
It Only Takes One
We have all heard that one rotten apple can spoil the bunch. As a big Apple fan I was really taken back today by the lack of diplomacy and tact shown by one Apple “genius” at the Kahala store.

The Story
When I bought my MacBook Air almost a year ago I blogged about how impressed I was with the salesperson taking me from a $1,700 “easy sale” up to $3,300 by suggesting several add-ons. One of those was their one-to-one coaching program. As I recall, I paid about $100 for a year’s worth of weekly one hour sessions to teach me about the Mac computer. The salesperson did the arithmatic, dividing 52 weeks into $100. How could I refuse? Well, I found out after the fact that “one year” meant “one year” and not 52 sessions. This meant that I got nothing for the weeks I did not take a class. I only went two or three times in the year and just discovered that I have only one month left. So, I signed up for an hour today to get some coaching on how to use iMovie.
“HELP!”
Because of my low skill level I invited one of my more “techie” clients to come along and observe in order to help me later. About 10 minutes into the session another employee in a dark blue shirt (I think that means “genius”) came by and told my client that he had to leave, because “one means one” and he could not listen. I argued briefly, but to no avail. I thought that there would be some empathy for my misunderstanding, and avoid embarrasment for both me and my client as compared to making us feel like we were stealing something that I had paid for. It would have been cool to say, “Hey guys, the rules are… so next time… okay?” That would have been the “Apple Way.” So here I am at home trying to figure out what I learned today and realizing that the session was a waste. I guess you get what you pay for. Will I still send people to Apple? Probably, but perhaps to a different store! As for me, I am going to hire a geek to teach me how to use iMovie, or maybe Windows Movie Maker.