 BellBoySteven Paul Jobs 1955-2011Premium
join:2001-02-20
Los Angeles, CA | reply to Gbcue
Re: Apple's Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay I've worked in retail before I joined Apple for five years. If I had a choice in any retail job, I think I'd take Apple again.
The "sh*t" that I referred to are the customers that:
...expect to have everything given to them for free because they bought an Apple product.
...completely destroy their Apple product and expect to get a replacement gratis.
...expect to be brought to the front of the line in a jam packed store because they can't wait.
...expect me to agree with them that Windows is the better platform and when I was able to counter every jab with them decides to insult me and my company and leave.
...and more that I could probably think up if I wanted to un-repress those memories. 
I loved working at Apple with the exception of the the above and the pay. All I can say is that if I was paid even a 1% commission on everything I've sold in that five year span, I'd be able to buy a luxury car (if I even wanted one)--and probably a lot more stuff.
I worked there part time while I held another full time job mainly for the fun that I had while at Apple. I've heard that in the last couple of years that Apple has turned into more of a corporate retail entity and some of the fun has been replaced by "bean counting" tactics of generating revenue. Oh well...Steve's gone and maybe the kind of Apple store I worked in went with him.
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"When the day comes that anyone can bend our country's laws and lawmakers to serve selfish, competitive ends, that day democratic government dies." -- Preston Tucker, June 1948 |
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| reply to Goober
said by Goober:said by not quite right:said by Gbcue:It's spelled out in the article. They think they're working for some kind of "greater good".
Yup Apple "brainwashes" the shit out of those guys ... I remember being at the Tacoma Apple Store shopping when a group of new hires came into the store for their first day, every associate including the store manager broke away from what they were doing to line up at the door to greet them with clapping and whooping & hollering ... I can only imagine the BS they fill their heads with behind closed doors.  They talk about some of it in the article. It made me laugh. I mean, look at all those lemmings waiting in line for a store opening, all those employees high fiveing customers, jumping up and down like fools
»www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TeYLWKbnaM
and
»www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Hk0ZCqRxg
The amount of brainwashing is amazing! Those lemmings! At a Microsoft Store. Pot, kettle, etc.
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 ptrowskiGot Helix?Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4 | A store opening and a few dopey employees starting on their first day are exactly the same thing. |
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 GbcueP.E.Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:8 | reply to Ctrl Alt Del
A store opening != a first day for any ole' employee.
On *my* first day, I got a mountain of paperwork and a free lunch from my boss. |
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KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | reply to Gbcue
Retail in general deserves higher pay for the shit they have to deal with from the customers. Customers are outright abusive to staff in much of retail and customer service positions and still expect to be treated like royalty. I have see kids throw things at the help and the parents think they should have white glove treatment anyway while not doing a thing to stop their kid.
But who is willing to pay the higher prices to pay the sales people more, or the cashier more or the waiters more?
Customer service is likely the worst working environment one can have, yet without these jobs the global economy would not function and the 1% would become the 99% because their entire lifestyle depends fully on the clock puncher pushing their products out the door. |
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 JawsincJaws Incorporated
join:2011-01-12
Woodside, NY | reply to J E F F
Where are you getting these numbers from? $30/hr? I have friends that work for Apple and i've been told that a genius salary is nowhere near that. |
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 ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 | reply to drslash
said by drslash:Huh...actually looking at the classifieds and comparing my real life experience, it seems as though engineers, programmers, designers, and management are in plentiful supply. Actual good sales employees are a very rare find though.
Meh, from my work in IT, people were treated like cogs. You punched in, did your thing, & collected paycheck. Turnaround was random, but your basic operation was to always work in a manner so that a replacement could take over your current tasks easy.
From what I hear, with the economy now, things are pretty bad. With there being a decline in job availability, employers are now able to scoop up well vetted/trained/educated at entry level position pay. Many people are now having to be under-employed just to obtain a position in a stagnant ladder.
TL;DR - work at a bad/average tech company and you'll find the attitude is largely "we can always find someone else." |
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ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 | reply to Nezmo
said by Nezmo:As someone else alluded to, something is making these folks opt for lower paying jobs... on the whole I presume it is the feeling you are a part of something special.
If you're willing to take a pay hit to do a crappy job under a nice label, then we're talking the short bus kinda special. |
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 JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·Comcast
| reply to Thaler
IT isn't skilled labor either... Or at least it's possible to be low skilled IT. Like low skilled retail.
Anyway, bottom line here, being a store monkey, even if the store is Apple, doesn't change the fact that you're just a store monkey.
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 NezmoThe name's Bond. James Bond.Premium,MVM
join:2004-11-10
Coppell, TX
kudos:1 | reply to Kearnstd
said by Kearnstd:...
But who is willing to pay the higher prices to pay the sales people more, or the cashier more or the waiters more?
...
I don't follow you. How much money is Apple making? Like hardcore profit? So Apple needs to raise the price of their product before they can pay their store workers a little more? No, they don't pay them more because they have created the reality distortion field among their own, not just their customer base. It's brilliant when you think about it. And I don't feel sorry for the folks who lower themselves to work there.
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ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 | Well, they could always go the cable company route. Charge an additional $100 per iDevice to bring a fair wage to their own employees...then just pocket the extra income as profit.  |
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 J E F FWhatta Ya Think About Dat?Premium
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON
kudos:1
 ·Rogers Portable ..
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·Rogers Hi-Speed
·magicjack.com
| reply to Jawsinc
said by Jawsinc:Where are you getting these numbers from? $30/hr? I have friends that work for Apple and i've been told that a genius salary is nowhere near that.
Got it from a twitter page of iPhoneCanada. They were saying wages are $9 to $15 for sales associate, and up to $30 for genius. I have doubt it was just for Canada since I believe there is no minimum much below $10 in any of the provinces.
What did you genius friends tell you? I would imagine it might be different dependant on city/state, etc.
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If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. - Albert Einstein |
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| reply to Gbcue
Retail pay stinks like poop in a diaper.  |
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| reply to Nezmo
said by Nezmo:... they don't pay them more because they have created the reality distortion field among their own, not just their customer base. It's brilliant when you think about it. And I don't feel sorry for the folks who lower themselves to work there.
Working at an Apple store is hardly lowering yourself. The fact that they get the people to work there for that rate is nothing new. Disney has been doing it the same way since the 1950s. I took a Disney University course for managers about 15 years ago.
Don't fault any business for paying the minimum they have to pay to get good workers. They'd be stupid to pay more when they didn't have to. Look at all the dot-bombs that paid outrageous salaries only to lose it all a few years later.
I've owned a few fast food restaurants for the last 27 years. I pay almost as much as Apple does because I don't want to have to deal with the type of people who usually work in fast food. I also create an atmosphere where the people I do have are a little older (not high school kids) and stay for years. But they will never make much more money than they do now because I know they can't get a better deal anywhere else. Why should I? In my case, any increases come directly out of my wallet so I'd be stupid to pay higher when I didn't have to.
Apple is no different. No business is. |
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 HexleyPremium
join:2001-03-12
Hollywood, FL | reply to Jawsinc
said by Jawsinc:Where are you getting these numbers from? $30/hr? I have friends that work for Apple and i've been told that a genius salary is nowhere near that.
Depends on the market and how many years in the position -- it's about the maximum. |
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JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
·Comcast
| reply to Nezmo
said by Nezmo:I don't follow you. How much money is Apple making? Like hardcore profit? So Apple needs to raise the price of their product before they can pay their store workers a little more? No, they don't pay them more because they have created the reality distortion field among their own, not just their customer base. It's brilliant when you think about it. And I don't feel sorry for the folks who lower themselves to work there.
They pay them as little as they legally can while still attracting the "talent" they need.
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NezmoThe name's Bond. James Bond.Premium,MVM
join:2004-11-10
Coppell, TX
kudos:1 | reply to howardfine
said by howardfine:said by Nezmo:... they don't pay them more because they have created the reality distortion field among their own, not just their customer base. It's brilliant when you think about it. And I don't feel sorry for the folks who lower themselves to work there.
Working at an Apple store is hardly lowering yourself. The fact that they get the people to work there for that rate is nothing new. Disney has been doing it the same way since the 1950s. I took a Disney University course for managers about 15 years ago. Don't fault any business for paying the minimum they have to pay to get good workers. They'd be stupid to pay more when they didn't have to. Look at all the dot-bombs that paid outrageous salaries only to lose it all a few years later. I've owned a few fast food restaurants for the last 27 years. I pay almost as much as Apple does because I don't want to have to deal with the type of people who usually work in fast food. I also create an atmosphere where the people I do have are a little older (not high school kids) and stay for years. But they will never make much more money than they do now because I know they can't get a better deal anywhere else. Why should I? In my case, any increases come directly out of my wallet so I'd be stupid to pay higher when I didn't have to. Apple is no different. No business is. I understand business. That's why I said it was brilliant of Apple. And I still personally think that working for an establishment for lower pay because you have been 'brainwashed' in to thinking it's a great place is an unfortunate choice - if it's that great show me with compensation over and above the 'prestige' of being able to say I work in an Apple store. But that's the choice of the individual and Apple is doing what any business would - paying the minimum they can get away with. Yes, other places do it too but I thought we were discussing Apple and the fact remains, they pay lower than many other places.
It's not hard to see why this situation exists.
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 ZyncotlZed XPremium
join:2002-09-13
Wayne, MI | reply to Gbcue
Maybe it's different where I am, but Apple has 50 people on the floor working with people. Best Buy is 4x as large, if not more, and MAY have 50 people on the floor working with people. I think that is going to cut into an individuals pay.
The fact that every kid coming out of high school applies there means supply is higher than demand, that lowers the pay.
The fact that they could have no salespeople just a self-checkout line and their crap would sell lowers "sales" staff pay.
The fact that the sales staff is nothing but a turd in a blue shirt lowers their pay.
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 not quite rightI'm not cool enough to be a Mac person
join:2001-06-23
Puyallup, WA
kudos:1
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| reply to Gbcue
Has anyone ever seen an "older" Apple Store employee (mid 40's)?
I'm sure they exist, I just don't remember seeing one at the the two stores I frequent. I was thinking the other day that it was surprising that Apple hasn't been hit with a age discrimination lawsuit yet.
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JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
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| said by not quite right:Has anyone ever seen an "older" Apple Store employee (mid 40's)?
I'm sure they exist, I just don't remember seeing one at the the two stores I frequent. I was thinking the other day that it was surprising that Apple hasn't been hit with a age discrimination lawsuit yet.
Heh... you could say the same about the employees at facebook - NOT the retail employees, mind you.
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My place : »www.schettino.us |
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