Oh dear, it really is a sad state of affairs.

We have been reporting the iStore/Core Group saga to you since last week. It began with my personal account of a dismal experience in the Waterfront iStore (here), which ended up with me going next door to Incredible Connection.

I then followed up with an article (here) responding to reader’s questions, confirming that South Africa’s Apple distributors, The Core Group, had not yet released a statement nor had they attempted to make contact with regards to what is rapidly turning into a diabolical situation. I went on to say that they must know about the drama, as the story I wrote comes up at the number 1 position in Google for the search phrase “waterfront apple mac” – the story is very much out there.

But then it became clearly as to why the Core Group don’t seem to give a toss.

They never have..

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to peruse the comments section of the original article (92 so far) or the follow-up article, here are some interesting pearls.

# Hectique Prognosis Says:
May 17th, 2009 at 8:19 pm e

Let me see if I get this:
Core is the sole importer of Apple products in South Africa, because they have sole rights for distribution. They resell to retailers in South Africa… AND they have their own retail stores? Does that not sound teensy bit wrong? They must really have the other Apple resellers by the balls. Any wonder they behave as if they own the place? Talk about a conflict of interest…

# Anon a miss Says:
May 18th, 2009 at 1:50 pm e

They won’t respond and why should they? This Core flaming will all blow over soon and then it will be business as usual. Besides, what do they care? Those Apple products that you guys bought from Incredible Connection/Digicape etc were IMPORTED BY CORE anyways! And where are those resellers gonna get more stock from? From Core, LOL. Its not like anyone else is even ALLOWED to import Apple products into SA. Monopolies are so lame and there are LOTS on South Africa.

Guess Who Says:
May 18th, 2009 at 2:28 pm e

I worked for Core HQ. Most resellers really hate The Core Group. Makro, Hifi and IC, the are forced to do business with Core. Believe me, some people from Core are not welcome anymore at these Head Offices.
They lost TomTom, (google TomTom / Core South Africa,) there are law suits because they ruined the TT Business. Unfortunately they have Nintendo as well, this is going strong as far as I can see. Go to Apple Sandton, they are grey importers as Core will call them, believe me the offer good service and full warranty !

 

# Can this be? Says:
May 18th, 2009 at 11:46 am e

All this info is most disturbing. If CORE is the only Distributor in South Africa, but are also infiltrating the Retail market, where does their loyalty lie when it comes to stock allocations? Would this explain why at times the iStores have stock, but not the other Resellers? Can this be? Somehow this doesn’t seem right… Talk about a monopoly…

MAC GIRL Says:
May 18th, 2009 at 9:45 am e

I worked at the istore for 2 years and working for the core company was horrible. I believe that customer service is comes first! And to them it wasnt, it was the last thing.. they were more worried about what the store looks like than anything else.
I aggree with the earlier post…. the reason for lack of knowledge is staff leaving after 2-6 months cause the core company treat their staff like crap!!
When they are not happy with a staff member they will work that person out of the company in the most horrific ways!!NO MATTER IF YOU WERE ONE OF THEIR STAR EMPLOYEES!! they just dont give a shit! And yes.. they do have the resellers by the balls… as the resellers cant complain cause there is no point to complaining if you can only deal with them and no one else. I also aggree with another post that said they should stick to distrubuting… and stay as far away from the retail stores as possible…. the worst part is… they wont! they are trying to increase their footprint and opening up more stores…. the waterfront was the first store to open.. and it was suppose to be their blue print store…they promised they will perfect that store before opening any others… but they didnt… the waterfront store had so many issues but they continued to open more… (money hungry)…
not realizing they were hurting the brand by doing that…
there are so many wrongs i dont ever think there would be a right!

 

# budmoto Says:
May 15th, 2009 at 5:17 pm e

The Core Business Group…. little people with big money.

I worked there and realized I couldn’t stay on and keep my sanity so I left. Service is abysmal.
The manager there, Karen, is a great person and good at what she does but she relies on Core and you can only imagine what that is like.
Your best bet is to support DigiCape until they are strong enough to compete with Core for the rights to distribute Apple products in South Africa.

# NOT!!! Says:
May 15th, 2009 at 4:19 pm e

The sad thing is that Core have forgotten that their main business should be DISTRIBUTION (as the only authorized distributors of Apple in SA), but they are so busy trying to push the resellers out of the market, that they’re stuffing up the entire brand in this country. No stock, no service, no nothing…. Mac products are so over priced in SA – I guess all the profit goes into Core’s pockets, ’cause apparently the resellers ain’t making much on it…

 

# Minnaar Says:
May 12th, 2009 at 12:03 pm e

That store is a joke. With the recent rand instability I was once again surprised at the wonder that is Apple in SA.

I went in to buy a dock for my iPhone, and it had a printed price on its package of R399. When I reached the till they told me sorry, the price has increased to R470.

Now this I dont understand. If you have it in stock, how can the price change the moment I buy it?

Is there not some law against this?

Apple in South Africa is a joke – the computers are overpriced compared to overseas as well. Lets see how long they take to decrease the prices now that the rand is stronger.

 

# PaulMark Says:
May 12th, 2009 at 12:47 pm e

I am a Apple convert through and through. Great products and (internationally) great service.

Since returning from the UK I have been shocked by the Apple retail experience in SA. There is no official Apple retail presence in SA. The iStores (owned by Core) are the closest thing to it. Unfortunately they are poor imitations of the genuine article. To start with the products are completely overpriced. This is blamed on exchange rates but of course the prices never go down when the rate improves. The staff know next to nothing about the computers they are trying to sell and seem to have the attitude that they are actually doing you a favour!

Wish Apple would realise the damage that Core is doing to their reputation for good service and open their own official Apple retail store in SA.

Havent said all that I have had good experiences at Digicape. Prices still arent great (Core sets the prices) but at least their service seems pretty decent.

 

# Anonymous Says:
May 15th, 2009 at 5:41 pm e

I am a current iStore employee (I cannot say which store), and I just have to say that I fully agree with Seth.

While I consider myself and a select few of my colleagues to be great salespeople and very knowledgeable with Apple’s products and accessories, as well as the tech industry in general, the majority of employees are not.

The reason for this is that the turnover of staff is very high (the average period of employment is usually only a couple of months before they decide to leave) and as a result they don’t have time to be trained properly or gain experience.

In my opinion, the reason the staff turnover is so high is because Core treats their employees, to put it simply, like complete shit. They do not keep their promises, their demands are unrealistic and they are very stingy.

I really hope Apple enter the market in South Africa and open up one of their official retail stores. Employees like myself and a few of my colleagues will happily abandon Core to work for Apple, officially.

Regards,

Anonymous iStore employee.

And so it goes on..

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to peruse the comments sections – check the original article and the follow-up article.