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My little trip to the Apple store...

Adokimus

Adokimus

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 2, 2007
842
3
Boston, MA
Ok, just had a funny comment on Apple store employees. I took a little trip to the cambridgeside Apple store in Boston as I needed to pick something up, but while I am there I can never resist checking out the MBP section. Still saving up and all, but they are beautiful to look at. Of course, when you stop in front of a computer for more than 30 seconds, you suddenly have an emo friend with thick black glasses, pre-pubescent facial hair, and an Apple store employee T-shirt. I really don't mean that in a negative way, as we all fit our own molds, but they're becoming more stereotypical than the misunderstood musicians at my 1,000 local starbucks. Ah, I digress. Back to the story...

So, I tell him that I'm just looking, but he really wants to be helpful and seems like a nice enough guy, so I decide to make some small talk. And though I knew he would have no actual information, I thought he might like to chat or speculate, so I asked when he thought they would put an LED screen in the 17" MBP...

"Uhhhh...." he says. "ummm.... I.. wha?"

He goes on...

"err, I don... they make those?"

Yes, I explain. They do make those. Apple has them in the 15" MBP, they offer benefits such as being brighter, better on battery life, more accurate colors, and so on.

"In the 15"? Um, uhhhh... really? Wha?"

By now you think I'm being mean. You think that I'm overexaggerating his response. I AM NOT. The reason I thought this was so funny was not because he didn't know anything about LED screens, it was because he really had all of those long pauses in his response. Everything he said ended in an upward inflection. His head tilted to the side like a dog does when it's figuring something out. His eyes went blank. He kept saying "wha...". He was slowly backing away. It was nuts. I finally ended it by telling him I didn't have any questions and he bolted.

I'm not saying that I'm a genius (pardon the pun), nor do I know an incredible amount about hardware. And I don't expect a floor employee at apple or sony or any chain store to know as much as the people here (macrumors), and that's why I bring most of my real questions to this forum. It's just that this guy didn't do his homework at all. Why do I need help from someone who is just going to read me what is on the sign next to the machine?? Yes, I already know the benefits of OS X! That seems to be the only thing they know to tell me. The last guy I had a real question for tried to google the answer on a nearby iMac (without success), which is what I had done before I even went to the store! This is just at the surface of my negative experiences with apple store employees. Is this just a Boston store problem?

What the poop?

Ado
 
Meh, not all are like that. I went in to buy a pair of iPod headphone (after a few years of use... they kind of stopped working)... and then began to look at the MacBooks and an older guy (probably 35) began telling me about the new updates. He seemed to know what he was talking about. The store was crowded so I could only talk for a few minutes though. This was in the Las Vegas store.
 
I would keep in mind that the majority of the people working there at the moment are just seasonal newbs.
 
I have a somewhat similar experience... except the guy I talked to is a personal friend of mine who is trying to get me a job at the Apple store. I walk into the store and see him there so I go over and chat with him for a while, he proceeds to introduce me to a co-worker followed by "he knows a lot about macs, but not as much as me."

In the meantime we have been discussing the possibility of trading my 1st gen MBP for his 1st gen MB plus some other goodies. I tell him I'm not so sure because I would rather get one of the newer MacBooks with the Santa Rosa and LED screen. He then gives a puzzled look so I try to explain what I am talking about without using "technical" terms. I begin to see my explanations are going way over his head so I just say nevermind.

I guess I find it funny because apparently he is stationed to work in the MacBook area of the store and claims to have a superior knowledge of Apple computers.
 
I also had a similar experience. I was on the phone with applecare and had a problem with the sleep indicator light. Turns out, he didn't know what an ambient light sensor was...

Anyway, this is why I want to work for Apple, an apple store, or reseller: to make up for all of the n00bs who can't do their job correctly.... plus I love computers. /sigh I knew more than the iMac specialist...:apple:
 
deggs37 said:
I have a somewhat similar experience... except the guy I talked to is a personal friend of mine who is trying to get me a job at the Apple store. I walk into the store and see him there so I go over and chat with him for a while, he proceeds to introduce me to a co-worker followed by "he knows a lot about macs, but not as much as me."

In the meantime we have been discussing the possibility of trading my 1st gen MBP for his 1st gen MB plus some other goodies. I tell him I'm not so sure because I would rather get one of the newer MacBooks with the Santa Rosa and LED screen. He then gives a puzzled look so I try to explain what I am talking about without using "technical" terms. I begin to see my explanations are going way over his head so I just say nevermind.

I guess I find it funny because apparently he is stationed to work in the MacBook area of the store and claims to have a superior knowledge of Apple computers.
Click to expand...

If you really are talking MacBook, then you should know that the new MacBooks are
A: Not technically Santa Rosa (but that is just a little issue)
B: Do not have LED backlit screens
 
TheStu said:
If you really are talking MacBook, then you should know that the new MacBooks are
A: Not technically Santa Rosa (but that is just a little issue)
B: Do not have LED backlit screens
Click to expand...

I would say that you can call the MB "Santa Rosa," as it is now their common name, even though they may not fit all of intel's requirements (um, did intel turbo memory last even on PCs?). But yeah, I was also going to add that the MB isn't LED backlit.

Regardless, this isn't technical stuff hidden in hundreds of pages of a manual. Apple only has five computer lines. Five. Please learn the basics if you try to sell them to me. The apple store employees I have met are even more clueless than the employees I've dealt with at Best Buy. What's worse, is that Apple trains them NOT to just tell you when they don't know an answer. It's like a fish out of water, and they do more harm then good. Sometimes I wish they would just stop floundering around so I could find a computer and post my question here.

Any other bad experiences?
 
.....off topic.....well....kind of....


anyone know how much those guys make per hour at an apple store?
 
ha ha
It's the same everywhere.
I'll ask one of my friend to apply who's apparently jobless for a job. He might just make it. Will ask for a huge amount of kickback if he does get it.
 
Seriously. I don't know what criteria they pick. I've had two interviews, one follow up interview and haven't made it yet.

I went to the San Francisco store, they seemed a bit more clued up than they do here in Blighty, but then again they'd have to I suppose.

All the employees I've seen working in the non-flagship UK stores are absolute dialtones. I can think of one guy in my local store who's at all clued in.
 
Next time you run into this wheezer dude, tell him you dub him Count Fenring, and to read up on Dune (Herbert).
 
You are asking way too many questions...

Ghz?

GB?

LED screens?

Huh? Waaahhh? Me Mac user no nut thing a boot computer! I just want access Bookface!

Seriously, with the kind of specifications Macs generally have in comparison to the competition you should have gotten a clue from it already. If anything Mac users are poor at math too, but I digress.
 
I heard an Apple employee (at the Rgt Street store) tell a customer who asked specifically that Office:Mac 04 has Access. Of course I told the guy once the employee had stopped talking to him, but he overheard and looked at me a bit harshly. They've also got many other things wrong...
 
Did you really just call them "LED screens"? Maybe that is part of the confusion. Of course they are not LED screens, they are still LCD screens. The backlight is composed of LED's now, but the screens themselves are still LCD.
 
tobyg said:
Did you really just call them "LED screens"? Maybe that is part of the confusion. Of course they are not LED screens, they are still LCD screens. The backlight is composed of LED's now, but the screens themselves are still LCD.
Click to expand...

I think if he'd used "LED backlit LCD screen" in a sentence, the assistant would either start crying, or soil himself. Or both.
 
The stores these days are basically A & F outlets, but with computers instead of clothes. Form over function. (An attempt at) style over substance. Don't go there for knowledge; don't even go there to buy stuff. Just go there to get your MBP replaced after you see your yellow screen.
 
Well, at least he didn't jump down your throat like an Apple guy did to me while at CompUSA as I am trying to become a 1st time Mac owner and asked him about Bootcamp.

He pretty much degraded me for even wanting the option and never really answered my question, leaving me pissed off.
 
Try Bestbuy sometime...coming from a former Supervisor and now infrequent consumer.
 
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