Apple "genius" speaks out

The Mac Geniuses in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Emeryville CA are all cool.

You know, having been an Assistant Manager in the retail industry (translation: all responsibility, no authority) I can agree that a lot of customer service jobs are pretty thankless.

However, the one and only time I ever used a "Genius Bar" it was a complete disaster. I came in with a very simple problem - my Superdrive on my iMac was failing (burn failures, eject trouble, read problems, overheating) and I needed a replacement.

Whether or not the above interviewee feels its fine to expect to be "very late" for your appointment, I sat at the counter for over an hour after my appointment time watching iPod after iPod being exchanged for reasons such as "the menus seem wrong."

I wonder how the interviewee would feel if, I dunno, he was waiting in the pouring rain for a bus that was an hour late because he should, "expect it to be late."

The "Genius" at the counter actually made another woman cry - he was that rude and condescending to her when she came in with a PowerBook that had a failed hard drive. This same "Genius" also talked another customer out of a sale because he witnessed him making this same woman cry. Something about respect for customers and all...

Then it was my turn.

Genius: "Ma'm are you sure it's your Superdrive and not the software?"

Me: "Yes, I've zapped the PRAM, tried burning in Toast, tried burning in Finder, and it still fails."

Genius: "We'll have to reinstall your OS."

Me: "Why?"

Genius: "We need to be sure it's not the software, because if we swap out your Superdrive and there's nothing wrong with it, we 'eat it'"

Me: "Eat what?"

Genius: "The cost of the drive."

Me: "Really it comes out of your store or salary? So, can't I just show you the burn problem?"

Genius: "Well, OK. And yeah, if I authorize a replacement for something that isn't broken, I have to pay for it."

Tries to burn disk, fails, won't eject. Inserts new disk, drive won't accept it.

Genius: "It looks like there's something wrong with your Superdrive."

Me: "I told you that 20 minutes ago."

Genius: "We still need to re-install your OS to be sure it's not a problem with the software."

Me: "But you just said it was a problem with my Superdrive."

Genius inserts Tiger boot DVD, Superdrive won't accept it.

Genius: "It looks like your superdrive is the problem."

Me: "Really? I'd never guess that."

Genius: "Well the good news is that we can repair it."

Me: "Great, I'll wait."

Genius: "Well, actually you have to check it in for service."

Me: "OK, then I'll pick it up tomorrow."

Genius: "Actually, it will take 11-14 days."

Me: "To replace a superdrive? Don't you have like boxes of these things lying around? Isn't it a 10 minute procedure to replace it?"

Genius: "Yes we do, but we need to check it in for service to replace the drive, and that takes 11-14 days."

Me: "So, my iMac is going to sit on your shelves for almost two weeks for someone to do a 10 minute job?"

Genius: "Yes"

At this point I took my iMac off the counter and walked out the door. All I can say is thank goodness for Apple's DIY repair program.

I actually wrote a long letter to Apple corporate about this experience, and billed them for two hours of my time at standard consulting rates ($150).

Believe it or not, someone actually followed up with me, and for my efforts I was rewarded with an iPod Shuffle that I gave to my partner as a birthday gift.

I agree with the first comment, I will always use "air quotes" when referring to the "Genius Bar."

Another ex mac genius here

This guy is a great example of a "Mac Genius" who has burned out. Every "Mac Genius" wants to help their customers. But the reality is there is only so much time in a day.

If an average store can troubleshoot & replace/repair/fix 1 ipod every 15 minutes that is 48 a day. It would not be unreasonable to think troubleshooting & checking in a average mac would take 20 minutes. That is 36 a day. Not every person needs a fix/replacement but just the process of listing to the problem takes time. Don't forget every time another employee asks them a question, a customer wants to know how long is the wait, or explain how to make an appointment takes time. All those 1 minutes interruptions add up to 2-3 people not getting helped at the end of the day.

Example:
A customer has a $8,000 G5 freezes up when encoding video in final cut using h.264. The customer failed to mention they were using a usb 2 hub with two external drives. they had the video on one HDD and was exporting the file to another. They also have 8GB of 3rd party RAM. The "mac genius" finds nothing wrong and returns the computer. The same customer come back yells about having the same issue, but bring in all their 3rd party hardware. They once again skip talking to a "mac genius". The poor repair tech now has to figure out what the exact issue is and prove to the customer what is wrong. If it's an apple part everything is great and it's fixed. But what if it's a 3rd party part that "works fine with my other computers". While the repair genius is working on this computer no other repair are being done. Even simple quick fixes. Don't forget everything must be documented, and customer called which also takes up time.

Apple the company has lost alot of good techs. The stress involved is different then any other tech support job I have ever done. If apple grossly over staffed the "mac genius" part of the store then they could give people the level of service they expect. The truth is nothing upsets managers then wasted payroll. Having a group of happy "mac genius" joking in the back during slow times ready to provide good service is worst to Apple then angry customers who are upset because of lack of appointments, slow repair time and bad "mac genius" attitudes.

An "Apple Store" is not "Apple Computers" it's Apple retail and is the lowest rung on Apple's ladder.

And comment #58 would be the 2nd most common reason: When your profession is so commonly show so little respect, you tend not to give much either. Sad downward spiral.

Jerk. You're a freaking computer repair man. I don't need to take sarcasm from my mechanic and I don't expect it from you. Grow up.

While the Mac Genius that was interviewed certainly expressed an arrogant attitude toward customers, I fault the corporate forces overseeing the service-side of the retail experience completely.

Geniuses originally were paid much more than they are today. Geniuses originally were empowered to do much more than they are today. With the the rate of a new store opening every 9-10 days on average there just aren't talented enough people will to work in such a capacity for 30-40k a year.

With the Apple taking on so many new customers each quarter they are just not scaling their service and support side of things fast enough. AOL faced a similar growing pain in the 1990s. As soon as AOL became available for Windows their feeling of community and quality nose-dived. The same can be said for the Apple retail experience.

Mac customers used to be able to approach the bar and speak with a Mac Genius immediately. With the advent of the iPod this is no longer possible. Appointments are require due to severe staffing shortages. Interactions are less common and transactions are the norm. ProCare is a repackaged service that once was afforded to all Mac customers for the most part. Capturing the most amount of revenue is what's most important now.

I am most concerned about what I now observe in the retail setting. Many people are switching to the Mac indeed. But they're not making the connection as to why the Mac is so fantastic. They're being given the time to have that "Aha" moment as to the finesse of the Mac. Instead the Mac is becoming much like the iPod, a toaster to many. It's cool but they would just as likely drop Apple for the next coolest thing because the brand loyalty connection hasn't been established.

Apple's current service and support corporate powers model store service growth after the wrong numbers. Rather than responding to how many people are demanding service at the bar, they crank back their queues to what they have staff for and then pat themselves on the back when they having amazing Same or Next Day repairs for the few they did serve rather than the 90 they turned away.

I believe Apple needs to have a few bad financial quarters to wake them back up. These half a billion doller profit quarters have gone to their head. The management teams in place at most Apple Stores have very little understanding of what it takes to service so many new customers. Most of them coming from jean-folding, wireless earphone, Banana-republic run places see Genius teams as eccentric when Apple tells them to follow policy and procedure on service and on the other hand "Surprise and Delight" everybody.

A reality check is in order.

I can sympathize with this guy. Sure, he has a crappy attitude, but that's carved out by the years? he's spent working at a low-wage job. Honestly, this guy gets crap almost every second of the day. At least those of us with other jobs don't have someone nagging them us do stuff every day. If I were working for $10/hr and getting customers complaining to me 3/4 of my 8 hour day, I'd be pretty pissed too.

I love to terrorize them with my apple remote.... repeatedly placing and appointment for Bleached Anus on the Genius Bar big screen followed by unplugging the network interface on a laptop to set off the store alarm.

I work at an Apple Reseller store as pretty much a genius guy bar slash salesman.

While it may not be as bad here, the article should definitely be an eye-opener for people - Apple is not some magical wonderland where people are nice 24x7, computers never break, and support is a minute away from home.

Recently, I had a guy call me. He bought a PowerBook 4 years ago, it was the top of the line model at the time.

"Do you still have AppleCare?"
"No, the warranty expired"
"Unfortunately, we cannot cover the cost of the logic board replacement for you" (the board is like fucking $900 or so)
"Well, I bought a laptop for 4 thousand"
"Yes, but your warranty expired"
"But.. I paid 4 thousand. Won't Apple care for me?"
"....No"

That last question I really had to pause on. I mean, how can a normal human being react cheerfully to that? Stupidity, ignorance, and lots and lots of love for self prevail, and right now, Apple hasn't outsourced its support anywhere else (thank God, really!). So yes, if people keep coming back with stupid problems, demanding hours of attention, and behaving like we owe them, they will be made aware of.

Apple Australia staff are infinitely worse than this. Firstly we don't have Apple operated stores so we don't have to deal with genius' attitudes however if you have a problem try not to ring Apple for support.

Apple Australia tech support staff have work with a chip on their shoulder. They are rude unhelpful ditzy people who don't even know the difference between a G4 and G5. Not satisfied with their attitude? Want to speak to a supervisor? They'll hang up you.

Australian customer relations are also a pack of pricks too. I had an Apple Xserve which was dead out of the box (Faulty CPU module). I requested a complete replacement of the machine. Australian CR wouldn't come to the party. After five minutes on the phone with the American CR (who were great) he agreed to replace the machine with a brand new unit. Australian CR 'vetoed' opting to repair it instead. One year on the box still has a fails on a regular basis requiring part replacements (normally either the PSU/Bridgeboard/Logic Board/CPU module).

We buy HP servers now.