After working somewhere for six years, you get used to the machinations of that job, and the more repetitive aspects become like addictions. There are many reasons I may need to call a customer as a Genius; your repair is complete, we need more information from you, or there has been a significant change in status for your repair. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve uttered the following into a customer’s voicemail:
Hi, this is Jeremy at the AppleStore…
That becomes rote memory after a while. I could be leaving a message wishing my dad a happy birthday and that will come out. It can be mildly amusing when it comes out at the wrong time.
It becomes less amusing when you no longer work for the AppleStore. And you’re calling one of your own customers.
Hi, this is Jeremy from the AppleSt…..... errr…. Heroic Efforts, returning your call…
Annoyed grunt.
Aside from phone etiquette, there are other oddities that make adjustment to life outside the Mothership a little more difficult. For instance, being a big megacorporation that customers like to threaten to sue, the policies and procedures at the Genius Bar are rather rigid in many respects. But, I’m the boss now, and (for the moment) you can’t get blood out of a turnip.
The Genius Bar has a very specific list of services provided. The Geniuses aren’t really free to deviate from these offerings. They can fix your computer under warranty, they can provide exchange-service with genuine Apple parts out of warranty, and they can help you with your software. The AppleStore is, sadly, not where you go to upgrade the internals of an existing Mac. You can get RAM, but that’s about it; no hard drive upgrades, nor optical drives, nor processors. For those, you’re on your own. Maybe your local Apple Authorized Reseller can help you out. But not the AppleStore.
No longer a Genius, I’m not so encumbered. I can upgrade your hard drive for you, put a SuperDrive in your PowerBook, or upgrade the processor in your Cube. It’s not my focus; I do data recovery. But I have the power, the knowledge, and the time, and I could do those when needed. Even better, people are asking me for this service.
So, if you’re recovering my data and giving me a new hard drive, can you upgrade me to a SuperDrive while you’re in there?
No, I don’t do tha… grrr… Annoyed grunt. Yes, absolutely. I want your money, please ask me to do more. It shouldn’t be hard to ask someone for more of their money but, given the restrictions I had before, it’s hard to break the habit and be immediately willing and able to do anything within my ability.
