Apple Is Overhauling The Genius Bar. Big Changes Afoot.

According to a story on MacRumors, Apple will be making some huge changes to its Genius Bar technical support system.  Up to this point, the Bar has been an equal mixture of success and frustration for those who have used it.  We’ve all heard the horror stories of huge waits, only to find out that your problem can’t be fixed until days later.

If Apple has its way, that will all be changing.

The new focus is meant to ensure quick responses to rising demands of the customers.  Included in this plan is a new management for long lines, multitasking for customer support roles and overnight repairs.

What’s likely to be the most effective part of this entire scheme is the fact that Apple is being very dynamic about each part of it.  Overnight repairs will only be done if the lines are long enough to keep Geniuses from doing them on the spot.  The active line management will take qualified employees from other sections of the store to keep the line moving.  Multitasking comes into play by assigning different tasks and cross-work through the store.

The question, of course, comes in how well the new system will work.  As one employee states, it feels as if the Genius Bar is being asked to do more with less, and that’s never a good sign.  While the overwhelming majority of response so far has been pessimistic, let’s just cross our fingers that the changes will at least have some positive influence on the Genius Bar experience.

It seems to us that the real problem here is lack of employees, and not lack of work.  If you’re pushing out as many products as Apple is, money should probably be invested in staffing instead of thrown at philosophy.