Happy New Year, and don’t bother looking for an Apple store cash register this year. Within the next few weeks the stores that still have cashwrap counters will join the newer stores that have no dedicated sales position, but instead use portable computers to complete credit card transactions. The transition to the wireless Symbol Technologies computers completes a project that began in November, 2005, intended to expedite the purchase process and replace printed receipts with e-mail. Stores will still be able to handle cash and other transactions from the Genius Bar, and flagship stores will retain their various cashwrap positions.
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B
January 2, 2008 at 9:36 am
Kevin
January 2, 2008 at 10:30 am
JoeB
January 2, 2008 at 3:26 pm
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January 2, 2008 at 5:42 pm
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January 3, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Liquid
January 3, 2008 at 6:09 pm
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January 3, 2008 at 10:23 pm
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January 4, 2008 at 10:19 am
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January 4, 2008 at 11:59 am
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January 4, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Your comments...
I wonder if the 14th street cashwrap will stay? THey just opened?? [IFO -- Flagships will retain their cashwraps.]
Will this also be true for flagship stores? [IFO -- Flagships will retain their cashwraps.]
I wish it was NO CASH AT ALL. CREDIT CARD ONLY. PERIOD.
I personally don’t like this at all!
I was at the Patridge Creek Apple store and i bought some iPhone headphones and a case and then used these machines and bought my stuff…then you don’t get a receipt? They email it to you? I took my paid items and left the store and on the way out the Conceiege person claimed I tried to steal the items and it took like 10 minutes for me to be able to leave…it’s a huge pain.
I don’t like the removal of the cashwrap counters. I always go to the Genius bar to buy my items, even though now I have a credit card. I hate getting a receipt through email as I always like to check it before leaving any store and I always find it awkward to go up to a person and ask if I can buy my items.
I don’t like this one bit.
First, cash system is removed.
Second, all payments will be through credit/debit/data only.
Next thing you know they’ll be accepting only implanted chips from your hands/heads.
It seems like the system that Aaron Russo was talking about (Google Rockefeller + Aaron Russo) really is happening. And this info has been in the Bible all along (Revelation 13)
Anyhow, I know this sounds crazy but if you start looking at US history and start at the Federal Reserve, you’ll quickly see that We The People don’t own the money system, a few powerful men do. So maybe we should always expect to rely on the data-only model we’re heading to.
I can see where Apple is going with this. First, people b*tched and moaned that Apple is adopting “different” and “unusual” technology, such as USB, CD-ROM, Wi-Fi, point and click for crying out loud. Then Apple opens up their up retail stores. Everybody thought it was a bad idea, like going to prom with your mom.
Apple sells thousands of computers every hour. Disregarding internal theft, human error, counting cash is tedious, and you always run the risk, especially in large transactions, of counterfeit bills being thrown in. It’s not like you’re giving a cashier $20 and leaving. People are buying computers… not gasoline, make-up or food. Even on a $1,000 sale, cash, at best, places a time constraint on operations. Don’t even get me started on checks. What idiot still runs around, spelling out numbers, and writing out dollar amounts?
Given the volume that Apple does high volume sales on high priced items around the clock, for Apple it is more than reasonable to give their 1.8-2.4% due to Visa, Mastercard, AMEX and others for every transaction than to put themselves at a disadvantage operations-wise. It’s been noted that Apple Stores are often crowded, and Apple cannot afford to have a sales person for every person that walks in every minute. Those portable devices allow operations to go more smoothly, and to check out as many people at once as there are devices on the floor.
Apple may owe credit card companies with every transaction, but they gain it all back in terms of time, multitasking, and, in general, volume.
As for being thought of as a thief, if Apple started to treat everybody as a thief, then people start acting like it. Just ask for a “Thank You” or “Lucky You” sticker or a bag for crying out-loud.
alright, folks, let’s nip the FUD in the bud here.
(a) its not no-cash. you *can* use cash, but only at the appointed place. in older stores, where there still is a caswrap, you go there. in cashwrap-free stores, they have a point of sale at the genius bar. cash will not be going away.
(b) you can get a printed reciept, just ask. the easypay devices can print, and the salesperson can get your receipt for you.
(c) and if a Concierge gives you grief, ask to speak to the manager, and complain. they shouldn’t. the salespeople should also put a little blue “thank you” sticker on anything you buy and don’t get a bag for. (like this: http://www.ifoapplestore.com/photos/thankyou_sticker.jpg)
Also, stores with cashwrap stations are likely due for renovation anyway, and I doubt that they’ll remove the cashwrap before the complete makeover of the store. (this has happened to a number of 45′ stores already).
I’m confused by the comments of getting a receipt by email, as the implication is that’s the ONLY way to get a receipt.
I’ve always been asked if I would like the receipt by email, or a hardcopy, or both.
Not a great idea. The EasyPays are very buggy and difficult to maintain, often resulting in transactions that must be suspended and processed at the cash wrap or Genius Bar anyways. No doubt corporate thinks it is a great idea, because the Apple retail managers are telling them how wonderful the system is in order to score brownie points. Apple should keep the cash wraps for now and develop software and peripherals for the iPhone so that it can replace the EasyPay, and only then dispose of the cash wrap. This would have the benefit of working better as well as showing off Apple-branded technology. Why they continue to use a Pocket PC platform instead of their own technology, I do not understand…
