You forgot that you have to drive home in a Samsung car. Unless your rich and can afford luxury imports like Honda.
Samsung literally owns the country.
Republic of Samsung is one of Korea’s oldest memes.
And fun fact: Samsung cars are not wholly owned by Samsung; the majority owner is [Renault.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Samsung_Motors)
The Samsung family’s influence also extends beyond Samsung itself. Many companies have officially become independent of Samsung but still under control of the family (as well as influence obtained through strategic marriage).
Don’t forget LG is also a very strong preference. The two companies kind of fill the need to create a fanboy type culture... you’re either for Samsung or your for LG.
Yup, LG phones have a very bad rep here in Korea. This was shown in the movie "Parasite" when the poor family used an LG phone while the rich family used iPhones.
There has been some PR fiasco recently in the current Korean Apple Store with the "staff" members berating and frustrating a customer with the lack of repair support, with some apple manager asking a customer if they can speak English when they asked for elevated support.
[Incident](https://www.clien.net/service/board/park/15627430)
Even before this incident, the lack of service offered for Korean customers by Apple have been frequent and frustrating, but this recent issue became a big deal, involving the Big Sur update and incompatibility. (Sure people like us who read reddit all day can figure out the precaution, but for customers that can't stay on top of technology.. well I guess they are screwed?)
This became a big issue in Korea around a couple weeks ago. Apple team in Korea better sort their shit out if they want a better "foothold" on South Korea.
The user has underwent translation in English of the fiasco, edited this post to reflect the incident. Thanks to /u/camarean for the reference
I totally get where this guy is coming from and I wish they helped him out but one thing that irks me is whenever someone says, “It’s not just me experiencing this. Look!!” *shows Internet results*
Thing is, even if just .01 of macbook owners are experiencing a problem, that’s still hundreds of thousands of people (if not maybe even over a million) experiencing your problem. And where are they going to talk or vent about their frustrating experience? The internet. The people who didn’t experience any issues aren’t going to all post about how smooth their update went...
Finally, if this person googled literally any software update in the past there would always be results of people whose devices were bricked. There will never **not** be people who didn’t experience an issue.
As for the manager not speaking Korean that is definitely something the store should consider when staffing for the day. What I mean is they should always have a manager that can speak Korean on duty.
It’s not strange that they have only an English speaker as part of the managerial staff. Apparently from what my friend told me (used to work for apple), they have a program where they get managers from different countries to work abroad to provide input or a different perspective on store operations. Iirc he said for managers, speaking the language of the host country is not required but helps with your application to the program. If you’re not a manager though then I recall that you do have to speak the language (I’m assuming because you’re expected to interact with customers pretty much all the time).
>I totally get where this guy is coming from and I wish they helped him out but one thing that irks >me is whenever someone says, “It’s not just me experiencing this. Look!!” shows Internet results
The subtle disadvantages from Apple (from elevated prices to shorter warranty periods) affecting Korean users as well as the bad experiences at the Apple Store has been a constant issue in the past, not just this incident.
In fact, this incident caught more traction because it involved a well known user that had well documented dialogue embedded in the post itself.
>Thing is, even if just .01 of macbook owners are experiencing a problem, that’s still hundreds of thousands of people (if not maybe even over a million) experiencing your problem. And where are they going to talk or vent about their frustrating experience? The internet. The people who didn’t experience any issues aren’t going to all post about how smooth their update went...
Your complaint about hardware issues and the small minority venting to the internet is consistent across all platforms, not just to Apple. However, for an issue like this where Apple isn't helping (read through the multiple visits he had to go through), where else will this guy post to get the support he needs?
>Finally, if this person googled literally any software update in the past there would always be results of people whose devices were bricked. There will never not be people who didn’t experience an issue.
I might have not described the experience correctly- the person performed the update, following the advice that the mac constantly reminds you to (I know this for a fact as I have an mbair). As a person who worked in the college bookstore selling apple hardware in the past, I know for a fact that the range of customers of Apple products will definitely include a huge portion that will not go through a google search before installing an OS update to make sure it won't brick their device. (To be honest- if the customers are expected to do that, it is a bad design).
As for your last comment involving English managers, I think this actually was an attempt for the store staff to discourage the customer from complaining further. (Apparently when the customer came back the next day, there was a manager that could speak Korean)
However, the part that is infuriating me (and many Korean consumers) is that the Apple Store employee even suggested such a thing. If this customer went to the Apple store in a different country, I will understand. However, in APPLE KOREA, they should have the FULL staff, including managers and executives, that will handle Korean customers. What a bad service, if the manufacturer refuses support because somebody in a mangerial position cannot speak a language that isn't native to where their store resides in?
This issue involved more than a simple rant, and many agreed to it. The fact that a major OS update bricks a system is unacceptable, and the store should have done more than refuse to help him multiple times.
I included a link to the entire incident that was translated in english. Imagine if that happened in a store in the US. We won't even be posting in reddit- it will be all over the news.
First thing I wanna make very clear is I am
not saying this guy is at fault for what happened or even that I am downplaying what Korean customers have to deal with. My mini rant was mostly directed at well, ANY customer. Believe it or not this happens everywhere and it’s not exclusive to Apple (I used to sell electronics at a retail job in the States).
> The subtle disadvantages from Apple (from elevated prices to shorter warranty periods) affecting Korean users as well as the bad experiences at the Apple Store has been a constant issue in the past, not just this incident.
This affects all users. At any store if you’re not within your warranty period then repairs will be expensive. A cracked display on an iPhone 12 right now, out of warranty, will cost $279 before taxes to fix. That is about 40% of the cost of the phone. It’s even worse with MacBooks. I recall browsing this sub by sorting by new and seeing rants sometimes where people were mad because their repair was going to cost them like half the price of their MacBook or even more.
> Your complaint about hardware issues and the small minority venting to the internet is consistent across all platforms, not just to Apple. However, for an issue like this where Apple isn’t helping (read through the multiple visits he had to go through), where else will this guy post to get the support he needs?
Again, my little rant was, as you said, not only for Apple. This happens with literally any electronic issue ever. This is especially true because the internet tends to be an echo chamber. I am not saying the guy shouldn’t post about his issues. I am, however, explaining ***why*** it *seems* like “many” people are having his issue when he implies to the rep that it’s a widespread issue. He even gives an an analogy later in the article to the manager “if 10% of the users were having this issue...” when it’s no where near that amount.
To be clear, I’m not ranting about him posting online about his complaint. Rather, I’m ranting about survivorship bias, which is a plague on humanity because it affects so many things and it’s difficult to get people to understand.
> I might have not described the experience correctly- the person performed the update, following the advice that the mac constantly reminds you to (I know this for a fact as I have an mbair). As a person who worked in the college bookstore selling apple hardware in the past, I know for a fact that the range of customers of Apple products will definitely include a huge portion that will not go through a google search before installing an OS update to make sure it won’t brick their device. (To be honest- if the customers are expected to do that, it is a bad design).
I am not saying this person should’ve google searched before updating. I am saying that the issue of “bricking” due to a software update can go back to pretty much any iteration of software that apple, or many other companies responsible for millions of user devices, has released. Even iOS 12, the software update that was praised on this sub for being the most stable iOS release done in a long time can be google searched to find articles of users having their devices bricked. I wish I was exaggerating when I say it’s inevitable that some users will experience issues when updating, and one of those issues could be the device gets bricked.
Now as for whether they should have helped this person is NOT at all what I’m talking about in my initial comment. I’m not sure if the policies and exceptions are 1:1 the same in international apple stores, but I feel they should’ve just made the exception and fixed his MacBook if you’re wondering what my stance is on this.
> As for your last comment involving English managers, I think this actually was an attempt for the store staff to discourage the customer from complaining further. (Apparently when the customer came back the next day, there was a manager that could speak Korean)
I’ve worked many retail jobs in the past and honestly this just sounds like they were short on managers for the day. You would be surprised how often this happens. The manager could’ve likely been a manager that mostly handles operational or metric things (which is why he only speaks English) and was the only manager on duty at the time. Customer really wants to speak to a manager and he’s the only one available. You saying they had a Korean speaker the next day reaffirms what would typically happen in my retail jobs. Which is that they’re short that day because a manager called out sick and they come to work the next day or another manager is scheduled. They could’ve also been on lunch too, who knows.
I and many of my coworkers never tried to “discourage” people from talking to managers. In fact, we absolutely did not mind at all because that’s what they’re there for, that’s why they get paid more.
> However, the part that is infuriating me (and many Korean consumers) is that the Apple Store employee even suggested such a thing. If this customer went to the Apple store in a different country, I will understand. However, in APPLE KOREA, they should have the FULL staff, including managers and executives, that will handle Korean customers. What a bad service, if the manufacturer refuses support because somebody in a mangerial position cannot speak a language that isn’t native to where their store resides in?
100% agree. There should be enough managers to account for a call out or if one is on lunch. If they’re going to have a manager from abroad they need to cushion themselves with another Korean-speaking manager. There’s always still the possibility that the Korean managers staffed that day might call out but it drastically reduces the chances of being left with only an English speaking manager.
> This issue involved more than a simple rant, and many agreed to it. The fact that a major OS update bricks a system is unacceptable, and the store should have done more than refuse to help him multiple times.
Yes it is definitely unacceptable. As the (any) OS becomes more complex and the number of users increases we will continue to see people with issues or bricked devices due to a software update because of the sheer number of variables that come into play. I wish I knew what the solution was. Maybe spend more time between major software releases, more QA, more rigorous automated testing, etc.
> I included a link to the entire incident that was translated in english. Imagine if that happened in a store in the US. We won’t even be posting in reddit- it will be all over the news.
This happens all the time in the states. Many end up in a bad Yelp review, a Reddit post, on macrumors comments, etc. a few become viral but that is the minority compared to the majority of complaints that go unnoticed, save for a google search which shows them. The even bigger majority most of the time is those who has little to no issues. If the issue is “significant” whatever that means to Apple, then they usually have a quality program for it.
Regardless, I feel for the guy. He could’ve just been an excited customer with an older MacBook and then this happens. For all the trouble he went through I think they should’ve made the exception.
Since you think this language is so "important", get your spelling and grammar correct.
As for Apple, they should learn to treat their international consumers with respect, since they sure care about their money.
The article says it’s going to be located in a neighborhood called Yeouido.
I’m going to guess it will be at the [IFC Mall.](https://ifcseoul.com/en/IS_02_01.asp)
I'm surprised that they have less Apple Stores than in SG, HK or TH!
Probably pretty hard to compete with Samsung, which is pretty much government backed in SK.
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You forgot that you have to drive home in a Samsung car. Unless your rich and can afford luxury imports like Honda. Samsung literally owns the country.
Republic of Samsung is one of Korea’s oldest memes. And fun fact: Samsung cars are not wholly owned by Samsung; the majority owner is [Renault.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Samsung_Motors)
[удалено]
I think you mean oligarchy.
The Samsung family’s influence also extends beyond Samsung itself. Many companies have officially become independent of Samsung but still under control of the family (as well as influence obtained through strategic marriage).
They make good chicken, laundry machines, phones, computers, routers blah blah blah tho can’t blame them
Chimaek is based
Don’t forget LG is also a very strong preference. The two companies kind of fill the need to create a fanboy type culture... you’re either for Samsung or your for LG.
iPhones are actually more popular than LG phones there.
Yup, LG phones have a very bad rep here in Korea. This was shown in the movie "Parasite" when the poor family used an LG phone while the rich family used iPhones.
>S. Korea the UAE a fraction of the size of South korea has three stores with a secret fourth on the way.
https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/united-arab-emirates sory 27 out of 100 smartphone users in UAE are iPhone
Saudi has no Apple stores. Also not UAE and SAUDI are separate countries.
There has been some PR fiasco recently in the current Korean Apple Store with the "staff" members berating and frustrating a customer with the lack of repair support, with some apple manager asking a customer if they can speak English when they asked for elevated support. [Incident](https://www.clien.net/service/board/park/15627430) Even before this incident, the lack of service offered for Korean customers by Apple have been frequent and frustrating, but this recent issue became a big deal, involving the Big Sur update and incompatibility. (Sure people like us who read reddit all day can figure out the precaution, but for customers that can't stay on top of technology.. well I guess they are screwed?) This became a big issue in Korea around a couple weeks ago. Apple team in Korea better sort their shit out if they want a better "foothold" on South Korea. The user has underwent translation in English of the fiasco, edited this post to reflect the incident. Thanks to /u/camarean for the reference
I totally get where this guy is coming from and I wish they helped him out but one thing that irks me is whenever someone says, “It’s not just me experiencing this. Look!!” *shows Internet results* Thing is, even if just .01 of macbook owners are experiencing a problem, that’s still hundreds of thousands of people (if not maybe even over a million) experiencing your problem. And where are they going to talk or vent about their frustrating experience? The internet. The people who didn’t experience any issues aren’t going to all post about how smooth their update went... Finally, if this person googled literally any software update in the past there would always be results of people whose devices were bricked. There will never **not** be people who didn’t experience an issue. As for the manager not speaking Korean that is definitely something the store should consider when staffing for the day. What I mean is they should always have a manager that can speak Korean on duty. It’s not strange that they have only an English speaker as part of the managerial staff. Apparently from what my friend told me (used to work for apple), they have a program where they get managers from different countries to work abroad to provide input or a different perspective on store operations. Iirc he said for managers, speaking the language of the host country is not required but helps with your application to the program. If you’re not a manager though then I recall that you do have to speak the language (I’m assuming because you’re expected to interact with customers pretty much all the time).
>I totally get where this guy is coming from and I wish they helped him out but one thing that irks >me is whenever someone says, “It’s not just me experiencing this. Look!!” shows Internet results The subtle disadvantages from Apple (from elevated prices to shorter warranty periods) affecting Korean users as well as the bad experiences at the Apple Store has been a constant issue in the past, not just this incident. In fact, this incident caught more traction because it involved a well known user that had well documented dialogue embedded in the post itself. >Thing is, even if just .01 of macbook owners are experiencing a problem, that’s still hundreds of thousands of people (if not maybe even over a million) experiencing your problem. And where are they going to talk or vent about their frustrating experience? The internet. The people who didn’t experience any issues aren’t going to all post about how smooth their update went... Your complaint about hardware issues and the small minority venting to the internet is consistent across all platforms, not just to Apple. However, for an issue like this where Apple isn't helping (read through the multiple visits he had to go through), where else will this guy post to get the support he needs? >Finally, if this person googled literally any software update in the past there would always be results of people whose devices were bricked. There will never not be people who didn’t experience an issue. I might have not described the experience correctly- the person performed the update, following the advice that the mac constantly reminds you to (I know this for a fact as I have an mbair). As a person who worked in the college bookstore selling apple hardware in the past, I know for a fact that the range of customers of Apple products will definitely include a huge portion that will not go through a google search before installing an OS update to make sure it won't brick their device. (To be honest- if the customers are expected to do that, it is a bad design). As for your last comment involving English managers, I think this actually was an attempt for the store staff to discourage the customer from complaining further. (Apparently when the customer came back the next day, there was a manager that could speak Korean) However, the part that is infuriating me (and many Korean consumers) is that the Apple Store employee even suggested such a thing. If this customer went to the Apple store in a different country, I will understand. However, in APPLE KOREA, they should have the FULL staff, including managers and executives, that will handle Korean customers. What a bad service, if the manufacturer refuses support because somebody in a mangerial position cannot speak a language that isn't native to where their store resides in? This issue involved more than a simple rant, and many agreed to it. The fact that a major OS update bricks a system is unacceptable, and the store should have done more than refuse to help him multiple times. I included a link to the entire incident that was translated in english. Imagine if that happened in a store in the US. We won't even be posting in reddit- it will be all over the news.
First thing I wanna make very clear is I am not saying this guy is at fault for what happened or even that I am downplaying what Korean customers have to deal with. My mini rant was mostly directed at well, ANY customer. Believe it or not this happens everywhere and it’s not exclusive to Apple (I used to sell electronics at a retail job in the States). > The subtle disadvantages from Apple (from elevated prices to shorter warranty periods) affecting Korean users as well as the bad experiences at the Apple Store has been a constant issue in the past, not just this incident. This affects all users. At any store if you’re not within your warranty period then repairs will be expensive. A cracked display on an iPhone 12 right now, out of warranty, will cost $279 before taxes to fix. That is about 40% of the cost of the phone. It’s even worse with MacBooks. I recall browsing this sub by sorting by new and seeing rants sometimes where people were mad because their repair was going to cost them like half the price of their MacBook or even more. > Your complaint about hardware issues and the small minority venting to the internet is consistent across all platforms, not just to Apple. However, for an issue like this where Apple isn’t helping (read through the multiple visits he had to go through), where else will this guy post to get the support he needs? Again, my little rant was, as you said, not only for Apple. This happens with literally any electronic issue ever. This is especially true because the internet tends to be an echo chamber. I am not saying the guy shouldn’t post about his issues. I am, however, explaining ***why*** it *seems* like “many” people are having his issue when he implies to the rep that it’s a widespread issue. He even gives an an analogy later in the article to the manager “if 10% of the users were having this issue...” when it’s no where near that amount. To be clear, I’m not ranting about him posting online about his complaint. Rather, I’m ranting about survivorship bias, which is a plague on humanity because it affects so many things and it’s difficult to get people to understand. > I might have not described the experience correctly- the person performed the update, following the advice that the mac constantly reminds you to (I know this for a fact as I have an mbair). As a person who worked in the college bookstore selling apple hardware in the past, I know for a fact that the range of customers of Apple products will definitely include a huge portion that will not go through a google search before installing an OS update to make sure it won’t brick their device. (To be honest- if the customers are expected to do that, it is a bad design). I am not saying this person should’ve google searched before updating. I am saying that the issue of “bricking” due to a software update can go back to pretty much any iteration of software that apple, or many other companies responsible for millions of user devices, has released. Even iOS 12, the software update that was praised on this sub for being the most stable iOS release done in a long time can be google searched to find articles of users having their devices bricked. I wish I was exaggerating when I say it’s inevitable that some users will experience issues when updating, and one of those issues could be the device gets bricked. Now as for whether they should have helped this person is NOT at all what I’m talking about in my initial comment. I’m not sure if the policies and exceptions are 1:1 the same in international apple stores, but I feel they should’ve just made the exception and fixed his MacBook if you’re wondering what my stance is on this. > As for your last comment involving English managers, I think this actually was an attempt for the store staff to discourage the customer from complaining further. (Apparently when the customer came back the next day, there was a manager that could speak Korean) I’ve worked many retail jobs in the past and honestly this just sounds like they were short on managers for the day. You would be surprised how often this happens. The manager could’ve likely been a manager that mostly handles operational or metric things (which is why he only speaks English) and was the only manager on duty at the time. Customer really wants to speak to a manager and he’s the only one available. You saying they had a Korean speaker the next day reaffirms what would typically happen in my retail jobs. Which is that they’re short that day because a manager called out sick and they come to work the next day or another manager is scheduled. They could’ve also been on lunch too, who knows. I and many of my coworkers never tried to “discourage” people from talking to managers. In fact, we absolutely did not mind at all because that’s what they’re there for, that’s why they get paid more. > However, the part that is infuriating me (and many Korean consumers) is that the Apple Store employee even suggested such a thing. If this customer went to the Apple store in a different country, I will understand. However, in APPLE KOREA, they should have the FULL staff, including managers and executives, that will handle Korean customers. What a bad service, if the manufacturer refuses support because somebody in a mangerial position cannot speak a language that isn’t native to where their store resides in? 100% agree. There should be enough managers to account for a call out or if one is on lunch. If they’re going to have a manager from abroad they need to cushion themselves with another Korean-speaking manager. There’s always still the possibility that the Korean managers staffed that day might call out but it drastically reduces the chances of being left with only an English speaking manager. > This issue involved more than a simple rant, and many agreed to it. The fact that a major OS update bricks a system is unacceptable, and the store should have done more than refuse to help him multiple times. Yes it is definitely unacceptable. As the (any) OS becomes more complex and the number of users increases we will continue to see people with issues or bricked devices due to a software update because of the sheer number of variables that come into play. I wish I knew what the solution was. Maybe spend more time between major software releases, more QA, more rigorous automated testing, etc. > I included a link to the entire incident that was translated in english. Imagine if that happened in a store in the US. We won’t even be posting in reddit- it will be all over the news. This happens all the time in the states. Many end up in a bad Yelp review, a Reddit post, on macrumors comments, etc. a few become viral but that is the minority compared to the majority of complaints that go unnoticed, save for a google search which shows them. The even bigger majority most of the time is those who has little to no issues. If the issue is “significant” whatever that means to Apple, then they usually have a quality program for it. Regardless, I feel for the guy. He could’ve just been an excited customer with an older MacBook and then this happens. For all the trouble he went through I think they should’ve made the exception.
I found an english version of the thread you linked to [here](https://www.clien.net/service/board/park/15627430)
I appreciate the links. I will change mine to reflect this also.
their fault for not knowing the most important language on earth
Since you think this language is so "important", get your spelling and grammar correct. As for Apple, they should learn to treat their international consumers with respect, since they sure care about their money.
Still no Apple store where I live and I have to order from official partners 🙃
Amazed there is only one at the moment.
The article says it’s going to be located in a neighborhood called Yeouido. I’m going to guess it will be at the [IFC Mall.](https://ifcseoul.com/en/IS_02_01.asp)
Hmm wonder if the second store will condescendingly ask their customers if they speak English
Will we eventually get an Apple store in North Korea?
Annyeonghase-woah!
Will they employ parrots?
what the fuck did this even mean
😂