The promise made by Apple's Genius Bar is rarely delivered on anymore
When Apple built their first store here in Phoenix, Arizona I was ecstatic. No longer would I be forced to order Apple-related products online, I could walk into a store and walk out with virtually anything I needed. The atmosphere was fantastic – with plenty of space to move around and try everything, the staff knowledgeable and helpful, and the Genius Bar was such a great resource.
Those days are gone. Probably forever.
The Apple Retail Store has lost virtually everything that made it great, mostly due to their own popularity and success. It’s truly unfortunate.
Let’s start with the Genius Bar, the one thing that made the stores famous. It used to be you could walk up to the bar, sit down and figure out a problem with your Mac, get advice on software or hardware purchases, or just plain have a conversation about anything Apple. See that picture above; when was the last time you saw a Genius Bar that looked like that? From the time the store opens until the minute it closes, the Genius Bar has four or five Apple Genius’ working, and no less than 15 people waiting. And forget about walking up to ask a question, you have to make an appointment (which doesn’t prevent you from having to wait). Heck, the stores are so crowded that it’s a chore just to get back to the Genius Bar.
The Apple Stores used to have a kids area showcasing games and education software. While I never really had the need to visit that area, it was nice for those who did. They also used to have a wide selection of software, plenty of keyboards, input devices, printers, scanners and other hardware to accompany your Mac. All things of the past. Apple replaced those spaces with larger display tables to place Macs, iPods, iPhones and iPads on. The problem is, it almost seems like they have LESS Macs set up for new users to play with.
The cash registers are gone because they no longer accept cash as a payment method. This isn’t such a bad thing if you ask me, but it is making it difficult to actually buy something in the store without waiting what can be 30-minutes or more for an associate to be free to help you.
And don’t get me started on those “knowledgeable and helpful sales associates.” They’ve been replaced with booger eaters and mouth breathers who spend most of their day doing nothing more than pointing you toward the one thing the stores still sell in abundance besides iPhones and iPods – and those are iPhone and iPod cases. If you’re a “pro” Mac user it’s almost painful listening to these dolts try to “help” people. They either aren’t being trained at all, or are simply too busy to be truly helpful to less knowledgeable customers. You can get better advice and answers using one of the display Macs to Google your question – that is, if you could actually get to one.
The stores are simply too overcrowded to be useful. This of course isn’t Apple’s fault, they’re just a victim of their own success. The Mac App Store guarantees we won’t see a return of software to the shelves of the Apple Retail Stores, and with the popularity of iPhones and iPads, there’s likely to be even less space dedicated to 3rd-party peripherals in the future. With the Genius Bar being too popular to handle the volume anymore, it begs the question, “how long before the Apple Stores turn into the very retail experience they were created to replace (ComputerWorld, Frys Electronics, BestBuy, etc.)?
Unfortunately, the thought of even walking into an Apple Retail Store carries little to no interest for me anymore.
I can only say that my experience at a couple of Apple Stores (Bluewater and Southampton) has been nothing but excellent. I would always advise booking – yes you may not be seen exactly on time but I have never had to wait an excessive amount of time. The knowledge and service given have been excellent – especially considering how busy the store are these days
I work at an apple store, for 8 years as a genius, while there are challenges in regards to popularity and traffic increases the fact is the stores are getting more and more crowded, however we have done a lot of stuff to help the flow. Its not a perfect system but we do try. Of note that EVERY apple store takes cash, the “quality” of the genius bar experience has been in decline in certain areas while the training quality has increased, sadly Apple does not pay enough to get the individuals they use to have most are just not knowledgeable out of the gate but in time they get better. The kids area has been reduced as well but is still there, usually close to genius bar so the parents don’t have to look for their kids. I will tell you that Apple listens and actually cares about its customers, we spend most of our day following up with folks on how can do a better job. If you have real concerns and observations and not just snarky and overly general negative opinions, Apple will work hard to make your experience in our stores steller.
Actually, our Apple Store in Grand Rapids, MI still has two kids play iMacs. I don’t like the waiting though — you’re right about that. The trick is to schedule an appointment right when they open, and they’ll actually let you in the store about 10 minutes early before it actually opens to everyone else.
I hate the Genius Bar. I think it should be called the Idiot Bar. I really hate the going to the Apple store. It’s always an unpleasant experience for me.
I had a hard drive failure in my iMac last week. Made an appointment. They took me on time. The Mac was out of warranty but they discounted the fee anyway. Said it would be 1 to 3 days to replace. Less than 24 hrs later they called and said come pick it up. Did so, checked out immediately, no wait.
To me the stores appear to have the same fun vibe as they’ve had for years. Plenty of people trying out Macs. One to One going on. Genius Bar busy, in fact, crowded, but not unpleasant. Nothing much has changed.
Imagine the mall WITHOUT an Apple Store. That’d be desolate.
We are all entitled to our opinions. Some of us have had good experiences and some bad experiences. It probably depends on the store location. We have another strictly Mac dealer close to the Apple Store and it is much quieter and much more professional than our Apple Store. I also find them to be more knowledgeable than the help at the Apple Store. I still agree with my original statement. But when I go out to spend $6,000-7000 on a new Mac it is my prerogative to get knowledgeable help and be able to hear what that sales rep is saying to me.
Apple Stores take cash. The employees bend over backwards to be helpful, despite their being stretched to the limit. Try asking for someone who is knowledgable in a specific area. Boxed retail software was the devil. Boxes dirty, kids grabbing at them, just a total waste. Mac App Store is a huge improvement. Apple Stores couldn’t care less about selling 3rd party products such as cases, that stuff sells itself. Can’t stop people from coming. Noise is the biggest problem usually. Yeah sounds like a huge flop. Your article reeks of page view bait. congratulations.
I don’t know what Apple store you go to, but according to Apple themselves, they don’t take cash.
All your other comments simply back up what was in the article. Apple doesn’t care about 3rd party software and hardware (you’re right). But we as customers do.
FACT: Apple stores DO take cash. Try it; you’ll see.
They do take cash? Since when? I’d love to know where that Apple store is.
They *do* take cash. I’ve paid with cash, credit card and gift card at both the Scottsdale Quarter and the Phoenix Biltmore stores in the past six months. … Yes, they are crowded, but the couple of times I’ve been in for Genius Bar help (once with an iPhone 4 issue, another time with a MacBook Pro issue) there has been a relatively short wait and good service.
They do indeed take cash.
At the Walnut Creek store (a hybrid 35) there are two hidden cash drawers in the rear most tables (Pro & iPod 2) and one on the left most side of the genius bar. The two hidden under the tables are triggered by their easy pay when they click pay, they pop open.
I also have noticed how incredibly busy the stores are. Things I enjoy they still do: Applaud those who enter at opening, every single day; actually know what they are talking about; make eye contact.
Sure there are the few that are dumb or zoned out, but for the most part, you can ask most questions to most people. There are a select few who know the ins and outs of all the Mac models or the weird glitches of the late 2008 MBP or whatever, but can you even ask a question about your zx-3290bqu HP laptop… no. No one at best buy would ever know a model number, what your device has and no geek squad expierence is ever as good as the genius bar.
At least if they are running behind, you can play a game on an iPad or talk about something with a super friendly specialist vs standing in a roped off que adjacent the return line, making it feel like you’re going to have to justify whatever problem you have in order to get a good deal on the repair, much less free, and it’ll come back in 2-3 weeks instead of apple’s 2-3 days.
I totally agree with this post and it makes an excellent point about Apple becoming too big for itself to function in the way it was initially intended to, as a place for help and not just pushing the latest release.
I have had a few experiences with the genius bar, the first time was when a new store open in Leicester, UK and the store was crowded with teens checking out the latest mac books and iphones that they could never afford. Once I had fought my way through this crowd, it was a case of being able to go straight up to the genius bar and I got great advice from an excellent member of their team. As you said in your post, this all changed within a few months when I visited the genius bar and I had to make an appointment and still had to wait for over 15 mins.
It may be true that they have become a victim of their own success.
Oh yeah, they came out to my car & carted the Mac in for me & they carted the Mac back out to my car after checking it out. Sorry about the spoiled comment but I think you need a little perspective on this.
I just made an appointment to check my ethernet card on a 2004 powermac G5. Made the appointment…easy. The appointment was pretty much on time in a crowded store…easy. The genius checked out the issue nothing was wrong (Great! easy). It did not cost me a dime (FREE!). I bought this G5 almost 7 years ago. It wound up being a cable modem issue. I dealt with Comcast for 2 days of them telling me the modem was okay. They said I needed to contact Apple. Then I call Comcast & they say it will be a 2 day wait to send a tech out to replace the modem or check the issue out. I decided to exchange the modem myself. I drove to the Comcast establishment & got a number & waited an hour & a half to exchange the modem. Came home hooked it up. The modem was the issue. So how much time did Comcast cost me? If you want to shoot the s*** with someone call a friend. Yeah, Apple needs to get it’s act together (sarcasm). Maybe you are just spoiled.
I think you nailed this. I have recently had to deal with the Apple Store in my area. Boy was that an experience. To do a straight exchange took me 20 minutes. I am very computer literate and have been using Macs since their inception in the printing industry for years. Ask their sales staff anything beyond the basic Mac questions and you get a stunned look. I have more Mac knowledge than probably all of the staff in our local Apple Store. You are right when you say how success has made it hard to deal with the store anymore. But you would think that with their success would come planning, Apple is ingenious with the products they sell, now they need to concentrate on how to manage that success.