We’ve all, at some time or another, wondered about what exactly goes on behind the scenes in an Apple Store. Are there super-secret Apple products just lying about? Do they build towers out of iPhone boxes and then knock them down (hence, the recent supply shortage)? Or is it—as many have whispered—staffed entirely by human-looking robots?
An anonymous informant claiming to be an Apple Store employee sent The Consumerist a tantalizing missive called “7 Confessions of an Apple Mac Specialist”, which they have shared with the world at large. Some of these apocalyptic revelations we were already aware of—for example, that Apple Store employees have no knowledge of future products—while others confirmed things that we’d only conjectured.
If you have a return outside of the return policy we will most likely take care of you. If it’s sealed we’ll take it back, and open, if you speak to a manager and plead your case, they will most likely take care of you no matter what.
Much of it more or less jibes with what I’ve heard from other, reputable sources, but it’s still an interesting look into the life at the Apple Store, not to mention likely a valuable resource if you’re considering working there (#3 particularly).
However, I was disappointed about the prodigious lack of information on robots. Sounds like HBO won’t be picking up Apple Store Confessions for its late-night lineup anytime soon.
Ha ha revenge! I'm going to go that Apple store I hate and buy an iPod accessory, then rate them all 1s. That'll show 'em!
My experience is that Apple customer support treats you like a pariah if you don't have Apple Care. If you do have Apple Care on even one machine you'll get better service in general. For desktop it's not a sure thing, but I would never purchase a portable without buying AppleCare. You're pretty much guaranteed that you'll need to send in a portable once or twice. I think we send ours in an average of four times. And, I don't think we own a portable we haven't sent in once.
On number 6, I disagree. Its been my experience that AppleCare is worth it. My PB never needed nor did my girlfriends G5 iMac. However my 5G iPod blew its hard drive weeks after its initial warranty expired. I called Apple and explained the problem, no questions asked. Got a new one in the mail the next day.
I agree with one of the posters on the site, ProCare is a good bargain if you use your Mac professionally and live near an Apple Store. (Besides, if you can afford a MacPro for video editing...)
Really whining about full time... its retail, same story everywhere. Hell I work for UPS and been part time for 13 years now.
And as for #1, Once that info gets around some store managers are going to be pissed at the amount of negative email.
FYI, I bought an iMac last week. I took it in today (within the 14 day period) and was NOT charged the restocking fee.