OK, I have to admit, I am an Apple fan. I love the design and usability of their products, the integration of software and hardware across multiple devices, and the attention to giving me the tools I need to do my job(s). But I am wondering if the company's arrogance is getting a little out of hand, with the potential risk of them alienating the core-group of devotees that supported them through those days at $4/share.
A recent example heightened this impression. I had just taken delivery of some nice, shiny new Apple equipment (I now need a bigger desk) and realized that I needed new speakers. A quick walk through my local Best Buy and Staples brought home to me how bad the design of speakers is, even today. Lots of black plastic and exposed components. Awful speaker shapes - absolutely zero taste. Nothing there for me. But hey, I remembered, my local Apple store carried speakers. So I drove down to Corte Madera to take a look. As usual, the store was seething with people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and profiles. But the number of staff in their trademark blue shirts was also disturbingly large. How many staff are assigned to Apple stores? Is there a science behind it? It seems to go against the spartan image that Steve Jobs always tried to maintain.
As I made my elbow-bumping way to the back of the store, I noticed a group of gray-haired women, sitting in a circle, learning how to use their iPads from a blue-shirted "genius." I love that about the Apple Store. But when I got to the section where speakers were located, I was quickly disappointed; not by the selection of speakers, but by what happened next.
As I justified a $500 purchase for some very nice speakers, another blue-shirted sales associate came in to view on my right, closely followed by a female customer. Without being asked, I stood to one side to give them room to view the same selection that I was looking at. But that, apparently, was not enough. The young sales associate gave me a less than appreciative look and asked to "excuse him." Hmmm. OK, I thought. He is just trying to do his job and deliver good customer service. So I excused him and stood off to one side, giving up all the space in front of the speaker bay to blue shirted sales dude and his customer. It turned out that she was shopping for some very small speakers for her son. The discussion went back and forth for several minutes and I basically stood to one side staring in to space, waiting to reclaim my spot and make a final decision on those $500 speakers. A glance over to the sales guy was met with a sneering glance right back. Great. The conversation between he and the customer went on, and on, and on. And, eventually, she made her selection: a $50 pair of miniature speakers in pink (for a son?).
OK, I thought, now he will take her off to pay for her purchase. But no. Rather than let me back in to continue my shopping, sales dude removed his mobile point of sale device from his belt, took the woman's credit card, and started on the transaction while standing right where he had been for the past 8 minutes. Hating to be rude, I asked the customer, and the sales guy, if I could "please get back in there, now" to which he responded with a dismissive grunt, and gave me barely any room to get back to what I was doing. I ALMOST said "are you freaking kidding me?" (or something like that) but decided, instead, to leave the $500 speakers where they were and make my purchase from B&H PhotoVideo, thus also avoiding sales tax (which I will, of course, include on my next tax returns).
It seems that Apple continues to hire staff for its stores in quite significant numbers. With rising numbers comes lower quality and this is becoming more apparent in situations such as this one. What added to the arrogance claim is that when I visited the Apple.com web site to find a way to submit comments on this experience, despite spending a lot of time looking for the right contact information, there was none to be found. It really is very difficult to complain about Apple.
The products continue to be very good - great. But the consumer-oriented side of the organization wants to appeal to the masses - good for the bottom line but I do not want to be shopping at an Apple version of Walmart. On-line purchases, despite the shipping delay, are my updated preference. read more