Sale! Sale! Sale! or Is It?
This morning I was stuck in the sea of people at Pacific Centre, where there was shoving, and yelling, and people scurrying everywhere with their shopping bags and oversized purses, with a mission to shop. Now I normally don’t have a problem with crowds, as long as I can find a nice calm quiet place for me to sit every once in a while, to take a breather from the madness. Today was especially insane, as it is two days until the beginning of the school year. On the news, all I hear about is that the economy isn’t doing well, and that people aren’t buying as much as they used to; well I would like to find out where they are getting their data from! The mall was just as packed and bustling as the week before Christmas, people did not seem to be curbing their spending habits due to their financial problems, and they were being vocal and ranting about their money troubles.
There were sales at every store stating “25% off all items”, or “buy one get one 50% off”, yet the prices of sweaters, jeans etc. are seemingly higher this summer. Since when did a plain cotton sweater at American Eagle Outfitters cost $65? Did bushels of cotton suddenly double in price, driving the cost of t-shirts and tank tops up to $20-25 a piece in the past year? I somehow doubt that. Yet teenagers, adults and even little grannies were flocked around the “bargain” tables in a variety of clothing stores to take advantage of these so-called “buy-one-get-one-half-off” deals that are invading every apparel shop across town. Are they really getting a deal? I somehow doubt it, yet just by having the “SALE” sign posted over top of the table, with a little red sticker with a minutely lowered price, we somehow think we are saving ourselves money.
I went further into the back of the American Eagle store (where normally Sale items would be kept) and noticed that there were sweaters almost identical to the ones at the front of the store, where the throngs of Sale Seekers were revelling in their bargain finds, these very similar coloured and styled sweaters were markedly lower in price, yet not labeled a sale. Many a shopper was walking by these items and barely glancing at them as they would comment to their shopping buddy, that “these ones aren’t on sale, so I don’t want to bother trying them on” or that “this sweater back here is the New Arrivals, and is obviously more money, since the Sale sweaters up front are Buy-one-get-one-half-off!”. I am not sure whether these shoppers are just not able to do math in their head or that they just do not realize that the words SALE are not always a good financial deal for them, but more likely a marketing and inventory ploy by the store.
The Apple Store Repair Shop: Picking Up My MacBook Pro
I only lasted about 15 minutes in the actual mall, where the whirlwind of drone-like shoppers were bumping and shoving to get to their next location, before I quickly rushed to the retreat of the Apple Store. I was sadly mistaken that the Apple store would be my quiet place of refuge, the calm blue and white glow from the rows of iMacs and MacBooks was polluted by the sheer amount of people swarming the shop. All I needed to do today was to go and find a representative to get my laptop from the back room where it had been getting repaired. No payment needed, no other assistance, I just needed my MacBook Pro to be picked up, I had even confirmed before hand on the phone with the Repair team that everything was ready. Alas, the laptop acquisition would not be so easy.
I first had to wait in line to speak to one of the Apple Reps in a Orange shirt, though this seemed fruitless (no pun intended) for about 15 minutes. I then caught sight of one of the numerous Blue Shirt reps, and she kindly told me that she was taking care of appointments, and that the Orange shirt could help me shortly. Turns out, Orange shirt guy was the Concierge, and that is the only person who could help me out. (Would have been nice to know from the get-go) Again I waited. Upon speaking with Orange Shirt, he took down my info and told me to wait for the manager who would bring out my laptop. Progress! I then proceeded to wait for another 10-15 minutes for the Light Blue Shirt to say I could pick up my laptop from the front desk. During all this waiting for a Orange or a Blue or a Light Blue Shirted representative, there were multitudes of shoppers buzzing around the store, looking for their copy of Snow Leopard, or looking for a new iPod nano and so on and so forth. In the midst of all these shoppers with numerous questions for Orange and Blue shirts, there were about 8 other people I could see that were just waiting to grab one of these reps to just say “Hey! You have my computer in the repair shop back there, GIVE ME!”
The waiting and waiting, while other people pushed their way in front of us, in the madness of all the shopping and browsing, could have been easily averted if the store had considered to have a “Repair/Drop-Off/Pick-up” counter or individual. I wouldn’t even care if they made that person a “Red” Shirt, it would just be helpful to be able to get through the masses of people with questions about “this laptop case” or “that iPod colour”, and not have to guess at which Apple rep is in charge of picking up my laptop that is in their Repair Shop. Now once I actually got the attention of and spoke with any one of these Blue or Orange Shirted Reps they were absolutely a delight to speak with, and they really were knowledgeable, cheerful, and even apologetic if they weren’t able to help me just yet. It just was quite the experience to be in the Apple store and feel like a little fish stuck in a current, not knowing which way to go! Or perhaps a fruit on a conveyor belt at a farm. “Pick me! Pick me!”
Apple seems to have cornered the market on a stream-lined user experience, yet seems to have fallen short on their retail experience. Their gleaming white and silver walls exude simplicity in an environment where a little more guidance would be more than helpful. A simple sign stating that “This is the Concierge Counter, where you go for the following services”, and “Go to any one of the Dark Blue Shirts to pay for your purchases, if you have MasterCard or Visa”, or even “Pay Here!” would help solve quite a lot of confusion. The amount of glares and shoves I received from customers waiting to pay, when I got waved to the front counter to pick up my laptop that was in for repair, would have been avoided had they realized that I was in a completely different queue than them, and that the Cashier only takes up one individual at the counter, the rest of the Light Blue Shirts up at the counter were either Repair Specialists or Specialists waiting for their booked appointments. I wasn’t getting preferential treatment, I was just there for a completely different purpose. After all of that, I got my precious MacBook Pro back, in wonderful condition with a brand new top cover/keyboard, therefore I cant complain too much. I do hope that I wont have “Alice-in-Wonderland”-esque nightmares tonight about chasing Blue and Orange Shirted people.
~Deanna
If I do buy gifts you can bet I purchased them online while wearing my pyjamas, and that my mail-lady happily drops the packages off at my front door. (another fun tip – presents you buy online, depending on the company, can come pre-wrapped!). 
