I love my Apples but I hate going to Apple stores (NASDAQ:APPL). The store near me is overcrowded, noisy and delivers crummy customer service. The problem with Apple is that it sells a lot of iPhones, iPads and computers but didn’t build enough retail infrastructure for acceptable customer and warranty service.
I recently journeyed into Apple retail hell when my iPhone broke. I was on a business trip using an iPhone app to listen to Sirius XM when the speaker stopped working. The speaker just died while I was listening to music. Luckily, my iPhone was new and still covered by warranty.
Stupidly, I assumed that warranty issues were handled by the Verizon Mobile corporate store where I bought the phone. I was wrong. At the store the Verizon representative said that despite my phone being covered by warranty, and despite my having purchased supplemental damage coverage, they could not help me. If I wanted my cell phone fixed I had to drive a few miles down the road to the nearest Apple store.
In Boca Raton, Fla., where I live, the Apple store is located in the mall. When I first moved to Florida, it was one of the first retail stores I visited. No, it wasn’t because I was going to purchase anything. It was just that back in the good old days of 2005, I thought it was kind of fun to go to the Apple store. It wasn’t overcrowded and there were cool new gadgets to play with. The Apple store was the place to be.
Today, things are different. What was an excellent store seven years ago is woefully inadequate today. In 2005 the store had a positive buzz, now it has negative karma. It is just too small and too crowded. The store is just a noisy and stuffy unpleasant space.
Between October 2011 and October 2012, Apple posted aggregate sales of $156 billion. That represents more than 10 times the amount of sales compared to 2005. However, Apple only has three times the number of stores it operated in 2005.
Ten times the amount of sales being serviced by three times the number of stores. Should anyone be surprised that this formula does not work?
The local Apple store was small in 2005 and is the same size today. No matter how many sales associates Apple hires to help the ever-increasing number of customers, the Boca store’s square footage isn’t getting any bigger. Unless Apple spends money to rent more space, the Apple retail experience will remain crummy.
I was angry. I’ve had a cell phone since the late 1980s. This was the first time I was told I needed an appointment to get warranty service for a broken phone. It didn't take a genius to figure out the store didn't have enough staff.
Apple markets to me by e-mail at least once a week. I wondered…in all of the promotional junk mail sent by Apple trying to get me to spend more money, how hard would it have been to mention that Verizon does not support Apple products and that I needed an appointment to fix a manufacturing defect?
But hey, at least everyone needs to get an appointment. Right? Wrong. No one who buys a new iPhone, Apple computer or iPad needs an appointment. People spending money on new products don’t have to wait. Only people that own broken Apple products were sent away.
I was at the store the next day as instructed and instead of being helped when I arrived (after all I had an appointment), I waited 20 minutes to check in and then another hour before seeing a technician. The repair (which was covered by warranty and was because of a defect) took 20 minutes.
A very nice technician installed a new speaker and told me that he had also replaced my battery for free. But like everything in this world, no one gets anything for free. The wait at the Apple store was almost as bad as being stuck having to take a sick child to an an emergency room. There were crying babies, screaming customers, non-circulating air and way too much stress. But heck, I got a free battery, so that makes everything OK!
While Apple honored its warranty and gave me something for free, I didn’t feel like I was treated well. I was hopping mad, even with the battery I didn’t ask for and didn’t need. My nerves felt like they were in need of a good cup of tea. So, I went to my local Starbucks. Unlike Apple, Starbucks has increased the number of stores at roughly the same pace as its sales increased. Over the last few years the Starbucks in store experience has not deteriorated. It is still generally consistent and pleasant. They have earned my loyalty. Apple has not.
Apple delivers a product that I, and more than a few people, like. It’s great when my Apple products work well. But, it’s terrible when things go wrong. I can’t be alone in wondering whether or not it is worth the hassle to continue owning an Apple product.
Life’s travails teach lessons. What lessons can be gleaned from my Apple experience?
Premium products require premium follow through. The complete customer experience has to be as consistently good as the product being sold.
Ringing the cash register can mask branding issues. When sales increase, infrastructure, customer service and fulfillment channels need to keep pace. Otherwise, when the competition attacks, customers will forget about the brand and defect.
Customer loyalty is hard to come by but easy to squander. It took 5 years before I gave the iPhone a try and only two days of problems before I started thinking about buying another brand.
