Apple Stores in ZA suck.

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fluffypony

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Having been to several Apple stores overseas (to buy stuff, swap stuff, get help when I switched to OS X) I find myself incredibly frustrated with the Apple stores in ZA. The staff are NOT knowledgeable, not even the so-called "Geniuses". Their check-out process is horrendous - I once had to wait for 25 minutes whilst they scrabbled to print an invoice. And don't get me STARTED with how painful it was to get a faulty Macbook Air power supply replaced.

From what I understand, the stores are owned/operated by the Core Group in ZA, am I correct? Whoever it is, they're doing an awful job. If you want to understand WHY Apple have stores in the first place, read the Steve Jobs biography that was recently released. Then cringe in shame at the poor attempt we have here.
 
I've never had any problems with iStores here. Staff are always friendly and knowledgeable.. although it could be because I stick to one store, the one in Canal Walk.

When I went to buy my iPad 2 there I received better service than I did from the Apple Store in Regent Street, London.
 
I have to agree with the OP. I went to the one at the VnA, I asked them a few questions and they had to huddle before they could give me mostly incorrect answers.
No screen protectors for the iPhone 4, 3gs or the iPad one. I asked the guy if the iPad two would work and after a huddle they still had no idea.
 
We have official iStores?

I wonder what they would say if I asked "Cool, nice iPads and iPhones....can I buy Angry Birds or other Games for it?"
 
I also agree with the OP.

The Apple Stores in SA are the worst, from the pricing to the knowledge. I don't think they train any of their workers, I doubt any of the workers actually own an Apple product, maybe a couple of iPods...

The best Apple Store is for sure the one in the Canal Walk, at least the employees there know what the iCloud service is. :)
 
Rosaudio: the one at Canal Walk is okish, as is the one at Sandton City. It's just not as smooth as in Europe and in the US.

Case in point: when I was in St. Louis ages ago I took my bust iPhone 3G to an Apple store at a mall. They swapped it out for me. The entire process took 7 minutes, including all documentation I had to sign and the employee checking to see that it didn't switch on even when plugged in. I timed it. When I took my MacBook Air power supply to the V&A store to get it swapped because it was broken, they couldn't give me one off the shelf or out the store room. I had to spend 35 minutes booking it in. A power supply. And they expected me to know my Mac's serial number (thankfully I had it with me). Oh, and then I got a replacement TWO WEEKS later. If I didn't have a spare power supply, I would have had a dead MacBook for two weeks!

Oh, and don't EVER ask them about TimeMachine. They will all tell you the biggest load of junk about what it is and how it works and how you set it up, and then try sell you a R5k piece of hardware without properly explaining the advantages TimeMachine provides to, say, backing your entire disk up to USB drive.
 
That's just it. You cannot compare them to Apple Stores because they are not Apple Stores. They are "iStores" which are part of the Core group.

Core are merely resellers/authorised distributors of Apple products. They are not Apple themselves.
 
fxit_man said:
That's just it. You cannot compare them to Apple Stores because they are not Apple Stores. They are "iStores" which are part of the Core group.

Core are merely resellers/authorised distributors of Apple products. They are not Apple themselves.
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That's one of the things I was trying to understand. But in that case, surely they should at least TRY and hold themselves to those standards? I mean, if it's frustrating as all hell for a South African fully accommodating to poor service delivery, can you imagine a foreigner who needs help with their iDevice?
 
fluffypony said:
That's one of the things I was trying to understand. But in that case, surely they should at least TRY and hold themselves to those standards? I mean, if it's frustrating as all hell for a South African fully accommodating to poor service delivery, can you imagine a foreigner who needs help with their iDevice?
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They are the only authorised Apple distributor in the country as far as I am aware. That is if something hasn't changed recently. Up until now, and most probably still now, they don't need to hold themselves to any standards. Like it or not, you are supporting them by buying the devices in SA e.g. at Incredible, Dion Wired etc. they all source from Core as far as I am aware.

Heck they are even reported to charge you if you want them to help you update according to iPhone according to reports here on the forum.
 
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So basically what you're saying is that somebody with some loose cash needs to do the ground work to become an official distributor, and then start a price war with Core? I'm game:)
 
I rephrased that - "authorised" apple distributor, not official :p

I heard that some guys were going to start some competition for Core. Not sure if that happened yet or not. I haven't heard anything of it yet.
 
fxit_man said:
I rephrased that - "authorised" apple distributor, not official :p

I heard that some guys were going to start some competition for Core. Not sure if that happened yet or not. I haven't heard anything of it yet.
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Interesting:) Consider that noted - somebody had better start competing with them sooner rather than later!

On that topic, though, I take it MTN/Vodacom don't get their iPhones from Core? Since the stores seem to completely disconnect when you mention you've got a problem with an iPhone, and tell you to go to the SP.
 
They do suck. When I started getting the No Service message after upgrade to 4.3.3 they (branch in Vodaworld) couldn't even restore my iPhone's software once, while at that stage I was looking for solutions and was trying out different versions so I was doing it myself a couple of times a week.

Quick to take your money if you look like a paying customer wanting you to transfer your contacts from one device to the other, helpful but in effect incompetent when it comes to helping with real issues.

Due to that experience with 'Apple', myself and 2 kids have now switched to Android :love:
 
Anyone that has bought from a USA Apple store must have been impressed with the checkout facility. All the staff walking around have an iPod Touch that has an attachment at the bottom. They can process the transaction wherever you are in the store. They just swipe your card on their iPod Touch.
What usually happens is they walk up to you, get what you need, and then get the payment done wherever you are standing in the store, and then the invoice is automatically emailed to you.
 
They also have a new brand now - FFWD. It is like a smaller iStore. Or a different one. Still core, but they charge you for iStore repairs. Bought a magic mouse last week Monday, when all the common saps were at work so the store was empty. The mouse is on the shelf so it was a case of grab and pay. 15 minutes. Granted, the debit card machine ran out of that thermal folio paper. Still, 15 minutes.

To me, they're in the same category as Incredible Corruption: when the "assistant" asks "Can I help you?" I almost always reply "I highly doubt it..."
 
I absolutely hate the iStores in SA. When you walk into their shop and drop R18 000 on a iMac and it ****s out a month later, one would expect some level of service no?

Not with the iStore. Happy to take your money, but come time to deliver after sales service and they are clueless.
 
Thats why i don't go to iStores to ask questions, I come here because everyone on this forum is so much more knowledgeable than they are!
 
Grimspoon said:
I absolutely hate the iStores in SA. When you walk into their shop and drop R18 000 on a iMac and it ****s out a month later, one would expect some level of service no?

Not with the iStore. Happy to take your money, but come time to deliver after sales service and they are clueless.
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Dude, that's exactly it. I have a R20k piece of hardware, and Core want to charge me to replace two keys worn down after 4 months of usage? Not impressed.
 
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