REVEALED: Apple fanbois are 'MENTALLY UNSTABLE' - iShop staff

Hard to say if genuine iSlave story.

But from my own observations from work, those who own Apple products achieve less, Are non engaging except with their own kind, yet talk themselves up at strategic times.

Welcome to customer service

Get used to it or find another job.

Me, I hate retail. Either the customers are dicks or the staff are pricks or the company polices are designed to screw everyone, staff and customer. It truly is a shitty business.

Retail sucks but I see their point

My wife and I both have iPhones and she's got a MacBook Pro. (I'm the old fart lugging around the ThinkPad...) Whenever we've gone to Apple for help we haven't had any issues, but I think that's because we're nice reasonable people. In our experience, if you buy the warranty or have a legitimate problem during the manufacturer's warranty, they'll try to make things right. That's part of the price -- even my old fart ThinkPad with the accidental damage protection means that I can get a Lenovo guy to show up next day to fix something...and the laptop is about twice the price of Lenovo's crappy consumer machines.

That said, I can corroborate some of the stories in that thread. I've heard lots and lots of iTantrums whenever I've brought our things in to be looked at. It's usually business types whining about how important their work is and how they need a new device *right now* or the typical know-nothing consumer who feels they have the right to yell for buying an expensive phone. Telling someone under 30 that they'll be without social media in their pockets for a few days is like a prison sentence apparently.

Apple's in an interesting spot with their stores -- they don't just sell computers, they sell the Portal to Your Life for many people. Losing a phone or the data on it is pretty traumatic and Apple does their best to hide complexity from users that might allow them to recover things on their own.

Meanwhile, all the nice people (who actually spend money) get screwed.

Nothing new there, we certianly didn't need an Apple insider to tell us what happens to those who spend their cash there.

Too true.

"My job is to make you happy with your product, not to actually fix your product, more to fix the relationship you have with the brand"

Yup, I've occasionally come up against customer relations drones trained to work that way.

As for fixing them, see below.

"It pained me every time an asshole asked for the manager and got what they wanted. Meanwhile, all the nice people (who actually spend money) get screwed."

From the article, I can't help thinking that said "Genius" is just as pretentious as the customers he's complaining about.

If you pick and choose, you'll find an arsehole for every occasion. If you average things out, you'll find that life isn't the complete shithole you had been complaining about.

???

'Apple customers were described as "adult toddlers" and "assholes" stuffed

full of "entitlement".' I'll let this comment stand on it's own.

"There's something called the Apple effect. Since we see these girls so much, someone that is mediocre looking turns into a 8." then later "I make some decent money, have a beautiful girlfriend and a good pool of savings", he beamed. Umm, are you sure she isn't like a 6 and you're just skewed from working there? *ducks objects thrown at me* Just kidding!

And I agree, I wouldn't want to tell all and sundry who FruitStandSteve is -- Apple would sack him for sure. And honestly, I think people who have never been a customer service rep (either in phone or in store), salesperson, or even fast food worker, may assume that this is some kind of abberant thoughtcrime and must reflect on job performance. In reality, every place I've worked at had stories about "that one customer", or a few different regulars, or some generalities. People'd make sure their well out of earshot and let 'er rip, it helps let off steam. Most people are completely capable of thinking some customers a total dick, or totally incompetent, or whatever, but be completely civil interacting with them.

Being old

I always ask them where their parents are.

I'll say one thing for Apple staff....

...ask 'em a technical question about a product, and they don't start reading off the box. Admittedly, there aren't any, so maybe that is the solution for other retailers?

Yes PC World, I'm looking at you.

Oh, and while I'm on, my theory is that disappointed apple customers tend to get extra pissy because they believe that the shiny kit is not just rather more reliable than average, but is guaranteed to be snafu free. They are actively encouraged in that belief, so who can blame them? Apple just has to man up and deliver support that closes the gap between reality and expectation.

and a good pool of savings,

Good Oh, he will be needing that when he is outed and looking for a new job.

""My job is to make you happy with your product, not to actually fix your product, more to fix the relationship you have with the brand," he said."

Having had a couple of online chats with their support staff, I could well believe this... The emphasis was on making me feel good, the problems were never resolved.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease

The Japanese have a different outlook:

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down"

Premium products can be good.

When faced with a customer with “Maximum” £X to spend I would shown them Item

1 one at X-20%,

2 one at X+5%

and while doing so move an X+30-50% item out of the way.

Often the customer would ask about the last one and I would politely tell them they could not have that one, out of budget, back to numbers 1. and 2.

I hate pushy sales and dishonesty so it genuinely confused me and made me just wrong to find the customers who stumped up for the one they “could not have” would come back next time to buy from us.

The cheap one you won't respect, it will be thrown into the glove box or fall out of your pocket.

The one you could barely afford will remind you how you should have tried harder at school, you will notice the irritating little faults

The one you really pushed the boat out for will be protected and cherished in a way that justifies the expenditure, you may overlook the small faults and feel rewarded by the imbued quality of the next step up on the consumerist ladder.

Not justifying it, an observation over a few years.