Apple To Charge Admission to Stores? $5 Please!

That's a really bad idea.

LOL.

Maybe, they'll keep track of your visits too, and if you come 49 times, you're entitled for a free Nano, or if you come 249 times, you can have a free iMac?
Ha ha.

I can visualize the OP's response if someone else had posted this; something about their parentage, or lack thereof.

guytoronto said:

I don't know if it's a bad rumor, malicious lie, or actual fact, but it sure is funny.

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really? you think this could be real?

"By 'right kind of people' I mean true Apple customers with money, willing to pay just to look at our newest wares," [Vince Sciopiano] told BBSpot .

"To get into an Apple Store you buy a $5 badge, and have your whereabouts tracked by staff, presumably using some kind of RFID. The $5 entrance fee is then taken off any purchases you make in-store and security at the door it tight."

Is this BBSpot some sort of joke site?

I'm not sure if I can take that site seriously. When this story appears on a Mac news website, then maybe I'll take it more seriously.

Assuming this is true (which I suspect it's not) it would easily qualify as the worst idea ever.

What next, I can't use the Apple store WiFi?

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Does Apple think there products are so far above that of anyone elses that they can charge admission to their store as if it was some kind of museum? pffft.

Anyways, the part where it says "tracked by staff" makes me doubt the legitimacy of this whole thing (unless it was just creative writing and it actually doesn't track anything).

I'm 100% sure that there is no way this is true. The whole point of opening Apple Retail stores from a business perspective was to gain more exposure, and get people to play with and try the Apple gear. This is something that Apple did to get away from the Internet only distribution model (and what Dell is now trying mimic is a very late attempt to play catchup).

There's no way Apple would do this -- this news was probably circulated by Microsoft. Or Dell.

Are they kidding? Please, it only confirms their growing reputation as a purveyor of milking the cool. A friend of mine bought a Macbook from the Apple Store, didn't like it and had to pay a 15% restocking fee to return it. Best Buy, he says, doesn't do this. Friend swears up and down *never* to buy another Apple product. Ever.

It's a joke, playing on stereotypes.

You know, Apple users are elitist snobs. Or they are sheep that will go along with anything Apple says because Apple can do no wrong. etc. etc.

Sort of like this thread and the stereotype that Canadians are dull (like the furor over Triumph's comments in Quebec, which proved the point).

It is bad when a website quotes BBspot as a real source. I guess they didn't read their tagline "Satire for Smart People; The Truth for You"

It is a great satire site like The Onion. A classic article from them is Bush Proposes Faith-Based Firewalls for Government Computers

MissGulch said:

Are they kidding? Please, it only confirms their growing reputation as a purveyor of milking the cool. A friend of mine bought a Macbook from the Apple Store, didn't like it and had to pay a 15% restocking fee to return it. Best Buy, he says, doesn't do this. Friend swears up and down *never* to buy another Apple product. Ever.

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Well, he already "didn't like" the MacBook, so of course he won't buy another Apple product. And he shouldn't.

Cliffy said:

It is bad when a website quotes BBspot as a real source. I guess they didn't read their tagline "Satire for Smart People; The Truth for You"

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Damn, I missed that small print at the bottom.

Although, I see their "About" page says their humour site too. Ok, then. All in good fun.

HowEver said:

Well, he already "didn't like" the MacBook, so of course he won't buy another Apple product. And he shouldn't.

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He's so pissed, he won't even buy an iPod. Maybe he's a little too pissed.

I'm holding off until the $200 Apple tracker implant is available.

MissGulch said:

He's so pissed, he won't even buy an iPod. Maybe he's a little too pissed.

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Well, considering that Apple makes no secret about the fact that they charge a restocking fee for returned items, it's really just a case of "buyer beware."

However, before anybody supposes that the folks at Best Buy or Future Shop are so much more above board, consider that they don't charge a restocking fee because they don't usually discount opened/used products, whereas the Apple Store does. I have on several occasions bought goods from a Best Buy as "new" that were obviously in the very least opened previously, and in one case even had scratches all over it.

The restocking fee is based on the fact that the Apple Store is going to resell that open-box item as a "refreshed" item at a 10-15% discount.

Boy are you guys actually swallowing this crap? What a crock! While my beloved Apple is arrogant (increasingly), its not that bad! Last week, I was in the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens Florida and then the Galleria in Fort Lauderdale. You could shoot a cannon off in both stores with minimal human loss around the 10 or so iPhones on display!! I was able to play, unfettered by human intervention, on the iPhone for about an hour in each store. Pay admission!!! Give me a break!!!

Greg H, a little late to the joke, no?