Sales reps at Apple stores.

So as I said in another one of my posts, I am getting a new mac. I went to purchase one today. I had some questions for the kid that was helping me and my mom out. I usually don't get angry but this kid straight set me off. He knew little more than I did about the computers and tried to bluff pretty much every question I threw at him. All he had to do was politely ask if he could find someone with a bit more knowledge, "I'm new blah blah." My mom is the kind of person to ask for someone else to help us so she did. Basically, we got tweedle dee and tweedle dum. These kids had either hardly any knowledge about the hardware in the store or they're just very bad/rude salespersons. Needless to say, it threw me off. So, off to the next Apple store closest to us. I ran into the same situation. Not to the same caliber but it was pretty bad. I had questions this time about the 15" and the 17" and the practicality of portability blah blah. They basically were trying to sell me the 17 inch and I didn't get an ounce of sincerity out of them. I went for the 15". Turns out they were sold out. You think they would know if the store was sold out of a certain computer. I'm a patient individual, so I decided to not get the 17" and came home to order it online. My purpose of going into the store and ordering it was because I wanted hands on with the computers and advice from a representative. Oh well, good game. I'm sure not all employees/Apple stores have this sort of customer service, that would be silly to think so. Ok, sorry to rant for so long.

Focus: Has anyone else experience horrible customer service at an Apple store? Lets hear your stories?

Yes! Young people in Mac stores are only there to make Apple feel attract youth IMO. My advice is - talk to someone older. That doesn't always work though... If it doesn't, ask the internet! But remember to stay critical...

My Apple Store Bad Experience:
Newer iMac G5 model had just been released (sometime in 05...), so the older ones were going cheap. I called up one store, asked them to hold one for me because they were going very fast. They agreed to hold it for 24 hrs. I got there an hour later and they'd sold the last one. I wanted the older 20" screen (it was going cheaper than the new model 17" of the time), so I called up another... same deal, 24hrs, got there an hour later and they'd sold it by that time. Very angry at this stage and demanded they give me some sort of compensation for my wasted time and their obvious mistakes... best they could do was give me a free 256mb RAM upgrade -_-

Since then, I've dealt with Apple via the internet only when purchasing.

I went in last year towards the end of December. At that time they had some temp staff to help with the demand. Walked in, had a guy my age come over (another old hippie), and he was great - had all the answers to my questions regarding the hardware & software - questions related to differences of OS X, XP & Linux - absolutely the best experience and most knowledgeable person I have ever run into in a computer store. Walked out with my first two Mac's. Guess he didn't fit into the "Apple" image though, because he was gone after the seasonal rush. What a shame.

Have found a couple of knowledgeable sales staff in specialty home theater stores but even those are hit and miss. But, this is typical - it's always best to do your own research prior to going into the stores. That's really the only way you'll know whether someone is feeding you a line or not.

And if anyone from Apple is reading these forum's - young people in the store may be great for their enthusiasm and selling iPods, iPhones, and MB's to those that are on the edge of excitement already - but many of us spending the cash on MBP's, the 24" iMac's, and Mac Pro's want mature, knowledgeable, experienced individuals that can answer real world questions - just mho.

My experience buying my MBP was good, but I'm a researcher and usually have all my questions answered before I take the time going to the store. Despite that, I did have a couple deeper questions and the guy I talked to knew the answers.

The first couple times I went in for support I got guys that didn't have a clue and gave me the standard "run updates" answer. Thanks buddy, glad I took time to make an appointment and drive over! Just so you know how stupid that was, one problem I was having was my MBP would stay running with the LCD closed. Turned out I just needed to keep it plugged in. But "genius" didn't know that.

The last couple times in the store have been excellent. I've never really had a problem with the sales people. I think it may be because they don't work on commission, but they're not breathing down your neck right when you walk in and don't try to upsell you to pad their check.

Yup, Apple store staff and "hit and miss", which is too bad. Some are VERY knowledgable, and some are laughable. Happily for me, the day I walked in to test drive a PowerMac G5 last year I got one of the good ones. Older fellow, HUGELY knowledgable - did a wonderful sales and information job. I bought my Mac the next day!

Unfortunately, he told me that they don't get comp'd on sales. They have a quota, but it is used simply to measure performance, leading to the dismissal of those who don't produce, as opposed the reward of those who are high producers. Sort of the worst of all worlds. Too bad. The really good ones should be positively rewarded. The current policy must make it difficult to retain really good people.

We have a friend that wanted to switch from Windoze and we took her to the Apple Store in Laval.

And even though the store was full she got assistance from a female rep which wasn't pushy in her sale, knew a lot and when our friend asked specific questions about making music with a Mac (she is an advanced hobby musician) and it was outside her expertise, she got another rep to take over the discussion, who didn't push the sale either.

Our friend was so impressed, she came back the next weekend for a 20" iMac and plenty of peripherals and software. And she hasn't looked back since, she is very happy with the switch.

I find that the people in the USA are much better than the people in the UK. Somethings they didnt know, but they looked them up and got me the answers. In London they wait for you to ask for help before they ask you.

Not good!

I aplied for a job at my local apple store didn't get back =[. i'm young and very knowledgeablle. i can't spell for not though, I reckon i could make them money, talked one friend into buying a macbook, and my other mates wanting one.

I have often said recently that if I ever got laid off at work, I would see if I could get on at the local Apple store as a temporary job while I looked for a new permanent one. What fun - talking about and demonstrating Macs to people, plus the techno geek fun of playing with all the latest Apple products, all the time. If only you could make some SERIOUS money doing that - it would be a great job!

I found a very polite, older man, who insisted in talking to me before he would sell me my first apple computer. He asked basic questions what I was using it for, just to make sure I wasn't going to be wasting money. I told him for a little editing, a new OS, and to have a new experience with a new computer. I ended up buying one that day.

But I'm on my way out right now, I'm actually going to go pick up the iPhone.

It stinks that they have to make a quota, but it's understandable to keep people from getting a job there and then just hanging out and playing with the computers instead of doing their job.

Even so, I would feel much more comfortable walking into an Apple store to get honest sincere help than one of the big box stores where they'll tell you whatever you want to hear to make a sale on the most expensive POS they can get you to buy.