Apple's Color Coded Employees Confuse Shopper
An Apple store in Ohio doesn't want to clutter up its elegant store layout with signage, so you have to rely on a color coded system to find the appropriate employee to ring up your purchase. It's like the Homeland Security Advisory System, retooled to measure how inconvenienced you'll be.
Robert went to buy some headphones at his local Apple store. Once he arrived, he realized that the cash registers were missing and there was a notice up about renovations. That was apparently the last sign he saw during his time in the store.
Once I located my headphones, and swore under my breath at the price, I proceeded to head to the Genus Bar to get some help. After waiting in line, for 15 minutes, I was told by the Genus – wearing a navy blue – that I needed to find a sales person. He redirected me to a lady who could help me. The assisting lady – wearing an orange – then told me what each of the colored shirts meant.
[...]
Okay, so now I need to find a light blue person to help me out. I spotted one, lassoed him, and promptly asked him to ring me up. Little did I know, he was one of the Light Blue people who just sell things, he couldn't help me out. Oh, and he didn't know which Light Blue could ring me up – another 5 minutes wasted.
In all, he says he spent 30 minutes waiting in lines to talk to the wrong people, which could have been averted with some signs to explain where to go.
The Apple stores we've been in here in NYC seem to still use clearly marked checkout areas. In case your Apple store decides to hide the registers, however, here's the color system that the lady in orange explained to Robert:
- Orange is here to help you find who you need to find
- Royal Blue are the managers
- Navy Blue are the Geniuses
- Light Blue are the sales people
- Light Blue are also (if you are lucky) the ones who ring you up
"Color Coded Employees – Why The Apple Store Lost A Customer" [Whalertly]
(Photo: Omar Omar and Steve Parker)
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Comments:
I love shades of blue (Especially Intelligent ones) but I think this is a bit much. How are you supposed to remember which blue you need? And why is Orange the only odd-man-out?
So weird.
This certainly doesn't seem to be good design. C'mon Apple, you can do better!
Maybe someone should make an Apple Store App...
Hah! I KNEW this happened at Easton when I read the headline. Oh, Apple, trying to make things all "modern" for the fancy shoppin' mall.
I had the same experience in the Apple store at the Rockingham Mall in NH. I wanted to by an Itunes gift card, but it took me 20 minutes to find someone equipped to ring me out. There were no signs, so I didn't know who I was looking for and then I spent time wandering around the store trying to find a free associate who also had a portable register. I should have just gone to Target to pick up the gift card, but I kept thinking it would be just another moment before I could purchase the card.
I think most of the people in the midtown NYC store can ring you up as long as you're paying with a CC. They have one of those scanner things on their belt. It has helped me avoid the lines many a time.
At the Apple store by me, the folks who check you out are pretty obvious. They're wearing their cash registers around their necks. They walk around the store and check people out wherever they happen to be standing. Kind of a nifty setup, imo. It seems like it would work the same way in this store, given that the folks in the light blue shirts are wandering around and there wasn't an obvious "area" where the OP could check out. So, I'd just look for the folks with the humungous necklaces.
I wonder how that goes meshes with the Americans with Disabilities Act in regards to color blindness.
"In case your Apple store decides to hide the registers, however, here's what you need to do: Exit the store immediately, find your nearest target, purchase similar (or better) quality headphones for greatly reduced price"
(there, i fixed it for you, Chris)
Once I asked about the color code. The guy said the plain-blue shirts were "cobalt". I said "cobalt is not blue" and he said "but it is in World of Warcraft!"
Not sure what a Genus' is.
@Kimaroo - 20% More Kitty Added!: Because no color can contrast more completely to blue than orange. You'll notice the orange guy more quickly... and because no one wanted to wear ultramarine.
Why should the store be any more documented than the products. It just works, right?
I'm glad to see they aren't using red, green, brown, blue and purple. I'm red/green colorblind and I wonder on a daily basis why people always pick those two colors for things like uniforms, charts and such. Blue and purple are even worse for me. And don't even get me started on brown.
Anybody care to tell me what the difference is between Royal Blue and Navy Blue? Just in case I ever actually set foot in an Apple store (there aren't any around me).
@themrdee: To my knowledge, people who are colorblind can see colors, just not exactly how other people see them. One of my friends is colorblind and he says that he doesn't see blue, he sees a grayish blue. But he knows it's blue.
Talk about crazy. Where I worked, the company policy was pretty much, everyone knows how to use a cash register regardless of where you work or what position you are. Everyone from floor personnel to managers needed to be able to ring up purchases if required with the exception of the people who work and stock while the store is closed.
@pecan 3.14159265: it also depends on what kind of color blindness you have....my idiot uncle bought yellow tape when he needed to patch up something that was red. i say idiot uncle because i think SOMEWHERE on the package it must have said yellow.
It sounds like he grabbed a Specialist (light blue) who either didn't have an easy-pay (one of the mobile check-out things), was working with another customer and stepped away to grab something for them (this happened to me constantly when I worked at Apple) or was just feeling lazy and didn't want to be bothered by ringing him out. It must have been a while since the OP has been in his local Apple store, because this isn't new- I worked at Apple nearly two years ago now, and my store (not one of the big, flagship stores like in NYC) was gradually dialing back the use of the cash registers in favor of easy-pays then. At this point, every store I've been in has used the registers strictly for cash and checks and the easy-pays for any debit or credit transactions. I'm not sure how this Ohio store is handling cash transactions if they've completely eliminated the presence of registers in the store. That is pretty weird.
Really, if the Concierge (orange shirt) had been doing her job properly, she should have walked the OP over to a Specialist who could ring him up, either immediately or when the Specialist was finished with his current customer. That said, if he was there on a busy Saturday, that could be easier said than done.
I remember saying when they first rolled out the concierge position that really, there should be a guide to what the shirts mean for customers, but they obviously haven't done that. I do think there's a bit of stuff on how Apple stores operate on www.apple.com/retail.
I actually think it's funny. My local Apple store had me wandering around for a while trying to figure out how to buy something. They are so non-pushy it's almost like you're just lost if you don't know how the store works. I wouldn't be surprised if people left the store because they couldn't figure out how to buy something. A complete lack of cash registers is baffling.
I was going to laugh about the "Genus Bar," but it makes a bizarre sort of sense when you think about it. Y'know, a classification system?
In any case, why would he go to the Genius Bar to check out? They're just there to help customers with software/hardware questions. At least, that was my impression.
My local Apple store went to this system. I cringe every time I have to go in there to get something. I usually just look for the small crowd of people with boxes in their hands milling about the store - you know - those other lost souls also looking for someone with the magic power to take your money in exchange for white plastic bits.
And God help you if you have cash.
Whoever invented this system needs a slap. If you don't have a defined checkout location, everyone in the store needs to be able to take payments. Period.
@gStein: Wait, don't you mean "In case your Apple store decides to hide the registers, however, here's what you need to do: realize you're a PC user, exit the store, and get on with your life?"
Sorry, just couldn't resist.
I'm Xerloq and I'm a PC. :P
Ok, I've been to this Easton store a few times, the most recent being just a few weeks ago. There's a register right up front when you walk in. Granted it's a well disguised register, it looks like a display iMac until you get to it you realize there's a cash drawer under the desk and an employee basically tethered to it. I was there when it was pretty busy too and couldn't help getting "helped" by one of the employee's every single time I touched one of the items to just look.
Not to blame the OP at all, but I think he just had an off day. My personal experiences with this particular store have all been great.
@WakefulD: Maybe because it's the only place where employees seem to be permanently - which is coincidentally the same place a cash register would be at every other store in the world.
@pecan 3.14159265: Which store? This is how they are in all of the DMV stores I've been to. The orange shirted "concierge" is the one that directs you when you come in but I believe our geniuses wear black. Anyone between the two spots (concierge at the front and geniuses at the genius bar in the back) can ring you up. I don't think there are any Apple stores left nearby that still have a register. Montgomery Mall might still have one, but I haven't been there in ages.
@notlazyjustdontcare: Then why are my blue Pyrex dishes labled as Cobalt? (and many other beautiful blue glassware items, actually.)
Seems to me that saying Cobalt Blue is valid.
Red = Command
Gold = Engineering/Security/Operations
Blue = Science/Medical
@Kogenta: Yes, everyone knows how, but you can't just have someone leave their designated position just because a customer wants them to.
@ChrisC1234: I've never seen one without cash registers, to be honest. But one thing I love about the Apple store is that it isn't pushy. The employees aren't there to push you into buying anything. They have a ton of their products out on display for you to play with specifically because they want you to get sucked into playing with one of the Macs. And then there's a watchful employee who swoops in and tells you about all the cool things you can do. The Mac itself becomes the draw, and the hands-off customer experience is fantastic, IMO.
Robert went to buy some headphones at his local Apple store. Once he arrived, he realized that the cash registers were missing and there was a notice up about renovations.
In other words, the retail space was temporarily a mess because of construction.
I remember when one of my local Apple Stores was doing the same thing and the store consisted of display merchandise on walls, an iPod table and roving staffers w/ their remote cash register thingies. And all worked quite well.
Several weeks later, it was back to normal.
Get some perspective, people. Renovations!
This is how it's been as far back as I can remember. The only recent change has been the concierge (that's what they call the orange shirt lady) to greet and direct lost customers. I do remember being greeted in the past by someone hanging around the front, but now they're clearly marked and easy to spot. They can also sign you in for a genius bar appt.
Personally I love it. It was a little confusing pre-concierge, but they've worked out a lot of the kinks at least at mine. There is virtually no wait time if you just need to be in and out. There is always someone available.
@h3llc4t: Did they change this within the last couple of weeks? Last time I was there the checkout area was right in front of the doors, and fairly obvious.
@themrdee: Color-blind people are allowed to ask questions if they're confused. Even at the Apple Stores.
Concern-troll much?
Thanks for choosing three different shades of blue, Apple. Being colorblind, I'm sure that'll help me find who I need.
:(
@TinkishDelight: And actually I think Tysons still has one, but Tysons is always a mad house so I avoid it entirely unless I'm going during the week and have an appt.
@TinkishDelight: Maybe I just haven't noticed the colors? But the Apple stores in Tysons, Pentagon City and Fair Oaks all have designated register areas.
User should have clicked and dragged employee for desired results.
@h3llc4t: Apple's been doing this for years, but it's never been a problem. I'm sure that if it took 30 minutes for Robert to buy his headphones, it's because the store happened to be busy; not because "the system was too confusing..."
I went to Easton to buy snow leopard this morning and I shouldn't have bothered to even put money in the parking meter. From the time I dropped my quarters to the time I came back to my car, 7 minutes had passed.
I walked in; grabbed a snow leopard box; walked just a few feet towards the genius bar when an orange shirt approached me and asked if I needed anything. I told her that I just needed to pay for snow leopard and she walked me over to a very nice lady in a dark blue shirt. (Navy? "royal"? One of those I'm sure... Certainly not "light blue")
Anyway - blue shirt swiped my card, asked if she could email my receipt to me, I said yes and walked out the door.
All that in 7 minutes.
Whatever you do, don't stand too close to the Red-Shirted Apple Store guy.
Because we ALL know what inevitably happens to the red-shirted guy.
I believe they're reserving the other colors for future expansion. Just picture the possibilities:
Yellow - The Humorist, whose purpose is to pretend to laugh at the customers who don't understand how quickly "I'm a Mac" jokes get old.
Green - The Ecologist, in charge of convincing planet-conscious customers that Macs are better for the environment than PCs.
Red - The Unlocker, in charge of knowing the screensaver password to all the floor models when the other employees have forgotten them.
Black - Stockroom workers. You're not supposed to notice them anyway.
According to Apple website its only 2 shades of blue, very light blue and a navy blue. Now the difference in oranges is horrible.
I miss the layout that we used to have with the two registers in the front of the store at Rockingham. The new store is more open, but it sucks.
I had a reservation at the store near me and I got there very early. I sat around for a while and I can't count the number of people that walked up to the genius bur and tried to check out.
I also saw one person who didn't have an appointment start to cause a scene. They quickly got a manager, and got him exactly what he wanted. Maybe I should have done that too, and apple wouldn't have pulled that "not covered by warranty" bull.
@Angelcorrine:
The check out is still in the front of the store. Anyone that has a handheld scanner can check you out.
@FaustianSlip: Heh, I was a Mac Genius once upon a time (not as fun as it sounds) back in 2002. That's when they were still using some insane old version of Vantive that had to be run in Classic on our genius machines (which were powerbooks running Jaguar, I think)
There aren't any color coded employees at the Apple Stores here in STL, but I sympathize with the 30 minute wait to finally talk to someone (that isn't a genius, btw).
@Trai_Dep: Also is color blindness even a disability? I ask because I am color blind and want to get a service animal of some sort. Probably a parrot so he can tell me what color things are and then he can also cuss for me.
That's bizarre. I've never noticed this at any of my local stores - all of them have people in the same color shirt and they all do a variety of things. It's pretty obvious who does what, though, because the ones at the Genius Bar stay at the Genius Bar and the ones roaming around are the ones you want to talk to if you need someone to check stock. For the most part, they don't switch positions too much. You rarely see Genius Bar people leaving to find something for a customer.