Nah, just irritated by people who only see customer service as service for themselves, and not others. I mean, read the guy's post again. He basically wants the geniuses to tell those other people "Hey, don't bother me. You can find this information on-line." (assuming the person has access to the internet, not everyone does you know). Yet the same person would complain if he got the same treatment from a customer service rep.
Because the directness of my post apparently made you uncomfortable, I'll explain. The fact is I have been a loyal Apple supporter for years, despite some (at times) shitty customer service. I've personally owned Apple products ever since the last year the Mac Quadra was available, up to the founding of our small business and purchase of dual G5 computers (we bought 2 fully loaded dual G5's and an additional $3,000 worth of software when they first came out).
I've owned: the Quadra, the G3, the G4 & now the G5's, plus all the little ticky-tacky extras and software to keep on top of the latest and greatest a designer/studio would want.
So, y'know what, I think I DO deserve a little more consideration than someone who is completely new to the brand (a potential repeat Apple customer), versus someone who has shelled out dollars somewhere in the neighborhood of a nice cars' worth of Apple equipment and support over the years.
Lucky me, I own a nice bunch of AAPLs, which has appreciated quite nicely at this time, so I've no complaints about Apple getting lots and lots of new customers.
Good customer service will help retain REPEAT customers, as well as new ones. I offered my experience as the point-of-view of a REPEAT customer, nothing more.
OK, let us keep this in perspective..... We are talking about FREE TECH SUPPORT.
You walk in off the street with a computer question, and someone helps you with it. If it is a problem you are having with a program they will explain how the program works and will take the time to instruct you. If your computer has a hardware problem they will diagnose it and let you know what it will take to fix it. This service is FREE, and people are complaining about having to make an appointment or wait in line? Try walking into a Dell or IBM store and asking for free tech support....oh, never mind....
It's also impossible to try out the new computers. I finally got myself onto a new iMac the other day and I was ushered off by an Apple store employee who wanted to show a customer something. This was particularly disheartening when I wanted to try out the iSight and other users were checking their e-mail!
Just another reason to go to your local CompUSA or Frys or even better, your local independant Mac sales/service center, assuming they havnt gone under yet
OK, let us keep this in perspective..... We are talking about FREE TECH SUPPORT.
You walk in off the street with a computer question, and someone helps you with it. If it is a problem you are having with a program they will explain how the program works and will take the time to instruct you. If your computer has a hardware problem they will diagnose it and let you know what it will take to fix it. This service is FREE, and people are complaining about having to make an appointment or wait in line? Try walking into a Dell or IBM store and asking for free tech support....oh, never mind....
Larry Valiska
Bingo!!!
What did people do before the Apple Stores were around? I mean if somebody had a Quadra, they know they can call 1800-MY-APPLE and get their issue solved that way.
What is the Genius at the Bar supposed to do? Ask out loud, Hey is there anybody here that has had Macs for decades? Ok Sir, you can come to the front.
No, the Genius Bar is on a first come first serve basis, and if there are a lot of people with iPod s ahead of you, then you have to wait. Seems like that Concierge service is made to give people the right expectations and to route people the proper way. It is still FREE tech support for a lot of people and giving the tech sh!t about it is stupid. It is not his fault, and it distracts from the job he is doing. I always hated people giving the customer service people crap at stores, it is counter productive.
What did people do before the Apple Stores were around? I mean if somebody had a Quadra, they know they can call 1800-MY-APPLE and get their issue solved that way.
<snip>
It is still FREE tech support for a lot of people and giving the tech sh!t about it is stupid. It is not his fault, and it distracts from the job he is doing. I always hated people giving the customer service people crap at stores, it is counter productive.
In my case, I had worked with a previous CS guy who had given us stellar service, and he know we were good customers. Problems arose when he was moved up to Cupertino to a senior manager position and turned our account over to a guy who seemed less invested in the "Apple way" of taking care of the customer.
When you have a complaint that is legit, you must demand good customer service. How could you think otherwise?
The customer is always right. That hasn't changed for businesses that want to stay in business. I apply that same philosophy to my business, and it's worked just fine. On rare occasions, one of my customer's might be a pain, but... you must understand that when a customer is a pain, it's after they've gone through a lot of pain dealing with your company. Pay attention to them.
You are changing your claim know, first you say they make you wait, then one of the geniuses gave you poor service.
You said they MADE you wait. Did they call your name, then proceed to help 20 iPod users, or was it just that 20 iPod users just happened to get there before you?
Why do you say the genius was less invested in the Apple way of doing business? What do you mean by account. I did not know they had service accounts at the bar.
We have to be realistic and conscious of the fact that Apple has a lot of clients now. Wether iPod or Macs, there are a lot of people that need help and we just should not go off on an employee of a store, just because you're impatient. I'm sure that any delay is beyond the capacity of the employee, know, if you told me they are making you wait while they are having beers back there, then that's another story.
You are changing your claim know, first you say they make you wait, then one of the geniuses gave you poor service.
You said they MADE you wait. Did they call your name, then proceed to help 20 iPod users, or was it just that 20 iPod users just happened to get there before you?
Why do you say the genius was less invested in the Apple way of doing business? What do you mean by account. I did not know they had service accounts at the bar.
We have to be realistic and conscious of the fact that Apple has a lot of clients now. Wether iPod or Macs, there are a lot of people that need help and we just should not go off on an employee of a store, just because you're impatient. I'm sure that any delay is beyond the capacity of the employee, know, if you told me they are making you wait while they are having beers back there, then that's another story.
Comprende? Peace
Are the two things mutually exclusive? I waited AND I got poor customer service. Especially compared with my previous customer service rep. I don't remember saying anything about 20 iPod users...
There are business account people at the Apple Stores, check out your local store, mine was replaced with someone less than competent. And I don't know about your Apple Store, but mine takes care of all requests at the Genius Bar, with and without reservations. It wasn't working well at the time. No mystery, here.
Excuse me, but are YOU the manager of an Apple Store? Do you really know what you're talking about? Just because you like Apple (I'm a cult member too, dude) doesn't mean they are above reproach. Really, now....
I expect good service. If you don't like it, tough. But Apple ain't Wal-Mart.
Are the two things mutually exclusive? I waited AND I got poor customer service. Especially compared with my previous customer service rep. I don't remember saying anything about 20 iPod users...
There are business account people at the Apple Stores, check out your local store, mine was replaced with someone less than competent. And I don't know about your Apple Store, but mine takes care of all requests at the Genius Bar, with and without reservations. It wasn't working well at the time. No mystery, here.
Excuse me, but are YOU the manager of an Apple Store? Do you really know what you're talking about? Just because you like Apple (I'm a cult member too, dude) doesn't mean they are above reproach. Really, now....
I expect good service. If you don't like it, tough. But Apple ain't Wal-Mart.
Quote:
I was so damn mad I let him have it and reminded him that 20 iPod customers would not equal my 1 PowerMac purchase and they needed to recognize that.
That was from your original post.
What I'm saying is that you should have reasonable expectations. If you got poor customer service, maybe the fact that you gave the genius an "earful" contributed to that, in that your experienced was already ruined and nothing the genius could do would have changed your perception.
It's all good, man, seems like they are working to resolve the issue of increased traffic. I hope Apple grows enough to where they have to hire 30 people for a shift. I did not have a problem with my visit to my Apple Store, that does not mean they are not busy. I just went at a time when I knew there were few people and I actually put myself on the waiting list before I left work to go there. All was fine.
I still would not give anybody an earful to anybody unless they are just slacking while I wait.
fact is, there are too many Apple apologists on these boards. The Genius Bars have been a mess for a while now--I've had to listen too many first-time Mac owners with horror stories of waits over 2 hours, which is absolutely ridiculous; instead of making Apple look good for providing this service it makes everyone associate Apple with long, boring waits for short periods of time with overworked people.
I'm glad they are changing the system some, and I hope they spend some of their newfound cash on more Mac Geniuses, because I get tired of having to listen to stories of poor experiences in the stores.
What I'm saying is that you should have reasonable expectations. If you got poor customer service, maybe the fact that you gave the genius an "earful" contributed to that, in that your experienced was already ruined and nothing the genius could do would have changed your perception.
It's all good, man, seems like they are working to resolve the issue of increased traffic. I hope Apple grows enough to where they have to hire 30 people for a shift. I did not have a problem with my visit to my Apple Store, that does not mean they are not busy. I just went at a time when I knew there were few people and I actually put myself on the waiting list before I left work to go there. All was fine.
I still would not give anybody an earful to anybody unless they are just slacking while I wait.
I'm all for keeping the peace on these boards, but just a clarification... when I told the rep "20 iPod owners"--- that was in terms of dollars worth of Apple purchases (in other words, a computer costs more than an iPod). I don't know how much more clearly I can say this. Twenty was not the number of people ahead of me... I did not count everyone. It's when my scheduled time elapsed, and elapsed, and elapsed... you know the rest of the story...
I'm all for keeping the peace on these boards, but just a clarification... when I told the rep "20 iPod owners"--- that was in terms of dollars worth of Apple purchases (in other words, a computer costs more than an iPod). I don't know how much more clearly I can say this. Twenty was not the number of people ahead of me... I did not count everyone. It's when my scheduled time elapsed, and elapsed, and elapsed... you know the rest of the story...
It's been real, brother.
Don't worry, people are being pedantic. I think Apple needs to sort this out, the whole point of a appointment time is that you can go and come back so this shouldn't be happening.
Incidentally according to the retail website, the Concierge system seems to go 'live' 14th November.
It used to be a lot quieter before the entire iPod nano/Video thing. You could actually get to a Genius in 30 minutes or so.. now, ehem, it takes hours.
I generally go to the one in Old Orchard Mall. It's smaller, has less Geniuses, but is often less busy too. And the employees seem to be... more flexible, so to speak. If you're around, and you need to go to an Apple Store, you might wanna check it out.
My friend is a Genius at North Michigan Avenue (a flagship store with more diagnostic equipment apparently) and so i haven't really had to wait, but you're right, that place is like hell on earth...except they sell Macs.
My friend is a Genius at North Michigan Avenue (a flagship store with more diagnostic equipment apparently) and so i haven't really had to wait, but you're right, that place is like hell on earth...except they sell Macs.
I know the store, I work 2 blocks away from the store, and man oh man, that store gets some impressive traffic.
It's happening, looks like tonight. Just tried to check the status on my iBook repair and got this message, "We are upgrading our store reservation system. Our new reservation system will be available in a few hours. Please visit us again." Here's the link: http://genius.apple.com/customer/?store=R054
EDIT: As of midnight the Concierge system is up and running
Comments
Originally posted by Louzer
Nah, just irritated by people who only see customer service as service for themselves, and not others. I mean, read the guy's post again. He basically wants the geniuses to tell those other people "Hey, don't bother me. You can find this information on-line." (assuming the person has access to the internet, not everyone does you know). Yet the same person would complain if he got the same treatment from a customer service rep.
Because the directness of my post apparently made you uncomfortable, I'll explain. The fact is I have been a loyal Apple supporter for years, despite some (at times) shitty customer service. I've personally owned Apple products ever since the last year the Mac Quadra was available, up to the founding of our small business and purchase of dual G5 computers (we bought 2 fully loaded dual G5's and an additional $3,000 worth of software when they first came out).
I've owned: the Quadra, the G3, the G4 & now the G5's, plus all the little ticky-tacky extras and software to keep on top of the latest and greatest a designer/studio would want.
So, y'know what, I think I DO deserve a little more consideration than someone who is completely new to the brand (a potential repeat Apple customer), versus someone who has shelled out dollars somewhere in the neighborhood of a nice cars' worth of Apple equipment and support over the years.
Lucky me, I own a nice bunch of AAPLs, which has appreciated quite nicely at this time, so I've no complaints about Apple getting lots and lots of new customers.
Good customer service will help retain REPEAT customers, as well as new ones. I offered my experience as the point-of-view of a REPEAT customer, nothing more.
Cheers.
You walk in off the street with a computer question, and someone helps you with it. If it is a problem you are having with a program they will explain how the program works and will take the time to instruct you. If your computer has a hardware problem they will diagnose it and let you know what it will take to fix it. This service is FREE, and people are complaining about having to make an appointment or wait in line? Try walking into a Dell or IBM store and asking for free tech support....oh, never mind....
Larry Valiska
Originally posted by MacCrazy
It's also impossible to try out the new computers. I finally got myself onto a new iMac the other day and I was ushered off by an Apple store employee who wanted to show a customer something. This was particularly disheartening when I wanted to try out the iSight and other users were checking their e-mail!
Just another reason to go to your local CompUSA or Frys or even better, your local independant Mac sales/service center, assuming they havnt gone under yet
Originally posted by Lvaliska
OK, let us keep this in perspective..... We are talking about FREE TECH SUPPORT.
You walk in off the street with a computer question, and someone helps you with it. If it is a problem you are having with a program they will explain how the program works and will take the time to instruct you. If your computer has a hardware problem they will diagnose it and let you know what it will take to fix it. This service is FREE, and people are complaining about having to make an appointment or wait in line? Try walking into a Dell or IBM store and asking for free tech support....oh, never mind....
Larry Valiska
Bingo!!!
What did people do before the Apple Stores were around? I mean if somebody had a Quadra, they know they can call 1800-MY-APPLE and get their issue solved that way.
What is the Genius at the Bar supposed to do? Ask out loud, Hey is there anybody here that has had Macs for decades? Ok Sir, you can come to the front.
No, the Genius Bar is on a first come first serve basis, and if there are a lot of people with iPod s ahead of you, then you have to wait. Seems like that Concierge service is made to give people the right expectations and to route people the proper way. It is still FREE tech support for a lot of people and giving the tech sh!t about it is stupid. It is not his fault, and it distracts from the job he is doing. I always hated people giving the customer service people crap at stores, it is counter productive.
Originally posted by MacAficionado
Bingo!!!
What did people do before the Apple Stores were around? I mean if somebody had a Quadra, they know they can call 1800-MY-APPLE and get their issue solved that way.
<snip>
It is still FREE tech support for a lot of people and giving the tech sh!t about it is stupid. It is not his fault, and it distracts from the job he is doing. I always hated people giving the customer service people crap at stores, it is counter productive.
In my case, I had worked with a previous CS guy who had given us stellar service, and he know we were good customers. Problems arose when he was moved up to Cupertino to a senior manager position and turned our account over to a guy who seemed less invested in the "Apple way" of taking care of the customer.
When you have a complaint that is legit, you must demand good customer service. How could you think otherwise?
The customer is always right. That hasn't changed for businesses that want to stay in business. I apply that same philosophy to my business, and it's worked just fine. On rare occasions, one of my customer's might be a pain, but... you must understand that when a customer is a pain, it's after they've gone through a lot of pain dealing with your company. Pay attention to them.
Enough on this. Peace.
You said they MADE you wait. Did they call your name, then proceed to help 20 iPod users, or was it just that 20 iPod users just happened to get there before you?
Why do you say the genius was less invested in the Apple way of doing business? What do you mean by account. I did not know they had service accounts at the bar.
We have to be realistic and conscious of the fact that Apple has a lot of clients now. Wether iPod or Macs, there are a lot of people that need help and we just should not go off on an employee of a store, just because you're impatient. I'm sure that any delay is beyond the capacity of the employee, know, if you told me they are making you wait while they are having beers back there, then that's another story.
Comprende? Peace
Originally posted by MacAficionado
You are changing your claim know, first you say they make you wait, then one of the geniuses gave you poor service.
You said they MADE you wait. Did they call your name, then proceed to help 20 iPod users, or was it just that 20 iPod users just happened to get there before you?
Why do you say the genius was less invested in the Apple way of doing business? What do you mean by account. I did not know they had service accounts at the bar.
We have to be realistic and conscious of the fact that Apple has a lot of clients now. Wether iPod or Macs, there are a lot of people that need help and we just should not go off on an employee of a store, just because you're impatient. I'm sure that any delay is beyond the capacity of the employee, know, if you told me they are making you wait while they are having beers back there, then that's another story.
Comprende? Peace
Are the two things mutually exclusive? I waited AND I got poor customer service. Especially compared with my previous customer service rep. I don't remember saying anything about 20 iPod users...
There are business account people at the Apple Stores, check out your local store, mine was replaced with someone less than competent. And I don't know about your Apple Store, but mine takes care of all requests at the Genius Bar, with and without reservations. It wasn't working well at the time. No mystery, here.
Excuse me, but are YOU the manager of an Apple Store? Do you really know what you're talking about? Just because you like Apple (I'm a cult member too, dude) doesn't mean they are above reproach. Really, now....
I expect good service. If you don't like it, tough. But Apple ain't Wal-Mart.
Originally posted by SpamSandwich
Are the two things mutually exclusive? I waited AND I got poor customer service. Especially compared with my previous customer service rep. I don't remember saying anything about 20 iPod users...
There are business account people at the Apple Stores, check out your local store, mine was replaced with someone less than competent. And I don't know about your Apple Store, but mine takes care of all requests at the Genius Bar, with and without reservations. It wasn't working well at the time. No mystery, here.
Excuse me, but are YOU the manager of an Apple Store? Do you really know what you're talking about? Just because you like Apple (I'm a cult member too, dude) doesn't mean they are above reproach. Really, now....
I expect good service. If you don't like it, tough. But Apple ain't Wal-Mart.
I was so damn mad I let him have it and reminded him that 20 iPod customers would not equal my 1 PowerMac purchase and they needed to recognize that.
That was from your original post.
What I'm saying is that you should have reasonable expectations. If you got poor customer service, maybe the fact that you gave the genius an "earful" contributed to that, in that your experienced was already ruined and nothing the genius could do would have changed your perception.
It's all good, man, seems like they are working to resolve the issue of increased traffic. I hope Apple grows enough to where they have to hire 30 people for a shift. I did not have a problem with my visit to my Apple Store, that does not mean they are not busy. I just went at a time when I knew there were few people and I actually put myself on the waiting list before I left work to go there. All was fine.
I still would not give anybody an earful to anybody unless they are just slacking while I wait.
I'm glad they are changing the system some, and I hope they spend some of their newfound cash on more Mac Geniuses, because I get tired of having to listen to stories of poor experiences in the stores.
Originally posted by MacAficionado
That was from your original post.
What I'm saying is that you should have reasonable expectations. If you got poor customer service, maybe the fact that you gave the genius an "earful" contributed to that, in that your experienced was already ruined and nothing the genius could do would have changed your perception.
It's all good, man, seems like they are working to resolve the issue of increased traffic. I hope Apple grows enough to where they have to hire 30 people for a shift. I did not have a problem with my visit to my Apple Store, that does not mean they are not busy. I just went at a time when I knew there were few people and I actually put myself on the waiting list before I left work to go there. All was fine.
I still would not give anybody an earful to anybody unless they are just slacking while I wait.
I'm all for keeping the peace on these boards, but just a clarification... when I told the rep "20 iPod owners"--- that was in terms of dollars worth of Apple purchases (in other words, a computer costs more than an iPod). I don't know how much more clearly I can say this. Twenty was not the number of people ahead of me... I did not count everyone. It's when my scheduled time elapsed, and elapsed, and elapsed... you know the rest of the story...
It's been real, brother.
Originally posted by SpamSandwich
I'm all for keeping the peace on these boards, but just a clarification... when I told the rep "20 iPod owners"--- that was in terms of dollars worth of Apple purchases (in other words, a computer costs more than an iPod). I don't know how much more clearly I can say this. Twenty was not the number of people ahead of me... I did not count everyone. It's when my scheduled time elapsed, and elapsed, and elapsed... you know the rest of the story...
It's been real, brother.
Don't worry, people are being pedantic. I think Apple needs to sort this out, the whole point of a appointment time is that you can go and come back so this shouldn't be happening.
Incidentally according to the retail website, the Concierge system seems to go 'live' 14th November.
Originally posted by Gene Clean
It used to be a lot quieter before the entire iPod nano/Video thing. You could actually get to a Genius in 30 minutes or so.. now, ehem, it takes hours.
I generally go to the one in Old Orchard Mall. It's smaller, has less Geniuses, but is often less busy too. And the employees seem to be... more flexible, so to speak. If you're around, and you need to go to an Apple Store, you might wanna check it out.
My friend is a Genius at North Michigan Avenue (a flagship store with more diagnostic equipment apparently) and so i haven't really had to wait, but you're right, that place is like hell on earth...except they sell Macs.
Originally posted by theapplegenius
My friend is a Genius at North Michigan Avenue (a flagship store with more diagnostic equipment apparently) and so i haven't really had to wait, but you're right, that place is like hell on earth...except they sell Macs.
I know the store, I work 2 blocks away from the store, and man oh man, that store gets some impressive traffic.
It's happening, looks like tonight. Just tried to check the status on my iBook repair and got this message, "We are upgrading our store reservation system. Our new reservation system will be available in a few hours. Please visit us again." Here's the link: http://genius.apple.com/customer/?store=R054
EDIT: As of midnight the Concierge system is up and running