Slashdot Mirror
Memo to Apple: Respect Your Resellers
An anonymous reader writes "As Apple opens more and more stores across the country (they are going to hit 88 by the end of 2004, according to top Apple retail honcho Ron Johnson), small independent dealers claim to be taking it in the shorts: five are suing Apple for all sorts of nastiness. Here's an interesting prescription for how Apple can make things right with its resellers and still open lots of shiny stores for the masses."
Since there is no Apple Store in Alaska, I did have to go to the local Mac shop to get a new Yo-Yo since mine died. Since they have a 1 year warranty from date of purchase, i called Apple, they faxed me my proof of purchase, and I went to the shop, and got me a new one for free (3 day longer and It would have cost me something). Apple vendors don't make much money from doing warranty repairs, especially if they are sent to Apple for the fixing. As for finding where the closest Apple shop that's easy, Store Locator. Support your local Mac shop, unless they are a bunch of egotistical idiots, then go to the most knowledgeable shop near you. (In my case, surprisingly enough, CompUSA)
"This is you left and that's your left. This is your right and that's your right. You're gonna die!
Apple started my PowerBook warranty from the date of manufacture. What else could they do? They had no way to know when the retailer sold it to me. They did change it to date of purchase after I faxed them the dated receipt.
What MacAdam is complaining about, I think, are (a) the unrealistic default start and (b) hassles with Apple process to adjust the start to "date of purchase." And on those points I agree. No retail venue short of a used car dealership places as much bureacracy between itself and its customers as does Apple.
I am an apple reseller. I work for a campus store where we sell Apple computers and a few other things here and there. I can't count the number of sales we have missed out on because we don't keep them in stock. But, being the size we are, we really can't afford to buy a bunch of computers and hope that people buy them. And with warrenty stuff, we can't even help people. If I can't fix it by myself really easily, I have to say "Here is the number, you will have to call them." And, I have to have a smile when I say it. It does't work. It would be fantastic if we could have a nice Apple front and have some things in stock, and a Genius Bar would be awesome. I know a lot of people who could do the job.
Got a problem? Call a monkey!
We have a couple Mac retail chains around here. One of them is exactly as you described it -- overpriced crap, ancient used Macs, only one or two modern systems in stock, one copy of Panther (which had been opened and installed by the staff on their personal machines), and rude to boot. The software was, nearly without exception, from two or three years ago.
The other is gorgeous. They usually have every model on display (last time I was in, they were missing the 15" Powerbook), set up in the same kind of way as a "true" Apple store. They've got a MIDI music station, an MP3 music station, a digital video station. The owner cut his teeth selling a batch of the original Apple computer. Most of the salesmen have been around nearly as long. I can ask obscure questions and they've got answers, and they know how to solve problems cheaply. When you upgrade, they clone drives at a minimal cost, and if they can't manage it you don't get charged.
Guess which store has gotten about $5,000 worth of business this year?
By alienating folks like Verga and Armes, who have been the backbone of Apple's distribution network for the past 30 years
I read that, blinked, checked my calendar, and sho' nuff, it hasn't been 30 years. It's hard to take gratuitous embellishment seriously.
"Other bands play, but Manowar KILLS"
So, whether Apple is doing anything predatory or not, they could hardly help but displace the third-party stores.
This is not true. A lot of 'mom and pop' stores have built up significant reputations in their community and companies in the area will go to them because they've accumulated quite the expertise over the years.
Going to an Apple Store is never going to net you expert help. The staff there are about as good (bad) as Best Buy and are paid comparatively.
Real professional resellers I know say their business has actually done better since the Apple stores, as the interest in Apple has grown and they still have the reputation, so people still end up contacting them for the big jobs.
Which is what I would do too. Our reseller is 'outtasite' and we might walk by an Apple Store, but we'd never buy anything there. Not only do we want to support the local businesses, but we know we get qualified help there - something we would never get at an Apple Store.