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Top Secret: 7 Confessions of an Apple Mac Specialist

Monday, April 28, 2008 · 9:22 am · 29 Comments

The Consumerist has come across some top secret infotainment that they’re calling “7 Confessions of an Apple Mac Specialist.”

7. iPods have two fixes. Resetting and Restoring.
6. We have 4 things that we will try to sell you when you purchase a computer.
5. If you have a return outside of the return policy we will most likely take care of you.
4. We do not know ANYTHING about when some product will come out.
3. Apple Employment: If you want full-time, do not get into this company.
2. Why we will ask you for your e-mail at checkout.
1. If you fill out the survey and rank us 6 or lower, a manager will call you the same day or the next, corporate policy.

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Comment Feed

29 Comments

1 2 Next »

Wings2Sky

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 9:37 am · Reply

well, this guy might say .mac is a ripoff, but with my multiple computers everywhere, I find it invaluable for syncing my data, calendars, addresses, passwords, etc. And yes, I do web hosting as well.
Wings2Sky

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 9:38 am · Reply

Wow! My first first post.
Obviously a boring topic on a slow traffic day!
Steve

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:08 am · Reply

Rating your experience low artificially to get a discount is, frankly, unethical. I’m surprised this author would advocate that. This guy’s all class. It’s like advocating people to fake an injury caused by a city bus. I’ll pass on this guy’s advice, thanks.
Jason

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:21 am · Reply

All I have to say is AMEN! I was a Mac Specialist and every confession is absolutely true (of course I could add several to the list). Forget trying to get full-time. They’d rather hire a bunch of part-time college kids than support someone who wants to make a career out of it. Of course, this is typical of retail but I thought Apple would do things “different”.

Anyways, he forgot to add, “Make sure you drain your entire supply of business cards by the end of the day (for Talk Mac appts, etc)…..OR ELSE”.
Mac Ninja

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:30 am · Reply

Thats odd. I know people who had no trouble getting full time.
The Dude

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:32 am · Reply

They have the article titled wrong. The dude they “talked” to is not from an “Apple Specialist”, he is from an Apple Store®. Big Difference! I work for an Apple Specialist…. Apple does not own any AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider) that is a Specialist.

This also means that the same rules do not apply. We do not get the special treatment that Apple Store techs get… good and bad. If someone asks, I will point out item by item some of the differences between what this Apple Store® employee says, and what Apple Specialist go by.

Here is more on the Specialist program:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Specialist

The Dude abides.
Reclaimer

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:37 am · Reply

As a former MG, I could write a book on the dirt goes on at the Apple Store…but I’d wind up in court and lose what little I have.
MrMcLargeHuge

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:43 am · Reply

#1 is pretty amazing.
Spark

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:44 am · Reply

You want full time employment with Apple? Go to Cupertino. Retail outlets are ALWAYS predominantly part time. It is the nature of the business unless you are management.
slurpee

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:51 am · Reply

All of this is correct, and taught as of day 1 of training.
Mac Mac Maniac

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:14 am · Reply

#8 Unless you like smog, heat and traffic. You don’t want to work in Cupertino CA.

#9 EFI is a OS like firmware level capable of severly violating our right to privacy and control over our machines. Most people don’t have any idea what’s installed in there or can check.
Hoot

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 11:30 am · Reply

Mac Mac
#8 What are you talking about? Where do you live. I live in Cupertino and seldom see any smog. And heat? Tell me one place with better climate than Silicon Valley. I suppose traffic if you have long commute, but I am 5 minutes from Infinity Loop–by bike.
KenC

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 12:31 pm · Reply

The Consumerist has a hard-on for Apple. They’ll post any old doofus’ complaint, realistic or not. Have they followed up with the guy who returned two Macbooks, because after he “calibrated” them, the screens were still yellow? And, then he tried to get Apple to pay him after he set his desk on fire, and blamed the Magsafe. That was clearly a sham, but they posted it, and sided with him.
The Dude

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 12:35 pm · Reply

@ Hoot

Maui Hawaii… I loved it there. Cost of living is killer though. I think Steve Jobs still has a House in Kihei…. borderline Wailea. I think it was the slot loading iMacs that were code-named “Kihei”.

The Dude abides.
ragarcia

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 1:36 pm · Reply

San Diego
Panama City, Fl
Cubert

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 1:39 pm · Reply

Number 1 and 5 are two of the reasons that Apple’s customer relations is #1.

What other company of their size would do either?
steveH

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 1:52 pm · Reply

“#9 EFI is a OS like firmware level capable of severly violating our right to privacy and control over our machines.”

No different from any other non-trivial system firmware, such as BIOS, OpenBoot, etc.

“Most people don’t have any idea what’s installed in there or can check.”

True enough (nor do most people need to poke around in it, either), that does explain why some seem to go hysterical about it, being something they clearly don’t understand.
Nunya

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 2:12 pm · Reply

The thing about part time is true IF you are a Mac Specialist. Other positions within the store, such as creative, inventory and Mac Genius’ are often full time.

.Mac is not a rip off nor is it discussed in store as a rip off. Is it worth $99 per year…no way…but far from a rip off.

Personal training is indeed the best value in the store.

There are more fixes for iPods, but they require the genius bar. This guy is speaking strickly from a Mac Specialist (salesperson) point of view. If those 2 things don’t fix it, send them to the genius bar.

Don’t buy pro care unless you own a business with tons of computers and need VIP repair treatment. Individuals gain nothing from it. AppleCare is worth the money, except on iPod nano’s and especially shuffles. Even the Mac Genius’ buy AppleCare. It’s that good and that important.

Got a beef with your salesperson and want to make them look bad….buy the computer from them…nothing else. Ring up all your extra’s separate with another specialist. It hurts their daily totals…badly.
shen

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 2:37 pm · Reply

all that list tells me is that in general, as a customer, Apple treats me right…

so what is new?
Zeke

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 3:07 pm · Reply

A little known fact is that if you are lucky enough to be in the store at the right time you can buy POS and demo computers for a substantial discount. I bought 2 PowerMac G5 desktops and a G4 iMac that way a few years ago. If you get lucky that way be sure to get Apple Care on them. Apple fixed a former-POS G4 “Lampbase” iMac for me on Apple Care not long ago. They didn’t even question why a 4 year old machine was still on warranty. They just replaced the dead hard drive and sent me on my way. Of course, since the 60GB was no longer available they gave me an 80 GB.
Me In LA

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 3:15 pm · Reply

There’s always some lame, minimum-wage flunky that has to post crap like this.
Good for him.
Now, go get a real Mac job.
Nunya

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 3:35 pm · Reply

Zeke is correct. But it doesn’t hurt to ask when you are looking to buy, if they have any demo or refurb machines. Demo machines carry better discounts. As Zeke pointed out, these machine never technically showed as being purchased, so AppleCare is still an option any time during the first year. And rather than going to the store, call first and ask.

Here’s an obvious hint…any time a new product comes out, they demo a few machines for the floor. This means they are pulling “demo” machines, which are previous models, off the floor. iMacs just came out, so I’m betting you’ll find demo units in store later this week.
MacSoftwareList.com

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 3:47 pm · Reply

I was offered a FULL TIME job at Apple Retail as a ACDT (Genius). This guy is not correct when he says there are no full time jobs.
Cheapo

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 4:57 pm · Reply

Hey, Nunya and Zeke, what kind of discount can you expect on demo units?
Me In LA

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 6:11 pm · Reply

Next up on MDN:

Trash guys: Dirty secrets of the trucks and the claws that grab the cans…