[Airway]

I am in the Montgomery Mall, Bethesda, MD Apple store waiting for the genius bar. I've been waiting 40 minutes so far, just to return an iPod that isn't working. They had one guy working for awhile, and now there are 2. Lots of sales people in cute red shirts, although not much being sold. I haven't seen any actual computers sold in the 40 minutes I've been here waiting.

The computer signup for the genius bar is not working so the sign ups are on a yellow pad, and the rest of the service seems to be about as good.

These service people are no longer called "the genius bar," now it's the "concierge." Neither title works very well.

One of the redshirts just tried to use the computer signin, and was surprized it wasn't working. Evidently, they don't tell these people much at all about how to be helpful.

There are two huge screens over the genius bar that display information that is no more relevant than those freeway signs that say TEST all day long.

I suspect these guys were previously employed working along a freeway somewhere picking up ltrash; they move about as quickly.

This is definitely the weakest point of Apple's entirely delivery system.

All the marketing hype in the world doesn't change the fact that this store is understaffed by undertrained personnel, and that even the smallest problem has to be handled through a very thin stream.

Steve should get some of his engineering people looking at customer service issues. I'm going to go look at mp3 players at Walmart.

[torifile]

So you registered just to post this? Interesting.... I've had to wait quite some time myself at the Genius Bar, but it's not their fault their busy. I've often thought that the needs to be a separate "bar" for iPod issues so that us "real" Mac users don't have to wait so long. But I'm pretty sure your experience is a rare one - I've never heard someone complain about "undertrained" workers at the Apple Store.

(BTW, lucky for you Walmart now sells iPods. )

[chucker]

Originally Posted by torifile I've often thought that the needs to be a separate "bar" for iPod issues so that us "real" Mac users don't have to wait so long.

Which is why two flagship stores now have an "iPod bar".

[torifile]

Originally Posted by chucker Which is why two flagship stores now have an "iPod bar".

Dammit Steve! That was MY idea!!!!11

That's smart. I hope it extends to my local Apple Store.

[Brad]

Congratulations! You're a statistic!

[Airway]

The one thing that Apple stores have in abundance are computers with internet access, so logging on to this board (that I read fairly frequently), registering a user name, and initiating a thread of discussion only took a few minutes. And I waited for an hour for their service people.

The problem with the service counters is that every problem is approached in the exact same way: a genius must handle it. In my case the problem was an iPod that failed during the warranty period; it took the genius about 2 minutes to determine that my description of the problem was accurate, and to give me a new iPod.

I waited an hour for that to happen.

During that hour I saw a genius focus his attention on just one 12 in Powerbook--without solving the problem. Another genius was toting the virtues of a freeware add on to iPhoto--that he had never used. With three people working they only cared for 6 people in the hour, and most problems were solved by filling out a piece of paper and sending the offending hardware into Apple.

If that is the case--that most problems are solved by referring them on--why not try and sort the problems into things that really do require the attention of a genius, and others which can be resolved by sales people.

An iPod genius bar is a good idea, but why not take a minute at the beginning of the transaction and find out what the problem is, and then route it accordingly?

It doesn't take a genius to see how that would speed things up.

[PKIDelirium]

I agree, a seperate iPod bar is a very good idea. Compared to the high reliability of Apple computer products, the iPods have abundant problems, a lot of them caused by abuse.

That's why I had to wait 30 minutes to have my iBook declared a dead hard drive and shipped off to Tennessee to a repair center. Next time (which will probably be soon because my iBook's screen is messing up and I found what seems to be damage caused during the hard drive replacement...) I'm gonna make the Genius Bar revservation from home before I leave. Assuming it works, that is a few weeks ago I had to get my iPod replaced, and they were having o use paper pads to record appointments.

[torifile]

You know, you could just CALL Applecare to get support. Then you wouldn't have to wait in line at all.

I'm really glad they take their time to talk to people. It's a *good* thing that they care. You're sounding like you're upset they took their time while helping people. That actually sounds like good customer service to me.

I guess there are problems when their queue system is broken, as it appears to have been. But when it's working, it's nice. You sign up (you can do it from HOME if you want - I have and it's great), get an estimated time and go about your business. If you want to wait, you can. If you want to walk around the mall, you can. So it takes some time to get waited on. At least you know they'll help.

[alcimedes]

Yeah, but if you have 9 people in line, and #2 has a 45 min. problem, and the rest have 3 minute problems, you need to address the people with the 3 minute needs first. Triage 101.

Give the person with the longer problem/wait something for their trouble ($10 apple gift card or whatever) and get the other 8 people moving.

In the end, you have 8 people who are happier and serviced faster, and one person who had to wait a bit longer but is most likely happy to get the gift card.

[PKIDelirium]

Does AppleCare only send you shipping boxes for iPods, or could they save me a drive to the Apple Store for my iBook problemo too?

[torifile]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium Does AppleCare only send you shipping boxes for iPods, or could they save me a drive to the Apple Store for my iBook problemo too?

They do computers too. They'll ship you a box overnight, you ship it back overnight and often you'll get your computer back the day after they receive it. When you call, they'll give you the line that "charges may apply" because if it's a software problem, you could be billed. If you do a thorough job troubleshooting and determine it's hardware, you won't be charged a penny if you're still under warranty.

[PKIDelirium]

On phone with Apple right now.

I explained it all to Tech Support, they transferred me to a Dispatch Specialist to get my box.

Specialist didn't have a clue, so I re explained it and am on hold right now.

[5 Minutes Pass]

They say they are short staffed tonight and will call me back in just a few minutes.

On the tech now... explaining it AGAIN.... might have to reboot now, so posting this now...

[PKIDelirium]

It's all in order. They're overnighting me a box with an overnight shipping label to send it back. I'm finishing backing up my drive right now. He assured me it WILL be fixed!

[intlplby]

how about adding a Alcohol Bar... you know where you can sip some Glenlivet or a Grand Marnier while you wait.....make it uber classy

the bartenders would wear white tuxedos to match the iMacs

[LudwigVan]

Originally Posted by intlplby how about adding a Alcohol Bar... you know where you can sip some Glenlivet or a Grand Marnier while you wait.....make it uber classy the bartenders would wear white tuxedos to match the iMacs

The odds are better it'll be a Bottled Water Bar.

[AWR]

Originally Posted by intlplby how about adding a Alcohol Bar... you know where you can sip some Glenlivet or a Grand Marnier while you wait.....make it uber classy the bartenders would wear white tuxedos to match the iMacs

Brad's comment was as well, if not a bit curt. But high marks for style. I have never been in an Apple Store IN MY LIFE. Lucky, I tell myself; I would go hog-wild surrounded by all those goodies.

[MyNameIsEarl]

The Soho Apple Store in NYC has a seperate iPod bar and people who only work on iPod's(not computer savvy? I don't know) when the iPod bar is not open, i.e. early in the morning, the Genius Bar opens at 7AM.

[bb823]

Salt Lake just got a new Apple Store. I'm going crazy trying to find some time to get up there. It's in a super-nice shopping center. Man, I'm drooling right now thinking about it...

Hopefully I won't ever have to deal with the genius bar though!

[atomicbartbeans]

I've always found the genius bar at the Syracuse Apple store very helpful and conscientious. It's never under-staffed or over-crowded, and the techies there really know their stuff.

[BarracksSi]

Wait, I can tell what's going on.

Ah, here's your problem:

Originally Posted by Airway I am in the Montgomery Mall, Bethesda, MD ...

Not surprising that they suck. Have you tried the Clarendon, Tyson's, or Pentagon City stores? The Clarendon is probably the least busy of those three.

[Airway]

Actually, I just went back to where I bought the darn thing, and I purposely went in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day.

I've had generally good service from Apple stores--outstanding in some cases.

But piling all the customer service issues into one big lump and calling it a genius bar is just not working.

It was even more frustrating that the reason that I was there was to return a shuffle afflicted with the dreaded yellow light-green light death rattle--a well documented problem affecting the shuffle, and known to the entire iPod/Mac community--except, evidently, to the genius salesperson who insisted that to get my under-warranty shuffle repaired I would have to wait for an hour for the genius bar. (And their much-vaulted "sign up before you leave home" option wasn't working and had been replaced by a highly sophisticated "see-if-you-can-find-the-yellow-pad" strategy.)

Apple stores don't suck, generally. My question remains, "how muchdo their service counters suck?"

[BarracksSi]

It depends, really.

It was much easier when it wasn't so busy. The problem now is that if you're not within earshot when they get to your name, you lose your spot. It gets old standing around in an Apple store with nothing to do (even with all the gear waiting to be fondled), so people sometimes just leave to get something to eat, shop elsewhere, or whatever else to kill time while waiting for that "projected 1-1/2 hour wait" to pass.

Then, when they're not in the store and their name is called, they get skipped. Okay, fine, but when four or five people get skipped, that cuts maybe an hour off the projected wait time, which means that anyone else who's stepped out for a few is suddenly screwed as well -- they're not guessing that they should return in two minutes rather than half an hour.

It's a noble concept, and when it works it's great, but that's highly dependent on having small crowds and badass, quick-on-their-feet, well-trained geniuses. A few of these guys don't seem to know any more than I do, and some haven't yet gotten a handle on how to talk to the public.

Now, any of them are better than some of the countless yahoos I see anywhere else in town. They'd better get their act together, though, and get it right.