Two AT&T Reps tried to talk me OUT of buying a WP

[aubreyq]

I can hear Dave Ramsey in my head with advice for you. Why don't you offer to work for a week in one of those stores for FREE. If you do a good job, at the end of the week, they hire you. If not, you leave, and they aren't out anything. I don't know that they would do it, but it would be worth asking.

That is very good advice. Working for free is an often overlooked way of getting "on the inside" and finding work.

 

[jalb]

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[jalb]

That is very good advice. Working for free is an often overlooked way of getting "on the inside" and finding work.

Does that actually work for anyone? Where I work, we have had two people offer that (that I know of) over the years, and we told them no, because it's an incredibly bizarre and strange proposition, and likely introduces a company to all kinds of liability. In the US at least, you are federally required to pay employees for hours worked. You can't just let someone work for free for a week.

 

[Achilles Heal]

Back in November 2011 my son (18 years old) went to get a new phone at a Telus store (Canada). He didn't want an iPhone (too many people had it and it was old news) or BlackBerry (that's a device he wasn't attracted to either), but went for an Android (because that's what was pushed). After a week - HATED it! Too confusing, too unstable, too time-consuming. With the Telus two week swap option, decided to find a different phone. He had seen some ads about WP and thought he'd give it a try.

We went into Telus together and the two salesmen there trashed WP. Reasons? No apps in the marketplace, always breaks, no one has one. Pushed Android and iPhone hard and wouldn't even let us consider a WP. So, he got frustrated and we walked out.

So I took the time to check at another Telus store in town to see if we got the same reaction about the WP platform. The salesman I got on the line said that there's many salespeople even in his store that are biased to one manufacturer because that's their phone - and no salesperson has a WP to know what the experience is like. But, he said he is not biased and is aware that WP offered a different and perhaps better experience for some. He'd be interested in showing us a WP. So we got an LG Optimus 7 from him.

My point is that anyone that would go into a cell store like the first one (or the second if you got one of 'those' salespeople) would be agressively dissuaded from WP. I would say the majority of cell phone purchasers don't know what they want and would go with a friends' or the salesperson's advice. Bottom line: If Windows Phones aren't sold, they won't sell.

My son was different because he dismissed the salesperson's obvious bias and the statements made about the 'apparent' app gap between iPhone and WP as irrelevant (because who needs to choose from a bunch of fart apps) and the misrepresented poor quality of the Optimus 7 phone (which was rated as excellent on the online Telus site itself - contrary to the salesperson's opinion). He was also immediately drawn to the uniqueness and intuitiveness of WP and was won over further after he started using it with the advantages of Zune over iTunes (he still has an iPod that he now rarely uses). He LOVES his Optimus 7 WP.

But I'd say his independence and openness are attributes of the minority of purchasers.

As a follow-on, I have now had the opportunity myself to see the WP in action as he uses it. And I am now convinced it's a better platform and am keen on checking out the Lumia 800 when it arrives. I'll be interested to see what the reaction of the Telus salespeople will be on this device when it arrives and I get to visit the first store we went to and try and get one...

 

[kenosando#AC]

When I went to my local AT&T store to play with what WP7 devices they had, not once sales rep approached me and asked me if I needed help. Although the store was a bit busy (shortly after Christmas) I passed by two sales reps when I walked in the door, who appeared to just be greeters, because they were there when I left, as well as other numerous reps scurrying around. I had to be there 20-25 minutes demoing the Focus S and Titan, and not one person talked to me. Now, I didn't think that much of it, mostly because they were a bit busy, as I said, but after hearing customer experiences with AT&T stores and their general dislike and bias against WP7, I am starting to think I was simply ignored or not handled as a real customer. Not that I care, because it has been ages since I have purchased a phone for myself from an AT&T store, or any other store for that matter, and I have no desire to visit one upon the Lumia 900 launch, except to maybe scout out if they have any cool display setup or if they just shoved it in the corner like every other WP7 they receive.

 

[Chazz]

This should put a end to the notion that.people are sales people are pushing android because they receive some type of bigger bonus.



Sent from my Galaxy S II

In Verizon, perhaps. ATT reps get commission off of phones sold. Whether they get different amounts per device/ OS is not known. I don't get your point either way. You're just bashing windows phone thread after thread and then you become silent when someone actually gives you a good point. What's the point in that? There is a android forum filled with people hellbent on worshipping their google experience for you to attend.

 

[alexblfc]

I can hear Dave Ramsey in my head with advice for you. Why don't you offer to work for a week in one of those stores for FREE. If you do a good job, at the end of the week, they hire you. If not, you leave, and they aren't out anything. I don't know that they would do it, but it would be worth asking.

Yep, tried that. They said that there are legal issues with doing that, things like workplace hazards and insurance and all the crap. Because a mobile phone shop is a sure fire place to get yourself killed :S I could understand that excuse for factory work, but come on a shop? I didn't have to do that when i was working at Tesco picking up heavy crap all day.

 

[1jaxstate1]

Hey there. You don't know me. So I suggest you go find a pen pal to go play with. You don't get my point is because you can't understand common sense. Nothing I can do there. I don't bash anything that don't deserve to be bashed. I own an Android and WP7 device. I was on WP7 boat day one. If you don't like my comment, then just move the **** on.

In Verizon, perhaps. ATT reps get commission off of phones sold. Whether they get different amounts per device/ OS is not known. I don't get your point either way. You're just bashing windows phone thread after thread and then you become silent when someone actually gives you a good point. What's the point in that? There is a android forum filled with people hellbent on worshipping their google experience for you to attend.

If you took the time to do a google search or a bing search. They get paid to sell features not phones. They don't care what phone you use, as long as it's getting you to buy a data plan, unlimited text....

 

[JedH]

Hey there. You don't know me. So I suggest you go find a pen pal to go play with. You don't get my point is because you can't understand common sense. Nothing I can do there. I don't bash anything that don't deserve to be bashed. I own an Android and WP7 device. I was on WP7 boat day one. If you don't like my comment, then just move the **** on.

If you took the time to do a google search or a bing search. They get paid to sell features not phones. They don't care what phone you use, as long as it's getting you to buy a data plan, unlimited text....

Well the problem obviously isn't the commission, it's the facts that the sales people aren't educated enough about nor have they made the effort to know the platform, so to the common user they are not going to try and sell a Windows Phone, as it's easier to make commission off of something you are familiar with as well as what the average consumer is.

 

[Chazz]

Hey there. You don't know me. So I suggest you go find a pen pal to go play with. You don't get my point is because you can't understand common sense. Nothing I can do there. I don't bash anything that don't deserve to be bashed. I own an Android and WP7 device. I was on WP7 boat day one. If you don't like my comment, then just move the **** on.

If you took the time to do a google search or a bing search. They get paid to sell features not phones. They don't care what phone you use, as long as it's getting you to buy a data plan, unlimited text....

What's the point of doing a search when I can talk to the ATT guys directly? The sales guys, atleast around these parts, get commission off the phones that they sell. I went in there to get my sister an iphone. Not wp7, not android..but an iphone. Because that was the right choice for her. Each OS is very well suited for a particular type of person(even BlackBerry).

Now I know for a fact that sales centers(read call centers) only gave comminsion on rate plans, but that was about 5 years ago. It could be the same or it could be different now. But, that has nothing to do with an official store, as most call centers are outsourced and only the top ones were able to price match ATT's own online prices. Even then you were barred from offering to do it, the customer had to ask. Trying to dissuade a customer from getting what they want would be grounds for immediate termination.

Defending salesmen breaking the cardinal rule of customer relations, calling wp7 a second rate OS and implying that salesmen don't sell the OS because it's just not that good isn't really needed here. Constructive criticism is the best way to state an opinion.

Name calling, swearing and displaying a biased attitude is a pain to read.

 

[aubreyq]

Does that actually work for anyone? Where I work, we have had two people offer that (that I know of) over the years, and we told them no, because it's an incredibly bizarre and strange proposition, and likely introduces a company to all kinds of liability. In the US at least, you are federally required to pay employees for hours worked. You can't just let someone work for free for a week.

Well you can't do it in every single line of work, but it can be done iin some industries, particularly in entertainment, music or movie production.

 

[jbrandonf]

I'm currently a rep at an at&t store. Make sure to give those of us who are fans credit! Salespeople make money no matter what phone is sold, but they can get accessory sales easier if there are more items for it, like the iPhone or certain androids.

Reps will not care about WP7 until more people come in asking for it. We're getting some great press with the awesome job Nokia and HTC are doing, but it's still not enough. I'm the official Windows guy there and I always make it a point to help out a fellow rep if someone inquires about WP7.

The absolute best thing any OEM or MS can do is write off a ton of these devices so stores can give them to employees for temporary use. Getting this stuff into people's hand will make a believer out of them!

 

[psychotron]

I actually had a blessedly good experience last week. I went into an AT&T store (not the one I usually go to) to activate a new phone for one of my kids. The CSR was extremely pleasant and knowledgable and was more than happy to chat up the virtues of Windows Phone while completing the transaction. He even poked fun at SIRI while we were at it. Quite a contrast from the hard sell I got just this past September. Maybe the tide is gradually turning.

 

[Xtian.Castro]

I am a new at&t retail sales consultant in training at the moment, just to offer some perspective, when selecting our company provided phones 10 out of 12 in my class selected Android phones, coincidently the other 2 were WP7 (Apple Phones are not available) I think some of them picked certain android models because of the LTE capabilities. Of course once the Titan II and Lumia 900 are available that might change.

 

[5tephen]

I actually had a really good experience with two att reps yesterday. One loves android phones but was very knowledgeable of the WP7 OS and the other while playing on his Focus S was talking about how he couldn't wait for the Lumia 900.

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