The Apple Store is a glorious place to visit. I love technology and I really appreciate their knowledgeable staff. Buying, returning, and repairing Apple products in their store has never been a smooth process for me though.
Each time I go into the Apple Store, whoever I am talking to is completely unable to help me. I understand the "greeter" or the person "on point" isn't suppose to ring up products, and the person ringing up products isn't a "genius" who is able to do tech support, but at times it feels even more disjointed than that.
On Monday I went to the Apple store with three simple goals:
- I needed to return a 15-inch MacBook Pro that I had purchased a few days before
- I needed to replace a cracked screen on an iPhone 6.
- I needed to special order a 13-inch MBP with special specs.
I walk in the store and notice that it's relatively empty. "Maybe I can get my iPhone fixed without a reservation," I hoped.
Three Apple employees were chatting with each other towards the front of the store. The girl with the strange hair cut, nose ring, and iPad greeted me. I explained my three goals, and she pointed me to the Apple Genius Bar gatekeeper (the guy you have to get through before you can have things repaired). This guy was helping another customer with something and I patiently waited. After a few minutes the Genius Bar gatekeeper asked me if I had a reservation. No, as always, I didn't have a reservation, but I was hoping that since I just wanted to drop this phone off and pick it up in a few days, and the store was empty, it wouldn't be a problem. Of course it was a problem. "The next available walk-in slot is in one and a half hours." I look around and notice that five employees are now standing around chatting with each other. "I can't just leave this phone here and pick it up later? I don't need to speak with anyone, I just want the screen replaced but I already have another phone so I don't need this one, you can take as much time as you need." I tried to explain but it didn't work. "Only Apple geniuses can check-in your phone."
I then went back to the group of three employees at the front of the store and said that I would come back later to replace the iPhone screen, and I just wanted to return the MacBook Pro and order a new one. Nose ring girl then begins relaying messages on her C.I.A. headset that someone needs to return a MacBook. She informs me that someone will be with me in a moment. I then stand off to the side and watch five Apple employees chat with each other for at least five minutes.
I've returned stuff at Apple Stores before and I know just how easy it is. I know for a fact that every single one of these employees was capable of returning my MacBook but it wasn't their current "duty" so they were able to ignore the situation.
A new guy came from the back and told me that he was unable to return my MacBook but someone else would be able to shortly. He then went over to the nose ring girl and said that he was going to "take point" so that she could return my MacBook. She argued that she was on point and was not allowed to return my MacBook. He explained that he was relieving her of said duty and she was now free to return my MacBook but she still refused. Meanwhile four other Apple employees were also standing around the immediate area and not a single new customer had walked in the store since I had arrived.
After losing the battle for "point man" he walked back over to me and said that he would in fact return my MacBook. In classic Apple Store fashion he was able to return it in less than one minute by using his fancy iPhone scanner. By this point I was late and I had to leave without ordering my 13-inch MBP. Back at the office I ordered the new computer online and I made a reservation to have my iPhone screen replaced the next day.
The next day I enter the store, this time empowered with a Genius Bar reservation. I am pointed once again to the Genius Bar gatekeeper (this time a woman). She informs me that they are approximately 25 minutes behind. I explain once again that I don't need to speak to anyone, I just want to drop my phone off and pick it up days later. "Only Apple geniuses can check in products for repair, sir." I wait for 25 minutes and am finally able to leave my phone for repair.
I want to be fair and say that Apple Store employees are some of the best retail employees in the business. They are polite, knowledgeable, and genuinely excited about their job. I also understand that in an attempt to make the store run smoothly, each employee has very specific duties. But these ultra-specific jobs seem to be hurting more than they are helping. By having customers standing around waiting on specific employees to do extremely simple tasks, the Apple Store is creating bottlenecks that wouldn't exist if they simply gave their employee's permission to use their judgment.
Maybe I'm crazy (I'm sure the comments will let me know if I am), but I think that every Apple Store employee is capable of ringing up and returning products and should be given the permission to do it. Apple has done an amazing job of hiring great workers, they just need to allow them to actually work.
I'm pretty sure you can "self-checkout" with the Apple Store App on your iPhone. It even let's you know when you arrive at the store.. Just in case you didn't already know you were there.... Returns I can see being limited in a way. Only for the simple fact that Apple is notorious for ripoff products, and they need to be sure you are actually returning the same computer, iPhone, tablet, etc etc.
I guess I'm fortunate I've never once required the Genius Bar since I switched to the ecosystem in 2011.
Although, I am certainly tempted to return my new Samsungified iPhone 6s Plus for a TMSC one...
Enjoy your extra 15 minutes of battery life!
15 minutes if you never push the CPU, but the hour+ difference is pretty widespread under heavy loads.
Working in Mac IT, I take things into the shop every few weeks. But I'm very lucky to have a Authorized Apple Repair Shop less than 5 miles away. I normally get 2-5 day turn around with them. Fill out a form, sign a copy and i'm out the door. I would really hate to drag stuff thru the mall and deal with any of this. Hope that isn't a typical experience from the store.
fyi: Huge Mac fan for many years. And no, you're not crazy
I never returned a product but I had to go to the store a few times to get stuff repaired (two Macbooks screens, two or three iPhones, from screens to cellular issues). I never had any problems with them, but I know I need a reservation every time and always do it online every time.
The first time I had to go there, tho, I didn't have a reservation and they did it anyway, with a busy store.
Well, I live in Australia and things are different here...
I'm in IT and we have HP as the supplier. In my previous job we had Dell. Dell wasn't a bad supplier for business, their support was all done online, fast and to the point. I could report a hardware failure online today and they would either have the part delivered to me next day or send a technician if the problem required one. HP is just terrible. I try to do the same but they ALWAYS call me to ask questions I answered already and in a normal working day I don't have time for that. It's always a pain.
IBM switched to Apple not long ago and they can already see the support cost and time savings...
Anyway, I don't like the Apple Store. I'm a Mac user at home, by choice, and PC user at work, not by choice. I've done this long enough to have my own opinion and that is Apple products are better, period. Anyone can argue with that and everyone can have their own opinion. This is mine. But the Apple Store experience is horrible. Not in the sense they can't do what they are supposed to do, but I've seen (not once but twice) all Apple Store employees clapping after a customer moved from PC to a Mac. Yes ALL of them, even the one who was talking to me.
But then again, Apple products are better in every way and I will keep using them until something better comes up and I can tell Windows 10, Surface this and that (yes I tried them), Android phones and tablets are not it.
It's funny how every mac fanboy is all "apple is the biggest" but when they have do business with Apple it's all "I used to walk into an Apple store and get immediate service". I know.. because I've had those thoughts. It's even irked me. But I sure as heck didn't write about it on a major photography website. Ridiculous subject matter that I don;t understand why something like this is posted here. Filler, I suppose.
I make appointments to the Apple store and get my business taken care of. I'm not inconvienced because I know how to actually make an appointment and show up on time. Just last month I had my iMac have a busted hinge replaced with AppleCare and they found a small crack in the screen that was also replaced under AppleCare. I walked in... gave them my appointment info and my iMac. it was finished the same day (24 hours before they said it would be ready).
Apple is a big company that is growing. Lots of negative and positive stories. But there's no REAL story here. Except maybe that the lack of content actually pissed me off enough to write and tell my positive experience.
I am Lee Morris. The founder of fstoppers, which grew popular by sharing informative BTS videos centered around photography, and tutorials which teach chin-down, eyes up, and squinch.
I vow to keep personal complaints off this forum. I also understand that I am quite lucky to have an Apple store in my small town of Charleston, SC. I also understand that the wait time for a Genius Bar walk-in in places like New York City is DAYS, not hours. I also understand that Apple has an easy-to-use online scheduling system for things just like this.
I also vow to come up with original fstoppers content, even on slow days such as this, and keep personal frustrations to my personal website.
I am Lee Morris. The founder of fstoppers.
Well, it's friday though, isn't it :)
I refuse to take that vow :)
The tone of this article was snarky and mocking from the start. "Nose ring girl?" I'll bet she had a name tag with her name in large point font on it. I never just walk into a doctors' office without making an appointment to see my doctor. If I did, I wouldn't gripe about the wait. The "gatekeeper" you had to get through is like the receptionist at the doctors office or a concierge at a hotel. The person is there to make sure things run as smoothly as possible giving first priority to those people who have scheduled Genius Bar appointments. As far as the "it's not my department" syndrome you describe, it may have been a bad day or a poorly run store, but it has never been my experience at Apple Stores. If someone can't help me they take me to the person who can and don't just leave me hanging. It just seems like you went it looking for a bad experience and found it when you could have taken a few simple steps to make sure you had a better one. You didn't make an appointment which would have been exceedingly simple and would have saved you a lot of time so you wouldn't be late. This entire article read like a whine because you didn't get what you want as soon as you wanted it. Just my opinion.
Most every employee there can check any customer out, but only a few can return open boxed product without charging you a fee. If you are buying any large item for a business, then most are told that they have to pass you off to the business specialists. (which, depending on the store might take awhile)
I worked at Apple retail for several years, (before iPhone and a the years following its release) and I can say from experience that having people only do the tasks specifically assigned to them can avoid other troubling issues. At the last store I was in, I worked as a Genius behind the bar, and I couldn't count the number of times a specialist or concierge would give a customer the wrong quote, collect the wrong information, or attempt to give customer repairs to the wrong customer. Training is pretty extensive, yet some people would just not get it, and that would force me into a difficult situation with a very pissed off customer. By limiting who can do what, you reduce risk of bad stuff happening. Yes, at the cost of expedited customer service but there has to be a balance somewhere.
Also, being nice, honest, and generally reasonable to the Genius staff goes a long way. You wouldn't believe the abuse they all have to endure on an hourly basis. The management stacks the queues to the point where you only have a few moments with a customer before your scheduled to work with another one. This will easily throw the appointments off, as well as pushes employee lunches and breaks to a difficult degree. I've had classic iPods thrown at me, threats against me and the team, not to mention the verbal abuse in which we had to just stand and smile. We all knew that it would be easier for you to just drop your phone off for repair and come back later, but its just not that simple. Apart from the aforementioned issues above, we also had to collect info like your passcode in order to test all the sensors and digitizer. If there was damage, we needed to make sure you agree to the out of warranty costs, which we would be accused of damaging if we never saw you and the device. Most people are dishonest assholes who will take advantage of the system, and it's because of them that you are forced to wait and talk with a certified tech like me.
I sorta yearn for the days of yore when we were the elite the creators the people who needed a mac to get creative things done. I am thrilled the company is doing so well but I agree it no longer feels special to go into the apple store. It's a giant chore. When I went in to get a laptop a few years ago no one was available to help me everyone was chatting with customers about iPhones. Congrats to apple but yeah the day of being a haven for people who "think different" is over.
I live in Hong Kong, I have given up going to the certified Apple stores or repair centers, they are absolutely useless ! My warranty has expired on all my Apple products so there answer to any simple problem is buy a new one ! Luckily here in hk there are several non sanctioned apple repair centers that are extremely efficient , reliable and fast ! I can have my iPhone screen replaced in less than an hour on the spot with a genuine apple screen. The graphics chip on my mac book pro finally gave out and died, the apple repair center after days of waiting told me they could not repair it and to buy a new one, so I took it to a non apple repair shop who happily replaced the graphics chip in less than 24 hour's. Bottom line, I love apple products but there sales and repair centers suck !!!
I've never had the pleasure of buying an Apple, but there is a concept that a few have mentioned which seems quite alien and I would appreciate someone clearing it up for me...
... You have to make an appointment.. to be a consumable goods customer? ...Really?
Only for repairs. Not to buy stuff
There is not an apple store within 800 miles of me. I'd be happy to wait a few minutes or learn to be more organised, but, I understand your frustration.
Why people are still buying Apple products anyway? Iphones are ancient and lack all major innovations happened to smartphones during last 10 years. iOs outdated and never advanced since late 2000s. Macbooks are constantly crashing and an a huge annoyance to use. iMacs are limited to the point of becoming a comedy. People are so lazy and inert to discover new things. Windows 10 and Android would never have a tea with iOs, if those were humans.
Mac Books crashing all the time ? Really ? I switched to mac after years of being a devoted Microsoft fan for 20 years, I finally made the switch top mac after years of being pissed of with the blue screen of death and constant crashing of the windows system ! I have been using Mac Pros for 7 years now and have never had a single crash ! Not one ! Its pure pleasure working with Mac and an OS that runs reliably and so smooth . I will never use a microsoft product ever again .
I agree, not sure what Vladimir is smoking. I was a Windows guy and switched to Macs about 5 years ago. I've not had a single crash. I much prefer the ecosystem, so much better. And as for lacking all major innovations that happened to smartphones within the last 10 years... HUH? Apple started the current smartphone craze... 8 years ago.
Quoting Sheldon Cooper: "I asked myself what is the most mind-numbing, pedestrian job conceivable and three answers came to mind: a toll booth employees, an Apple store genius, and what penny does. Because I don't like touch other peoples' coins and I refuse to contribute to the devaluation of the word genius, here I am."
Sounds like Best Buy has better customer service. Every few minutes, someone from Best Buy would be asking if I needed any help. At the Charleston Apple store, five Apple employees were too busy chatting to take care of a customer.
My experience here in Portugal was amazing, even knowing that apple is not keen on returns around here. My iPod nano 4th generation went kaput, i went there and the guys gave me a new one like 2 days after.
Waranties work pretty great here where i live, and apple stores aswell.
I used to be the Genius Bar gatekeeper guy. It was a living hell. I know it SOUNDS asinine, but I PROMISE YOU, and this coming from one of the top customer rated stores in the country, it is ALWAYS worth it to make an appointment. If you know you are headed over, just do it. Just. Do it. The ebbs and flow of the day are the only real chance for the techs (I refuse to use the word Genius) to tackle a mountain of repairs that goes up and up, and is all on a reasonably tight timeline. They have to use the appointment schedules to plan out who works on what and when, and who takes counter time. I've had to stand at the door of the repair room and beg for help because there were 10 walk-ins, and then when I got two people out to help, customers would come in expecting to pick up their stuff, that was being rushed like mad in the back to make up for suddenly being short of hand.
Depending on the store, a lot of Apple workers are massively over-worked and underpaid.
Granted, that there were a cluster of employees chatting away while you were waiting would have caused heads to roll in my store.
Thanks for the insight! That makes sense. Sadly I've never been able to make a reservation while I'm on the way to the store. Usually the next day is the soonest available slot.
Lee - you could send Tim an email. I had a friend of mine send Apple an email due to a bad experience at an Apple store and they actually contacted him to resolve the issue. tcook@apple.com
That right there only makes me more relieved that I don't own a single Apple product.
Yeah, nothing sucks more than going into the Asus store when your laptop is being weird and...oh wait.
I wouldn't know as I don't use off the shelf ASUS laptops either. I'm 18 years working as an IT and network engineer so I build my own custom workstations's that function exactly as I want them to. Obviously not something I'd recommend for everybody but it suits me far better then any Apple product.
I hear that. I built my first PC when I was 12, and I still miss the experience of creating something that is uniquely yours and no one else's. I'll probably get around to building a hackintosh one of these days and really scratch that itch.
The battery on my Surface Pro died, (I LOVE the pen!!) I called them up, and they said "Go to the Microsoft store at the Glendale Galleria, a new Surface pro is waiting for you there." I went there and it took literally two minutes and I had a NEW Surface pro. I am currently taking Intro into Photo editing and we are learning to use the pen tool, while everyone struggled to use their iMacs with the separate Wacom panels I burned through it with the Surface Pro (Photoshop has been a lot easier to use now that I can pinch to zoom)
Dude, the Surface Pro is tempting me away from Apple in a way that I never thought was possible. Everything about it just looks awesome. I just still can't quite enjoy Windows, even with all of the great improvements to W10.
The operating system isnt what attracts me to a device, they all pretty much stay out of the way. I LOVE the surface pro because zooming, moving the picture is as easy as sliding a piece of paper on a table. Accidently rotating the picture happens though, you right click the move image "hand" select the rotate "hand" and select the "reset view" button that appears on the toolbar above, i thought I'd mention that because it caught me up when I started using the Pro. But it makes image editing far less cumbersome, I still have to keep a keyboard handy for shortcuts though.
Now you sound like Trey Ratcliff. Complaining how the world does not think you are special and deserve special treatment. He had a beef with Nikon because Nikon USA would not service his grey market D800 and with the Chinese authorities because he flew his drone in restricted airspace in China. Come on Lee, you are better than that, this is not the place or forum to complain about Apple.
Actually, I think Lee was using his personal experience to question whether the way Apple operates their retail space is the best for customers.
Haha what? I haven't complained about grey market repair or China drone flying.
I'm also not asking for special treatment at the Apple Store, I just think certain aspects could be run more smoothly.
I have been owing Apple products since 2008, I always had great experience with the store. There are little discomforts but show me a single company willing stand behind their product and support like Apple. I got couple of times battery replaced for free after the warranty and also, recently I rip opened magsafe adapter still they took it in and provided me another one that is working. I have no complains about Apple store. I didn't get any service from any company after the warranty expired.
Yes Apple has become very "corporate". Yes it is true what you wrote about the "Genius Bar". I had an iMac screen go down in the middle of a huge edit. I did make an appointment. I did show up on time. I did have Apple Care. I show up and the bar is packed, mostly with iPhone people......I still had to wait and it was annoying to see the guys behind the desk more interested in the cute 20 somethings with iPhone problems.....Anyway - they finally get to me - look up my Apple Care and diagnosed the problem - which would still take 5 days to fix. Basically had to get a new logic board. So I ended up buying another iMac that day to finish my project. I did get the iMac back and in great condition and still use it. However - the next iMac I bought was ordered from B&H. I really did not want to go back to the Apple store.
Shouldn't this be on Yelp? Or in a complaint forum?
Yelp... I'm dying.
Lee I totally get where you're coming from, but let me offer a little perspective from someone who worked at Apple retail for two years.
Apple has everything down to an oddly specific (clearly successful) science, from the words you use when you interact with customers, to where you stand in the store, to how you clean the floors. So just about everything in the store is the way it is for a (usually) good reason. The store can go from completely empty to crazy and packed in a matter of minutes, often unexpectedly. Those specific roles protect employees from getting pulled into long drawn out interactions with customers that might keep them from covering their actual responsibility when things get busier. They don't know you, they don't know if you'll be easy to deal with or difficult, but I saw lots of examples of employees "being helpful" by helping outside of their area that resulted in much longer bottlenecks than if the customer had just waited for a few minutes. The story would get busy and the helper would still be with that one customer so someone would get pulled from another area to cover for him and the dominos would keep falling.
Also, greeting (or whatever they call it now) was often what you would get to do after you'd been working multiple hours in a much busier section. It wasn't quite a break, but more like a breather before you had to dive back in, so I don't blame the girl for not wanting to swap out. Getting to go be a greeter for a bit was a breath of fresh air after dealing with a customer who wanted a "16 jigga iphone not on ATT for only $100" (happened multiple times every week back in the day. That being said, that many employees hanging around and not helping would not have flown at my store. The machine can make exceptions when it makes sense.
TL;DR - Apple makes some sacrifices for the sake of overall efficiency within the retail machine and sometimes that makes it harder on customers in specific interactions.
You always have to plan for a couple of hours. Their system is flawed, but like you say their attitudes are great tho.
Hey Lee, If this your way to deal with your guilt for going all-in Apple on the readers at Fstoppers for the last few weeks... may I be the first to suggest trying something different in the future. Maybe reviews using OTHER brands of equipment(?).
Posting a "Nose Ring Girl Rant" about an Apple employee who... a) is a person first and foremost deserving of respect regardless of her personal fashion choices and whether you like them or not; ...and b) just because she's probably not your neighbor that looks fantastic in a bikini ready for an impromptu iPhone photo shooting...are not good enough reasons for anyone to absolve you of your sins of Apple-focused blogging and bi-polar Fanboyism.
Tl;dr - you should have known better and taken the warning given weeks ago... ;)
First of all, I admire your patience, while I have no idea how the Apple store system works I wouldn't tolerate this kind of attitude in any ohter place that's for sure. Maybe it's part of making one feel special about even being able to have the product?
And where does the genius thing comes from? Being so specialised you have to find the correct person in the store who you can talk to?
Each apple store has sales people and technical support people. The tech people are called Apple Geniuses and you have to have a reservation to speak with them.
I read this hoping it was some sort of a joke. Having never been in an Apple store, I certainly have no reason to go now.
On a side note, we have a guy in my office that can repair just about anything, and he does it on his break, at no charge. Just give him advance notice if he needs to order parts.
Lee I thought you were a Windows kind of guy :)
Oh trust me, I am only buying MBPs to test against Windows machines.
Accurate article. nothing worse than trying to get help and watching workers stand around. Experienced similar at the Apple Store.
I swear you're able to make appointments online?