Apparently. billions of dollars bilked from the fans from unbelievable profit margin in consumer electronics / computer hardware products and also those billions stashed overseas are not enough for Apple.
Something to consider further; THE most expensive part of business is people. Some may not agree but when you take in to consideration the many different and distinctive departments that serve staff, ie, HR, insurance admin, payroll, etc. people become very costly. Less is more. To be fair we really don't know why the staffing became bloated. But it is entirely possible that store management became lazy or autocratic or ???
We, as Apple, supporters know better that to denigrate a person's nationality. There is no room in this issue or any other for that. In fact, we know "what" but not "why".
It is entirely possible the reason given is just corporate speak for something much more problematic. In fact, to most of us the idea of "making the stores more profitable by thinning staff" seems thin given Apple's profits and prospects for continued uptick. But it could easily be that as staff gets thick and flabby quality slips. The "that's not my job" mantra becomes a swan song. Seen it and been there.
Steve is gone. Apple must find its own way. Steve left a good work plan tor Tim. It's a sure bet Tim is doing his best. Many changes at Apple are taking place. Focus away from computers to phones, tablets and TV. If the trend continues many Apple stores will be mere kiosks! No genius required. The customer will be his or her own genius.....almost that now!
But ask yourself: what's after that? That is the star to watch. Don't be blinded by the flash bulbs. Look higher, guys!
Well said! It's refreshing to see someone reply with a brain-jerk reaction!
Many people at the time said "what the hell is a Dixons guy doing at Apple?". Dixons were some of the worst shops you could ever imagine. I would have thought Steve would have called this guy a virgin and thrown him out.
The CEO Bonus is based on company profit ...... By laying off employees in the Apple Stores , he increases his own salary by getting a larger bonus ...... He does not care about the people that are losing their income and jobs , only on increasing his own salary ....... This is happening nationwide and has nothing to do with "Overseas Competition" as the executives are saying ...... The money they are being paid is absurd , even when they leave....... What is wrong with this picture ? .......... DUH .......
Had to check my posts - just in case I was going to repeat myself - I live in the UK, Dixons is renowned for the most shocklingly average customer service, i.e. NONE EXISTENT. Most of the stores are staffed by people with less knowledge than the average tech savvy teenager, assuming you can find one a member of staff in the first place.
This is the COMPLETE opposite of the experience I have ever had in any Apple store in the UK or on a visit to Washington DC - helpful - yes, knowledgeable - yet, willing to direct me to another store that might be able to meet my needs even if not an Apple store - yes.
Like many others have written, disaster waiting to happen, round peg in square hole, completely against the principles of customer comes first and Apple's customer focused, user focused products and services?
I've known managers like this. He is going to be an unmitigated disaster. Get rid of him now.
(During my college-age career as a food server, I worked for a manager who quit replacing broken dishes to save money. Eventually, we lacked clean dishes when it was time to serve the food.)
I have worked with many managers - including two at different times at the same company - one who told us plainly that she was not interested in cutting hours etc in order to get her bonus if it meant the customers were not taken care of and another who did things like not ordering staples and paper bags to save a few dollars to try to get his bonus. the really messed up part was when he would tell us not to use larger bags for customer's purchases. just how do you do that when he did not order the small bags?
Soon he'll have the Apple stores running as efficiently as BestBuy.
Nothing will improve the Apple Store customer experience like having a bunch of pissed off employees who know they have nowhere to go but elsewhere or into the poor house. He's a total genius. Maybe he could get his next job at the genius bar? (but only if he'l work just 29 hours/week.)
The CEO Bonus is based on company profit ...... By laying off employees in the Apple Stores , he increases his own salary by getting a larger bonus ...... He does not care about the people that are losing their income and jobs , only on increasing his own salary ....... This is happening nationwide and has nothing to do with "Overseas Competition" as the executives are saying ...... The money they are being paid is absurd , even when they leave....... What is wrong with this picture ? .......... DUH .......
Your treating of opionion as fact, your childish oversimplification, your jumping to conclusions... That's 3 things that immediatèly come to mind!
The iPhone 5 is preparing to launch, and the holiday season is upon us, and this guy wants to cut staffing? Sounds like Browett is just another suit selling widgets. He doesn't get the Apple culture, and Tim Cook better send him packing before he does some real damage.
This was when Apple was on the ropes and needed someone to boost its image. Do you see them using any celebrities after this? No. Even their iPod ads had silhouettes of people as they didn't want the focus being taken away from the product. I'm a Mac , I'm a PC ads used unknown actors.
I doubt it was that simplistic, but this screw-up is all on him. So far, I'm thinking they should hire back Ron Johnson after he's kicked out of JCPenny's... who are not doing well at all.
At this time, I would hope JCP allows Johnson to pursue his significant changes there. There might be some quid pro quo or common interests/loyalty between RJ and Apple which would be beneficial to both. In particular (wishful thinking?), RJ is moving aggressively eliminate the need for checkout personnel and moving these folks into real customer service similar to how he changed the Apple store and use of self checkout with RFID/NFC technologies. This is scheduled for the last quarter 2012, to be completed for all JCP stores in 2013. If there is a tacit connection with how and when Apple will support RFID/NFC in their iPhones (iPhone 5?, iOS 6?) then we might see significant synergy developing between the companies and some needed standardization in the market.
Success here will require the development of critical mass of the market moving in that direction which this "alliance" might quicken.
Comments
Apparently. billions of dollars bilked from the fans from unbelievable profit margin in consumer electronics / computer hardware products and also those billions stashed overseas are not enough for Apple.
Another greedy ass, with the Walmart plantation mentality. Make profits at the expense of the workers. Apple can do better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ronstark
Something to consider further; THE most expensive part of business is people. Some may not agree but when you take in to consideration the many different and distinctive departments that serve staff, ie, HR, insurance admin, payroll, etc. people become very costly. Less is more. To be fair we really don't know why the staffing became bloated. But it is entirely possible that store management became lazy or autocratic or ???
We, as Apple, supporters know better that to denigrate a person's nationality. There is no room in this issue or any other for that. In fact, we know "what" but not "why".
It is entirely possible the reason given is just corporate speak for something much more problematic. In fact, to most of us the idea of "making the stores more profitable by thinning staff" seems thin given Apple's profits and prospects for continued uptick. But it could easily be that as staff gets thick and flabby quality slips. The "that's not my job" mantra becomes a swan song. Seen it and been there.
Steve is gone. Apple must find its own way. Steve left a good work plan tor Tim. It's a sure bet Tim is doing his best. Many changes at Apple are taking place. Focus away from computers to phones, tablets and TV. If the trend continues many Apple stores will be mere kiosks! No genius required. The customer will be his or her own genius.....almost that now!
But ask yourself: what's after that? That is the star to watch. Don't be blinded by the flash bulbs. Look higher, guys!
Well said! It's refreshing to see someone reply with a brain-jerk reaction!
SOT:
Got my little presents this AM in my brokerage accounts... Thanks AAPL, Thanks Tim!
I have no confidence in John Browett
He strikes me as your typical MBA, middle manager, slash and burn, corporate scumbag.
He's exactly John Scully 2.
Everything you need to know is right here:
So when Apple employees start harassing you, remember, they've been told "Service is selling".
Remember they've been ordered to "overcome objections"
WTF! Overcome objections!? At Apple. No way in hell I will tolerate that. I'd rather get all my Apple stuff from Best Buy, Walmart and Target.
What on Earth is Tim Cook thinking with this guy?
Many people at the time said "what the hell is a Dixons guy doing at Apple?". Dixons were some of the worst shops you could ever imagine. I would have thought Steve would have called this guy a virgin and thrown him out.
Things are starting to look wobbly Tim.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drdb
Many people at the time said "what the hell is a Dixons guy doing at Apple?". Dixons were some of the worst shops you could ever imagine.
That's right, and Tim came out and defended him. Well, predictably, he tries some Dixon's shite.
The CEO Bonus is based on company profit ...... By laying off employees in the Apple Stores , he increases his own salary by getting a larger bonus ...... He does not care about the people that are losing their income and jobs , only on increasing his own salary ....... This is happening nationwide and has nothing to do with "Overseas Competition" as the executives are saying ...... The money they are being paid is absurd , even when they leave....... What is wrong with this picture ? .......... DUH .......
Had to check my posts - just in case I was going to repeat myself - I live in the UK, Dixons is renowned for the most shocklingly average customer service, i.e. NONE EXISTENT. Most of the stores are staffed by people with less knowledge than the average tech savvy teenager, assuming you can find one a member of staff in the first place.
This is the COMPLETE opposite of the experience I have ever had in any Apple store in the UK or on a visit to Washington DC - helpful - yes, knowledgeable - yet, willing to direct me to another store that might be able to meet my needs even if not an Apple store - yes.
Like many others have written, disaster waiting to happen, round peg in square hole, completely against the principles of customer comes first and Apple's customer focused, user focused products and services?
Quote:
Originally Posted by EasyWriter
I've known managers like this. He is going to be an unmitigated disaster. Get rid of him now.
(During my college-age career as a food server, I worked for a manager who quit replacing broken dishes to save money. Eventually, we lacked clean dishes when it was time to serve the food.)
I have worked with many managers - including two at different times at the same company - one who told us plainly that she was not interested in cutting hours etc in order to get her bonus if it meant the customers were not taken care of and another who did things like not ordering staples and paper bags to save a few dollars to try to get his bonus. the really messed up part was when he would tell us not to use larger bags for customer's purchases. just how do you do that when he did not order the small bags?
I fully support him.
Soon he'll have the Apple stores running as efficiently as BestBuy.
Nothing will improve the Apple Store customer experience like having a bunch of pissed off employees who know they have nowhere to go but elsewhere or into the poor house. He's a total genius. Maybe he could get his next job at the genius bar? (but only if he'l work just 29 hours/week.)
Maybe he should do marketing for Apple.
He headed a great campaign for Dixons:
Your treating of opionion as fact, your childish oversimplification, your jumping to conclusions... That's 3 things that immediatèly come to mind!
The iPhone 5 is preparing to launch, and the holiday season is upon us, and this guy wants to cut staffing? Sounds like Browett is just another suit selling widgets. He doesn't get the Apple culture, and Tim Cook better send him packing before he does some real damage.
If it is true, he needs to be fired before it becomes a disaster. Someone under Johnson should have been promoted rather than bringing this dude in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mazda 3s
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }This was when Apple was on the ropes and needed someone to boost its image. Do you see them using any celebrities after this? No. Even their iPod ads had silhouettes of people as they didn't want the focus being taken away from the product. I'm a Mac , I'm a PC ads used unknown actors.
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpamSandwich
I doubt it was that simplistic, but this screw-up is all on him. So far, I'm thinking they should hire back Ron Johnson after he's kicked out of JCPenny's... who are not doing well at all.
At this time, I would hope JCP allows Johnson to pursue his significant changes there. There might be some quid pro quo or common interests/loyalty between RJ and Apple which would be beneficial to both. In particular (wishful thinking?), RJ is moving aggressively eliminate the need for checkout personnel and moving these folks into real customer service similar to how he changed the Apple store and use of self checkout with RFID/NFC technologies. This is scheduled for the last quarter 2012, to be completed for all JCP stores in 2013. If there is a tacit connection with how and when Apple will support RFID/NFC in their iPhones (iPhone 5?, iOS 6?) then we might see significant synergy developing between the companies and some needed standardization in the market.
Success here will require the development of critical mass of the market moving in that direction which this "alliance" might quicken.
Originally Posted by JCC
Do you see them using any celebrities after this? No.
Samuel L. Jackson, Zooey Deschanel, Martin Scorsese, John Malkovich…