Apple Inc. (AAPL) loses British reputation over poor service, obnoxious snobbery

When a company is sold, one of the most valuable assets added into the price tag is an item known as “goodwill.” Goodwill is sometimes worth more than the company’s total physical assets, because the best set of capital goods in the world cannot compensate for unhappy customers and a poor reputation. This being the case, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) should likely be concerned at the widespread loss of popularity it seems to be suffering from in the United Kingdom, due to poor service and obnoxious personnel.

According to The Independent, a British consumer survey named “Which?” placed Apple Inc. as the number one most popular company in Britain for several years running. However, this advantage has disintegrated swiftly, with the Cupertino electronics firm going from favorite to being expelled from the “Top 10” list by popular vote within a relatively short period of time.

The cause of this lapse in reputation appears to have a twofold root. In the first place, Apple’s retail stores are supposed to offer the technical support Genius Bar service. However, it is so difficult to obtain this service, at least in England, that the offer of technical help appears to be more of a hollow mockery than an actuality. Disgust and cynicism over Apple’s (AAPL) failure to deliver a working customer service despite their immense profits and massive organizational capabilities has shattered the faith of many former Apple fans from the Sceptered Isle.

The other problem is that the store personnel are viewed as obnoxious, rude, and condescending, giving the impression that they are the electronic cognoscenti, bestowing pearls of wisdom on moronic klutzes struggling to use technology too advanced for them to understand. The phrase “sneering hipsters” appeared prominently in the consumer report.

This aligns, of course, with the superior attitude that a small but annoying sector of Apple fans manifest, acting as though their choice of Apple products mark them as possessors of actual personal superiority over those who choose Microsoft or Linux based products. In fact, a ZDNet survey provides fairly solid proof that most people consider Apple fans to be snobs (65%) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) to be arrogant (70%).

While snobbery and arrogance can be excellent selling points when targeted to the proper demographic, they are not quite so successful when they are coupled with shoddy customer service and inaccessible tech support. In this case, they convey not the overweening confidence of a vigorously successful enterprise with no time for fools, but the denial-riddled blustering of a decaying empire. Apple Inc.’s hiring of Angela Ahrendts to head – and renovate – their marketing is probably not a moment too soon.