Apple Store, is the dream coming to an end ?

[serkan]

Hello to MacRumors community,

I wanted to share my thoughts which I finalized yesterday with my visit to Emeryville,CA Apple Store. As a newly constructed store everything is beatiful as it suppose to be but there are a lot of problem that caught my eye from the beggining. I would like to make some comparisons from the beggining of the Apple Store's to today.

To begin with, Demo machines. When Apple used to produce new products we used to go to store as soon as possible to try them out, make up our minds, talk about financing or buy them. Yesterday, I go to the store to try our the new MBP PRO. What happened was funny rather than tragic. There were only 2 models avalabile and they were not even attendant by anyone. So I started to make a test by meyself to see the differences between years and new leaderships. For example, when I bought my Early 2011 MBP Pro from store the moment I approached the machines, someone caught my attention and we started chatting inm less then a minute. Nobody at the door was welcoming me to the store and never look at me again, the employees were catching the customers, not customers trying to catch employees. Yesterday, I had to say 'Excuse Me' for 4 times and waited 10 minutes just to be attendant by an employee which she was in a hurry and basically dont even want to talk to me. ( I dont look like a homeless person by the way, but also I am not an Asian customer who buys 4 iPhone 7's in the same time, that must be the reason)

After my encounter with the employee of the month, I decided to take my experiment to the new level and wanted to charge my phone. I plugged in at one of the counters where the iPhones stand and started watching people while playing with my phone. One particular situation caught my eye. 3 Asian people were buying iPhone 7 Plus with 128 GB ( they were loud so I heard everything) and their specialist was soooo bored that he wanted to go to sleep rather than selling the products. No eye contact, no smiling, no sign of interest at all.

It could be my mistake that I must act too picky that there are still better employees but there is clrearly no sign of enthusiasm anymore. People come to work at Apple Store's just because, not because they wanted to work for Apple like in the beggining.

Secondly, the prodcuts. When you produce mass amouts of products with amazing store designs and hunderds of employees and millions of customers, dont you think that its just shame that there are two MBP Pro's at store and no one even wants to look at them ? What happened to Apple Store's that they transfered from customer experience to iPhone service store ? Why I cant go to an Apple Store and talk to a Genius about technology and Apple anymore ?

My visits are getting shorter and shorter everytime and becoming more and more unpleasant. This is what the old leadership didnt left Apple to become.

As I have read the news and comments all over these boards about the problems of the stores, the funny part is that they dont think that there is a problem existing.

I dont like to point fingers but Angela is not a success with Apple Stores, she is a failure. Rather than spending time with empowering women is business life and kick out the men conferences and LGBT parades, she needs to go watch and watch her stores.

We are used to different personalities working at Apple Stores but I am sorry that I dont want a smelly hippie guy in a skirt to talk to me anymore. I want a real genius, not an LGBT parade everyday at store.

Steve said in one of his videos that Apple is a product company thats why we dont need salesman. What happened that company to situation right now ? Apple is oppessed becoming more and more politically correct that the product line cant even keep up with the Apple Store demos. I want to be able to see the new products available at store in demos not the 2014 or 2015 machines at demo, I want to be able to talk to a person who know more than me and keep up a discussion with my rather than what happened in Castro street last weekend.

Apple should remember, what made Apple Store , Apple Store.

Best,
Serkan

 

[AidenShaw]

I want a real genius, not an LGBT parade everyday at store.

Is a real genius who is gay OK?

I'm not sure how you draw the conclusion that Apple's support for civil/human rights is responsible for a decline in the store experience.

 

[serkan]

Is a real genius who is gay OK?

I'm not sure how you draw the conclusion that Apple's support for civil/human rights is responsible for a decline in the store experience.

I dont care that they are gay or transexual or they consider their gender as cream cheese, but when I go to the store to ask about Virtualization on a new mac, I dont someone who is willing to talk about their parade rather than macs. I meant that, when I go Apple Stores I dont feel like I am in a tech store but I feel like I am in a politically correct phone shop.

 

[AidenShaw]

I dont care that they are gay or transexual or they consider their gender as cream cheese, but when I go to the store to ask about Virtualization on a new mac, I dont someone who is willing to talk about their parade rather than macs. I meant that, when I go Apple Stores I dont feel like I am in a tech store but I feel like I am in a politically correct phone shop.

If that's what you're seeing, it does seem that Apple is losing its magic, or its dream.

It's not professional to chat about social things when a customer is coming to try to find out information.

I wonder how much Apple's stock will drop if it loses the "cool factor" - if young people stop thinking of Apple as "cool". South of $50?

 

[serkan]

If that's what you're seeing, it does seem that Apple is losing its magic, or its dream.

It's not professional to chat about social things when a customer is coming to try to find out information.

I wonder how much Apple's stock will drop if it loses the "cool factor" - if young people stop thinking of Apple as "cool". South of $50?

I wonder that too. I am following stocks daily and there are still huge instituons holding shares and all forecasts show positive (not much though), I watch Nasdaq and StockCharts mostly and my own calculations.

I don't believe that the stocks will show negative on the upcoming years but I am certain that it will fall eventually. I feel like its going to be like IBM, Dell and other computer companies and someone will replace them. This is not gonna happen soon though, maybe 5 years ?

 

[AidenShaw]

I wonder that too. I am following stocks daily and there are still huge instituons holding shares and all forecasts show positive (not much though), I watch Nasdaq and StockCharts mostly and my own calculations.

I don't believe that the stocks will show negative on the upcoming years but I am certain that it will fall eventually. I feel like its going to be like IBM, Dell and other computer companies and someone will replace them. This is not gonna happen soon though, maybe 5 years ?

In my opinion, Apple stock is over-exposed to "good will" valuation. Apple customers like to pay more than market rate to get the glowing Apple logo on their laptops. (Oops, that's been dropped for a black Apple.) Many Iphone cases have cutouts so the the half-eaten Apple can be seen. If this brand loyalty erodes, the stock will quickly fall from its current level.

The Apple watch seems to be a non-success. The latest MacBook Pros are widely reviewed as "more money for less value, but thinner"). The Mac Pro is moribund.

The Cuatro Amigos in Cupertino should stop thinking about how to decorate their new offices in the spaceship campus, and go back to focussing on the core businesses. (And one recent story said that the Apple car has been cancelled - I need to Yahoo! for that news.)

 

[Solomani]

Far from my experiences at my local Apple Store. I never cared what they looked like, nor did I ever take notice of their sexual orientation, LGBT or whatever. I'm not judgmental. I went to the Apple Store in the past month. My iPhone got replaced after the Touch ID stopped working on home button (not sure if it was because of a recent mild drop to the floor). I made an appointment earlier in the day, came to the Apple Store in the evening, and before closing time my original iPhone (under warranty) was replaced with a new one, same model. No hassle, no problems. Mine was a clear-cut technical (hardware) problem and they handled it professionally.

I could not ask for better in terms of so-called 'Customer Satisfaction'.

It's unfortunate you had the experience in your local Store that you had. You seem to be generalizing, stereotyping, that all the hundreds of Stores and thousands of employees (across many nations) are the same way.

 

[serkan]

Far from my experiences at my local Apple Store. I never cared what they looked like, nor did I ever take notice of their sexual orientation, LGBT or whatever. I'm not judgmental. I went to the Apple Store in the past month. My iPhone got replaced after the Touch ID stopped working on home button (not sure if it was because of a recent mild drop to the floor). I made an appointment earlier in the day, came to the Apple Store in the evening, and before closing time my original iPhone (under warranty) was replaced with a new one, same model. No hassle, no problems. Mine was a clear-cut technical (hardware) problem and they handled it professionally.

I could not ask for better in terms of so-called 'Customer Satisfaction'.

It's unfortunate you had the experience in your local Store that you had. You seem to be generalizing, stereotyping, that all the hundreds of Stores and thousands of employees (across many nations) are the same way.

Besides the unsatisfactory, (marketed) diverse employees, what I was more focused was the new MacBook Pro's. Huge store with 2 demos and there is no one to come help out or try to answer my questions and everybody seem to be distracted with something else. Unfortunately, I had this same feeling with other stores in other countries.

Also, when we look at the leadership of the current retail team, I believe there is the problem.

 

[I7guy]

It could be my mistake that I must act too picky that there are still better employees but there is clrearly no sign of enthusiasm anymore. People come to work at Apple Store's just because, not because they wanted to work for Apple like in the beggining

I like going into my local apple to browse, when I'm at the mall, waiting for my wife, and I find it an enjoyable experience.

But your entire post smacks of some elitism. I'm not sure what you expect when you walk into an apple store, whether it's for service, sales or support. The apple of past is gone, thank goodness, and this is apple of 2016. If you walk into an apple store expecting a throw-back in time to 2007, it's not going to happen.