idea from the Cheesecake Factory Restaurant Chain, where they give you vibrating devices, so that you can wait at the bar or walk around, instead of just standing at the entrance, and watch other folks eat not fast enough!
And, sometimes we get lucky, and, if someone is late, we can be seen earlier... So, in a larger picture it's not so bad at all... But that's just my opinion...! Peace!
I think that the stores just need more staff in general. Two weeks ago, I went to my local store to buy 5 systems for work, and I was told I had to wait in a queue for 20 minutes before someone would be available to help me.
The stores are cool, but the service in them I think needs to be improved.
Too bad you don't use Windows boxes. If you did, you could just go to a better retailer and be done with that kind of stuff.
Come to think of it, why didn't you just tell them that you'd take the time and drive to Best Buy instead? Why do people put up with such lousy service?
And WRT getting waited on when you have a problem, it ain't even Wall*Mart.
Hell, if they ever sold me a defective product at Best Buy and I had to wait in line for half an hour just to talk to someone, I'd be screaming for the manager. Waiting on a retail store instead of having them wait on you is just stupid, given today's world.
Well, this is probably a bigger deal for people who actually live within civilization, rather than, say... Omaha.
Major flagship Apple Stores in large cities consistently have LONG wait times... San Francisco is one example.
sniff your own farts, do you? What a dick thing to say about Omaha, not everyone can live in the smugness you call home. I'm in St. Louis, and there's constant lines at the Apple stores (we only have 2 in the metro area). Now that may not be Civilization to you Jason, but it's home to me. what a waste of your 2nd post on there.
Actually, the last time we went for a service call for my girlfriend's MBP, we got there right at the appointment time, then had to wait almost 30 minutes to get a "Genius" to look at it. They don't really take you at your appointed time, they just put you name in a queue when you get there and you wait from then. I felt like I was in that Seinfeld episode when he reserved a mid-size car but they gave him a compact.
Apple stores in the Boston area are a mixed bag. I?ve used the Cambridge one many times (before Boston store was up). Often took days to get an appointment. Even when just shopping in the store, you would see the ?triage person? trying to deal with 4-8 walk-ins trying to see a genius at the same time. Always a mess. Because it?s a ?small? store they would NOT take the imac box ? so I?d have to cab to the store, then subway home with a big imac box, then subway back with the box a day or two later to pick up the machine, then cab back home. Talk about a pain.
In the Boston store the Genui are on the third floor, so you don?t really get to see them and how busy they are. But it?s a ?bigger? genius bar, so maybe it runs a little smoother. On the sales floor though, the sales staff are a lot of ?young hipsters? who like hanging out and talking with themselves than they do helping folks. (there are good folks there ? it?s just a crap shoot every time you go in).
I?d be surprised if they start pushing overnight repairs, as they make a fortune selling pro-care at the genius bar. (?The computer will be ready in a few days maybe ? but if you?re a pro care member, we can have it tomorrow ? would you like to sign up??? It?s only $100?.?)
Well, this is probably a bigger deal for people who actually live within civilization, rather than, say... Omaha.
Major flagship Apple Stores in large cities consistently have LONG wait times... San Francisco is one example.
Well aren't you just the most precious little thing to ever grace the face of the Earth... And all because of where you happen to live.
Having lived in both cities (SF and Omaha) at different times of my life, I'm happy to report that not everyone from the midwest behaves like country bumpkins, and not everyone from SF behaves like narcissistic, pompous arses. Despite any evidence to the contrary.
Comments
which actually makes me wonder if the Apple stores have any training or equipment or employees capable of working with the deaf or the blind.
it always seems like there's as many people walking around with macbook air's adding people to a genius queue as there are people trying to fix things.
The first thing Apple needs to do is realize that those 'assistants' are anything but 'Geniuses' -
:-) May be some of them are good, but I must say, the report that said one Genius claimed the proximity sensor problems in iPhone 4 were "due to reflective (wax in your) ear" was a classic moment in the history of "geniuses"!
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/06/proxi...ive-ear-canal/
I will repair your iMac - blindfolded!
which actually makes me wonder if the Apple stores have any training or equipment or employees capable of working with the deaf or the blind.
With a deaf person, I suspect it can be a little easier. After all, both can see the screen and type to each other. With a blind person, sure you can talk to each other, but do not expect an Apple Store employee to know anything about VoiceOver.
I didn't have access to a computer for about 18 months prior to buying my iMac. Not sure how I survived. I am low vision, and the Apple Store worker knew that. He did not demonstrate anything to me beyond Safari and iTunes. I remember being impressed with radio inside iTunes.
I would not expect anyone to be well versed in dealing with deaf or blind people, unless it is already a factor in their life.
So call Microsoft and tell them you use Jaws or Window Eyes. See how far that gets you.
If a blind person can tune a piano, an iMac should be a piece of cake. For what it is worth, Ronnie Milsap has been taking stuff apart all his life.
I don't think that waiting in line for a half hour to be helped is good service.
Compare that to the doctor offices... Last minute emergencies, or making up for closed days during some bad snow storms etc... Then, when you finally see the doctor, they rush you right out etc..
Plus, the new Friend Bar service is expected to decrease Genius Bar wait times as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ZnwvyAk8k
Very Funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks
Hm.. my apple store already serves within 30 minutes, even during busiest times. If you have an appointment and you come right on time it's usually a 15 minute wait.
I would be OK with sharing a Genius with a person who has the same problem as me, but helping people during "downtime" or "reboot" would just ruin the service for me.
See above about the doctor office... If it's just a Reboot, that's no big deal... If it extends into a long period of time, where they try to joggle too many patients, that can be a problem, but then, think of a car repair shop, where mechanics could be joggling several car lifts at the same time, and most of those car places are not as "Cozy" as Apple Stores
Do you really need to be making small talk with the Genius staff while your system is rebooting? Let them use that 5 minutes to solve someone else's problem or at least move it along to the next step.
Yeah I live in Louisville KY. There are stores in Indy and Cincy, both within 90 minutes, but the Louisville store is always jam packed full of people and hard to move around in, especially if you have a large stroller w/you like I do heh.
Yep, Small Talk stuff could get silly, but... If they pair a few people with similar issues, or even if not similar, while 1 Tech is helping another patient, the other paired patient can watch and learn, kind of like a Mini Class Room... If that "hang" doesn't get out of hand...
It's all work in progress and it will work itself out! It is still better than anything else out there! Imagine if you use Android, and you need to make it work with your laptop, syncing etc? You'd be climbing walls at Verizon Store, dreaming of what it would have been like to be at Apple Store! It's a Night and Day Difference! Same with all other carriers! Think Integration, End To End Solution by Apple vs. all the rest! It's all about SUPPORT, rather than playing a Monkey In The Middle between various vendors, who rarely offer Phone Support!
All this is Good Growing Pains for Apple!
Having more Free Show and Tell Videos on Apple Site, ala Private Tutoring would cut down on In Person Time at Apple Stores, which would free up time for more helpers at Genius Bar!
Another idea would be Apple Care via Screen Sharing!
Tech Support could move your mouse remotely, and narrate their repair! At the end of the session it would be nice to be able to Save a Video Transcript on your Mac [Privacy], so that you could review it later! Maybe even Save it on your and Apple Care Servers, if you are not concerned about Privacy! But then who is to stop Apple Care from taking Screenshots? Either way, it should be considered! Maybe you can even send that Video Transcript to Apple with extra Text and or Audio Comments Attached, if there is a further follow up needed? That kind of FaceTime would be GOLDEN!!!!
With 25 more stores coming to China in 2011, and more in US and the rest of the world, Apple is doing a tremendous job!!! I heard about that on on MacOSKen http://macosken.com Also, Windows Phone, Google, BlackBerry - are copying iPhone & Mobile Me "Duet"!!! Let's hope the "hold it the right way", as they give Apple digs...
P.S. on the dreaded iPhone 4 Topic:
From now on, Consumer Report, "The Voice of God"
I can't wait to see Steve Jobs joke about that in a year, as he introduces iPhone 5 or iPhone 4G! He'd say: we are confident that Consumer Report and such will LOVE it "as much as we do"
Hey, I can dream a little, right?
Of course in the Larger Picture of All Things Apple, it's all Small Stuff, and the Best Is Yet To Come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am feeling extremely optimistic about Apple's Future!!!
honestly, it doesn't take that long to reboot a computer. maybe they'd have time to show someone how to hold an iphone properly, i dunno.
"Yes hi. iPhone 4? Don't grip the bottom of both sides together." Done. I hold my phones about halfway up, more balanced that way. It would feel unnatural to hold a cellphone by the very bottom bit.
As to waiting on two customers at once: Early this year I brought in a MacBook with a failing hard drive. Fortunately, my backups were current on my Time Capsule. To confirm my suspicions, the guy at the Genius Bar used a disk to try reloading OS X. That takes a good bit of time, and the logical thing for him to do was help another customer. It took about 20 minutes to confirm that the drive had developed some bad sectors, and it was replaced under AppleCare.
What's so hard to grasp about that concept? Those who don't like the Apple support they're getting are welcome to buy Dell, HP or what-have-you, where you can phone in and spend an hour enjoying the hold music.
If your time's that short at the Apple Store, get online and make an appointment. What's so hard about that?
Compare that to the doctor offices... Last minute emergencies, or making up for closed days during some bad snow storms etc... Then, when you finally see the doctor, they rush you right out etc..
I'd rather compare it with other retail stores. IMO, waiting for a half an hour to be helped is lousy service.
In CVS, if the line is more than about 1 minute long, they take care of it. If I had to wait 30 minutes just to drop off my prescription, I would find another paharmacy.
Apple should staff their stores adequately instead of expecting customers to wait until it is convenient for Apple's employees.
The stores are cool, but the service in them I think needs to be improved.
I think that its fine to have to wait for a Genius at the Genius bar, but if you want to buy something, I think that you should not have to wait.
I'd rather compare it with other retail stores. IMO, waiting for a half an hour to be helped is lousy service.
In CVS, if the line is more than about 1 minute long, they take care of it. If I had to wait 30 minutes just to drop off my prescription, I would find another paharmacy.
Apple should staff their stores adequately instead of expecting customers to wait until it is convenient for Apple's employees.
Yes, we all would like to see faster service everywhere, but that costs$! Better yet, how about House Calls, like doctors used to do in the previous Century! And let's not get into a debate about Apple's 40 Billion $$ in Cash, and how it should be spent
We all want only the best people working at Apple Store! The all have to be trained to Apple's high standards, compared to CVS or Cell Carriers stores, and most stores! We don't want just polite bodies sporting Apple Logos at Apple store! And then, there are Geniouses, where not all of them really are! Let's not water down the caliber to shave off a few minutes of wait time!!! Apple is growing extremely fast, and nothing happens overnight!!!
At some really busy stores, like in NYC are, yes they should have more staff! But, even then, not all stores are equally busy at all times! So, it would take some scheduling fine tuning etc.
During that Half Hour Wait, if need be, it's not like there is nothing to do at Apple Store! One can play with some software demos, reply to a few emails via Mobile Me, do some Searching online, watch YouTube, return a few phone calls, read....
If the store is in a Mall, you could go to another store, or go eat! It's not like you'd be required to stand in line, or sit at the doctor's office, waiting for your Number/Name to come up, and be told to turn your cell phone off, cause it interferes with their medical equipment!
If Apple Store could Text/Email you on your iPhone when you Name/Name Number gets closer, you'd go back, so not to miss your turn! I am borrowing that idea from the Cheesecake Factory Restaurant Chain, where they give you vibrating devices, so that you can wait at the bar or walk around, instead of just standing at the entrance, and watch other folks eat not fast enough
And, sometimes we get lucky, and, if someone is late, we can be seen earlier... So, in a larger picture it's not so bad at all... But that's just my opinion...
I think that the stores just need more staff in general. Two weeks ago, I went to my local store to buy 5 systems for work, and I was told I had to wait in a queue for 20 minutes before someone would be available to help me.
The stores are cool, but the service in them I think needs to be improved.
Too bad you don't use Windows boxes. If you did, you could just go to a better retailer and be done with that kind of stuff.
Come to think of it, why didn't you just tell them that you'd take the time and drive to Best Buy instead? Why do people put up with such lousy service?
You got that right.
And WRT getting waited on when you have a problem, it ain't even Wall*Mart.
Hell, if they ever sold me a defective product at Best Buy and I had to wait in line for half an hour just to talk to someone, I'd be screaming for the manager. Waiting on a retail store instead of having them wait on you is just stupid, given today's world.
Well, this is probably a bigger deal for people who actually live within civilization, rather than, say... Omaha.
Major flagship Apple Stores in large cities consistently have LONG wait times... San Francisco is one example.
sniff your own farts, do you? What a dick thing to say about Omaha, not everyone can live in the smugness you call home. I'm in St. Louis, and there's constant lines at the Apple stores (we only have 2 in the metro area). Now that may not be Civilization to you Jason, but it's home to me. what a waste of your 2nd post on there.
Actually, the last time we went for a service call for my girlfriend's MBP, we got there right at the appointment time, then had to wait almost 30 minutes to get a "Genius" to look at it. They don't really take you at your appointed time, they just put you name in a queue when you get there and you wait from then. I felt like I was in that Seinfeld episode when he reserved a mid-size car but they gave him a compact.
In the Boston store the Genui are on the third floor, so you don?t really get to see them and how busy they are. But it?s a ?bigger? genius bar, so maybe it runs a little smoother. On the sales floor though, the sales staff are a lot of ?young hipsters? who like hanging out and talking with themselves than they do helping folks. (there are good folks there ? it?s just a crap shoot every time you go in).
I?d be surprised if they start pushing overnight repairs, as they make a fortune selling pro-care at the genius bar. (?The computer will be ready in a few days maybe ? but if you?re a pro care member, we can have it tomorrow ? would you like to sign up??? It?s only $100?.?)
Well, this is probably a bigger deal for people who actually live within civilization, rather than, say... Omaha.
Major flagship Apple Stores in large cities consistently have LONG wait times... San Francisco is one example.
Well aren't you just the most precious little thing to ever grace the face of the Earth... And all because of where you happen to live.
Having lived in both cities (SF and Omaha) at different times of my life, I'm happy to report that not everyone from the midwest behaves like country bumpkins, and not everyone from SF behaves like narcissistic, pompous arses. Despite any evidence to the contrary.