Easter Sunday surprise: Closed Apple Store's doors were unlocked

AppleInsider

Easter Sunday pedestrians managed to have a peaceful experience browsing a Dutch Apple Store, as the front door was left unlocked when the store was meant to be closed.

The Apple Store in Amsterdam - Image Credit: Apple

A group of weekend shoppers in Amsterdam were surprised on a visit to the Apple Store in Leidseplein on Sunday with an extremely tranquil shopping experience. Entering the store to acquire an Apple Watch, the group discovered they were the only ones there, with no staff present at all.

It turned out that the store was actually closed. Along with no employees, the store also had other signs that it wasn't in use that day, such as powered-down products and marketing screens turned off.

With signs that the store was mistakenly accessible, some of the twenty people who entered the store called the police, reports Algemeen Dagblad. People in the group ushered the rest out of the store and wait for the police to arrive, while also watching out to prevent looting.

@arvinmulder Apple Store Amsterdam is geopend zonder personeel #amsterdam #applestore #applestoreamsterdam #apple #closed #firstvideo #viralvideos #tik_tok #easter #netflix #ihostage origineel geluid - Arvin Mulder

They did leave, but not before sharing the unusual situation on TikTok. A video from Arvin Mulder who was in attendance has reached over 510 thousand views, shows the state of the store at the time.

Eventually, a security guard who was in the canteen arrived and discovered the group. It turned out that they had forgotten to lock the door to the store.

Police later arrived to confirm nothing had been stolen or broken, and that access was an accident.

Coincidental timing

The timing of the incident is apt, due to the store featuring prominently in the media, thank to Netflix. The streamer recently released a crime drama, "iHostage," which retells the hostage situation that took place at the same Apple Store.

During that incident, an armed man entered the Apple Store and took a hostage at gunpoint, demanding $230 million in cryptocurrency. After a tense standoff, the perpetrator was run over by a police vehicle and later died in the hospital.



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linkman

I can imagine how differently this could have played out in some other locations.

dewme

Oopsie. Hats off to all of those who did the right thing. There is still hope.

daalseth

Eventually, a security guard who was in the canteen arrived and discovered the group. It turned out that they had forgotten to lock the door to the store.

If you could clarify, was it the store staff or the security guard that forgot to lock the store? 

edited April 23

ausername

If someone had used the Apple Store app the could have self checked out on an off the shelf purchase, sealing the claim to be a person who legitimately shopped at a closed Apple Store. I also wonder if that would have confused the heck out of the Store managers had the issue never been discovered but a sale gone though on a closed day 🤣

With that said, perhaps it would not have allowed the sale for some reason.

mpantone

AUsername said:

If someone had used the Apple Store app the could have self checked out on an off the shelf purchase, sealing the claim to be a person who legitimately shopped at a closed Apple Store. I also wonder if that would have confused the heck out of the Store managers had the issue never been discovered but a sale gone though on a closed day ߤ㦬t;br>
With that said, perhaps it would not have allowed the sale for some reason.

It's probable that the POS system in retail stores is taken offline when they close the books for the day ("Z Out" or "Zero Out") which is standard retail procedure. On old cash registers (like 40 years ago) you literally turned the cash register key to the Z position.

If for some reason Apple leaves their POS system up and running while the store is closed (which I doubt), a self-checkout sale would show up in the transaction log as well as the Apple ID of the buyer.

And of course, anyone utilizing the five-finger discount would likely be captured on one of the store's many security cameras.

Anyhow I'm not surprised that the Dutch store visitors did the right thing.

My guess is that this store will start using the two-person rule for locking up. Most of the valuable inventory is kept in a locked storeroom in the back anyhow. The stuff on the store floor is mostly accessories (cases, etc.). The demo units are alarmed anyhow.

edited April 23

linkman

mpantone said:
 The demo units are alarmed anyhow.

By most reports they are also essentially bricked once they leave the store.

mpantone

linkman said:

mpantone said:
 The demo units are alarmed anyhow.

By most reports they are also essentially bricked once they leave the store.

Could be used for parts or sold to some naive dimwit who thinks they are getting a fully functional "refurb". Not sure if Apple can really brick a Mac especially if it has a removable SSD. You can set one up without logging into an Apple ID or even connecting to the Internet.

Easier for Apple to brick a store demo iPhone or iPad. The storage is soldered, the devices have IMEIs, and they phone home during the standard setup process anyhow. I think it's possible to set up a new iPhone without an Internet connection but not sure how appealing an iPhone that can't connect to the Internet really is.

Anyhow it's not relevant in this case, at least there's a peaceful and happy end to this particular story.

edited April 24

chasm

Having recently visited that store in Amsterdam (well, a year ago now), I'm not surprised. Amsterdam is an amazing city in a remarkable country, and I'd encourage anyone reading this who hasn't been to put it on your vacation wish list plans.