Bad tasting Apple in Osaka, Japan
After months of anticipation, I finally got to visit the Apple Store in Osaka, Japan the other day. I was really looking forward to seeing the new MBPs, the 24" iMac, and other stuff, and was planning to do quite a bit of shopping (external HDs, a keyboard, iPod docks, an app or two). I was even looking forward to getting my iPod nano with its tilted screen replaced so I could really be a happy camper as I travelled home.
Not so.
From the moment I walked in the door, it was one of the worst trips to a store I have ever had, and I do not intend to go again.
The first rep that I encountered was a very young girl with a hairdo to rival Marge Simpson's; after interacting with her for 10 seconds - I had to approach her and was never offered the standard "irashaimase" you get in even the worst of stores in Japan), it was clear that her hair was the only thing she spent time preparing before coming to work. Not only could she not speak in sentences, she didn't know what to do with my request to speak to someone about my nano (she was new but didn't have any tag suggesting that) and only lamely managed to escort me to the floor manager. He also didn't greet me (in fact he never uttered a single word to me and spoke only to the hairdo girl); his manner was over-all very arrogant (unusual for a Japanese) and rough. He said to take me upstairs, which she somehow managed to do. She took me over to the genius bar, which had no customers, and said to the genius who popped his head up, "He doesn't have an appointment... it is OK for you to talk to him?" I have a defective product; I don't need an appointment. Sure, was the answer, so I sat down.
The genius was actually a nice guy, who I very quickly felt sorry for. Yep: like many customers who had gone in before me, my nano had a tilted screen (the Apple Call Center told me last week that they had not heard of the problem; now obviously a complete lie). Sure, he could replace it. However, every nano has a tilted screen so it wouldn't change anything. I could return that one and then get a refund if I liked if I was not satisfied; even the tilted screens had passed qualifications. I told him someone could get the screen straighter with their eyes closed; he laughed and said yes, it was rather bad, and then added the iPod Touch had plenty of problems, too. I said quality was dropping fast recently. He agreed, and said many long-time customers were saying the same. A nice guy, I felt sorry for him because he had to waste his time dealing with customers over a pathetic problem that the company did not wish to address. I got the feeling that he would not be working there for long. I also mentioned something about the Apple Call Center; he grimaced and said lots of people have trouble with them and that their relationship with the store was not good; they made lots of customers angry and then send them to the store, where they seem to vent. As I left him, he bowed very deeply four or five times and apologized for not being able to help me, a sign that he was deeply embarrassed by what had had had to say to me. He couldn't help me because the company did not wish for him to do so.
Basically, he was saying that Apple was knowingly selling low-quality products and then was not providing quality replacements. They are seeking short-term profit at the risk of losing customers in the long term.
As I was leaving, I took a browse around the apps and other items, but the security guard seemed to think I was a threat and followed me everywhere looking rather menacing (well, as menacing as a rent-a-guard can look) so I decided to leave without buying anything (I did total my list and it came to $1500 which I am taking to another shop tomorrow. I'd like to say it was Apple's loss, but they don't seem to care about that right now.
It was the first time I had ever gone to an Apple Store without spending any money. Indeed, I felt that any money I would have spent there would have been wasted, an opinion shared by my wife, who was disgusted from the moment we walked in.
The store has two floors. There were bunches of people on the first floor looking at the iPods, but nobody standing at the register. A couple of people were looking at the iMacs; one commented "no TV?" and left. There were a total of four customers on the second floor, including the wife and myself. All in all, not a good sign.
Then I visited the Yodobashi Camera shop downtown. They had a more appealing Apple display area, but it was not attracting that many customers. They were instead flooding the other portable music player area. I spent fifteen minutes comparing build quality and the nanos lost on all fronts.
Then we saw the latest ultra-portable from Kohjinsha. My wife was planning to wait until Apple releases the rumor item sometime early next year, but after our experience at the Apple Store (and some other experiences), she might order a Kohjinsha after her next paycheck comes in and give me her MacBook (which is more portable than my MBP). She feels, and I am quickly coming to the same conclusion, that giving money to Apple is an utter waste; we simply cannot trust them anymore. Another potential Switcher for the scoreboard: away from Apple.
http://www.kohjinsha.com.sg/
End of rant.
If this is the face of Apple, they certainly do not have much of a future here in Japan.
Not so.
From the moment I walked in the door, it was one of the worst trips to a store I have ever had, and I do not intend to go again.
The first rep that I encountered was a very young girl with a hairdo to rival Marge Simpson's; after interacting with her for 10 seconds - I had to approach her and was never offered the standard "irashaimase" you get in even the worst of stores in Japan), it was clear that her hair was the only thing she spent time preparing before coming to work. Not only could she not speak in sentences, she didn't know what to do with my request to speak to someone about my nano (she was new but didn't have any tag suggesting that) and only lamely managed to escort me to the floor manager. He also didn't greet me (in fact he never uttered a single word to me and spoke only to the hairdo girl); his manner was over-all very arrogant (unusual for a Japanese) and rough. He said to take me upstairs, which she somehow managed to do. She took me over to the genius bar, which had no customers, and said to the genius who popped his head up, "He doesn't have an appointment... it is OK for you to talk to him?" I have a defective product; I don't need an appointment. Sure, was the answer, so I sat down.
The genius was actually a nice guy, who I very quickly felt sorry for. Yep: like many customers who had gone in before me, my nano had a tilted screen (the Apple Call Center told me last week that they had not heard of the problem; now obviously a complete lie). Sure, he could replace it. However, every nano has a tilted screen so it wouldn't change anything. I could return that one and then get a refund if I liked if I was not satisfied; even the tilted screens had passed qualifications. I told him someone could get the screen straighter with their eyes closed; he laughed and said yes, it was rather bad, and then added the iPod Touch had plenty of problems, too. I said quality was dropping fast recently. He agreed, and said many long-time customers were saying the same. A nice guy, I felt sorry for him because he had to waste his time dealing with customers over a pathetic problem that the company did not wish to address. I got the feeling that he would not be working there for long. I also mentioned something about the Apple Call Center; he grimaced and said lots of people have trouble with them and that their relationship with the store was not good; they made lots of customers angry and then send them to the store, where they seem to vent. As I left him, he bowed very deeply four or five times and apologized for not being able to help me, a sign that he was deeply embarrassed by what had had had to say to me. He couldn't help me because the company did not wish for him to do so.
Basically, he was saying that Apple was knowingly selling low-quality products and then was not providing quality replacements. They are seeking short-term profit at the risk of losing customers in the long term.
As I was leaving, I took a browse around the apps and other items, but the security guard seemed to think I was a threat and followed me everywhere looking rather menacing (well, as menacing as a rent-a-guard can look) so I decided to leave without buying anything (I did total my list and it came to $1500 which I am taking to another shop tomorrow. I'd like to say it was Apple's loss, but they don't seem to care about that right now.
It was the first time I had ever gone to an Apple Store without spending any money. Indeed, I felt that any money I would have spent there would have been wasted, an opinion shared by my wife, who was disgusted from the moment we walked in.
The store has two floors. There were bunches of people on the first floor looking at the iPods, but nobody standing at the register. A couple of people were looking at the iMacs; one commented "no TV?" and left. There were a total of four customers on the second floor, including the wife and myself. All in all, not a good sign.
Then I visited the Yodobashi Camera shop downtown. They had a more appealing Apple display area, but it was not attracting that many customers. They were instead flooding the other portable music player area. I spent fifteen minutes comparing build quality and the nanos lost on all fronts.
Then we saw the latest ultra-portable from Kohjinsha. My wife was planning to wait until Apple releases the rumor item sometime early next year, but after our experience at the Apple Store (and some other experiences), she might order a Kohjinsha after her next paycheck comes in and give me her MacBook (which is more portable than my MBP). She feels, and I am quickly coming to the same conclusion, that giving money to Apple is an utter waste; we simply cannot trust them anymore. Another potential Switcher for the scoreboard: away from Apple.
http://www.kohjinsha.com.sg/
End of rant.
If this is the face of Apple, they certainly do not have much of a future here in Japan.
Comments
But we should also put it in perspective. Every retail chain has these exact same anecdotes. The best thing to do is to learn how to deal with rude and incompetent people in everyday life. They aren't going away.
Rest assured that apple and most other retailers are dedicated to providing a pleasant shopping experience. When they fail to do so, bring it to management attention and move on. Attempting to do more than that is stressful and ultimately fruitless.
Edit: I just thought of a saying I heard recently:
Meet one asshole in a day and its annoying.
Meet two assholes in a day and you can chalk it up to a bad day.
Meet three assholes in one day... better check yourself.
Not that this applies to you, I know nothing about you.