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.
This is really disappointing. ... 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.
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 don't think this new guy gets it: Apple doesn't just sell a product, it sells a great customer experience. Everybody at that company knows that is how it works, and it is amazing that they are letting this guy go forward with this plan. Maybe they are a little overcrowded (I've felt the opposite most of the time) with employees, but Apple has made a lot of money primarily by focusing on the experience and not the bottom line.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I was in an Apple store today and they wouldn't give me a free replacement on my Macbook Pro battery, which was so swollen that the trackpad doesn't even work anymore. Yes, it's out of warranty, but it's also a massive fire hazard and has the risk of exploding. (It still holds a charge just fine, it just doesn't fit in the case anymore.) How long until there are more batteries bursting into flames on airplanes because Apple is too cheap to offer replacements. And this is after I already shelled out ~$80 to buy a new power cord within the last couple months because that too had become completely frayed and was also a fire hazard.
What's more, I tried to report the swelling issue on their 800 number since it's a serious safety hazard, and they wouldn't even file a report.
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.
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.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
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'.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
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.
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!
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?
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.
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.
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:
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
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'.
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.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
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.
Wasn't Steve rather ill at the time?
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.
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.
Agree with every point. But ifoapplestore is the most solid source of info on Apple Stores that I know of.
This is the result of most "bean counter-led" corporate takeovers. Since Jobs died, I expect to see greed-based, MBA-type revisions to the company culture. As if Apple is not making enough money or profits already, the MBAs come in and screw up the vibe of many companies when the original owners sell out of change hands. This will be the start of the end for Apple if this is allowed to continue.
Comments
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JesusFreak
This is really disappointing. ... 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.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by priced4evil
I don't think this new guy gets it: Apple doesn't just sell a product, it sells a great customer experience. Everybody at that company knows that is how it works, and it is amazing that they are letting this guy go forward with this plan. Maybe they are a little overcrowded (I've felt the opposite most of the time) with employees, but Apple has made a lot of money primarily by focusing on the experience and not the bottom line.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sedicivalvole
Fiat, by any chance?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex3917
I was in an Apple store today and they wouldn't give me a free replacement on my Macbook Pro battery, which was so swollen that the trackpad doesn't even work anymore. Yes, it's out of warranty, but it's also a massive fire hazard and has the risk of exploding. (It still holds a charge just fine, it just doesn't fit in the case anymore.) How long until there are more batteries bursting into flames on airplanes because Apple is too cheap to offer replacements. And this is after I already shelled out ~$80 to buy a new power cord within the last couple months because that too had become completely frayed and was also a fire hazard.
What's more, I tried to report the swelling issue on their 800 number since it's a serious safety hazard, and they wouldn't even file a report.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
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.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
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'.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
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.
Wasn't Steve rather ill at the time?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
40-50 million babies are slaughtered every year (worldwide of course), those kind of people don't need Apple's help for that.
And yet the planet's population still grows...people need to stop making so many babies.
Originally Posted by eksodos
This might finally push me to making a platform switch to Microsoft Surface. First it was the draconian App Store policies…
And you think you're going to have a… better… time over there. Sure thing…
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yojimbo007
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
For what it's worth, I just did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cnocbui
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
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.
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.
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:
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
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'.
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.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
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.
Wasn't Steve rather ill at the time?
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
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.
Agree with every point. But ifoapplestore is the most solid source of info on Apple Stores that I know of.
This is the result of most "bean counter-led" corporate takeovers. Since Jobs died, I expect to see greed-based, MBA-type revisions to the company culture. As if Apple is not making enough money or profits already, the MBAs come in and screw up the vibe of many companies when the original owners sell out of change hands. This will be the start of the end for Apple if this is allowed to continue.