I used to work at a John Lewis in the UK. I had a good reputatuion as the "Apple bloke" and even the local PC world would send customers to John Lewis to see me....
Now let me tell you something about the retail industry which often gets forgotten in this consumer orientated, trading standards infected, politically correct, compensation culture, watchdog monitored, nanny state soup or society is in......
Sales people are busy. And human. Standing on your feet for 8-9 hour days, when you're busy the floor manager forgets to send you for your only lunch break, you have a sea of people around you. A sea of people asking the same stupid questions cause they cant be arsed to ring the helpline like they should. Who expect you to know everything about every program, computer and peripheral ever sold, worldwide. Who come in brandishing copies of the "Which report" to quote from while they ignore everything you say.
If you have to go out the back to get stock, on the way back, you can't make eye contact.... rude? yes. But If you make eye contact with a customer, they assume you will serve them (reason? there is none.). And after you've tried smiling politely, but then had to head back to the customer who you've fetched the stock for, you get a torrent of mutterings from disgruntled people.....
So, they moan if you make eye contact and smile, they moan if you dont...... but they dont interrupt you if you ignore them, so thats what we do. Eyes down, keep moving.
When you turn around, if its busy, you have to turn and serve the most vocal and the first customer you see. If you have finished with a customer and people see this, they EXPECT you to serve them. Standing around waiting for someone to serve you is quite frankly rude on your part too.
I'm bummed for you about the dead pixels, never good when you have spent so much money. On the other hand, what did you expect him to do... Apple guidelines ARE guidelines, and the staff HAVE to be seen to follow them.
About nobody coming over to serve you.... suck it up, and go and try asking for some help. Waiting for a sales person to 'serve' is quite common, dont get me wrong, but it really doesn't make anyone want to talk to you. Half the time we get screamed at for interrupting people's quiet shopping, so what are people to do.
If you want a shop which takes a Mac back cause you picked the wrong screen size, or a new model comes out, or you dont like the colour, then try shopping in a John Lewis next time you are in the UK....
....the staff are all annoyed at a company wasting hundreds of thousand of pounds a year in returns of hardware with no fault, then getting told its all because the endless reams of paperwork weren't filled in properly. A company who can't hold down the most knowledgable staff, instead opting for those with a happy smile, and with managers with no I.T training who come from a department selling spoons and detergent.
So thats what you get, great service, managers who give you exactly what you want, refunds for any reason...... Just expect to buy a PC cause the staff dont know what a Mac is, and expect them to be angry and pissed all the time!!
When I shop, I want to approach a salesperson when I am ready, ask some questions, get good answers, and then buy a machine.
I dont expect to walk around, huff and puff, and have a chat about the weather with a pensioner with a shiny badge and a neat tie......
each to his own I guess.
/end rant
