pathetic apple reseller in my area
i finally got a chance to visit the one and only mac reseller in new orleans, and it blows all sorts of chunks. i really had high hopes, as there is a significant creative community around me, and being the only mac reseller short of compusa's apple section, you'd think it would be the concentrated juice of mac goodness for miles around...
until i actually went inside.
software boxes pressed in '92-'94 still selling for $20 or more. every piece of software faded from sun exposure. one imac on display, the lone g5 someone came in to look at wasn't on the show floor (but hey, the guy gave him a FLYER! ooooh! and the follow-up blank stare was priceless...). hardware peripherals for sale that haven't been compatible with shipping mac hardware in YEARS, and a staff that couldn't find our order because "the guy who i talked to doesn't work today."
needless to say, i was stunned almost unconscious.
problem is, i'm not sure apple wants to move into our area (story has it louisiana's laws and tax structure for businesses are so ass-backwards, few places want to even BE here). so i don't know when this will change. but after seeing this, i am firmly convinced that the only mac resellers apple stores put out of business are the BAD ones like this one. in toronto, by contrast, there were two GREAT resellers, cpused and carbon computing, who rather than bemoan their existence, sunk a ton of money into their showrooms, staff, and software collections. whenever the apple store does come to town, i am sure those resellers will still be strong. sure, the apple store might get cool things like hardware first, or live keynote feeds, but those stores knew how to work it right.
anyway, i guess i just had to post. it was just so depressing to witness a place where mac users NEED suuport and can't get it (they even had a letter on the wall to the effect of "even though every time i've been to your store, the service has been awful, but this one guy was really nice..." ackk!)
until i actually went inside.
software boxes pressed in '92-'94 still selling for $20 or more. every piece of software faded from sun exposure. one imac on display, the lone g5 someone came in to look at wasn't on the show floor (but hey, the guy gave him a FLYER! ooooh! and the follow-up blank stare was priceless...). hardware peripherals for sale that haven't been compatible with shipping mac hardware in YEARS, and a staff that couldn't find our order because "the guy who i talked to doesn't work today."
needless to say, i was stunned almost unconscious.
problem is, i'm not sure apple wants to move into our area (story has it louisiana's laws and tax structure for businesses are so ass-backwards, few places want to even BE here). so i don't know when this will change. but after seeing this, i am firmly convinced that the only mac resellers apple stores put out of business are the BAD ones like this one. in toronto, by contrast, there were two GREAT resellers, cpused and carbon computing, who rather than bemoan their existence, sunk a ton of money into their showrooms, staff, and software collections. whenever the apple store does come to town, i am sure those resellers will still be strong. sure, the apple store might get cool things like hardware first, or live keynote feeds, but those stores knew how to work it right.
anyway, i guess i just had to post. it was just so depressing to witness a place where mac users NEED suuport and can't get it (they even had a letter on the wall to the effect of "even though every time i've been to your store, the service has been awful, but this one guy was really nice..." ackk!)
Comments
My best friend JUST went to New Orleans to work on a Naval base for three months...I drove down with her two weekends ago, and we ended up at the CompUSA on Veterans Memorial Hway, in Metairie. It was decent (my friend has an iBook, so I was wanting her to know of the places in town she could go to for stuff or service).
Was looking in the phone book while I was down there and there certainly didn't seem to be the big Apple retail/service presence I assumed would be there (major city and all).
Glad to hear of the other place you talk about. I'll be sure to tell her to stick to CompUSA.
This place have a name? If you don't want to say it out loud here, do me a favor and e-mail it to me (e-mail is in my profile) so I can pass the word on to her!
Actually, I'm kinda shocked New Orleans doesn't have an official Apple Store. Then again, neither does Nashville, so what the hell do I know. Their criteria is a complete mystery to me (outside of Los Angeles and New York City, I can't think of a city with more of a concentrated music, publishing and art community than Nashville, as well as a couple of major universities and two professional sport franchises...AND, most important, all the design and marketing entities present to support all those fields!).
Atlanta two, and Nashville none? Please.
But New Orleans? Tulane, the art/funky community there, the music/tourist/entertainment scene there, etc. (and, again, the marketing/design support needed for all them). Just seems like a no-brainer, although the tax/business situation you mentioned might factor in.
Originally posted by pscates
This place have a name? If you don't want to say it out loud here, do me a favor and e-mail it to me (e-mail is in my profile) so I can pass the word on to her!
i can do better than that... they have a website.
now i know they have to adhere to some similarity of apple's look and feel, but you'd think apple would take a little issue with them flat-out taking the images (and html) right off their own site.
needless to say, i think there would be a good market for a new mac reseller in the area (ESPECIALLY dowtown in the art/studio district, where the ad agencies and art galleries are popping up all over), but i don't know if anyone else would want to bother.
p.s. scroll down to the bottom of the home page for how the site was "designed" by this guy that works there. then on his own page (towards the bottom right)...
a.) he proclaims he's "redesigning" a few sites like the computer shoppe's (of course, that would assume he designed anything to begin with)
b.) he never liked the first design to begin with (um, so i guess he doesn't like apple's design either) and
c.) note how the "new design" uses a couple icons ripped off from the iconfactory's freeware icon sets. AUGH!
p.p.s. ahahaha... i just figured out something else too, about this web "designer." his own site uses a prefab purchased template from templatemonster.com. how perfect. well, even if he has no pride in his work, at least he can say that he's figured out how to "maximize productivity and return on investment by repurposing media."
Originally posted by rok
i finally got a chance to visit the one and only mac reseller in new orleans, and it blows all sorts of chunks. i really had high hopes, as there is a significant creative community around me, and being the only mac reseller short of compusa's apple section, you'd think it would be the concentrated juice of mac goodness for miles around...
until i actually went inside.
software boxes pressed in '92-'94 still selling for $20 or more. every piece of software faded from sun exposure. one imac on display, the lone g5 someone came in to look at wasn't on the show floor (but hey, the guy gave him a FLYER! ooooh! and the follow-up blank stare was priceless...). hardware peripherals for sale that haven't been compatible with shipping mac hardware in YEARS, and a staff that couldn't find our order because "the guy who i talked to doesn't work today."
needless to say, i was stunned almost unconscious.
problem is, i'm not sure apple wants to move into our area (story has it louisiana's laws and tax structure for businesses are so ass-backwards, few places want to even BE here). so i don't know when this will change. but after seeing this, i am firmly convinced that the only mac resellers apple stores put out of business are the BAD ones like this one. in toronto, by contrast, there were two GREAT resellers, cpused and carbon computing, who rather than bemoan their existence, sunk a ton of money into their showrooms, staff, and software collections. whenever the apple store does come to town, i am sure those resellers will still be strong. sure, the apple store might get cool things like hardware first, or live keynote feeds, but those stores knew how to work it right.
anyway, i guess i just had to post. it was just so depressing to witness a place where mac users NEED suuport and can't get it (they even had a letter on the wall to the effect of "even though every time i've been to your store, the service has been awful, but this one guy was really nice..." ackk!)
was this place certified? if so call apple and have theme update or yank the cert.
Originally posted by a_greer
was this place certified? if so call apple and have theme update or yank the cert.
well, i did email apple a while ago, and nothing has changed with the site. any idea which, if any, phone number would work? i mean, i hate to think the only apple certified reseller woudl lose their cert, but right now, they're doing more harm than good, if you ask me.
I thought about opening up a shop locally and becoming an Apple certified reseller. They have fairly steep requirements though. You must sign a contract to sell at least $100,000 worth of their products every year. I can't imagine the shop in Ruston actually meeting those goals so there may be some wiggle-room provided based on the market. I've got a friend opening a computer shop in the next few months so I think I'm going to convince him to provide Apple products and services.
As for the web site, I believe they are allowed to use those images and such. Apple would rather you use their stock images of products than to use something you took with your consumer digital camera... I don't think they are in violation in that area. But...if their store is like the one in Ruston, they definitely give Apple a bad name just by their presence...
Originally posted by jhazel
I live a bit north of there (Monroe) and the closest "certified Apple reseller" is in Ruston (about 30 minutes west). The description you provided in the first post sounds JUST LIKE these guys. They are absolutely horrible.
I thought about opening up a shop locally and becoming an Apple certified reseller. They have fairly steep requirements though. You must sign a contract to sell at least $100,000 worth of their products every year. I can't imagine the shop in Ruston actually meeting those goals so there may be some wiggle-room provided based on the market. I've got a friend opening a computer shop in the next few months so I think I'm going to convince him to provide Apple products and services.
As for the web site, I believe they are allowed to use those images and such. Apple would rather you use their stock images of products than to use something you took with your consumer digital camera... I don't think they are in violation in that area. But...if their store is like the one in Ruston, they definitely give Apple a bad name just by their presence...
yeah, even though this reseller is the only one around (unless there is a specialty store, like a camera specialist that sells macs), i cannot imagine them cranking out $100K in sales per year. i mean, how do you let someone walk in with his wife asking to see the latest g5 and let him walk out with a shrug, a flyer, and nothing else??? that is a walk-in SALE, and you let it slip away without even a promise of follow-up???
as far as the website is concerned, yes, i am sure apple allows for product photography to be used (and likely either encourages or requires it), but look at the site again. these images are ripped straight off apple's own page, treatment, layout and all. there's a big differeence between a design inspired or based off another, and a design flat-out POSING as its own original work. if this store has permission to do that, well, they are the only ones i've ever seen.
plus, they are not the first reseller i have seen do this, but why do mac resellers hold "bankers hours" so often??? a shop in toronto, computer systems center, did this too. if i was on the other side of town, i had one hour to haul my ass across toronto before they closed, or go on saturday. so, what, if you want to sell someone a $3000 computer, you have to do it over their lunch break? i just don't get that at all. if i had the money, i'd seriously consider starting my own shop. i see this as a creative market BEGGING for a better alternative, but i don't, so i won't...
The Ruston shop had the same setup... We walked in just to check it out a couple years ago. They had an iMac on display and that was it. Now, before you get excited...the iMac was the original blue/green 1998 version... That is all they had!! But...they told me they could order whatever I wanted... My response was, so can I...APPLE STORE!!!!! I want to test drive before I buy...that's the only reason to walk into a local store and do business these days. We left there in great disappointment. Haven't been back since.
The CompUSA's generally have a decent setup for Macs. At least relatively speaking. Unfortunately, we don't have one close by so...
Originally posted by jhazel
I live a bit north of there (Monroe) and the closest "certified Apple reseller" is in Ruston (about 30 minutes west). The description you provided in the first post sounds JUST LIKE these guys. They are absolutely horrible.
I thought about opening up a shop locally and becoming an Apple certified reseller. They have fairly steep requirements though. You must sign a contract to sell at least $100,000 worth of their products every year. I can't imagine the shop in Ruston actually meeting those goals so there may be some wiggle-room provided based on the market. I've got a friend opening a computer shop in the next few months so I think I'm going to convince him to provide Apple products and services.
As for the web site, I believe they are allowed to use those images and such. Apple would rather you use their stock images of products than to use something you took with your consumer digital camera... I don't think they are in violation in that area. But...if their store is like the one in Ruston, they definitely give Apple a bad name just by their presence...
maybe these places are de-certified and never changed their phonebook ad or sign on the door, is that false advertiseing?
BTW, the marking in the windwo/sign/any paperwork old? like a red or multi-colored apple?
Originally posted by a_greer
maybe these places are de-certified and never changed their phonebook ad or sign on the door, is that false advertiseing?
BTW, the marking in the windwo/sign/any paperwork old? like a red or multi-colored apple?
the one i have been referencing still uses a vintage multi-colored apple logo sign in their store front. and the entire store is awash in little bits and pieces of every ad campaign over the past five years. switch campaign, think different, ads for jaguar up alongside ads for panther... yet the majority f the software they have on display came out circa system 7.5 - 8.6... WTF?!?
I hate places like that. Been to a few, no doubt. People just stuck in 1992, can't get past 7.5.5 or whatever.
Here in my city, there is no Apple dealer PERIOD. We have two authorized service centers and one seems quite a bit better and more on top of it than the other (been there a couple of times and the main service guy is very nice and knows his stuff).
But we have no CompUSA in Chattanooga, so I have to drive either 90 minutes to Atlanta, two hours to Nashville to even SEE a Mac, much less buy one or any Apple-specific accessories.
We do have a Best Buy, Circuit City and Target, and they carry iPods and related stuff, but that's it.
Quite a change coming back here after being in SoCal for a decade, where I could throw a rock in any direction and hit a Mac reseller of some sort.
I know an Apple Store would never ever come here, but damn...I'd give anything if we could get a CompUSA here. There's a major university here, and a pretty hopping design/video community, believe it or not. I see Apple stickers on cars around town on a regular basis, so I know others exist. But we have nowhere to go, locally.
I'd trade our Best Buy (or two Staples and an Old Navy, throw in Outback Steakhouse) for one CompUSA. At least then I could get an occasional hardware fix (ever just go into a store and look at the stuff and run your hands around it, digging the design? Uh, no...I mean, me neither. That's dumb...lalala...a friend told me he does that...).
Originally posted by rok
the one i have been referencing still uses a vintage multi-colored apple logo sign in their store front. and the entire store is awash in little bits and pieces of every ad campaign over the past five years. switch campaign, think different, ads for jaguar up alongside ads for panther... yet the majority f the software they have on display came out circa system 7.5 - 8.6... WTF?!?
Wow did I laugh my ass off when I saw this. I absolutely agree and have fuel to add to the fire. Back in 00' when I was interested in buying my first Mac and was looking for some sound advice I went to this Hell Hole at the far end of Veterans Blvd. to see some of the hardware and get a good look at what the advantages were from an expert
After talking to a few helpful others, all of which shared the same feelings for this bogus "shoppe", I ended up buying a cube. 1 year later I was working in Baton Rouge for a brief period when on Airline Hwy. I noticed there was another location to this poor excuse for an Apple reseller. I decided that the experience I had initially might have been a fluke or possibly just an experience confined to the Vets. location. Can I tell you that when I walked in it was like entering the twilight zone. Both stores were exactly the same with the exception of having NO HARDWARE on their sales floor at all. after roaming through their outdated software for a while the 2 sales reps working there asked if they could help me find anything particular (as if I was interupting them). When I explained that I was just stopping in to see what the location had to offer I was told..."get whatever you can, while you can, because we're closing this location in a week. I walked out of the door shaking my head. I have more to add but dont want to take up your whole day.
Incidently, there is an ASC named Shawn at the Metairie CompUSA who is very nice and is always more than willing to help. I cannot wait until the day Apple finally decides to throw a store up in the New Orleans area. Of course they need to get that 3rd store up in Bangladesh first
"Sorry, but the E-Store is offline at this time. We are looking into reopening one in the future maybe."
Classic.