There’s a great interview over at Business Insider, they interviewed a former Apple store employee. Our highlights are below, but if you have time, jump over there and read the full scoop.
“Every Apple store has a business team. So if you come in and say you’re a business customer, there are other services Apple can offer you in-store. [One customer came into the store] trying to buy an accessory, [and the store’s staff] upsold them to a different product that was about twice the price but had more features.”
“They did try to fix that with a “Lead and Learn” programme, where you train on the shop floor by acting as a manager without being a manager.”
“We got a very small pay rise every year — of about 20 pence an hour. We aren’t allowed to discuss salary with our colleagues. My salary started at £7.20 and ended on £8.08… [ED: Just over £0.80 for working from 2011-2015]”
“About once a day I was called a bitch for not knowing how something worked. Once someone came in to complain about a device that wasn’t even an Apple product, but a third party accessory. I apologised for it not working and said I’d do my best to help him out, and he called me a “lazy fucking bitch” for not knowing exactly what the issue was, and that I should be fired and “go to hell.””
“I had a friend who was working on the accessories wall and a customer literally pushed her.”
“I have had death threats before. I had someone, I can’t even remember why — it may have been an out-of-warranty fix — who told me that because we wouldn’t repair it for free that they would wait outside until I finished work to run me down with their car.”
“…you are an Apple STORE employee, not an Apple employee.”
Read the full article here.