My sad experience at a Verizon store today

[Rellik66]

All this plus my bit of anisocial-ness is why I got my 822 from the online store.

 

[squire777]

This behaviour isn't exclusive to Verizon or the US. I have seen sales people here in Canada write off WP many times. Walk into many Rogers stores and ask a sales person about WP and they will give you a weird look and say something like, "Why don't you look at this GS3 instead".

 

[martinmc78]

I will agree its not great for the consumer picking up phones and I agree that it shouldn't be happening...

(here comes the big ole but)

BUT carriers are a business they have to make sales to cover the costs (for extortionate see apple) of the latest and greatest phones that people want. I dug up this article from last year after doing a quick google search and there are probably more recent and detailed ones out there. From reading through the thread a few have already pointed to this but the link does provide some figures.

Are iPhone subsidies destroying carriers? | Digital Trends

When a store has to buy 500 iphones at full price on release that's their money they are shelling out 500 at $650 is a fair chunk. You can guarantee all sales people are told to push the iphone as much as possible. Not only to cover the original outlay but to also get the biggest returns. It can of course backfire

Russian Carrier On Apple’s High iPhone Pricing: “They’re In Dictatorship Mode” | TechCrunch

Telecoms Won't Pay For iPhone - Business Insider

Im not condoning the way they go about it but they do have to make a living. Picking on a sucker that doesn't know what they want from a phone is cash in the bank for them as it will always be apple first android second. They still get a revenue from WP sales obviously but it wont ever be as much as apple and android which is why WP gets treated like the red headed stepchild.

People in the know will always get what they want no matter what the salesman spins - If your a sheep its easy to follow the masses.

 

[tbsteph1]

Well in all honesty the Windows Phones on Verizon ARE terrible. Their attitude might change if they get a good flagship like the Lumia 928.

OK, I'll bite, why are WP8's terrible on Verizon? FWIW, I have an 8X on Verizon and absolutely love the device.

 

[ag1986]

I was actually chatting with a friend who was an analyst with AT&T until this month (he left for a non-telecom company, so I now feel free to talk about what he said). He tells me they didn't pay commissions based on what phone was sold; it was based on the total value of the sale (phone + total contract value) so reps did not have any particular reason to push one phone or platform. The real reason was return rates; your usual teen or soccer mom returning a WP because of no instagram/FB/snapchat/<insert app of the week here>. And a return within two weeks voids the rep's commission, so that is a real reason for them to disfavor WP8. He listed a few specific examples apart from the above that AT&T found to be reasons for high rate of WP returns; no surprise to anyone who's a regular here:

1. Wonky Exchange policies preventing easy sync - we know why this happens but most people just want it to work and find it easier to return the phone and get an iDevice/Droid instead of arguing with IT at work.
2. The Calendar app seemed to be rather unpopular
3. Lack of, or deficient implementations of, Google services
4. Minor hardware defects or glitches - battery drain, etc

 

[allos autos]

This behaviour isn't exclusive to Verizon or the US. I have seen sales people here in Canada write off WP many times. Walk into many Rogers stores and ask a sales person about WP and they will give you a weird look and say something like, "Why don't you look at this GS3 instead".

The Rogers Plus locations are usually pretty good. One rep was excited to learn that I had a 920 and asked if he could play with it for a minute (I obliged, and he loved it). The AML stores are awful for WP. My local store thinks that my 920 runs on a Microsoft-branded version of Android.

 

[sniffs]

Its not because WP is complicated or anything.

If they sell android devices , they get commission.

I work for a very large company and I'm the guy that buys phones for people. I don't recommend Windows Phone 8 for 1 single reason alone. People love apps and Windows phone 8 is extremely lacking. So you can either recommend them a Windows Phone 8 and have a chance of them returning it and dealing with that, or get them a phone that'll fully immerse them in what they want. APPS.

As an example, go to the app marketplace and type "facebook".. look how many copies/apps there are that people feel are better in their opinion than the official facebook. Microsoft is cultivating an appstore full of non-official copies. There might be 100,000 apps.. but how many of them are terrible copies or kama sutra apps?

You could say I'm part of the problem, but why sell people on something that they won't be happy with? Phones are very personable devices. Ask the person what they want in a phone and sell them from there.. If someone goes I want image stabilization, get them the 920.. if they want Instagram, iphone/android.

I'm sorry to say it.. I have an 8X and while I love the phone, I spend more time on my One X+

 

[Sanjay Chandra]

I work for a very large company and I'm the guy that buys phones for people. I don't recommend Windows Phone 8 for 1 single reason alone. People love apps and Windows phone 8 is extremely lacking. So you can either recommend them a Windows Phone 8 and have a chance of them returning it and dealing with that, or get them a phone that'll fully immerse them in what they want. APPS.

As an example, go to the app marketplace and type "facebook".. look how many copies/apps there are that people feel are better in their opinion than the official facebook. Microsoft is cultivating an appstore full of non-official copies. There might be 100,000 apps.. but how many of them are terrible copies or kama sutra apps?

You could say I'm part of the problem, but why sell people on something that they won't be happy with? Phones are very personable devices. Ask the person what they want in a phone and sell them from there.. If someone goes I want image stabilization, get them the 920.. if they want Instagram, iphone/android.

I'm sorry to say it.. I have an 8X and while I love the phone, I spend more time on my One X+

Well , as a phone , I think WP is most suited for me but I still spend time with my iPad , I like to have best of both worlds.

 

[a5cent]

You could say I'm part of the problem

Yep, exactly.

Saying WP is extremely lacking when it comes to apps is a bit of an exaggeration. Either way, most people aren't app-aholics. For example, my Facebook needs are covered solely by WP's built-in features, so I have zero interest in a facebook app. If I did, I might also checkout touch.facebook.com.

Particularly as a company, security should be a major concern. Ever more companies are banning Android devices from their BYOD policies as a result. WP devices are also much cheaper to support than Android devices... these are also important considerations.

Are you really buying your employees devices based solely on the availability of consumer oriented apps? I don't know any companies where that would go over well.

 

[sniffs]

Yep, exactly.

Saying WP is extremely lacking when it comes to apps is a bit of an exaggeration. Either way, most people aren't app-aholics. For example, my Facebook needs are covered solely by WP's built-in features, so I have zero interest in a facebook app. If I did, I might also checkout touch.facebook.com.

Particularly as a company, security should be a major concern. Ever more companies are banning Android devices from their BYOD policies as a result. WP devices are also much cheaper to support than Android devices... these are also important considerations.

Are you really buying your employees devices based solely on the availability of consumer oriented apps? I don't know any companies where that would go over well.

Am I really exaggerating? think about it for a sec,
Here are some apps that I feel are "top apps".. yet MIA in Windows Phone 8

Currents
feedly
Firefox
Google+
Instagram
Messenger(Facebook)
Mint.com
Navigation(Where's Bing's TbT Nav?!?!?!?)
Pinterest
Pocket
Readability
Pulse(I hear it's on the marketplace, but it's not widely available? why?)
Quora
StumbleUpon
Voice
YouTube

Now a few of those are Google services.. but guess what, THEY ARE ON IOS!

Most companies that ban Android, are probably having them connected directly to Exchange. We use Mobile Iron with the Exchange Sentry addin.. whole different ballgame. It's a full MDM solution.

Allowing someone the choice of device then allowing apps is akin to someone working from home. They can spend all day browsing the web, playing video games, but then their work suffers.

You know what the greatest asset of any company is? It's not the product they sell, or the services they provide.. It's the ASSOCIATE! Keep moral up, keep them happy and the business will sell itself.

I know this is extremely offtopic, sorry

 

[ImmortalWarrior]

This behaviour isn't exclusive to Verizon or the US. I have seen sales people here in Canada write off WP many times. Walk into many Rogers stores and ask a sales person about WP and they will give you a weird look and say something like, "Why don't you look at this GS3 instead".

When I walked into Rogers and asked for two 920s, the guy asked why I wanted them. The best way to answer this question is to ask, "Why not?".

Then, when they start listing off things that Android or iPhone have you can start point out where he is wrong. Works perfectly.

 

[rob45]

Funny when I bought my WP two months ago the manager said the staff had recently been trained on the WP and HTC8x. They were very impressed and know all the phones.

I think you got a Apple style fanatic.
Rob

 

[spaulagain]

Am I really exaggerating? think about it for a sec,
Here are some apps that I feel are "top apps".. yet MIA in Windows Phone 8

Currents
feedly
Firefox
Google+
Instagram
Messenger(Facebook)
Mint.com
Navigation(Where's Bing's TbT Nav?!?!?!?)
Pinterest
Pocket
Readability
Pulse(I hear it's on the marketplace, but it's not widely available? why?)
Quora
StumbleUpon
Voice
YouTube

Now a few of those are Google services.. but guess what, THEY ARE ON IOS!

Most companies that ban Android, are probably having them connected directly to Exchange. We use Mobile Iron with the Exchange Sentry addin.. whole different ballgame. It's a full MDM solution.

Allowing someone the choice of device then allowing apps is akin to someone working from home. They can spend all day browsing the web, playing video games, but then their work suffers.

You know what the greatest asset of any company is? It's not the product they sell, or the services they provide.. It's the ASSOCIATE! Keep moral up, keep them happy and the business will sell itself.

I know this is extremely offtopic, sorry

You base your companies phones off what consumer apps they can get? That seems really odd. Regards to your app list...

Currents
Not sure what that is

feedly
There are lots of readers available out there.

Firefox
Who the **** needs 10 different browsers on their phone? And Firefox sucks these days, I'll take IE10 or Chrome any day (and I'm a web developer)

Google+
Seriously? People really care about Google+? Our company is present on all social networks, but Google+ we barely do a thing with, its a waste of time.

Instagram
Yes, dumbest app ever, but see Instagraph.

Messenger(Facebook)
Umm, its built into the OS! How much better could that be?

Mint.com
I do wish this was available, but certainly doesn't seem to be a key app for a COMPANY phone.

Navigation(Where's Bing's TbT Nav?!?!?!?)
Um, Nokia Drive and Maps are availble to all WP8 owners. And they are both awesome and baked into the OS. Not to mention there are several other navigation apps available. What would you rather have? Apple Maps? eek.

Pinterest
Multiple beautiful third party apps. Again, a company phone and you are worried about Pinterest?

Pocket
Not sure what that is, never heard of it, its that pivotal?

Readability
Is this an app?

Pulse(I hear it's on the marketplace, but it's not widely available? why?)
Quora

StumbleUpon
This used to be available, not sure what happened. Haven't looked for it lately though.

Voice
Google Voice? ugh, Google services are a joke. You see what they just did with their services lately? Kick them to the curb or cripple their integration. Lame.

YouTube
There is a YouTube app and also some great third party apps like MetroTube which is better than the iPhone YouTube app i have on my iPhone.



^Above seems to be the oddest app list I've seen someone request especially for handing out as company phones.

 

[Winfonejunkie]

@sniffs
There were TONS of unofficial facebook apps on both iOS and Android for many years before the official ones came out, and people managed. Unless people have a specific app they must have access to, Windows Phone OS is a great alternative to Android and iOS. It makes a great starter OS due to its simplistic design and bug free operation. You have no idea if someone will be "happy with it" unless they experience it and tell you so. Stop projecting your misaligned views about which OS is superior because it makes you look bad.

 

[Bartdog]

I have had several times I have "smoked" iphones or androids on common tasks, even while giving them a head start. To be fair, the worst of these was pre-LTE for iphone, but it was so funny I was texting while this guy was trying to download an app. He had a full minute head start. By the time he had it downloaded I was already in it browsing stations. Other times bing vs google I had an advantage because of how long it took them to find the icon vs the dedicated button. One such incident caused a woman to needle her husband about his crummy phone. I could tell they had a thing going like my wife and I do (she has i4).

 

[TheRewardisCheese]

I have always felt the responsibility to do as much research on a phone as I can before walking into a store to make my purchase specifically to not have to deal with sales reps and their personal opinions. I have spent countless hours reading and watching YouTube videos to make sure i am as informed as possible. I have never walked into a carrier store (or any store that sells phones) without knowing pretty much which one I want and know what it can, and cannot do and if it will suit my needs.

I would like to think with as much access as everyone has to the internet, youtube, etc...that more people would do their due diligence to research a product before walking into their nearest brick-n-mortar, since we all know the capability, (or lack of) of sales reps. Right now at this point in time, Iphones and Android dominate, and therefore, 95% of sales reps will push that, even if it might not be in the best interest of the consumer's needs, from my experience at least.

 

[scottcraft]

Like several of you I firmly believe in doing extensive research before buying a phone. I usually have read several reviews and watched quite a few videos on the phones I'm interested in before I ever set foot in a store. I also tend to visit a store more than once to try to spend some time with the phones before I actually buy.

In regards to apps if someone is a big Facebook and instagram user I don't recommend WP. The current state of Facebook on WP pales in comparison to what is available on android and iPhone. Other than that I'm comfortable with the app selection currently available on WP.

 

[wallymc]

I have complained about Verizon reps for this attitude for a year now. I have yet to find one that can actually explain the Trophy phone to you or help you with it, and none that understand Windows at all. I blame Verizon, Microsoft, and the various phone manufacturers. This is a prime example of the arrogance of a large corporations in this business. I hope Microsoft and Nokia can apply some sort of hammer to convince Verizon to do a better job with the new 928 and any other new Windows phones that come along.

 

[Honestabebread]

I have complained about Verizon reps for this attitude for a year now. I have yet to find one that can actually explain the Trophy phone to you or help you with it, and none that understand Windows at all. I blame Verizon, Microsoft, and the various phone manufacturers. This is a prime example of the arrogance of a large corporations in this business. I hope Microsoft and Nokia can apply some sort of hammer to convince Verizon to do a better job with the new 928 and any other new Windows phones that come along.

Don't blame Verizon, that lack of knowledge or care falls squarely on the sales reps. I'm a trainer for Verizon and our WP8 training materials were damn good and no one should have an issue understanding the OS unless they're straight up lazy.

Obviously some trainers are garbage heads but the majority of us love to learn and teach. Hence why we're using our HR degrees to teach as opposed to file paper work and fire people.

 

[Westiemom]

Well in all honesty the Windows Phones on Verizon ARE terrible. Their attitude might change if they get a good flagship like the Lumia 928.

No, they're not. I have the employee edition 8X and love it. Best smart phone I've ever had and I've had quite a few. I hate to hear that people are being told such things.