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Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Sam3
Date: June 20, 2012 11:28AM
Don't speak Farsi when going to an Apple store, at least not the one in Georgia.

[www.huffingtonpost.com]

What an idiot. Too bad this reflects badly upon Apple, and the Apple-haters will jump all over this.

Then again, if this endemic to the Apple stores, then Apple has a problem. The story mentions that a West Virginia store did the same thing.

I decided to go to this side, because I can see it eventually ending up here anyway due to the Iran angle.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 20, 2012 11:41AM
Yeah, I saw that last night on my local news. That is my local Apple store. sad smiley

I think that the employee way overstepped his bounds and can't imagine what the Hell he was thinking. I used to work for a firm that was run by an Iranian man. There was Farsi spoken all the time around the office, so what. This guy was a US citizen and had no desire to go back to Iran, even for a visit. Why should he or anyone speaking Farsi be cross examined by a lowly Apple clerk when they go to purchase a product?

I will also say that this particular Apple store does not seem to have the best employees that I have encountered in an Apple store. Most are very young and seem somewhat inexperienced. I think the manager needs to address this, and quickly.




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: cbelt3
Date: June 20, 2012 12:18PM
Ah hah... NOT Apple's fault. It's the State Dept. No trade with Iran.

Call Hilz.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: mattkime
Date: June 20, 2012 12:21PM
So selling to someone who speaks Farsi is trading with Iran?

Quote
cbelt3
Ah hah... NOT Apple's fault. It's the State Dept. No trade with Iran.

Call Hilz.


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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: cbelt3
Date: June 20, 2012 12:35PM
Matt-

Of course not. But enabling someone to purchase and then illegally ship proscribed technology to Iran IS. And in the 21st century, there's a weird half-reality where Apple would be liable if, for example, Glorious Leader of North Korea was seen sporting an iPhone 4s.

I fully expect that the reporting on the issue was one-sided, and the Apple store personnel were specifically told that the purchase was going to be sent to family in Iran. At which point they were legally required to refuse to sell it. And responded technically correctly. Of course if the buyer had not said anything about exporting the device to Iran, the sale would have gone ahaid quite normally,

I have a working understanding of this, after being in the middle of a 'proscribed dual use material' issue for nuclear weapons components in the 1980's. Suffice it to say that Apple as a corporation would feel the heat.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: billb
Date: June 20, 2012 12:37PM
wtf with the racial profiling card every five minutes ?


if they were truly << smuggling apple technology>> out of the country they would have been speaking French.


I don't know what's worse, the idiot at the apple store or the newscaster or whomever wrote that story.


Unbelievable.

American Applestores must not sell too much to foreign visitors with fists full of euros and pence looking to escape import taxes back home either.




Kooper's Flute Thing cover

[www.freethegrapes.org]

norwegian wood reality TV

[www.youtube.com]
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: $tevie
Date: June 20, 2012 12:43PM
Since it has apparently happened at other stores as well, it might be good if Apple had a statement for employees assuring them that they won't get fired if they sell stuff to Farsi-speaking customers. I can see someone being confused about that policy, since my impression is that the clerks are not supposed to intuit any Apple policies for themselves. After seeing a lot of complaints about this or that over the years, it seems to me that Thinking Different is not allowed in the Apple Store.


"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." ~ Brian Eno
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: bazookaman
Date: June 20, 2012 01:03PM
I should have my wife try it at our local Applestore and see what happens.



__________________________________
Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Bill in NC
Date: June 20, 2012 01:15PM
Why tell a clerk anything?

They wouldn't have known Farsi from Arabic or Hebrew unless they were told.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: hal
Date: June 20, 2012 01:34PM
from another article:

Sabet said it was “very hurtful and very embarrassing,” and even walked out of the store in tears. When she called Apple’s corporate customer relations, an employee apologized and told her she could buy the iPad online.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: $tevie
Date: June 20, 2012 01:37PM
Quote
Bill in NC
Why tell a clerk anything?

They wouldn't have known Farsi from Arabic or Hebrew unless they were told.

I think they need to tell the clerks that people who speak foreign languages ARE allowed to shop there. Since there seems to be an impression among some of them that this is not the case.


"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." ~ Brian Eno
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Dennis S
Date: June 20, 2012 01:52PM
I can't get the link to load, but the two cases on this thread are in Georgia and West Virginia. Until I hear of cases in other states, I'm going to lean toward the fault lying in the personnel instead of Apple.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 20, 2012 02:09PM
They interviewed the guy who was at the store on the local news last night. From the interview, it seemed that it was a case of an over zealous clerk and racial profiling.

If any person goes into an Apple store in the US and had either legal US tender or a credit card with a US billing address, I just don't see how they can not buy whatever they want, even if they are speaking Farsi or Korean or whatever.

The only scenario I can see the employee having any rights to do what he did would be if the person said, directly to him, could you ship this to Iran or North Korea for me.

Edit: does anyone really think acting like this prevents iPads and other Apple devices from getting Iran, really? This is just stupid




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2012 02:12PM by rgG.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Gutenberg
Date: June 20, 2012 02:27PM
Quote
cbelt3
Matt-

Of course not. But enabling someone to purchase and then illegally ship proscribed technology to Iran IS. And in the 21st century, there's a weird half-reality where Apple would be liable if, for example, Glorious Leader of North Korea was seen sporting an iPhone 4s.

I fully expect that the reporting on the issue was one-sided, and the Apple store personnel were specifically told that the purchase was going to be sent to family in Iran. At which point they were legally required to refuse to sell it. And responded technically correctly. Of course if the buyer had not said anything about exporting the device to Iran, the sale would have gone ahaid quite normally,

I have a working understanding of this, after being in the middle of a 'proscribed dual use material' issue for nuclear weapons components in the 1980's. Suffice it to say that Apple as a corporation would feel the heat.

And I fully expect that the Apple Store personnel thought they were catchin' them a terrorist.

Love the way the righties assert that the reporting is biased on stories that don't go their way.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Avenger
Date: June 20, 2012 04:32PM
>>oes anyone really think acting like this prevents iPads and other Apple devices from getting Iran, really? This is just stupid<<

Why don't you ask the State Department to remove them from the export control list?
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: vision63
Date: June 20, 2012 04:34PM
The twerp should be fired and anyone else that does the same thing should be as well. If not, then Apple should be held accountable for racial profiling and bad service. This country gets away with a bunch of racism towards people perceived as being Muslim.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Avenger
Date: June 20, 2012 04:37PM
Iranian is not a race.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: vision63
Date: June 20, 2012 04:41PM
Quote
Avenger
Iranian is not a race.

You're fired.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Avenger
Date: June 20, 2012 04:44PM
You have to find another name for it. Call Sharpton.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: vision63
Date: June 20, 2012 06:56PM
Quote
Avenger
You have to find another name for it. Call Sharpton.

It's pure racism. They are either Arab or African. The "excuse" is because they're perceived to be Muslim. Ask your friends.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 20, 2012 07:06PM
Quote
vision63
Quote
Avenger
You have to find another name for it. Call Sharpton.

It's pure racism. They are either Arab or African. The "excuse" is because they're perceived to be Muslim. Ask your friends.

Actually, ethnically Persians are neither Arab nor African, as I am sure Avenger knows. They showed the guy on TV last night, and unless he told you he was anything other than a good old boy from Georgia, you would not have known. Now I did not see the woman who was with him, but as I said, ethnically, Iranians/ Persians are not Arabs or Africans. That they are not Arabs is highlighted by the fact that they speak Farsi.

Edit: Iran, as what once was Persia is now called, was actually coined, according to what I have read, because of the @#$%& ethnicity of the native people who lived there.




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2012 07:16PM by rgG.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Avenger
Date: June 20, 2012 07:21PM
This just shows that "race" is very hard define but those who just have "racial profiling" in their quiver have really no choice but to use it. BTW, how did anybody know they speak Farsi? Could it be that they volunteered more information than we know? What if they said I am buying this as a gift to take to Iran? What is the duty of the salesperson then?
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 20, 2012 07:30PM
Quote
Avenger
This just shows that "race" is very hard define but those who just have "racial profiling" in their quiver have really no choice but to use it. BTW, how did anybody know they speak Farsi? Could it be that they volunteered more information than we know? What if they said I am buying this as a gift to take to Iran? What is the duty of the salesperson then?

I have wondered exactly what they said, too. The guy, when he was interviewed on TV, said something about you shouldn't say anything about Iran if you want to buy an iPhone, but they never said exactly how all this came up. I agree that someone must have said something, because in my experience, not that many people can just pick up that they are hearing Farsi, and I really doubt the clerk was able to overhear and translate a private conversation in Farsi. I still do not think it was the Apple store clerk's resposibility to deny the sale, unless they asked him to ship it to Iran.




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Dennis S
Date: June 20, 2012 07:58PM
All of this fancy talk about Persians and Farsi and Semites means nothing to a prejudiced person from Georgia or South Carolina. They see dark-skinned terrorists. And here I am being prejudiced.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 20, 2012 08:14PM
Quote
Dennis S
All of this fancy talk about Persians and Farsi and Semites means nothing to a prejudiced person from Georgia or South Carolina. They see dark-skinned terrorists. And here I am being prejudiced.

Hey, all of us here in Georgia are not card carrying racists. Atlanta is quite a diverse city. Also, as I said before, this guy WAS NOT DARK SKINNED at all. Jeeze, please, this guy did not look any different in any way from an average Georgia redneck, since you seem to think that is all that lives in Georgia, and the south in general.




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 20, 2012 08:20PM
Here is a pic of the guy they interviewed on TV last night, so you can see exactly what he looks like. He faced the same thing at the Perimeter Apple store, also here in metro Atlanta.

I was able to find this account from WSB that tells more than what I heard on TV last night.
[www.wsbtv.com]



Here is the girl who was denied the iPad at the North Point store, in a separate case. She apparently said something about the iPad being a gift for a cousin or someone who was in Iran, so that at least explains what set off the Apple Store guy. Since it was two different employees at two different stores, I don't think we can chalk this up to redneck profiling, but rather a mistake in the way that Apple has trained their employees to handle something like this.






Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2012 08:34PM by rgG.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Avenger
Date: June 20, 2012 08:30PM
>>Also, as I said before, this guy WAS NOT DARK SKINNED at all<<

Excuse him. In this world things must happen that way or his entire world-view comes crashing down. By his own admission he has become what he accuses others of.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: $tevie
Date: June 20, 2012 08:42PM
Now let's talk about the Ann Taylor clerk who threw the blind woman out because she had her guide dog with her.
[www.sltrib.com]

Some people just aren't very bright. I don't see why this is a surprise to anyone.


"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." ~ Brian Eno
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 20, 2012 08:52PM
Quote
$tevie
Now let's talk about the Ann Taylor clerk who threw the blind woman out because she had her guide dog with her.
[www.sltrib.com]

Some people just aren't very bright. I don't see why this is a surprise to anyone.

I think the fact that this has happened at more than one Apple Store and by more than one employee indicates that Apple needs to rethink how they have trained their employees to deal with this, especially in light of the fact that an online Apple employee told the girl she could just order it online. By refusing to sell the item in an Apple store, Apple is not accomplishing anything. The item could always be ordered online or bought from any of a dozen other retailers. Their policy is just stupid and will only piss more people off.




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: mattkime
Date: June 20, 2012 09:00PM
I guess I'm behind the times. I didn't know that every store clerk in the country had a hand in enforcing export control.

Glad those times are behind me, seems complicated.

Quote
cbelt3
But enabling someone to purchase and then illegally ship proscribed technology to Iran IS. And in the 21st century, there's a weird half-reality where Apple would be liable if, for example, Glorious Leader of North Korea was seen sporting an iPhone 4s.


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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Avenger
Date: June 20, 2012 09:14PM
Aren't iPads made in China? Just saying.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Dennis S
Date: June 20, 2012 09:31PM
Quote
rgG
Quote
Dennis S
All of this fancy talk about Persians and Farsi and Semites means nothing to a prejudiced person from Georgia or South Carolina. They see dark-skinned terrorists. And here I am being prejudiced.

Hey, all of us here in Georgia are not card carrying racists. Atlanta is quite a diverse city. Also, as I said before, this guy WAS NOT DARK SKINNED at all. Jeeze, please, this guy did not look any different in any way from an average Georgia redneck, since you seem to think that is all that lives in Georgia, and the south in general.

I didn't say the Georgia guy was dark skinned. I said he saw a dark skinned terrorist. Also, I admitted jokingly that what I said was (ironically) prejudiced. Anyway, I can make fun of rednecks all I want to - I'm from Arkansas.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: vision63
Date: June 20, 2012 10:11PM
Semantics. We're talking roots of prejudice. Atlanta is extremely diverse, especially Dekalb County. But then somebody will say, technically except for a tiny little bit of Dekalb County, none of Dekalb County is actually the city of Atlanta. A dozen posts will debate that merits of that tidbit. This is where the Avenger's thrive and duck.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: RgrF
Date: June 20, 2012 11:46PM
It's all pretty stupid coming from an outfit that features "Genius Bars". An Iranian sympathiser or someone with hostile intent can simply order on line and no one will know the difference. Terrorists aren't walking into Apple Stores to acquire merchandise to smuggle elsewhere.

Now if the buyer had said the item was going to Saudi Arabia...
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: bazookaman
Date: June 21, 2012 10:38AM
Quote
vision63
They are either Arab or African.

Don't let my wife hear you say that. They are most definitely NOT Arab.



__________________________________
Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 21, 2012 11:14AM
Quote
bazookaman
Quote
vision63
They are either Arab or African.

Don't let my wife hear you say that. They are most definitely NOT Arab.

Funny story. As I said, I worked for a Persian guy. The business was an oriental rug importing firm, which meant we had to go to several trade shows each year. Being the advertising and marketing person, I was trying to learn as much as I could about the different rugs we imported and sold, but the guys that came to the warehouse were always speaking Farsi, which I could get literally about two words of. Most of them spoke perfect English, but they just lapsed into Farsi when they could. I kept asking my boss if they could try to speak a little more English, so I could learn more, but it did little good. Anyway, at this trade show, this guy, a customer, comes up to Ahmed and starts speaking Arabic. Ahmed quickly explained that he didn't know any Arabic, so maybe they should switch to English. I was very pleased, and I thought it was funny. grinning smiley




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: cbelt3
Date: June 22, 2012 07:41AM
Quote
Avenger
>>oes anyone really think acting like this prevents iPads and other Apple devices from getting Iran, really? This is just stupid<<

Why don't you ask the State Department to remove them from the export control list?

FWIW, I also can quite clearly state that the export controls system is a major joke, and only exists to annoy US companies. The Dept of State has always been hesitant to actuall enforce it. I worked on a project which involved assisting two Asian countries develop ICBM technology, with the complete assistance and collusion of the Dept. of State which declared that the projects were 'peaceful space programs'. LOL.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: Avenger
Date: June 22, 2012 09:34AM
Quote
cbelt3
I worked on a project which involved assisting two Asian countries develop ICBM technology,

You are everywhere, aren't you?
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: bazookaman
Date: June 22, 2012 05:50PM
Quote
Avenger
Quote
cbelt3
I worked on a project which involved assisting two Asian countries develop ICBM technology,

You are everywhere, aren't you?

I'm pretty sure he was born in the highlands of Scotland b/c he'd have to be over 400 years old to do all the stuff he's done.



__________________________________
Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2012 05:50PM by bazookaman.
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Re: Brilliant move, Georgia Apple Store
Posted by: rgG
Date: June 22, 2012 06:42PM
Quote
bazookaman
Quote
Avenger
Quote
cbelt3
I worked on a project which involved assisting two Asian countries develop ICBM technology,

You are everywhere, aren't you?

I'm pretty sure he was born in the highlands of Scotland b/c he'd have to be over 400 years old to do all the stuff he's done.

There can only be one! grinning smiley




Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta suburb)
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