I usually place an order online and pickup at the store for reasons. Never had it take more than a few minutes. I did check out the Apple Watch Ultra in a store to make sure I was OK with the size and the band but again very straightforward.

But they shouldn't assume that.

I just had this exact experience because my phone was irrevocably ruined, so I needed to pick a replacement up the same day.

The Apple Store was a very poor experience with a sales agent I knew more than trying, repeatedly, to explain to me things like backup, Apple Care, etc., etc. I also for some reason had to talk to four different people, and the only one that could actually help me was busy while everyone else in the store was standing around. It should have taken 10 minutes and it took the better part of an hour.

What happened when you told them, “I’m all set without a demo, please just ring me up ?” Did they refuse?

Near me, they keep the products locked up in the back room, and the person who you talk to on the floor often doesn't have direct access and needs to find the person who has access to get them the product.

It makes sense. There's not a pile of 1000 Macbooks on a pallet back there. It's locked up in a cage, and they go in and get one at a time.

But makes for a slow shopping experience.

Not even gemstones are that stupidly processed.

Gemstones are also not worth anywhere near what the gem store would like you to think. Just try selling them back to the store you bought them from and see how much less they are willing to give you.

Same with any Macbook. Buy one and try to sell it again right after the return period is over. See how little Apple will offer you for it.

That’s not an answer to the question posed.

This may not come as a surprise, but the practice of locking up expensive shit so people can't go grab stuff they aren't supposed to isn't unique to the Apple Store.

I've worked places that used this kind of process. It doesn't turn a 10 minute visit into a 50 minute visit without some kind of underlying issue blocking the cage pull from happening. Something along the lines of an interpersonal communication failure (forgot to request cage pull, person with key forgot/never got the request or the person with the key has gone into hiding ), a technical fluke (cage has electronic lock and it's EMP day), or a freak accident (person with the key, as well as the key itself, got disintegrated by ball lightning). As long as there isn't anything blocking, a cage pull is 10-15 min. If the person with the key was busy with a client, the requestor would normally take that over so they can run to the cage without the delay of having to finish that client.

Costco manages to do this well. If you buy a Mac (or almost any other high-value small item) you take a paper slip which is scanned by the cashier or self checkout. You then go to the cage and they hand you your item right then and there.

Yes. The last time I was there to buy an iphone they said: “Someone will help you in 30 minutes, let me put your name in the queue. Oh, and you have to go stand and wait in the corner. No, you cannot leave the store to get coffee, if you do you will lose your place in the queue.”

I counted 14 workers and maybe 3x as many customers in the store, with at least 5 workers just standing around doing nothing.

It’s clever. They’re essentially hacking your attention by taking advantage of the fact that you already signaled you have money and are willing to spend it. Getting you in the store and putting the hardware in front of you is the hardest part, and you did that yourself.

This is why people on a budget go to the grocery store with a list. The physical experience is designed to sell you more, and Apple has the margins to to design the fuck out of that experience.

Really? That experience was so bad I’m not sure I will ever go to an Apple store again.

As long as you keep buying Apple products it won't matter.

You're not just supporting them with money, you help to reinforce the spread of their ecosystem and marketing by using the phone day to day.

If you did not enjoy the Apple Store experience you should absolutely not go there again. You are in charge of your time and attention. Only you get to decide how to spend it.

I don’t have the same negative experience as others in this thread with the Apple Store, but I understand it. I would liken it to a car dealership, which I refuse to do business with after it once took five hours to buy a car from one. Lots of people are totally fine with it, but it’s not for me.

I wouldn’t assume they’re assuming it, they probably have data to tell them that.

I’ve not gone into a store for an item when I already knew exactly what I want since the pandemic. Even if I need it same day I’ll buy it online and pick it up. That’s probably most people now, and they probably know it.

Data lies. Throwing data in the face of real customer feedback is how end up at the lowest common denominator.

That is true, but I'm sometimes I'm frankly far too impatient to wait for delivery.

Just order it then go and pick it up in store. High touch customer service is universally considered a good thing, but for someone like you, you can order it online or just pick it up in store.

I'm not sure I agree with "universally", I bet there are a awful lot of people who can't stand that level of service and find it quite uncomfortable. I get that I could order ahead etc, but that makes an impulse purchase into a multi-step process. I'm sure the multi-trillion dollar company felt that pain when I still bought their product only from a different place. Oh wait... ;-)

Except when you don't want the high-touch service. Good service companies recognize this and have some accommodation for the customer who knows what they want and are there to buy, not shop.

If I'm there to shop, I'll ask them to point me to what I want to try out and do so. If I'm buying clothes, for example, high-touch is great. "I like this style, but this manufacturer doesn't fit me well, do you have something similar you recommend?"

But when I needed a new Apple Watch charger on a trip, I walked into the store, said I needed one, and the only question was did I want USB-A or USB-C? A, thanks, sold. I was in and out in less time than it took my wife to find and use the restroom in the mall.

One bizarre experience I had was when I had a Genius Bar appointment to fix an inaudible handset speaker on an iPhone (apparently they have a program that runs through a wide gamut of frequencies to knock out any odd bits of dust). Yep, it worked. Then the Genius asked me if I would make a phone call (can't, it's a backup phone, no SIM) or FaceTime call (um, to whom?) to test it. It's work hours, the people I would call would be busy at work, how about I just call your phone? No, can't share that.

I said, Genius, why don't you have a generic thing that I can FaceTime and you can respond to that's part of your work identity? I don't need your personal info. Just "applestore-ZIPcode-[five-digit one-time account]@icloud.com" would work.

You can frequently get same-day delivery for a nominal fee, even within a few hours! My partner’s phone broke after she dropped it one too many times at about 7:30am on a recent morning, and we had a new one in hand without leaving the house by 10:30am.

Yes, and then too sometimes you order for same-day delivery and the Uber Eats driver (they actually do partner with Uber Eats for courier service!) who picked up the bag mysteriously never turns up to hand it off to you, and then you have to spend a few hours on the phone with Apple to make sure you don't end up paying for a phone you never got.

I don't blame the guy who stole it, although I might if I'd had to hold the bill for his act of sticky-fingered entrepreneurship. I do blame Apple for using a service, whose drivers normally handle $50 in food at a time, to deliver nonperishable and highly portable items of 20 or more times that value.

you can buy the product online and choose store pickup. can be ready within hours since it’s from their inventory.

Yeah, the only time I go to the store is to check out a new product in person. Even if I decide I want it, I go home and order it online.