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March 3, 2008

stores

Smooth moves: Apple salesperson ignores woman trying to buy Mac

Posted Mar. 3, ’08, 9:30 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Stores

Bellevue WALadies, if you’re trawling the Apple Store for potential dates, you may want to avoid the staff at the Bellevue, WA store. One male sales associate there allegedly totally ignored Anjela, instead communicating entirely with her husband—this, despite the fact the MacBook Air in question was for her. She wrote into the Consumerist to complain:

Well, first of all, Bill DID NOT LOOK AT ME. He did not greet me. He greeted my husband, introduced himself, and shook his hand… and completely ignored me. He didn’t ask my name, what we were there to buy, or who the new computer was for. He did not make eye contact. He simply behaved as though I were not there, and steered my husband through the crowded store — ignoring me and leaving me behind.
From what I can tell from the rest of the story, Bill sounds like a pretty crappy salesman period; we’re thrilled to see that he’s expanded his repertoire to include misogyny. Dude, we totally need more women using Macs, not fewer. Thanks for messing up the chances for the rest of us. Thanks a lot.

Then again, we are talking Bellevue here, which, in my experience, I would classify as a soulless pit of despair. No offense.


16 Comments

Anthony said:

This may or may not be a factual occurrence. Sounds like someone on a mission. I have no idea if it is true or not, but I am sure there is probably another side to this story. Maybe someone feels a bit too sensitive and is a crusader? We can't tell from this angle. There are some really strange people in the world... a lot of them are letter writers.

March 3, 2008 9:55 AM
moskojo Author Profile Page said:

This also happened to me and my adult daughter a few months ago at the Apple store in Roosevelt Field, NY. She needed a new MacBook and I was along for advice. While the salesman did ask her questions about her computing needs, at the end of the sale he thanked me and shook my hand, ignoring her, even though she bought it wirh her credit card.

March 3, 2008 9:56 AM
fletcher Author Profile Page said:

If we're complaining about Apple Stores near Seattle I had the worst time at the University Village store this weekend.

The optical drive in my MacBook Pro scratches a series of concentric rings in DVDs or CDs which are played or recorded in it. I was sent to the Apple Store to get it replaced.

The "genius" burned a test disc and of course it didn't show a bad ring, but it actually takes a while for the ring to get really bad. I had a test CD-R I made on Friday which was severely scratched.

Rather than taking my word for it that my machine was damaged the "genius" made me site there for about an hour while he tried different things, then decided not to fix my machine!

I've owned a PowerBook since '95. I've burned a lot of discs in various portables. I've never had one ruin a disc until this one. It is pretty clearly broken.

I went outside and arranged to get a mailer so I can send the machine into Apple to get it fixed. Probably the last time I go into an Apple Store for a repair. It is a lot more convenient to get a mailer and do it that way.

March 3, 2008 10:00 AM
PT said:

I wish they would ignore me when I go into the Apple store. I just want to play with the internet.

March 3, 2008 10:08 AM
Goobimama said:

Can't really blame the guy. Most of these women don't know head nor tail about computers. How is he supposed to know that Anjela is the odd genius? I'm not saying women are inferior in any way, nothing like that. It's just that they usually have other interests. Guys are gadget oriented.

So the salesman might find it useless to explain things to someone who's going to forget all about what was said a minute later. If he explains the stuff to the husband, he is more likely to remember all of that and feed it in short doses to the wife later on. Sure, there are exceptions. I mean, most girls would know more about computers than my two brothers ;)

March 3, 2008 10:16 AM
Jacqui Cheng said:

I find this to be a pretty common occurrence at Apple Stores, actually. Unless I go in completely alone, I am never addressed directly in any way, whatsoever.

March 3, 2008 10:16 AM
Frank said:

If this is true, Anjela should be mad at her husband for letting that clerk get away with it! What happened to chivalry?

March 3, 2008 10:22 AM
Kris said:

OK, I went to a PC World in London and eneded up helping a female customer choosing a USB harddrive because a male salesperson had no idea what the USB drive was, blurbbed something and went away. I'm not making this up. But I'm also not on a mission broadcasting it all over the www.

Or shall I go on on how I had to explain to a salesperson that there were actually different types of PCI cards and that they were actually producing combo USB/FireWire cards? Believe or not, it happened in the same store...

March 3, 2008 10:47 AM
Dori Author Profile Page said:

LOL--this is NEWS???

The letter writer says that she's 29 years old. Boy, does she have an unpleasant surprise waiting for her--the only tech buyers that get ignored more than women in their twenties are women in their thirties. And forties even more so. And so on.

Me? If I want to get attention in any tech store, my only recourse is to bring my 19 year old son with me.

Macworld, wanna do an expose' of retail outlets? I'd be happy to do mystery shopping for you!

March 3, 2008 10:53 AM
Dan Moren Author Profile Page said:

@Goobimama Er, yeah, you can blame the guy. There's a difference between talking over someone's head and ignoring them completely. And not all guys are gadget oriented either, as you point out. Apple's products excel because they appeal to users who aren't "geniuses."

The point is this: customers should be treated with respect no matter their gender, race, religion, etc. I doubt this is a universal problem in stores (Apple or otherwise), but it's just basic politeness.

March 3, 2008 11:09 AM
Paul said:

When my wife and I go shopping for house related stuff, like furniture and bathroom tiles and so on, the sales staff always ignore me and talk directly to her.

That's ok with me though ... I'm only along to sign the credit card slip.

March 3, 2008 11:35 AM
Nooks said:

@Goob and Dori.

Oh boy. I guess the fact that I am a 40-something woman, despite the fact that I've been using Macs since system 8, and have actually maintained Mac labs before makes me an "Odd Genius"?

Holy Stereotyping, Mac-Man! I also get ignored when I go into Parts shops, and I know more about cars than a lot of men. Maybe people like Goobimama who accept random generalizations and don't attempt to change their mindset are the problem.....

March 3, 2008 11:36 AM
Dave said:

Well, it might not necessarily be just women either. When I was in one of the Orlando, Florida stores, I was passed by time after time as I stood there *looking* like I needed assistance. Maybe it was because I was near the 3rd party clock radios instead of near an Apple product, but it's no excuse. I finally had to latch on like a leech waiting for the sales person to be done with the people they're helping at the moment (like you have to do at Home Depot to get help).

March 3, 2008 12:48 PM
Eduardo said:

Wow at least their presence was acknowledge. I personally hate interacting with the Apple staff. Much so that I do my actual ordering via Apple's website. I only step into the store to see the item in vivo.

I have yet to have a positive experience with Apple Retail store staff and I'm a 35 y/o male.

March 3, 2008 1:01 PM
exnihilo said:

He should have at least greeted her. However, the husband could have just said, "Actually, it's my wife who is shopping," or she could have said something herself. But instead, it's like she was testing the guy to see if he would pay any attention to her. There's a reason why we have the expression, "The squeeky wheel gets the oil." She just stood there quietly and expected him to pay attention to her. It's unfortunate because now this guy is probably out of a job.

March 3, 2008 4:27 PM
Scooter said:

Why waste time talking to a salesperson in an Apple Store for anything at all? Everything you need to know about the products is online, usually in much more detail than the "salesperson" knows. Plus, with the MBA, there aren't a whole lot of options among which to choose, so it would have been easier to just order it online. Sure, go to the Store to check out the item physically, but go home and place the order and get a nice e-mail with order and tracking numbers, etc. and wait for the UPS guy. Who wants to be carrying a $2000 computer unopened in a box on a London subway (oops - TUBE!) with everyone looking at you anyway?

March 3, 2008 9:04 PM

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