A few days ago Duncan Davidson speculated about A Hidden Genius at the Apple Store. "The second thought is that surely one of the secrets of Apple’s product design in the last decade has been the use of the data that these stores generate. There’s the obvious real-time point-of-sale and visitor data. But that’s not what catches my attention. Instead, it’s the data that’s generated at the Genius bar that fascinates me. This data, in aggregate, can tell Apple a lot about what machines break, how they break, and after how long in a much more direct way than what would come out of a third party service center. And, when Apple is interested in more information about certain failures, they can start asking customers for more information with very little delay."
He's since updated the post with info from some feedback he's gotten.
I have mostly had very good experiences at Apple Retail Stores and at the genius bar. On a few occasions I've had an issue, made an appointment for later that day and headed over to have it resolved. It's amazing to me that it's free (though Apple Care does help with some issues). I'm also quite impressed that the Genius seems most concerned with getting my problem actually solved, rather than just pushing me off to someone else or make sure Apple isn't blamed.
I'm also quite impressed with the notion that they are getting direct feedback from their customers that other companies can't get. It's not the same to just have the machine or hear a description of a problem over the phone. People bring the device in and show the Apple employee what they are doing and what their problem is, that's got to provide useful information.
I've had great experiences at the Chestnut Hill store and a couple of weak ones at the Natick one (though it's been a couple of years). My sister has had at least one bad experience at the Short Hills Mall one in NJ.
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