apple in-store ' one-to-one' is a rip-off

I was sold ( quiet beautifully, i might add) this extra ''one to one'' service for 'new mac owners' for £89 ( $150 give or take) for a years worth of one-to-one tuition on projects etc and such like.

It was easy to book one on line and I was really looking forward to it, only to arrive and be told that basically these sessions are for people who want to do 'projects' and are,pretty much mac veterans in terms of mac experience. essentially, this means you do your work ona mac, but in the store instead of the comfort of your own home.

I came prepared with a sd card of photos and music to work on a dvd slideshow project only to be turned away by some muppet who smugly informed me that it's for people who know how a mac works inside out and for groups to work together on a 'project'.

i told him that this wasn't mentioned at all when the service was sold to me, i was advised that i can have as many individual sessions as i needed and to design my own projects, and to effectivley 'migrate' from windows which is what i signed up to do.

he also told me that the'' service ''is non refundable.

I now have absloutley no idea what i have paid for and why i can't be refunded.

what an utter and complete rip off. PLEASE dont make the mistake i made and be sweet talked into a service thta offers nothing AT ALL.

to all switchers, im certain you will get all the help you need from kind folks in here and similar forums.

youre better off giving the rip off money for apple's one to one service to charity..it is utterly a blatant rip off.

Whomever you talked to is, quite frankly, full of bull. I'd be back speaking with the store manager. If you get no satisfaction, then try calling Apple, writing Apple, emailing Apple and any other thing you can think of.

Here is the Apple one to one page.

Just stay calm while you're there, but be firm and demand satisfaction.

That's the strangest one yet. I'm on my third year of one-to-one. I've had many, many sessions on a wide variety of subjects. The only session that was a bust was on Automator, which the young man assigned to me didn't understand much better than I did. Even that session was productive, though, as we worked together for the entire hour learning as much as we could. I think you just got really unlucky and wound up with the one rotten apple (pun intended) in the barrel. Try again!

It's a business people ...

More $$$ in selling the service than providing it.

yamawho said:

It's a business people ...

More $$$ in selling the service than providing it.

Click to expand...

Hey, that's WAY too cynical. Uncalled for, actually. Get One-to-One and take a few training sessions. I think you'll be impressed with the value.

Given the description of the service at Apple Retail Store - One to One I would think you have grounds to approach the local Trading Standards body to get them to delivere what is promised.

You just got a crappy rep.
Got back and try and get help from some one else and while your at it, make sure some one finds out about the previous tech. (management)

VegasGeorge said:

Hey, that's WAY too cynical. Uncalled for, actually. Get One-to-One and take a few training sessions. I think you'll be impressed with the value.

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i actually havbe to agree with the guy you say is cynical..i took off half a day, had to fight the christmnas shoppers for a parking spot, prepare memory cards etc for aproject thats confirmed online for some freak called chad to say i don't hae enough experience to be on the one to one program.

this would have actually put me off migrating to apple if i had known that this is how they treat people.

I'd get on the phone, call the manager of the store. Tell him/her that you were refused your one-to-one help when you showed up for your appointment.

My guess would be that this employee may no longer be an employee.

I believe the manager will want to know about this.

Don't wast your money. With a little time and patience, there isn't anything you can't figure out on your own. And if you can't, then there are hundreds of on-line tutorials out there, YouTube vids, etc.....As someone said - it is a business, and all the extras are how they make their $$$. Even the extended warranty is dubious at best (though I would not necessarily advise against that one - from my own experience, the extended service did come in handy.....though only one time since 1991).

Anyway - don't waste your time of $$ with the extra junk. I like Apple, but not enough to waste all my money there. There are more important things to do.

The one-to-one really depends on how different people enjoy learning and/or learn best.

Some folks enjoy and can figure things out on their own by reading/watching others and don't mind spending the time to learn on their own.

Some folks like that one-on-one help of having someone there to walk them through it the first time or two. It is also a big help in learning the proper terminology for a lot of things. You also can learn things that may have taken months before you run into them on your own.

I am personally in that first class. But, after having read what I estimate to be over 100,000 forum posts since I bought this MBP along with a whole bunch of blogs and other stuff, I am still reading and learning things I hadn't seen before.

If I lived a little closer to one of our local Apple stores, I would have taken advantage of this myself.

bluefox9er said:

i actually havbe to agree with the guy you say is cynical..i took off half a day, had to fight the christmnas shoppers for a parking spot, prepare memory cards etc for aproject thats confirmed online for some freak called chad to say i don't hae enough experience to be on the one to one program.

this would have actually put me off migrating to apple if i had known that this is how they treat people.

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[edited for politeness]

Clearly you're either only reading the posts you want to see, or just completely ignoring the message in other posts. This is not how the one-to-one service works. What was sold to you is what it is supposed to be. Go back to the Apple store. Get a manager. Tell them "Chad" is a big steaming pile of [candied apples]. Get your one to one session, maybe they'll give you two hours instead of one. This is not how apple treats their customers, however, like any business, one bad employee can give you a negative impression. However, why did you switch to Macs in the first place? Why do you like Apple? Remember these things, go back, explain nicely to them that you got ripped off at your last session by [lovely bundle of joy] Chad, and get another session.

It's a pretty simple solution. It sucks what happened the first time around, but if you tell them about it, explain nicely how cheated you feel and that this employee gave you a negative impression of Apple, I'm sure they'll find some way to make you feel better.

DarkestRitual said:

However, why did you switch to Macs in the first place? Why do you like Apple? Remember these things, go back, explain nicely to them that you got ripped off at your last session by jack-off Chad, and get another session.

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Hopefully Chad is not the manager ...

I wonder now many people that switch to Mac's actually go back to PC's soon after. My guess is after the bubble has burst, quite a few.

yamawho said:

Hopefully Chad is not the manager ...

I wonder now many people that switch to Mac's actually go back to PC's soon after. My guess is after the bubble has burst, quite a few.

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I would guess there are many more of us that continue to use multiple computers and operating systems than there are those that only have one machine and decide to go back to windows after spending a year or more with OS X.

As of now I'm a one OS man, with a couple flings here and there to check things out. I might end up buying a cheap set of pretty good PC hardware and just wipe the drive that comes in the machine and boot whatever linux distribution is the best at that time. There is no chance of Windows taking me from OS X... linux, maybe.

As an enthusiast I use linux and windows and on a regular basis.
Although I use my mini everyday, I still also use windows 7 for gaming and linux for personal functions. I "needed" to buy a mini like I need a hole in a head but there you go, I bought one anyway ... for the fun of it.

Getting back to the issue of the OP, I don't know what kind of person you are or how much stress you are willing to endure over this but I would go back and get what I paid for or get a refund.

If you meet resistance, showing your displeasure in a store full of customers will be in your favour.

yamawho said:

If you meet resistance, showing your displeasure in a store full of customers will be in your favour.

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No, you'll just end up looking like "that" guy... the adult who is complaining and whining and throwing a tantrum like a child.

If you meet resistance at the store level, then you take it further by contacting the regional or district office.
You don't cause a scene in public.

D3v1L80Y said:

No, you'll just end up looking like "that" guy... the adult who is complaining and whining and throwing a tantrum like a child.

If you meet resistance at the store level, then you take it further by contacting the regional or district office.
You don't cause a scene in public.

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I didn't say a tantrum ...

You can take it up a level but you run the risk of being labelled ...

This dilemma has been on my mind all day. I could quiet easily pretend that nothing has happened and re-book another session and take it form there, but I really feel somehwat upset that i have to go back to that store again , an embarassment that isn't my fault in the slightest. i will ask for a refund and do as someone suggested, and thats learn the mac through trial and error, firums and you tube etc.

this has left a very bad taste in my mouth.

You can play dumb and go back and ask what this plan entitles you to ... better still call and ask.