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Slightly tangential rant, but is anybody else becoming frustrated with the process of buying Apple products in Apple stores? For me, it started with the Apple W

• McSwag 3y ago
  Just order the item you want for store pickup before you leave and it’s usually ready by the time you get there. That’s my experience and it’s quite literally in-n-out.
• mr_cyborg 3y ago
  The Genius Bar also takes forever to get appointments at now compared to how it was. I think they maintained close to the same number of retail locations as their customer base exploded, which probably works out better economically but is far less convenient.
  • robotresearcher 3y ago
    Apple grew from ~300 to ~500 stores between 2010 and 2020. https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2021/3/10/the-future-of-apple-retail https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2021/3/10/the-future-of-ap...
• nightpool 3y ago
  Can't you also buy these products online? I'm not surprised that the in-store experience has become such a high touch affair when the customer base that would have wanted less interaction have already self-selected out by not going to the store at all
  • hghid 3y ago
    That is true, but I'm sometimes I'm frankly far too impatient to wait for delivery.
    • riscy 3y ago
      you can buy the product online and choose store pickup. can be ready within hours since it’s from their inventory.
    • deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    • jeffdn 3y ago
      You can frequently get same-day delivery for a nominal fee, even within a few hours! My partner’s phone broke after she dropped it one too many times at about 7:30am on a recent morning, and we had a new one in hand without leaving the house by 10:30am.
      • throwanem 3y ago
        Yes, and then too sometimes you order for same-day delivery and the store hands the bag to an Uber Eats driver (they actually do partner with Uber Eats for courier service!) who mysteriously never turns up to hand it off to you. Then you have to spend a few hours on the phone with Apple to make sure you don't end up paying for a phone you never got. I don't blame the guy who stole it, although I might if I'd had to hold the bill for his act of sticky-fingered entrepreneurship. I do blame Apple for using a service, whose drivers normally handle $50 in food at a time, to deliver nonperishable and highly portable items of 20 or more times that value.
    • 3y ago
• ben_w 3y ago
  I keep reading stories about experiences like yours, but no, never experienced that myself. But then, it might be about my buying habits: the cheapest thing which suits my needs, and only when I actually need it rather than as soon as it comes out, so I'm almost never there at the sales peak for whatever it is I'm getting.
• threeseed 3y ago
  You can use the online Apple Store then either have it delivered or pickup in person. Or purchase from the hundreds of third party resellers who also sell them. There are many people especially with the Apple Watch who aren't experts at technology and so having personalised service makes sense for them. And for you there are obviously many other options.
• foldr 3y ago
  > Recently, I wanted to buy a new Phone. […] I don’t say this to challenge your story, but I found it completely straightforward to buy an iPhone in an Apple Store recently (in London).
  • unreal37 3y ago
    I personally have had the experience of having to talk to two people (with a third person required to fetch the product from the back room) at an Apple store in Toronto. You stand there waiting on the side for 10 minutes while the gopher finishes with a couple of other customers.
    • foldr 3y ago
      Referring to Apple Store employees as 'gophers' seems unnecessarily disparaging. I think I had to wait for a bit too, but I don't buy phones that often, so I didn't think much of it.
• rchaud 3y ago
  > The VR headset is a case in point - if I want to be guided through the process, then I will ask for that. The reason this is done is to: a) limit bad online reviews due to ill fitting headsets or unfamiliarity with the controls b) to ensure that people looking to buy it have their expectations managed c) to give it the upscale, prestige feeling of going to a tailor for a fitted suit. Useless theater for a tech product, but Apple loves pageantry.
  • Dudester230602 3y ago
    They should do the same but for returns: 1) Give explanation to you why you should reconsider 2) Make you fill out a form stating reasons for returning 3) Refund in cash giving you small notes
    • Gigachad 3y ago
      I returned the Pro XDR display and the person at the store didn't ask me anything other than for my receipt and opening the box to check the product was there.
  • sleepybrett 3y ago
    Also probably because of the prescription lens inserts.
    • pxc 3y ago
      This problem (not Apple's fault) makes me pessimistic about the practicability of this process for people with high myopia. I've never ever been able to walk out of an optometry appointment with a pair of glasses. Could an Apple Store possibly be better than an eye doctor?
      • alexdunmow 3y ago
        I only have normal subpar vision but I too have never been able to walk out of an optometry appointment with a pair of glasses. That's a thing? Optometrists keep prescription lens stock on hand?
• f6v 3y ago
  I think 99% of customers do need an explanation on how to use the watch.
  • dorkwood 3y ago
    I’ll be honest, I’m one of the people that needs instructions for Apple products. I’ve been buying them online — each time becoming frustrated with the lack of instructions and the assumed knowledge necessary to use them. Oh, you didn’t know that there’s actually two different places to swipe down at the top of the phone? Everyone knows about that, you idiot!
    • hnick 3y ago
      For the iPhone at least there is a fairly extensive user guide online. It doesn't help much for technical issues but did a decent job explaining how to do things. In my case, I learned about setting up a triple-click shortcut to pop up the accessibility menu so I could unmute the phone via software due to a broken side switch that won't stay on. I'm sure this is available elsewhere online, but using Google just took me to the regular places - typically someone posting on an Apple forum trying and failing to get help.
• deanCommie 3y ago
  This sounds to me like the issue of when technical people call Tech Support with an advanced problem and the agent forces them to first check their monitor is on and reset. It's frustrating, sure, but look at if from the other side: 99% of the people they deal with are completely incapable, and 90% of their problems ARE solved by a simple reboot. Apple/iPhone is the ubiquitous phone for everyone from CTOs to grandma's. The in store experience is optimized to make sure a person that has been stuck in a cave for 30 years and can walk out with a device optimized for their needs. I bet they think that people like you will just buy online and choose in store pickup...
• galoisscobi 3y ago
  Not been my experience when I’ve bought apple watches. Product walk through were always optional that store employees were happy to offer, I always skipped them, brought the watch and was on my way.
• kkielhofner 3y ago
  Was this your first Apple Watch? When I last went to an Apple Store to get a new one (while wearing my current Apple Watch) I just said “I know what I want and what I’m doing”. They handed me the box on the spot in the middle of the store and I paid with the mobile PoS terminal they carry. I was in and out in less than five minutes and this was at their very busy Chicago Michigan Avenue store. Maybe they’re that efficient because it is busy but like most Apple Store experiences I’ve had it was very fast and efficient - they didn’t get in the way of me spending my money, that’s for sure.
  • graypegg 3y ago
    This is closer to my experience around late 2019. (Toronto Ontario Canada, at the time.) Went in, saw someone on staff fixing up a display unit, asked if I could buy an S5 apple watch, he asked if I had any questions, I said none, tapped card on the mobile POS thing, and then in maybe 10 minutes, someone else came out, apologized for the wait, and handed me my box. It's possible it's changed over covid though. Makes sense they would want the in-store experience to be more white-glove if they were seeing less foot traffic.
    • devilbunny 3y ago
      Lack of foot traffic was their choice. Apple stores were far more picky about COVID than the local norm. You had to show an appointment or a "ready for pickup" email to be allowed into the store. And that was early 2021, when I was fully vaccinated (and had the card to prove it).
      • ghaff 3y ago
        I picked up a couple of things during Covid to save on sales tax. Couldn’t even enter the store.
  • throwaway2990 3y ago
    I’ve bought a few items in store. An iPad. Went in told them what I wanted. They went got it. Came out and asked if I want to know anything else about it or need help. Said no. Asked if I wanted apple care. I said yes. They added it to the cart. Gave me a 30s overview of what I can do with apple care. Paid. Left. If you let the people in the store talk they will talk and try upset. Just politely say no.
• jjtheblunt 3y ago
  You can just say that you know what you're doing and don't need help. Maybe with a reassuring "i'm sure".
  • wildrhythms 3y ago
    Right lol this is also my experience. Do you need help setting it up? No thank you. Bye! I've never felt patronized at the Apple store, honestly it's the one electronics store where I feel like the staff kind of know what they're doing and are hovering around tentatively ready to help me actually purchase the thing.
• stetrain 3y ago
  If I know exactly what I want and don’t need the guided experience, I just order it on the Apple Store mobile app then pick it up in-store.
  • tornato7 3y ago
    A couple years ago I wanted an item in-stock at the Apple store but the soonest 'pickup appointment' they could give me was a few days out. What's worse is they have you choose a specific 15-minute window. That's not very customer friendly.
• stalfosknight 3y ago
  From Apple's perspective, if you know exactly what you want that is what online Apple Store is for. If you want to see it in person / try it on / have questions, that is what the physical Apple Store is for.
• kreitje 3y ago
  A few years back I bought a MBP online with the pickup option. I picked it up, declined their assistance setting it up and went about my day. I get home later that day, start to set it up and it’s locked to employees of a bank in Canada. Live support is no help so I take it back, only to find out the serial number did not match that on the box. They had their security guard quietly come stand near me until they figured out what they wanted to do. The sales guy told me since they can’t prove I stole it they were giving me a different one. I think they knew it was previously returned and realized they got scammed by someone else the first time around. This time I made sure I could login before I left. Within the return window the new 16” came out at the same price so I took it in and swapped it for the 16”. They just took it, handed me the new laptop, transferred Apple Care and sent me on my way. It made sense as they didn’t bother to verify the box/device serial number with me. They took my word and processed everything in a matter of minutes.
  • seanthemon 3y ago
    Lesson learned: next time, scam them
  • wkat4242 3y ago
    That corporate lock thing is called DEP, device enrollment program. It used to be easy to bypass (just don't connect to internet during setup) but then it would bug you constantly once you did. On T2/M1/M2 macs it's no longer bypassable similar to the apple account lock anti theft feature (which is a different thing) Apple can remove it of course. It was probably a laptop stolen from the bank or their suppliers, then returned to Apple to whitewash it. I'm not surprised this happens. What I am surprised about is that Apple apparently sells a returned item to another customer as new. Pretty sure that's not their policy and in most cases illegal. Perhaps they checked the seals (for activating DEP you don't need to open the box at all!) but still this shouldn't happen. Normally these items go through a cleaning and reimaging process and then end up on the refurb store at a reduced price.
  • newZWhoDis 3y ago
    FWIW, scammers at Apple usually buy Apple Care/all the attachments. They know the employee is judged on that and is incentivized to make the transaction glide through.
• browningstreet 3y ago
  Buy it online via the app and designate the store as a pick-up. You will barely have to speak with anyone. Stores are busy, that’s just how it is. I’ve bought all the products you mentioned and didn’t have to deal with any “help” or delay.
• crooked-v 3y ago
  The giant reason to do this with the headset in particular is that getting it wrong means a literally painful and/or nauseous experience. Meta is willing to let that happen with its $300 headsets mostly bought as gifts for children, but the bar is a lot higher for a $3500 device and Apple is already acutely aware of the blowback from "you're holding it wrong"-type scenarios.
  • NBJack 3y ago
    I think this is a valid reason, and hopefully the driving factor. On the other hand, Apple certainly seems to bank on making their devices as exclusive an experience as possible. They sell a huge amount, but they want the customer to feel like they are part of an elite group. This will heighten the artificial sense of scarcity.
  • FireBeyond 3y ago
    > Apple is already acutely aware of the blowback from "you're holding it wrong"-type scenarios. And the funny thing about what the legions of Apple faithful who were willing to pretzel themselves into contortions defending that. (For a more reason, mention Batterygate and watch them come out and tell you how you just don't understand, Apple was absolutely doing you a favor, somehow.) (Just like when they quoted me $900 to fix faulty charging on a MacBook, device worked perfectly, battery was healthy, just could not be charged. "Perhaps we should talk about getting you into a new Mac instead...?")
• inopinatus 3y ago
  "I've tried to decorate it nicely to keep the inmates happy, but there's very little one can do. I never go in there now myself. If ever I am tempted, which these days I rarely am, I simply look at the sign written over the door and shy away." "That one?" said Fenchurch, pointing, rather puzzled, at a blue plaque with some instructions written on it. "Yes. They are the words that finally turned me into the hermit I have now become. It was quite sudden. I saw them, and I knew what I had to do." The sign said: Hold stick near centre of its length. Moisten pointed end in mouth. Insert in tooth space, blunt end next to gum. Use gentle in-out motion. "It seemed to me," said Wonko the Sane, "that any civilization that had so far lost its head as to need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a packet of toothpicks, was no longer a civilization in which I could live and stay sane." — Douglas Adams, So Long and Thanks for All The Fish, Pan Books (1984)
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
• sleepybrett 3y ago
  two months ago i walked in with a macbook pro spec i wanted, they confirmed they had one in stock. We did the payment dance and i walked out. Total time in store ~5m.
• crazygringo 3y ago
  No, I have no idea what you're talking about: > it would take half an hour or so to get somebody over That's only the case for genius bar appointments or an extended consultation when they're super busy or something. If you just want to buy a phone you've already decided on, you ask the nearest person and they grab it and you pay for it. It sounds like there was maybe just a miscommunication in your case. There is no trend here.
  • whstl 3y ago
    Yep. There's often people there whose job is to sell without an appointment. At my local stores they normally stand next to the accessories, where you can just grab stuff from the shelf. But you can ask them to grab a specific model of iPhone, iMac, etc, for you if you don't need information.
  • Groxx 3y ago
    I've known multiple people, and attended with one, who walked in, picked up the watch, and left in a few minutes total. That's also how I bought a laptop once (the rest online). Apple stores are often willing to spend enormous amounts of time with you if you ask for help, but I've never seen them stay in your way when you say "no" and that you're ready to pay and leave. (Obviously it can happen, but they're some of the most-standardized tech stores out there. If it were A Thing™, it would be everywhere.)
    • bee_rider 3y ago
      Some people have trouble rejecting help and feel awkward doing so. Of course, it is a totally normal thing to do, to reject help, and people should practice it!
• mft_ 3y ago
  They seem to inject additional people into their processes, for reasons I can't discern but I'm sure exist. For example, even buying something as simple as an Airtag means waiting for a random employee to be free, who then gets one for you, only to then wait for another different employee to be free to allow you to pay for it. Maybe that's just about theft prevention? My one "Genius Bar" experience (recently) in Munich was really crappy - told to check in, then told to wait by a table where I was ignored; when I re-approached someone, told to wait somewhere else... and watching the flow of things, it became very apparent that my 'appointment' had no value - I was helped in a queue after people who'd just walked in.
  • hnbear 3y ago
    Most non computer purchases like AirTags can be self serve. You grab a box off the shelf, scan it with the app, Apple Pay and walk out. No person necessary. Works on everything without a unique serial.
    • mft_ 3y ago
      I'm not clear from your comment whether you're proposing how things should be, or how things actually are in your experience? (Your vision isn't the case in the [European] Apple stores I have experience of...)
      • hnbear 3y ago
        This is my actual experience in US Apple stores. It’s been available for a while, but staff don’t always guide you to it. Eg. https://www.howtogeek.com/338754/how-to-buy-stuff-at-the-apple-store-without-a-cashier/ https://www.howtogeek.com/338754/how-to-buy-stuff-at-the-app... But earlier references are from 2012 for the easy pay roll out. Maybe US only. Definitely a shame if it is.
• vtbassmatt 3y ago
  This was exactly my experience trying to buy an Apple Watch from the Apple Store just before the pandemic. I had done all the research ahead of time and knew exactly what I needed. “Do you have an appointment?” No. “Oh, it’ll be about 45 minutes before someone can help you.” But I know what I want and just need you to ring me up. “I’m sorry, 45 minutes.” Hands down the strangest retail interaction I’ve ever had. Frustrated, I went to the Best Buy literally in the mall’s parking lot and was on my way in under 10 minutes with the watch I wanted. I guess Apple still won here since I bought the product anyhow?
  • ChuckNorris89 3y ago
    > “Do you have an appointment?” No. “Oh, it’ll be about 45 minutes before someone can help you.” Ah, yes, the Ferrari customer experience. You need to be selected by the manufacturer to be allowed to buy their product. It makes the product feel rare and exclusive, and the customer feel "special", when it's a consumer product made by the same Chinese sweatshop workers that make your other e-waste. Obligatory Futurama "there might be one left": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uASUHbFEhWY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uASUHbFEhWY
    • konschubert 3y ago
      No, it’s just bad service, cargo culting the Steve Jobs Store move
      • 9735194 3y ago
        I don’t think Steve Jobs would have tolerated that bullshit. He understood the customer better than that. Actually, this was his main talent.
        • ncallaway 3y ago
          Right, that’s literally what cargo culting means. It’s making a surface level imitation of behaviors, without understanding the underlying reasons, hoping for the same effect. So maybe Jobs might have made experiences that looked superficially similar to this, but he would’ve done it in a manner that actually understood the customer.
• sircastor 3y ago
  My watch buying experience was really straightforward. I knew which watch I wanted, and which band - really the only thing I needed to be sure of was the band size (as I’d not worn one before). I’d say the whole thing took about 10 minutes. This is anecdotal of course. Your experience is yours. Sorry you went through that. My experiences have all been pretty smooth. As for the Vision Pro, I think we’re dealing with a very different kind of product. They want everyone to have a positive experience, and this is the kind of thing no one has used even if you’ve used VR headsets, you’ve not used the product they created. They want to make sure you’re not getting stuck on fit or comfort.
• stereolambda 3y ago
  It would be interesting if they tried to further emulate the famous behavior of luxury brands like Rolex, which may not deign to sell you anything if you just ask. Just recreate that aura for the mass consumer.
• zimpenfish 3y ago
  I normally order online for collection and have never had an issue there - most I've waited for collection is about 5 minutes during peak times when the store was absolutely rammed with people (Oxford Street, London, a Friday lunchtime.) But I did once visit a store with someone wanting to buy a Watch and there was no forced sitting through any fitting or explanations. Just some questions about which Watch, if they already had a phone to connect it to, etc., and we were in and out of the store in under 20 minutes (Covent Garden, London, a Saturday afternoon, which is reasonably but not terrifyingly busy.) ++anecdata
• lostgame 3y ago
  Absolutely bizarre. My experience in Toronto buying an Apple Watch on an extremely busy day was 5-10min in and out and there was no attempt to ‘fit’ me. Told them what they wanted, they went back and got it, they brought a POS so I could pay, I was easily out of there in 10min. Never had any issues like this whatsoever in more than a decade of shopping at these stores?
• raverbashing 3y ago
  Wow this is bad It seems they made the experience for the people they show in their commercials (some "tech unconcerned happy people" who knows just barely enough to pick the Apple product, has "good vibes mandolin music" all over them and somehow makes 300k/yr)
• jldugger 3y ago
  > if I didn't have an appointment, it would take half an hour or so to get somebody over. It probably goes a long way to explain things if you know that Watch launched while Ahrendts was SVP of Retail at Apple. She came from Burberry, a luxury fashion retailer, and clearly had a vision for Apple Stores that was not compatible with the high throughput & demand they regularly get.
• giancarlostoro 3y ago
  Sounds like you want a self-checkout aisle for Apple Store products but its really just "IT Pro Line" or something, someone just charges you for what you want.
• gnicholas 3y ago
  If you want to buy an iPhone with minimal interaction, just use the website or app, for in store pickup. Takes no time at all! I will agree that it’s ridiculous for customers to have to wait for an appointment to buy a watch band, which I’ve seen. There were several employees standing around at the time, inexplicably.
  • XorNot 3y ago
    But what I want is to get a phone now. That's half the point of going to store - the place where the product is stocked.
    • somsak2 3y ago
      that's what in store pick up means -- you still get the phone right away.
      • XorNot 3y ago
        Do you get how insane this sounds as an experience though? I'm physically in the store, saying "just let me pay for your product so I can leave" and the default is to try and drag that interaction out? The existence of workarounds doesn't make it not stupid.
        • Gigachad 3y ago
          Not really. Apple is catering to the majority of consumers who don't arrive at the store with their exact purchase ready to go. They want to be guided and shown all the options. And if you are in the small % who don't want this. Either go to one of the other retail stores selling the product, or order it online for pickup or delivery.
          • gnicholas 3y ago
            I don’t always know for sure what I want when I go into an Apple Store, but I never want to wait 45 mins for an appt! Usually it comes down to 1-2 questions about storage, photo quality, screen tech, etc.
• brianwawok 3y ago
  I just bought on the website and stuff showed up. The stores are for moms and kids.
• meroes 3y ago
  While my dad shopped for one for my sister I had time to drink a coffee, find a Mother’s Day gift of chocolates, and do some work (the Apple Store outside Apple Park has all this).
• sq_ 3y ago
  Slight tangent to your tangent, but, after a poor experience last week, I'm really disappointed in how Apple handles specifically support in their stores. Historically, I've been able to just throw in a few little bits of "yup, I know how that works" so that their techs realize that I know what I'm talking about and let up with the patronizing assumptions about what I do and don't know. However, this time, when dealing with a newly-present heat issue during charging after that very store replaced the battery in the phone (so both a safety issue and one that would be warranty if it could be determined that it was caused by the repair), the tech just kept repeating that there was no way that their work could've caused it and going "these phones don't have a fan to cool them like our laptops". No matter what I said, I couldn't get them to have an actual discussion with me, so now I'm stuck waiting for a call from their safety support team since it's a heat issue. Hopefully I can get somewhere with the phone support people, but it's really disappointing that they don't train their techs in the stores to feel out what a customer knows or at least drop some of the "oh the user doesn't know anything" if customers are showing that they do, in fact, know things.
  • croes 3y ago
    What did you expect from the you-are-holding-it-wrong company?
  • type0 3y ago
    > Hopefully I can get somewhere with the phone support people, but it's really disappointing that they don't train their techs in the stores to feel out what a customer knows or at least drop some of the "oh the user doesn't know anything" if customers are showing that they do, in fact, know things. I think they have homogenized support to treat each user as equally non-technical, it's by design. Apple is like a sect, they need to have a strong grip on their users.
    • detourdog 3y ago
      Also there are plenty of people that know everything, except when they don't.
    • oefrha 3y ago
• type0 3y ago
  The Apple store experience is meant to be initializing. It's the mindset that they want their users to be in, otherwise you're not a typical Apple user.
• gizajob 3y ago
  Yeah absolutely. Every time I’ve been in my local Apple Store, I’ve basically been talked out of purchasing, or it becomes a huge hassle of upselling and extra worrying charges, and quite frankly, stupidity and lack of knowledge from the pseudo-smart staff. All they can do is toe the party line and what they’ve been trained to say and do, which kind of falls apart when faced with someone who has used Apple computers and products for some 25 years now. Most recently I walked in and basically said “I would just like to buy this phone right now” when I wanted an iPhone Pro Max in a rush, and the hassle that I got led to me walking out and going to John Lewis (uk department store) next door, where I said “I would like to buy an iPhone Pro Max” and had one in my hands 90 seconds later and was paying for it, at £60 cheaper than Apple. Apples pricing structure is also annoying nowadays too. As soon as one specs out and bumps a laptop, one suddenly finds that they may as well get a different laptop, ie once you bump up a MacBook Air, you may as well just buy a Pro, until all of a sudden your £999 purchase idea has turned into £3000 and a debate about AppleCare. Ballache.
  • amelius 3y ago
    Is this a new sales tactic, playing hard to get?
    • gizajob 3y ago
      I think part of my comment was broadly about their softly-softly approach to hard selling not actually working at all when someone simply walks in and says "I'd like to buy this right now"
    • ewchris 3y ago
      Back in 2009, buying a MBP, the salesman questioned why a CS student would want a mac over a pc. Luckily for him I wasn't considering his thoughts. I definitely didn't need that powerful of a computer and glad I switched to an air a few years later.
      • wredue 3y ago
        When I bought my windows XP computer, the salesman said “you really want a candy OS? Windows 98 is where it’s at” Yeah. How’d that turn out, guy?
• PDTao5Q2TMaTp7U 3y ago
  Buying online with in-store pickup is the best way to go these days. You can take your time evaluating which options you want int the comfort of your own home, and then be in and out of the store pretty quickly without worrying about delivery. That's what I did when I got my last phone, and will do that on every subsequent purchase.
• newZWhoDis 3y ago
  I worked Apple Retail many many moons ago. The senior manager once told me (manager -> senior manager -> store leader) “Your job is not to sell products, we could put all this inventory out there on a pallet with a credit card swiper and sell all of them. Your job is to sell attachments, primarily Apple Care”. Seriously, sales volume was a footnote. You are entirely judged on your attach rate for whatever it is corporate/your market is pushing, they start you part time and the only way up is to attach attach attach. No one wants to “just sell you a phone” because they know you’ll never get Apple Care and for every one of you they need to sell 4 other people on AC to get their numbers back up. Another fun note: At the time Apple Store revenue $/sq ft beat out jewelry stores. Great gig as a high school kid, made decent cash and a bunch of people used their tuition assistance. A large number of their employees though are what I call “retail lifers”, 25-30 year olds who are way in debt from a degree that didn’t work out or washed out of the corporate world and landed back in retail. They really don’t like younger employees who are actually going somewhere/realize it’s a temporary gig for kids and not a real career. Lots of alcoholism and drug abuse in that group.
  • wisty 3y ago
    If that's still the case, I can imagine why they'd want a customer who knows exactly what they want to walk to the store next door to get the item elsewhere. A customer who already knows exactly what configuration they want is probably going to be hard to sell AppleCare to.
• jojobas 3y ago
  They don't want a customer, they want a cult member.
• projektfu 3y ago
  Try buying a Mac in 1992. First you have to find a reseller. Then, they may think you're not seriously looking and ignore you. Some resellers are only by appointment. If you do look like you have money, they pick an option for you (Classic, LC, IIsi, IIci) and try to keep you in your lane. They upsell you a little on software and things like Kensington locks. Then you get to order it and it arrives a couple months later.
• victor106 3y ago
  From what I recall I’ve only had to do it with brand new product categories which I think is perfectly reasonable. I don’t mind the additional hand holding for a new category to make my myself familiar with it.
• gonzo41 3y ago
  Apple looks like a tech company, but it's really a luxury goods company. When you consider it through this lens the magic falls away and it's just selling status.
• jrnichols 3y ago
  > but I was forced to sit through an entire "fitting" with patronising explanation I have purchased several Apple Watches, iPhones, and other devices and not once have I ever been forced to sit through anything other than an employee going to the back to get what I purchased.
• BenFranklin100 3y ago
  This has not been my experience at all. I walk in (or make an appt beforehand for the sake of convenience), tell the what I want, plop down my credit card, and I am out of there in 20 minutes tops. Super smooth, professional experience.
  • dcormier 3y ago
    Twenty minutes sounds like a long time to walk in, get something you already know you want, pay, and walk out.
    • NBJack 3y ago
      Oof. Have to agree here. I admit I get impatient at times when it takes me more than 5 minutes to walk out of a Best Buy with an online order.
    • hnick 3y ago
      Longer than it took me to show up at the Chinese restaurant last night, decide on an order, pay, wait for them to cook the food, and walk out with it.
    • StillBored 3y ago
      Apple brings my snark out. After I went through all the BS to buy the base airpod for my kid, from the store, I then requested a printed receipt rather than give them my email addr. Apparently the apple store near my house rarely gives people paper receipts anymore. It took 10+ mins for the poor sales drone to try every table in the store before he found the one that could actually still print receipts. So I got to be the smart ass who said on the way out "goodness printing a receipt isn't that complex, i thought apple was a technology company."
• throw03172019 3y ago
  I’ve walked in and bought an iPhone, AirPods (Pro/Max), Apple Watch, MBP without any issues. In and out. Bay Area apple stores.
  • flybrand 3y ago
    Same in the Boston area.
• flybrand 3y ago
  I've felt the opposite. The last two purchases I walked in and bought exactly what I wanted on impulse because it was so easy. An iphone upgrade and a battery thereafter.
• willio58 3y ago
  I recently went in to do an exchange of a band I bought bundled with a watch and had to help the person helping me because their system didn’t understand it was a bundle and therefore had to be rung up differently. Same deal with them treating me like an 80 year old (I’m mid-20s). It’s almost like they need to be trained to recognize a person who doesn’t need a ton of support in their purchase. I would do better with self-checkout honestly.
• deleted 3y ago
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• tansan 3y ago
  Everything I went to buy something. I told them I want to get X so they sat me down for a few minutes then I checked out for everything without explanation of the product.
• AYBABTME 3y ago
  Every time I went to am Apple Store, I came in, said what I wanted, they brought it to me, I paid and then I left. 5min max, and as recently as a month ago. I'll guess you've been unlucky or your particular store is bad?
• asah 3y ago
  why not buy online for delivery? (honest question)
• dools 3y ago
  If you know just what you want you could a) buy online or b) buy it from any other retailer. The Apple Store is for people who want to speak to apple staff
• fomine3 3y ago
  I generally agree that buying at store is annoying, but Vision Pro is a fair case to make it store only. It needs adjustment.
• lemax 3y ago
  I too find the it patronizing to shop in-store – it seems the staff are trained to assume everyone has less knowledge of the products than they do – this might work in other consumer retail environments but not when you're selling "Pro" level products. The tone and efficiency of the retail experience is much better at a store like Adorama or B&H (NYC pro photo/video shops). Not to mention the irritating processes and many touchpoints of reaching the right person in an Apple store
  • mike_d 3y ago
    99% of their target audience does not live in Silicon Valley. Go to LA for example and you'll find creative professionals that need "pro" level gear but appreciate the white-glove Apple service of showing them around and answering questions for a high end purchase.
• tshaddox 3y ago
  Are these U.S. Apple stores? I’ve had a dozen or so purchases over the last few years at several Apple stores in the Bay Area and Los Angeles area and have never experienced anything remotely like this. Sometimes I’ve bought online and done in store pickup, other times I’ve just asked the employee for the exact item I wanted, and I’ve never experienced the slightest roadblock to an extremely fast checkout process. I would be surprised if this isn’t a very deliberately planned in-store experience, so I gotta wonder if it’s a regional thing or something.
• porknubbins 3y ago
  Apple stores used to feel kind of special in the early ipod/iphone era, almost like the employees were excited about the technology products they were selling. But the population of friendly and smart techy employees willing to work for retail wages in most American cities had to have always been tiny and with Apple’s growth it was exhausted long ago and employee quality has diluted at the same time as traffic has increased.
• medellin 3y ago
  Makes me glad that i have been buying everything from them online for the past 5 years. I think i would walk out if i had your experience
• m348e912 3y ago
  My last experience at a busy Apple Store was walking in, finding the iPod home I wanted to buy, scanning the UPC and serial code with my Apple Store app on my phone and clicking purchase then walking out without hassle or having to talk to a single person. This wont happen if you want to buy a phone or MacBook, but with accessories and things you can self-checkout, it’s pretty seamless.
• solidsnack9000 3y ago
  Generally, I buy the phones online and schedule pick up at the store. I go to the store for my appointment and ask the staff to apply the screen protector. It is a completely smooth and consistent experience.
• phendrenad2 3y ago
  You have to say the magic word https://xkcd.com/806/ https://xkcd.com/806/
  • cmg 3y ago
    For me, the "magic word" is my WWDC 2007 bag. Pretty much the only reason I keep it around these days.
• cmckn 3y ago
  Even when the product you want is out on a shelf, it’s annoying that there’s no line to get in to pay for it. If you need help, you just have to chase someone down. The whole experience feels chaotic and contrarian.
  • ljm 3y ago
    I feel like the embodiment of Confused Travolta when I'm holding an accessory and aimlessly trying to make contact with someone who isn't busy
• gcanyon 3y ago
  Strange -- none of my recent purchases at the Apple Store have involved more than your proposed ideal scenario. I wonder if it was chance, or...?
• yreg 3y ago
  When has this happened? I don't have an Apple Store in my country, but last time I bought Watch in Tokyo and an iPhone in NYC, I told them I know exactly what I want and the transaction was super quick. In NYC I was even impressed by it, because I just talked to the sales rep for the tiniest bit and a colleague came over and inconspicuously handed her a box with the phone mid-walk. I haven't noticed how she (the sales rep) signaled for it. It almost felt like buying drugs.
• globular-toast 3y ago
  It sounds like Apple is deeply upset that companies like Ferrari get to invite people to buy their products while theirs are just mass-produced, made in China consumables that anyone can buy.
• kazinator 3y ago
  > just another shopping chore Being forced into an appointment when you're ready to pay and know exactly what you want doesn't sound like a run-of-the-mill shopping chore. It oddly resembles a visit to a medical clinic (that is government subsidized, and accordingly fettered with bureaucratic rules that prevent you from just ordering the procedure you want).
• penjelly 3y ago
  maybe the goal isnt only to sell product but also to make the customer think apple is smart and the customer needs them indefinitely to navigate the smartphone world. I wonder how their morning genius briefings go and what their plan is when a customer approaches
  • rvnx 3y ago
    This is the main plan: A: Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome P: Probe politely to understand all the customer's needs P: Present a solution for the customer to take home today L: Listen for an resolve any issues or concerns E: End with a fond farewell and invitation to return
    • penjelly 3y ago
      thanks. seems like the geniuses in the original commenter might be getting stuck on the second P
• kaiwen1 3y ago
  I have bought a ton of Apple stuff for me and my family. Never had this issue. Walk in, buy, depart. Dead simple.
  • EnragedParrot 3y ago
    Same for me, I honestly think people are just trying to find things to complain about. I've shopped in the Apple store many times and it's been quick and easy, no hassling by the employees.
• tcnj 3y ago
  I recently had exactly the opposite experience - I went into an Apple Store (in the UK) wanting to buy a pencil and case for an iPad mini. The whole experience took less than 10 minutes, including trying out multiple case suggestions based on my preferences. I guess though that this does apply to accessories rather than one of their main product lineups though - although I have heard similar things from friends purchasing products at the same store. Perhaps it heavily depends on which store you go to?
• PheonixPharts 3y ago
  > Otherwise, just sell me the damn product! I find the store purchasing experience to be frustrating as well, but if you order online and it's in stock, every Apple store I've lived near will deliver it to you door in 2-4 hours. If you want to play with a product: go to the store, interact with it, and if you like it order it on your phone while you're there. It will be home not long after you are.
• deleted 3y ago
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• fennecfoxy 3y ago
  This is what the average person likes about Apple. This is why the company is worth so much money. The facade of exclusivity and perfection. Clean, white rooms with clean, smiling staff and shiny, perfect products. They're just phones, they're just laptops. But no, we get "what's a computer?" hurr durr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFy7RmVx-Rc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFy7RmVx-Rc
• ehutch79 3y ago
  There are definitely a substantial number of people who have no idea how to use a dial and need an explanation
• JohnFen 3y ago
  I don't buy Apple stuff so don't know anything about Apple stores -- but I've encountered it in other stores (usually ones that fancy themselves "high end" in some way). It drive me crazy. It's bad enough to have to talk to a salesman when I wasn't seeking one, it's even worse when I tell that salesperson that I'm ready to buy something specific and then they waste both of our time trying to do anything other than take my money and give me the thing. Those are stores I'm unlikely to return to. This is different than when I want a salesperson to explain things to me. In that case, yes, please shower me with attention as long as they're one of the ones that are actually helpful rather than just constantly trying to sell.
• nateb2022 3y ago
  I've been to my local Apple Store once, and it was a great experience. I was there to trade-in two M1 Macbook Air's. No associate was available however I got one after 5 minutes and they very quickly completed the trade-ins without any questions whatsoever, and wished me a great day. No attempt to sell/upsell me a product (I told them at the beginning I was going to purchase online) and they were very friendly.