Yesterday was not my day.

I go to local Apple store to buy a new power cord for my 11" Mac Air. Store is packed with customers being impressed by new Apple products and sales associates.

I see my new Apple power cord and with Visa card in hand I try to flag down an Apple associate to make the purchase and be on our way. GF is diabetic and has to eat very soon.

But Apple people are busy......they tell me.

So, I wait and wait and wait.

Finally I replaced the power cord on the shelf and go to leave.

I went to Best Buy, paid the same amount for the cord, $79+tax and was out of the store in 5 minutes.

My major gripe with the Apple Store is the wait, even if you have an appointment.

You would think that with the prices they charge for stuff, they could have enough sales people to handle the volume. Or maybe get efficient and have one or two dedicated people to just ring up the sale instead of making you wait, with item in hand, while the sales people are tied up with customers who want to discuss every detail, every possible option.

Amazon prime woulda saved you the trouble unless you were in dire need that day.

I haven't bought much stuff at the Apple Store lately but I found it best to go in non-peak hours if you can. When they first open is usually best around here.

If you go to the particular store's website and look at the upcoming genius bar appointments you can get a feel for the demand for that time of week/day.

Fridays, Saturdays, Sunday- forgetaboutit.

I made an appointment with the "Geniuses" at the local Apple Store, had to wait for a salesman to be done with the hot chicks who walked in off the street the same time I got there. I don't go there anymore.

Haven't been to a store in years. Do they still have that app where you can pick something of the shelf, use the app to pay and just leave? No need to talk to anyone?

 
The wait was not bad for my appointment, but getting the phone back out of the "back" took 90 minutes, for what was supposed to be a 30 minute job. If I had not spoke up, I might have been there another hour or so.
 

Yes the wait can get really annoying.

It’s amazing to think back that the “Apple Store” 20 years ago was a sad, little-visited corner of a CompUSA with a couple dusty Macs.

Smug, grungy, pseudo-intellectually superior kids doing their own thing and allowing us to buy their products if we are willing to wait for them to do so. Thanks, I'll go somewhere else. My wife knows better than to ask me to go there these days.

The wait generally sucks but I don’t find their customer service to be bad. A small Apple store at any given time will have more customers in it then 2-3 Best Buy’s combined on most days. I find it to be pretty damn good. I have had them go above and beyond and replace things out of warranty and such without batting an eye. Something other stores wouldn’t even think of doing.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Yes the wait can get really annoying.

It’s amazing to think back that the “Apple Store” 20 years ago was a sad, little-visited corner of a CompUSA with a couple dusty Macs.

Yeah a trillion dollars changes things a bit

I remember when John Sculley was hired to manage Apple. There was talk of making it a software-only company. Thank God for Steve Jobs!

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Yes the wait can get really annoying.

It’s amazing to think back that the “Apple Store” 20 years ago was a sad, little-visited corner of a CompUSA with a couple dusty Macs.

That was CompUSA outside Philadelphia around 2003 when I bought my first Mac, a G3 900 laptop. Did upgrades from Classic 9 to 10.4 OS. Plastic case which became brittle with age. Kept it 9 years and then gave it away to two kids who eventually became MAC IPad users.

On the other side of the fence...

This is Ross Park Mall in Mccandless PA. You are seeing the Microsoft kiosk which is a little ways from the Apple Store. They are evidently trying to set up something for the Surface display.

Notice what the female employee is using...

I view the apple store a place for gawkers and tire kickers...if i actually need anything I order it online

LMAO, those sad knock-off “Microsoft Stores” are a hoot! In King of Prussia, PA we have the second largest mall in the entire USA with a HUGE Apple Store. Was there on Black Friday a couple years ago and you could not get into the Apple Store, it was mobbed. 50 yards away the sad sad Microsoft Store was EMPTY. I think I saw a tumbleweed blow past...

quote:

Originally posted by Rinehart:
On the other side of the fence...

This is Ross Park Mall in Mccandless PA. You are seeing the Microsoft kiosk which is a little ways from the Apple Store. They are evidently trying to set up something for the Surface display.

Notice what the female employee is using...

quote:

Originally posted by Kevmo:
I view the apple store a place for gawkers and tire kickers...if i actually need anything I order it online

Yup.

Just like a gun store, really.