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179 Comments
- freakin42, on 10/30/2007, -12/+135No doubt about it, a trip to the Apple store is a completely different experience than shopping at ANY other brand name store, and it's no accident.
- nestcrw, on 10/30/2007, -6/+92From someone who worked for Apple, went through their training, I can say that it is completely different than anything else. This guy hits it on the head.
- brianbennett, on 10/23/2007, -4/+82This was an interesting article, but it seemed like it got cut short... and seems almost excessively flattering.
- AstroZombie138, on 10/23/2007, -3/+64I've got a feeling that "Two-year undercover project" really means "Journalism isn't paying the rent", but its still a good story.
- macamatition, on 10/26/2007, -11/+55Man, I wish Apple would hire people under 18. A few months back When I bought my MacBook Pro I knew more about it then the person trying to sell it to me who also had no clue about any thing in Leopard. Some people at Apple stores are really cool, and love their work and are proud serve the man in the mock turtle neck. Then there's the other people who don't really care about Apple.
- Spuy767, on 10/23/2007, -0/+32Agreed, hate apple or not, I rather like not being treated like a second class citizen.
- dnields, on 10/22/2007, -0/+22And because of those NDA's, that is why it appeared that the associate "had no clue about any thing in Leopard"
10.5 still isn't out yet, and until it is nobody who works for Apple is going to say anything about it that isn't already publicly available on their site. - slevit1, on 10/22/2007, -0/+21Well Apple definitely is a unique place to work. It's not so much working as it is hanging out and talking to customers. It was really a very easy, non-stressful job. I was used to a totally different retail environment where you were rewarded for just selling the most. At Apple, I sold (by far) more than anyone in the store and had very good attach rates (they're big on selling computers with AppleCare, ProCare, and .Mac), but they would still call me into the office and reprimand me for not being enough of a team player. I thought this was very odd, coming from another store where the highest sales would get you basically anything you asked for!
But, employees had fun, liked each other, and the store (like every apple store) does very well. - TylerL82, on 10/23/2007, -1/+21Can't enforce an NDA if the signer's under 18.
Took Apple about 6 months before they realized that mistake. - dansmeek, on 10/22/2007, -2/+21I was expecting more from this article. For having spent quite a few months researching and being undercover to write about the unique experience, there sure wasn't much information that any consumer who has gone to the apple store does not know.
- Vazelos, on 10/22/2007, -0/+17I wonder why other companies do not copy this mentality when it comes to retail staff, as much as I always wondered why companies do not copy the Google mentality when it comes to an office environment.
- MonkeyFarts, on 10/22/2007, -2/+19Well in a way he's right, but I think it would have been better worded like this:
Apple stores fall under the retail category. Therefore, their _goal_ is the same: to sell products and make money. However, they go about achieving their goals in a different way than many other retail stores, which is why your experience at an Apple store feels different. - bekind, on 10/22/2007, -0/+16Rule #1: Don't talk about internal apple information!
You're fired!
SJ - Spuy767, on 10/23/2007, -10/+25Hmmm, I bet 95% of the Apple users I talk to would know the difference, but I just repaired the computer of a gentleman who has been, "Using windows for 15+ years," and he kept talking about how many millibars of RAM he had. It cuts both ways my friend. Both ways.
- inactive, on 10/23/2007, -1/+16I am not an Apple fan, but it seems to me they are focusing on selling the customer what he needs as much as what he wants. Giving the customer a product is easy, but Apple is giving them one they will be satisfied with. maybe they sell less the first time, but the customer will come back again and again. Smart.
- turpenine, on 10/24/2007, -13/+27umm, no?
he just said it was a different experience and you said it wasn't, but it was a different experience. sorry, but you fail. - Spuy767, on 10/22/2007, -4/+18I'm happy to have finally met the ultimate authority on the average computer user. Enlighten me more please.
- inactive, on 10/22/2007, -1/+14Not everyone is a computer nerd, even some people who happen to like Apple and would make good employees with some training.
At least they did teach it to him. How many other stores dont bother to teach their employees *****? - AriaStar, on 10/22/2007, -0/+12This isn't so much an article on HOW the employees are trained as much as an article on the training being different.
- Billiam627, on 10/22/2007, -4/+16pretty interesting for me seeing as how I start my training on Saturday
- RexStJames, on 10/22/2007, -0/+11"In fact I don't game that much" ... says the guy with the Half Life 2 icon...
- iamcool, on 10/22/2007, -1/+11One big difference is having knowledgeable techs at the genius bar. When I was buying my ipod nano I asked, 'Can I use my firewire wall charger to charge the nano? It's USB but the pin connectors are the same'. Thanks to the tech at the apple store I knew I could. While that isn't a deeply technical question, having access to obscure technical questions I might have makes all the difference to me.
- MacParrot, on 10/24/2007, -3/+13You fail at uberness. That would be "you're an ignorant fanboy. You're a" and so on. He had a comment based on what was said earlier and therefore it was topical and part of the discussion. Instead of just throwing out stupid crap like "fanboy" when someone says something you disagree with, why not actually attempt to add something to the discussion?
At the three relatively close Apple stores near where I live, I've always had a pleasant experience, found knowledgeable people willing to discuss pros and cons to whatever I came into the store for. I've even had customers chime in with suggestions to solve a particular problem. Of course it won't be the same for everyone and I'm sure Apple has managed to hire some jerks as well as good people, I just haven't run into them. - yllabianbitpipe, on 10/23/2007, -1/+10Sometimes I go to a store just to browse products and learn about them - I'm not intending to buy anything. That's when I personally find it really annoying when some cheesy salesman tries a "hard sell". I'm not going to buy anything, and you can't convince me to do so. It makes the store look desperate and then I wonder why are they so desperate to sell stuff? Do the products suck? A real turn off.
The other thing that annoys me is when I do intend to buy something, and there's no salesperson around available to ring anything up. Nobody's behind the register - the salespeople are wandering around aimlessly trying to sell stuff to people who don't want anything. There are many stores that seem terminally understaffed with cashiers.
Apple Stores, while not perfect, have a good balance of friendly selling. They always seem to have too many employees which is good, but they aren't super aggressive, trying to push product. And I've never had a problem going up to the register and seeing nobody there ready to take my money. - niklastj, on 10/22/2007, -0/+8Dude. You think he spent two years working on that article? "Alex Frankel is the author of Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee, which will be published by Collins this month"
- psygnisfive, on 10/22/2007, -1/+8When I was trained at apple, ca. May 2005, we actually went away for two full days to be trained by a manager from one of the stores, with a group of people from the surrounding stores. We had fun. It built community. We were a FAMILY.
Then, when Apple switched over to the new training methods in an attempt to cut costs, new hires never got the opportunity to bond with one another like we did. It was visible in the store culture. Where once we were a family, now we were a bunch of vindictive competitive low-class wanks.
Meeeemories... - NSResponder, on 10/23/2007, -1/+8"It may appear different but it's basically the same."
Nope. Check the results: Apple's retail operation sells more per square foot than any other chain in the world. That success comes from Apple's attention to detail.
-jcr - Spuy767, on 10/22/2007, -0/+7Service is what sells these days and the more successful companies realize it. The companies that try to screw the consumer to scrape up pennies here and there are the ones who invariably fail.
- Jawsh91, on 10/22/2007, -1/+8Wow. That's the third comment you've made about "Apple fanbots". Stfu already, please.
- Cymrubeats, on 10/22/2007, -3/+10Not an apple fan in the least, but i'd certainly love it if ALL the stores i walked into, were devoid of bored looking people who would rather be in bed, or elsewhere. It doesn't take much to smile and be polite/helpful, some of the people you are dealing with have had a hell of a bad day, you just don't know it because they have no intention of taking it out on you, since it's not your fault.
- blw1138, on 10/23/2007, -5/+12Last time I checked, normal retail stores don't have places dedicated to teaching you how to use your equipment or fix them if there was a problem. It's not all about selling.
- wto605, on 10/22/2007, -1/+7A note for best buy: "When employees become sharers of information, instead of sellers of products, customers respond."
Stop screwing up GeekSquad - WiskyDrinker, on 10/22/2007, -3/+9I don't think he was speaking literally. I think he simply meant, ya they were trained on all the technical stuff.. but I'm not going to get in to specifics..
- alacava, on 10/22/2007, -1/+7Not everyone has an Apple Store in their area.
- garf12, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6this is just a teaser for his book "Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee"
- flipmeat, on 10/26/2007, -1/+6Let's see, mentioning: an internal web site, commenting on management, giving a store number, snarking the stores, naming an executive, and mentioning another internal web site. If you hadn't quit you'd be punted for sure. You sound whiny and unfit to represent the brand.
- bblades, on 10/22/2007, -0/+5I have always had pleasant conversations with Apple retail employees. One time a cashier graduated from the same college I went to, and we got along very well. Most retail stores have mutants circulating around claiming to be employees. I always get a nasty attitude, and that is why I never go into a circuit city or a best buy. I have no problem walking into an Apple store, in fact it is always fun.
- jketterman, on 10/22/2007, -0/+5Still doesn't change the fact that it was an undercover reporter. It's not the word's fault that you give it a negative connotation.
- MarcelLionheart, on 10/26/2007, -0/+5I don't think the guy cares about his Apple job; he was researching for a book.
- Boondoggle, on 10/22/2007, -2/+7The difference is that they sell a ton of product. Sony has a store within a block of the apple store here in Seattle. It is a ***** ghost town. The apple store is ALWAYS packed, with iPods and computers going out the door all the time.
But I guess you're right, they're all doing the same thing.
DICK. - Salgat, on 10/22/2007, -4/+9You're talking about exceptions to the rule. Averages are designed to eliminate that my friend.
- chrisxkelley, on 10/22/2007, -0/+5I believe he's saying that he wished all stores had people like those at the apple stores, and that the description there is the "norm" for other stores.
- CraigJ, on 10/22/2007, -0/+5My Gen 3 that I got in 2003 is still working fine, albeit with only about 4 hours of battery life. The only reason you would need to replace your iPod yearly is if you abuse it.
- EmperorAwesome, on 10/23/2007, -2/+7With a 90%+ market share, there are bound to be a multitude of idiots using windows machines.
What ubergeek pointed out is that apple makes "friendly" compruders for people who don't know how to use compruders. - tehpwnrate, on 10/22/2007, -1/+6I'm hoping that he was using that figuratively, in that he was taught more technical knowledge afterwards. I'm hoping. It's hard to resist the Apple fanboy joke/observation.
- calvarez, on 10/22/2007, -0/+5Would that be "nerdvana?"
- mlostracco, on 10/24/2007, -0/+4I was having lotsa trouble with a reseller product (Belkin) that I bought at the Toronto Eaton Centre Apple Store, and I couldn't get Belkin to help me. I was at the end of my rope with frustration, and even though it was technically a beef between me and Belkin, one of the Apple Store employees (Ian Rowe—see, he made me remember his name) went out of his way to try and solve the problem for me.
He not only got people on the phone with me at Belkin, but he put me in touch with another Apple employee to take care of me while he was on a few days off, and followed up with me a few times after that to see if everything was working out and if progress was made. It was STELLAR customer service and totally unexpected, and best of all, it was done without me feeling like I was being sold anything or being irrational about my requests. Hmm...I should go back there and thank the guy, now that I think of it.
The ***** part is that the product still didn't work and Belkin wants me to pay postage/courier/customs/duties to return it. WTF. - alacava, on 10/22/2007, -0/+4A lot of the people who worked at apple are not computer geeks. When I worked there, was got the run down of computer terms since some have a music editing background and others had a background in the business end of things.
- alacava, on 10/22/2007, -1/+5Apple's rule is "If it not on the website (apple.com) it's only a rumor". I worked there for a couple months and it is different then any job I every had. One thing about apple is everyone has their area of specialty, I for one was a Mac Specialist, but did was seem more as the before the Genius person. We had people how know the ins and outs of Final Cut. If the person you are talking to doesn't know the answer nicely ask if there is someone who does. When I started at apple, the one thing every employee asked me was what my specialty was.
- TravisS, on 10/22/2007, -1/+5I have a PowerMac G3 350Mhz from 1999, still run fine, even installed Tiger, find me a computer from 1999 that will run Vista (or even XP) without a problem.
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