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Comment by sombremesa | Hacker News Reader

I went to buy a brand new laptop at the Apple Store, and despite knowing exactly what I wanted I had to wait for at least 20 minutes - when I walked in, I was told to wait until an associate was free (whereas in most stores I could just grab a product off the shelf and go check out), then I was ping-ponged around at least 2 other people (both of whom I had to wait for - 'just hang around this area and we'll send someone over' - they each spoke to me for less than a minute once they knew I just wanted to buy a thing.

What a hassle. The only reason I went brick and mortar at all was because of a promotion where you get a free headphone set, and I wanted to be sure to receive it.

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They don’t know (and/or trust you if you assert) that you know exactly what you want; so they’ve got to assume that whoever’s helping you is going to need a large enough time-slot available to help you select SKUs, too.

If you pre-purchase online for in-store pickup (which you can do while you’re standing around in the store), that’s essentially a guarantee on them that you won’t need “SKU selection” service, so once you’ve done that, you can go up to the receptionist staffer at the front and get someone to bring out your purchase pretty much immediately. (Because they do have staff free all the time, but they’re only free for a minute or two at a time between scheduled time-slots. “A minute or two” is enough time to service a pick-up, but not a complete in-store purchase flow.)

What B&M store lets you freely grab a $2000+ laptop and bring it to checkout on your own?

I can contrast with my recent experience at Best Buy. Last weekend, they had $50 off the new Series 4 Apple Watches. I dreaded going in-store because of my problems with Apple Stores.

But I went in, asked the Samsung guy where the Apple Watches were, and he pointed me to a counter in the middle of the store with 2 registers. I had a brief conversation with a sales guy there, confirmed the $50 off, size, and color I wanted.

I waited about 5 minutes and a different guy brought one from the back, complete with a silly dramatic bow where he handed it to the first guy (made me laugh.) I declined the warranty, swiped my credit card, signed, and was on my way.

The entire process took about 10 minutes, whereas buying at the Apple Store can definitely result in the "ping-pong" effect and can take upwards of an hour. And they were not pushy about the warranty.

I would buy from Best Buy again given this experience.

Late 2017ish, I bought a new MBP from Best Buy. As I was completing the purchase, the store manager came out to thank me personally for my business. I've seen zero evidence that anyone working in an Apple store cares that much about the customers.

In the UK, John Lewis, Curry's, PC world. At the least you can ask someone to get one from the stock room for you and you can have it and be on your way within 10 minutes. I bought my last laptop from John Lewis in about 5 mins of entering the store.

This comparison is almost not fair. I've recently moved back to the UK and experienced John Lewis for the first time. Now I almost try to avoid buying from Amazon if I can help it, I can't believe how good the shopping experience is there. Also, they price match most online retailers if I remember/understood correctly which is insane.

Yeah and they do a great extended warranty as standard, the others I mention will increase check out time to hassle you to buy their warranty. John Lewis has it as standard and their returns is very customer focused

In my experience John Lewis and Currys/PC World are at opposite ends of the customer support continuum.

You can do all of this in best buy with just pointing with your index finger at a rep, then the laptop, not needing to utter a word during the entire transaction, and be back in time before OPs reps find him again in the apple store. Only at Apple and a car dealership does it not take five minutes to buy a product off a shelf.

For a while I was buying a laptop every 2 weeks from the Apple store for my business. I would walk in, say I need 1x of Model XXX macbook YYY, guy would go get it - I swipe card on phone, and back out the door in 5 minutes. Was pretty painless. Maybe it's how direct you go in? Or maybe they just had me memorized...

Good point - it's been a while since I've bought something like that in-store. I did buy a console, though, and that's a pretty smooth experience for a similar item (some stores even just have them out, otherwise you just find someone to grab it and then go to the cashier).

The rest of my experience was still abhorrent. The store was practically empty (though that might be an illusion since the store was huge and not visibly mobbed), some employees were just standing around just to tell people to wait in a corner. There was no real system to ensure your 'connection' would actually find you, since you were just told to loiter around the store.

Where was this?

I’ve noticed most apple stores are super friendly and fast all over the world.

But their San Francisco flagship store is utter shit. Understaffed, too small, absolutely mobbed by people. And it makes sense, it’s a single store serving a city of 900,000 people with millions driving in every morning for work. They desperately need more locations.

The Palo Alto store, for example, is pure delight. I’ve had nothing but great experiences the few times I visited their NYC stores as well.

If you know exactly what you want I think they’d prefer you buy it online tho.

it’s a single store serving a city of 900,000 people

There are three Apple stores in SF proper and a couple just across the bay.

I knew there’s some across the bay, but they sure hide the other two stores in SF. Never seen them even show up on their genius bar search.

Are they official Apple stores or are they apple-branded franchise stores? Reason I ask is because that’s the model I’ve seen a lot in Europe. A store that has a license to be an apple store but isn’t actually owned and run by Apple.

They are real Apple stores. Short of dedicating a downtown city block to an Apple store, there probably isn't any way to fix the capacity problems at the OG SF store so, as you've found out, it's best avoided.

This was in Bellevue, WA. I did get the sense I'd have had a much better time just buying online.

Gawd, that store is such a disaster. Imagine you've never stepped foot in an Apple store, and you would like to buy an Apple product. I imagine it is much like the person I directed the last time I was in there, who "just want(ed) to buy this cable". Yeah, good fsckin' luck, buddy, because there's no signage and no one to tell you where to stand. I told him where to stand only because I "know" Apple stores (and even then, I wasn't 100% confident that the random cluster of people was the correct cluster). All the while, it took twenty minutes to get the Space Gray 256GB iPhone XS (no Apple Care, thanks) I originally came in for.

Yeah, yeah, buy it online for in-store pickup, use the Apple Store app to self-checkout, yada, yada, tribal knowledge. Including the tribal knowledge that the Apple B&M retail experience doesn't have queues, signs, or anyone to direct you.

Not that Bellevue is alone. When I last visited my Mom, I thought we'd swing by the Brandon, FL store, get her an Apple Watch. Man, I've never tried so hard to give someone $600 in my life.

> whereas in most stores I could just grab a product off the shelf and go check out

Well, and then wait in line at a cashier to be fair. Probably less than 20 minutes though.

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