Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:
As anyone who visits an Apple store knows, you’re first greeted by a friendly person with an iPad at the store’s entrance. I told the greeter that I had a Genius Bar appointment for my iPhone XS Max, and she asked for a brief description of my problem.
I explained that my device was randomly shutting down and wouldn’t come back on for several hours. As soon as I finished the explanation, the greeter said, “Have you considered upgrading to a new iPhone recently?”
I was holding my iPhone XS Max in my hand.
And:
A source tells 9to5Mac that this is a new policy at all Apple retail locations. Employees are being instructed to push for an upgrade instead of repairing an existing device. In some stores, the source says, an employee is tasked with pitching iPhone upgrades to Genius Bar customers as they wait for appointments. Other stores have the Geniuses themselves to pitch an upgrade.
This slide into upselling seems new. I’ve always found the Apple Store to be chill, there to help or give me the opportunity to learn about new product. I certainly hope this isn’t the new Apple Store. And I can’t help but wonder if this policy, if it is indeed the new policy, has anything to do with the change at the top.
From this post by Benjamin Mayo:
The Apple Store has never been defined by the hard sell. In fact, it boldly fought against it. Apple retail employees have never earned commission because the goal was to give shoppers the right advice, and match person to product based on need and wants, not which one gives the biggest kickback.
These new initiatives to juice iPhone XS and iPhone XR fly in the face of the principled stance Apple has established in the past. Staff advice is distorted by upper management marketing pressure, rather than monetary incentives, but the result is the same for the customer. The advice is currently biased towards hitting Apple’s targets, not what the person walking in the shop really wants.
Perfectly put. This is not the Apple I know. And love.
Sounds dreadful, but I also don’t trust anonymous sources at rumor sites.
i can tell you – first hand – that “hitting targets” in terms of selling phones is not a point of emphasis for apple retail employees.
let’s shift the (supposed) experience just a bit: the customer comes in with an iphone x that’s randomly shutting down and not turning back on. if it’s out of warranty, that service replacement cost is…wait for it…$549. but they get hooked up with a genius, and they decide to pay the $549 and get a replacement phone. as they walk out, they stop and look at iphone xs and find out that phone is $999. “but wait,” they say, “i could’ve bought the brand new phone for another $450? and paid for it over 24 months?” i can tell you right now – i’ve had that exact conversation, and it’s no damn fun for anyone.
please note that i’m absolutely NOT suggesting that everyone should just spend more money. but at the least, a customer should know all their options before they decide to spend that money.
“MY SINGLE EXPERIENCE IS GENERALIZABLE TO ALL!”
I swear, I’ve spent most of the last week reminding people that this is not, in fact, true. Just because something happened to Miller does not mean it’s a new policy. A real journalist would actually do reporting to see if that’s true, but then it’s 9to5 Mac, so…
I will tell you that outside of any news related to profit/loss, I have been having a harder time justifying device purchases from Apple lately. I mean I know I’m going to pay a premium, but the bar seems to be moving upward. I don’t know if that is just a feeling I have or a real deal but it seems like a starter device is no longer starter with Apple.
“A source”? You mean the investor who just bought 10,000 short contracts? When will you all learn that almost everything you read online is made up?
Go look at comparable devices from Samsung etc. They’re in the same range, roughly (the Apple stuff is a bit more, but not 2x or anything).
The issue is that there are several decent Android models in the sub $500 range so the average for an Android phone is lower. But the Xr compared to a Galaxy 9 is about a $100 difference or so which is negligible, esp if paid for on a 24 month contract.
Y’all are being too nice here.
This story is bullshit.
If Apple really wants to entice people to upgrade their iPhone, then give repair customers a loaner iPhone for a few hours, or a day, while their’s is being repaired. The iPhone XS Max sells itself.
Im less talking about phones and more talking about MacBooks. I agree that the other devices have followed suit, but that seems like a bit of a cash grab considering the quality of the devices. I just purchased a 13″ MacBook Air, but it wasn’t because I “love” it, but because it was the best of the worst in my current setup for the price. $1799 (CDN) was a LOT of money for a device that both spec and practicality wise was underwhelming. I enjoy macOS and I prefer it to Windows, but for the first time in about 15 years I considered a Windows PC and I actually purchased and tested 3 devices. The big thing is build quality and peace of mind that swayed me back. The laptop I considered when I was finally done was the Surface laptop, which was the same price but spec wise a little nicer. Its a bit of a muddled market but the old MacBook Air really hit the right price point to make it an easy decision.
Fake news is nothing new. For how many years, now, has our beloved Macalope been battling such? https://www.macworld.com/author/The-Macalope/
Here’s what happened:
Apple executive board: “Our new policy is to try to sell a new iPhone to everyone who comes to an Apple store for an iPhone repair.”
Angela: “You implement that and I walk.”
Apple executive board: “Hey, Deirdre, guess what your new title is!”
“Have you considered upgrading to a new iPhone recently?” is as soft an upsell as you can get and still be considered an upsell. It’s laughable that anyone would consider it a hard sell.
One thing to remember… resale value. I’ve generally sold 3 year old MB and MBPs for about 40-50% of their new price. So, if you upgrade every 3-4 years, your net cash outlay is much less if you resell. I can’t comment on Surface resale value but most PC laptops are basically worth nothing at that point.
Oh for sure, but are you really comfortable with the ~20% or whatever on every product that happened this year? It’s pretty much every device?
Aside from this perhaps being particular to Miller’s experience, the quote points to this being a new or inexperienced Apple Store employee:
” I told the greeter that I had a Genius Bar appointment for my iPhone XS Max…As soon as I finished the explanation, the greeter said, “Have you considered upgrading to a new iPhone recently?””
Any experienced Store employee would know that the XS Max is a new phone and wouldn’t ask that. So, assuming Miller’s report of the conversation is accurate, he might have just run into someone new.
On the other hand, it would be useful to know if this IS a new policy at the Apple Store. If so, eh… it’s fine to tell people about the option if they’re faced with paying for out of warranty repairs (“For $x we can repair this or for $y you can get the equivalent to this in the current product line”). It’s not OK to push people to upgrade aggressively though.
nope.
starter ipad: $329. starter iphone: $449. nobody is forced to buy or is entitled to the top-tier products at entry-level prices.
Its more about the Mac line. Maybe I’m just frustrated as its more about the ability to easily talk about the quasi affordable products in the Apple line. It was an easy sell on the MacBook Air previous to the price jump.
The price hikes? Well.. I’d rather they not have happened (and you’re in Canada while I’m US so we might be seeing different pricing plus the currency issues).
I’m unconvinced that the iPhone price hikes are justified. While I have an XS Max, it’s at about the limit of what I’d spend (and I only spent that because T-Mobile does what amounts to an interest free loan for the amount).
But the resale value makes the MacBooks a very reasonable deal if you turn them over every 3-4 years.