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Apple Retail Stores Get an 'A' |
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 In the August '04 issue of Computer Shopper, they rate the top retail tech stores, and guess who comes out on top? No, it's not CompUSA, it's actually the Apple Store! That's right, the Apple Store got an overall rating of A to beat out the likes of Best Buy (C+), Circuit City (B), CompUSA (C), Fry's Electronics (B), Office Depot (B-), and Staples (C+).
Now, we actually thought Apple wouldn't get that high a rating due to some natural PC bigotry, and and that they'd cite facts like the prices were too high, the place was too clean and organized, the workers smelled too nice, that sort of thing. Actually, it turns out that the only bad thing they had to say was that it's "Too bad they only sell Macs". It's nice to see Apple getting some well-deserved props here, and not just from the usual Apple bandwagon!
And while the "salesman" at the Apple Store was able to answer all of Computer Shopper's technical questions with aplomb, most of the other stores didn't do so well in this area. At Circuit City, when asked if USB and FireWire were the same thing, the response was, "No...USB is for streaming audio only; FireWire is for streaming both audio and video." To top that off, the guy said Windows XP Professional is faster than Windows XP Home. (For those who haven't sullied their hands with Windows, XP Pro isn't any faster, it basically just has higher encryption.) When pressed on just how much faster XP Pro is than XP Home, the salesman said, completely seriously, "About 3 seconds". At Fry's, the Computer Shopper reviewers were given the wrong advice on what media Kodak digital cameras use.
To be fair, they did only talk to one salesperson at each store. Plus, if you don't need to (or want to) talk to any salespeople, CompUSA and Fry's Electronics are still decent places to shop.
Me, I'll still do most of my shopping online, although going into a CompUSA is always a good thing to do once in a while just to see how the other half lives. Besides, in doing so, you might have the opportunity to talk to someone about the merits of a Mac and possibly create a Mac adder or switcher. And you can always return back home to an Apple Store to get some RDF and see how things really should be.
Although, I really do wish they sold some PC's in the Apple Store. Just for comparison, mind you. Maybe stick some way in the back, that way newbies browse through the store, in awe of the beautiful Macs, and then they step into the PC section - a haphazard disarray of disjointed computer displays, a twisted mockery of the Macs before them. Half the machines are frozen, all of them ugly, and for ambience we have gothic Vincent Price music playing, there are cobwebs, skeletons, and all sorts of Spanish Inquisition torture machinery.
Ok, that may be taking things a bit far, but it should serve to make a distinction in people's minds, no? |
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July 6 2004, 12:04 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Da_John-like_Creature |
7/6/04, 12:28 PM EDT |
mmmm....spanish torture machinery
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| rlhamon |
7/6/04, 10:42 PM EDT |
I always like it when I shop in a computer store and ask a question and the sales person responds with " if I answered that question sir... I will then have to kill you"
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| sweetjimmyhugs |
7/6/04, 11:50 PM EDT |
rlhamon, you forgot to complete what was really said to you. What the Sales Person actually said to you was "If I answered that question sir... I will then have to kill you for being the ugliest troll look alike that I have ever seen. Get away from me... you smell like cabbage!"
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| Huh? |
7/7/04, 12:42 PM EDT |
I've been in Apple stores all over the country and have had nothing but poor service and people who don't know their own products.
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7/7/04, 2:45 PM EDT |
we give the Apple stores a C+
we hate retail but go to the stores as a pilgimage (we already know the products and prices and the genius bar is too busy and has trouble with arcane questions, if you can get their time (5 min max)) and the inventory and knowledge of accessories is tiny !!??
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| Genius |
7/7/04, 7:01 PM EDT |
Bluntly, the only way you can get poor service at an Apple store is to walk in with the intent to be miffed no matter what is said. Having dealt with people whose hardware has, for whatever reason, failed, I'm used to irate, upset, panicked, and generally stressed customers, but most at least felt they were taken care of. The only exception are people with a major chip on their shoulders determined to be pissy no matter how far we bend over backwards to serve y'all.
Have a nice day.
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| Jonahan |
7/8/04, 8:30 AM EDT |
Er.... yeah .... I don't see how anyone can rate the Apple Stores below any of the ones mentioned in the article. There may be incidents of bad service in a few cases, but come on, we're comparing to frickin CompUSA here!
Apple Stores get A++++++++ just like my eBay rating!
Hey, if Big Steve happens to be reading this, can you put an Apple Store in Lima Ohio? Seriously...
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| Adwoa |
7/8/04, 4:32 PM EDT |
The Apple store in Arlington, VA (Clarendon) has very helpful, knowledgeable, and nice staff... I bought my 12 inch Powerbook and 15GB IPod there and routinely return there for all of my needs.
I have been in CompUSA stores where I have actually heard a sales rep tell a customer (a friend of mine) that her Compaq Presario could only take 64MB of memory... This is SIMPLE information... No one should be able to sell a computer without knowing that memory specs are based on the largest memory available at the TIME the computer was built and is subject to change... eesh
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| okcalla |
7/11/04, 11:27 PM EDT |
"...they'd cite facts like the prices were too high, the place was too clean and organized, the workers smelled too nice..."
who was sniffing the apple store employees??
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| Jonahan |
7/12/04, 9:15 AM EDT |
Hey, Steve runs a very tight ship and every worker has to maintain a certain pheromone level. Plus or minus too much and they're out on the street, buddy. Now those CompUSA guys .... phew ... you'd think they'd take a shower at SOME point.
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| nhmacusr |
7/13/04, 11:38 AM EDT |
Up here in the great white north it isn't so bad. At our CompUSA (Nashua, NH) we actually have an Apple rep that is there almost everyday. He is a great guy and very helpful (he doesn't work for CompUSA-he works for Apple).
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