Then the "5 Star Hotel" experience changes to a day at Bucky's Hack and Chop Auto Repair. I think I complained enough about their lack of service on the way out to actually sway a few people away from the Macs (not intentionally).

Willow Bend Apple Store... you Stink!!

Good thing there are reputable Apple Authorized repair centers in the DFW area.

Mr. Johnson must not shop at his own stores. The lack of a check out stand makes for high confusion among customers. The ad-hoc lines that form illustrate a store with little experience in retail. At the Apple Stores in Seattle, the employees seem to randomly choose to help customers who queue up in the ad-hoc line. The first in line is not the first to receive attention.

The genius that thought of the "friendlier" store idea mixes customers with dead ipods and macs among people with simple questions and people who simply want to pay and leave. For me, it's a concentrated exposure to product failures. I've twice walked out empty-handed when I saw the trouble people have with their recently purchased iPods.

John. You've written about Apples arrogance in the past but I'm starting to wonder if it might be what you hear rather than what was said. Ron didn't ever compare the Apple stores to being the retail equivalent of a five star hotel. He said they "try" to pattern the feeling of one. A huge difference in my opinion and an admirable goal. There may be days when they succeed and judging from some of these posts, there are days when they fail.

I'll take trying at the Apple store over worst buying at you know where any day.

I have found the Apple Store's lack of checkout stations to be rather confusing in the case where I pick up something off the shelf like a copy of some software. Where do I go to pay for it? I find myself walking all over the place looking for someone with one of those portable checkout devices which are hard to spot. Seems kind of silly to me--not to mention inconvenient.

I think the guys with the check out devices should wear a shirt with an Apple-branded cash register pictured on them. That'd be obvious.

went in yesterday in KC...lots of help but not too much so it wasn't like they were hovering. If I looked up and scanned the store someone asked me if I needed anything....so it worked for me. Now during a busy Saturday...it may be hard for people to get used to not having a place to go and stand in line for 20 minutes! If that is your think hit best buy.

I guess one adjusts. Ask an apple guy there. They are all over the place, wearing either black or red (current season). So, in effect, you do not have to line up to pay. Makes you feel like you are more in control then in the traditional line up supermarket checkout scheme. Apple is about making your buying experience different. More personal and logical to you own "movement" etc. While buying, you can also ask the Apple guy product-related questions...try doing that with a cashier ....

Last time I went in the store here in Rochester a few weeks ago the new setup seemed to work. The place was packed, but there were plenty of Apple staff around. I asked one for the item I was looking for (MacBook battery), she found it whipped out the register device and asked if I'd like to purchase it. Seemed efficient. I just wonder how it would work if I wanted to pay with cash...

I've had all five of the stores in my area have both good and bad service calls. But none thankfully engage in the bait and switch Best Buy has done with me. Suffice it to say, I look at the Apple Store as the best place to:

1. Sample Mac equipment as soon as it is released.
2. Buy certain Mac software and hardware compatible titles, though not all. Some they sell aren't even compatible with Tiger or Leopard such as some of the Maxtor one-touch drives!

3. Find other like minded Mac users to see if they tried something with their Mac. Though mostly Apple Discussions has more people that do that, and the forums here.

The instant checkout isn't really an option if they don't have enough staff to cover all the people visiting the store, which is frequently the case.

Getting an appointment at the Genius bar is an exercise in futility even if you have a Procare account. If you arrive just as the store opens that's the best time. Trying to get one of the genius to tell you to do something other than an erase or archive and install when not necessary is very difficult. The "one size fits all" is not the mentality of a 5 star hotel.