Dodgy Dealings and Little Victories

[martinmc78]

Just wanted to share my weekends activities and how I helped the cause for Windows 8 and Windows Phone.

Dodgy Dealings

My girlfriends 64 year old father has been due an upgrade from his feature phone for months. When he has seen my and my girlfriends windows phones he has always seemed impressed with what they can do and likes the look of WP. I suggested that he get a Nokia 520 for his upgrade as its a decent phone with all that he needs and the contract will be quite cheap.

I go with him to the local carphone warehouse where I have already checked he can get the phone for free on a ?12.50 a month contract with allowances matching his usage. I point out the 520 to him and start looking around the store at other phones.

The sales rep that he was talking to suddenly appears at my shoulder while im looking at the GS4 and starts rolling off a spiel about how great it is. I turn round to see my GF's father standing there as well. I instantly fly into a nerd rage at the sales rep.

Me: "What are you doing?"
Rep "Sorry sir im with another customer"
Me "I can see that, I asked you what you were doing?"
Rep " Sir would you like to talk to one of my colleagues?
Me "No, answer my question. What are you doing? As its clearly not your job. I specifically overheard this gentleman ask you for a nokia 520 on the ?12.50 a month contract. Your now trying to sell him a phone that he wont make full use of, uses an OS he has no interest in and the contract is over double what he was asking for originally"
Rep "Are you with this gentleman then?"
Me "It makes no difference if I am or not. This gentlemen came in with a clear goal and knew what he wanted. He asked for a specific phone and contract. Your initial reaction should have been to give the man exactly what he wanted, instead you are trying to make a sale for something he neither wants nor needs"
Rep (to my girlfriends father) "would you like to see any of our other phones sir?"
GF Father: "No thank you I would like what I originally asked for and to speak with your manager"

Little Victories

I walk out and have a look round a few shops and 30 minutes later see My GF father walking out with two 520's apparently he had given the manager such a grilling they gave him a second phone for free an a PAYG.

I just want to point out that this particular carphone warehouse pulled the same stunt with success about 2 months ago on someone else in my extended family which was mainly the reason for me tagging along.

Dodgy Dealings

So I its my sisters birthday coming up and she needed a new laptop and with a little help had decided on an acer 11 inch touchscreen from PC World for ?279. I transferred ?300 over to her Friday so she could buy it on her way home from work and pick up a mouse and maybe a cheap sleeve. I get a phone call early evening

Sister: Got the laptop but I have to pay ?325.
Me: Why? I thought it was ?279.
Sister: Yeah it says so on the display but the rep here is saying that the PC world tech guys have loaded stuff on it to make Windows 8 easier for me to use.
Me: Have a look on the price slip - does it say anything about a price being added for extra stuff.
Sister: Nope
Me: Ask for one without the extra software on then
Sister: I tried that but apparently they do it to all the windows 8 laptops that come in because people don't know how to use it.
Me: (Nerd rage) Well tell them to fire one up and uninstall it all and if they give you any crap about it being complicated tell them that's bull**** all you have to do in windows 8 is rightclick on the tile and hit uninstall. Also you might want to mention false advertising and trying to mislead consumers as windows 8 comes with tutorials as part of the help files. If they moan that the charge is more for the tech's time tell them once again that's not what is advertised on any of the displays.
Sister: The rep has disappeared.
Me: Why?
Sister: I put you on speakerphone.
Me: Cool, Call me later and let me know how you got on.

Little Victories

Sister messages me about 20 minutes later.

Got the laptop for ?279 and they threw in a case and a mouse as well. And so did 3 other people that were nearby and heard you raging down the phone.

Its probably a drop in the ocean for what the retailers get away with on a daily basis on those consumers that don't know any better, but the more people that know some truths the better things will get for all.

 

[Christian Kallevig]

Wow, I haven't encountered anything like that over here. I mean, salespeople often do push people away from Windows Phone if they don't outright ask for it (except in the case of the Lumia 520, which I've seen recommended and sold a couple of times) but they aren't nearly that pushy or underhanded.

And what makes this funny is that Windows Phone is way more successful in the UK than it has been here so far. Go figure. At least all the people using it over there means that there will be word of mouth on its side.

 

[lnsertName]

As a Carphone employee, I must point out that we don't give free phone away for complaints, in fact I don't think I have ever seen one even being considered being given away in my 5 years with the company.

Cool story though...



Sent from my LG-G2

 

[N_LaRUE]

You've probably mentioned the two biggest reasons why more and more people are buying online. Dodgy sales reps and being pushed to get extras that you neither need nor want.

That's classic that your sister put you on speaker phone!

 

[mpt15]

At couple of stores I've yelled at the rep for not showing me and a friend the WP we requested. The reps are constantly trying to sell Samsung Androids.

Another time, I took my mom to the store to check out some phones so that she could get rid of her feature phone. As I was showing my mom the Lumia 620 and comparing it to a BB, this couple next to us got very interested in the WP. I dont know what they bought since we left before them. But at least they showed some interest

 

[Muessig]

I really enjoyed the little victories here. Great to see someone calling these companies out on their shady behaviour.

Last time I went into a phone store and tested the staff out on their knowledge I was impressed. They were genuinely interested in the platform and knew it's pro's and con's. The only downside was their knowledge of the app store and the usage of the platform was about 12 months out of date. Fortunately they didn't try to steer me to another platform, though.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Just a thought. Maybe change which Car Phone Warehouse you go to? That one appears pretty dodgy. I went to one before I bought my 920 and the rep there was pretty keen on WP. So it's not all stores. Or maybe go to a Phones 4 U? They tend to be pretty positive about WP.

 

[martinmc78]

Just a thought. Maybe change which Car Phone Warehouse you go to? That one appears pretty dodgy. I went to one before I bought my 920 and the rep there was pretty keen on WP. So it's not all stores. Or maybe go to a Phones 4 U? They tend to be pretty positive about WP.

Indeed, that one does seem to have a some unscrupulous staff I've been in plenty of CPW that have great staff the same with P4U I've had worse service personally from O2 stores than from either of those.

Currys/PCWorld however. They always seem to suck hard.



Sent from my shiny new Nokia 1020

 

[N_LaRUE]

Currys/PCWorld however. They always seem to suck hard.

No arguments there.

 

[HeyCori]

Well done, sir.

 

[BIGPADDY]

You are a HERO!!!

 

[LMZR]

This was an awesome read!

 

[stephen_az]

Just wanted to share my weekends activities and how I helped the cause for Windows 8 and Windows Phone.

Dodgy Dealings

My girlfriends 64 year old father has been due an upgrade from his feature phone for months. When he has seen my and my girlfriends windows phones he has always seemed impressed with what they can do and likes the look of WP. I suggested that he get a Nokia 520 for his upgrade as its a decent phone with all that he needs and the contract will be quite cheap.

I go with him to the local carphone warehouse where I have already checked he can get the phone for free on a ?12.50 a month contract with allowances matching his usage. I point out the 520 to him and start looking around the store at other phones.

The sales rep that he was talking to suddenly appears at my shoulder while im looking at the GS4 and starts rolling off a spiel about how great it is. I turn round to see my GF's father standing there as well. I instantly fly into a nerd rage at the sales rep.

Me: "What are you doing?"
Rep "Sorry sir im with another customer"
Me "I can see that, I asked you what you were doing?"
Rep " Sir would you like to talk to one of my colleagues?
Me "No, answer my question. What are you doing? As its clearly not your job. I specifically overheard this gentleman ask you for a nokia 520 on the ?12.50 a month contract. Your now trying to sell him a phone that he wont make full use of, uses an OS he has no interest in and the contract is over double what he was asking for originally"
Rep "Are you with this gentleman then?"
Me "It makes no difference if I am or not. This gentlemen came in with a clear goal and knew what he wanted. He asked for a specific phone and contract. Your initial reaction should have been to give the man exactly what he wanted, instead you are trying to make a sale for something he neither wants nor needs"
Rep (to my girlfriends father) "would you like to see any of our other phones sir?"
GF Father: "No thank you I would like what I originally asked for and to speak with your manager"

Little Victories

I walk out and have a look round a few shops and 30 minutes later see My GF father walking out with two 520's apparently he had given the manager such a grilling they gave him a second phone for free an a PAYG.

I just want to point out that this particular carphone warehouse pulled the same stunt with success about 2 months ago on someone else in my extended family which was mainly the reason for me tagging along.

Dodgy Dealings

So I its my sisters birthday coming up and she needed a new laptop and with a little help had decided on an acer 11 inch touchscreen from PC World for ?279. I transferred ?300 over to her Friday so she could buy it on her way home from work and pick up a mouse and maybe a cheap sleeve. I get a phone call early evening

Sister: Got the laptop but I have to pay ?325.
Me: Why? I thought it was ?279.
Sister: Yeah it says so on the display but the rep here is saying that the PC world tech guys have loaded stuff on it to make Windows 8 easier for me to use.
Me: Have a look on the price slip - does it say anything about a price being added for extra stuff.
Sister: Nope
Me: Ask for one without the extra software on then
Sister: I tried that but apparently they do it to all the windows 8 laptops that come in because people don't know how to use it.
Me: (Nerd rage) Well tell them to fire one up and uninstall it all and if they give you any crap about it being complicated tell them that's bull**** all you have to do in windows 8 is rightclick on the tile and hit uninstall. Also you might want to mention false advertising and trying to mislead consumers as windows 8 comes with tutorials as part of the help files. If they moan that the charge is more for the tech's time tell them once again that's not what is advertised on any of the displays.
Sister: The rep has disappeared.
Me: Why?
Sister: I put you on speakerphone.
Me: Cool, Call me later and let me know how you got on.

Little Victories

Sister messages me about 20 minutes later.

Got the laptop for ?279 and they threw in a case and a mouse as well. And so did 3 other people that were nearby and heard you raging down the phone.

Its probably a drop in the ocean for what the retailers get away with on a daily basis on those consumers that don't know any better, but the more people that know some truths the better things will get for all.

FWIW, if I was the manager of that store, I would have had you escorted out for being disruptive. You could have readily acknowledged you were there with the person, but instead acted rudely, and quite childishly, in public. You have no right to insert yourself into that situation when uninvited and it doesn't matter how much their sales pitch bothered you. Since you knew the person that does mean you would have some right if invited by them, but not by presenting yourself as some stranger protecting the honor of Windows and cheap phones. Contrary to the moderator, in my opinion, that was not well done - it was borderline disgraceful. If you walked into a car dealer and a sales person was trying to sell some random stranger a Toyota Camry when they wanted a Corolla, what do you think would happen if you interjected yourself into that scene? I would suggest the police would be escorting you away. I am also really tired of this "for the team" and "for the cause" nonsense. There is no team and is no cause. It is a phone (and operating system) produced by a for profit operation worth many billions of dollars. They can market and defend themselves as they have done for several decades.

 

[Christian Kallevig]

I'm not sure a police escort was in order, but I do agree that this was not the way to handle this situation.

 

[martinmc78]

FWIW, if I was the manager of that store, I would have had you escorted out for being disruptive. You could have readily acknowledged you were there with the person, but instead acted rudely, and quite childishly, in public. You have no right to insert yourself into that situation when uninvited and it doesn't matter how much their sales pitch bothered you. Since you knew the person that does mean you would have some right if invited by them, but not by presenting yourself as some stranger protecting the honor of Windows and cheap phones. Contrary to the moderator, in my opinion, that was not well done - it was borderline disgraceful. If you walked into a car dealer and a sales person was trying to sell some random stranger a Toyota Camry when they wanted a Corolla, what do you think would happen if you interjected yourself into that scene? I would suggest the police would be escorting you away. I am also really tired of this "for the team" and "for the cause" nonsense. There is no team and is no cause. It is a phone (and operating system) produced by a for profit operation worth many billions of dollars. They can market and defend themselves as they have done for several decades.

FWIW I wasn't at all disruptive. I didn't make a scene or raise my voice above normal conversation level.
And in my opinion I have every right as a fellow consumer to insert myself into situations such as I described. The way some sales rep act when making a sale is borderline bullying and amounts at an attempt of extortion. And although I mentioned the "cause" what I did I would do in any situation. I will not see people around me being taken advantage of no matter the circumstances.

If standing up for a stranger about to be exploited is disgraceful in your opinion you're probably the type of person to allow it to happen.

In my opinion its you that is disgraceful.

 

[pipe7]

Was at a local cell store today checking out Lumia 1020's, I overhear an older guy (late 60's) telling the salesperson he wants a phone that isn't an iPhone and has good GPS Navigation (currently had in iPhone but decided he hated Apple lol). So of course the salesperson proceeds to show him a Galaxy S4, as it seems as though pretty much all cell salespeople are Android fanboys. I didn't interrupt but waited til they were done and proceeded to show the guy the L1020 and L625, and explain the built-in offline Nav, etc. Anyway he was impressed with the Lumias but wasn't buying today so not what he will end up with, but at least I was able to share a different perspective :wink: