This phone doesn't stand a chance!

[chezm]

I think this getting blown out of proportion anyway. I rarely see a phone store or big box store go to the bother of the scenarios some of you are hypothesizing. The vast majority of the time they just grab your box and send you on your way if you simply just tell them I want this can you grab it for me.

because you were never in the situation doesn't deem it to be untrue. It's not only with Windows Phones, it happened with my wife at the local carrier store with iPhone. I went with my my wife to get her hardware upgrade done, she was going from a iPhone 3G to an iPhone 5, she was very excited. I couldn't care less what she wants, i myself would never buy an iPhone again but shes comfortable with them and was confident it was the right choice so i was cool with it...i knew it would make her happy, being that she has all her music on iTunes and shes a fan of the simplistic design. When we went into the shop, the sales guy kept on trying to push the Galaxy S3 on her but she just laughed and said no thanks. He pulled his out of his pocket, showed how he could download music for free so she wouldnt have to buy music anymore (i dont think a sales guy should be promoting a product this way) and its a bigger screen, customizable...yadda, yadda. She got so annoyed as he went on for almost 15 mins, we said we'd think about it and walk around the store. We just left, my wife didnt want him getting any commission based on his sales aggressive manner (i agreed with her) and we just went to another shop to ger her iPhone 5.

Point being, maybe not everyone is as aggressive or bias enough to cause these situations, but there are people doing it. You would think if someone is sold on a product, it should be pick up and leave...but its not always the case.

 

[LeLee092]

I'll do everyone else better...here's the link to the app:
Foursquare | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

facepalm... Sorry guys! I meant to say Square, like the card reader add on for small businesses!

 

[willied]

facepalm... Sorry guys! I meant to say Square, like the card reader add on for small businesses!

That does make more sense. Ha. It's a real bummer Square won't support WP.

 

[omniusovermind]

because you were never in the situation doesn't deem it to be untrue. It's not only with Windows Phones, it happened with my wife at the local carrier store with iPhone. I went with my my wife to get her hardware upgrade done, she was going from a iPhone 3G to an iPhone 5, she was very excited. I couldn't care less what she wants, i myself would never buy an iPhone again but shes comfortable with them and was confident it was the right choice so i was cool with it...i knew it would make her happy, being that she has all her music on iTunes and shes a fan of the simplistic design. When we went into the shop, the sales guy kept on trying to push the Galaxy S3 on her but she just laughed and said no thanks. He pulled his out of his pocket, showed how he could download music for free so she wouldnt have to buy music anymore (i dont think a sales guy should be promoting a product this way) and its a bigger screen, customizable...yadda, yadda. She got so annoyed as he went on for almost 15 mins, we said we'd think about it and walk around the store. We just left, my wife didnt want him getting any commission based on his sales aggressive manner (i agreed with her) and we just went to another shop to ger her iPhone 5.

Point being, maybe not everyone is as aggressive or bias enough to cause these situations, but there are people doing it. You would think if someone is sold on a product, it should be pick up and leave...but its not always the case.

Note that I didn't say it never happens

 

[falconrap]

facepalm... Sorry guys! I meant to say Square, like the card reader add on for small businesses!

Doh! Yeah...that one sucks. Someone really needs to come up with a WP8 solution for the small mom & pops doing card swipes via their phone. I'm sure this situation will change soon, especially if Nokia can sell the 8 million+ Lumias they forcast for this quarter. WP8 will become harder and harder to ignore.

 

[Premium1]

Here's what could be a solution.
It involves getting the 928.

Go to the store, seek that sales rep, and buy the 928. No matter what.

If you have family and friends that are interested in WP, go with them to that same store and try to seek that sales rep. Again. Then buy a WP. Again.

This tactic is more effective if you space your purchases every week or so. I know, you're hurting the rep's feelings, but hey, no pain no gain.

I agree. Going to any carrier store and expecting them to sell you a WP is not going to happen. If you have even the slightest doubt they will sell you on something else which is why many end up with a cheap android or older iphone.

 

[chezm]

Note that I didn't say it never happens

fair enough

 

[diego15nets]

So the Lumia 928 is no longer featured on Verizon's homepage... only Androids. I guess a week's worth of marketing is all they did.

 

[nunyazz]

So the Lumia 928 is no longer featured on Verizon's homepage... only Androids. I guess a week's worth of marketing is all they did.

Amazing. They still have my old Note2 on the main page and not the Lumia.... amazing.

 

[tgp]

So the Lumia 928 is no longer featured on Verizon's homepage... only Androids. I guess a week's worth of marketing is all they did.

Amazing. They still have my old Note2 on the main page and not the Lumia.... amazing.

Amazing is right! I'm assuming they know which side their bread is buttered on.

 

[uselessrobot]

Carrier stores are more likely to carry Windows Phone devices than any other retailer. In my experience they're virtually non-existent in any of the big box stores. Target, for example, carried the Lumia 820 for T-Mobile, and battered examples 900 for the longest time. To this day I've yet to see a 920 in their story. It took three months before the Lumia 920 showed up at Best Buy. The HTC 8X was on the shelves earlier, but didn't appear at launch. I rarely go to Walmart, but I happened to be in one last week and didn't see a single Windows Phone.

Store management is largely ignorant about what's on the market and are only interested in carrying what they perceive as guaranteed sellers. They exacerbate the problem by only stocking accessories for those top selling phones. Although that usually entails shelf after shelf of iPhone cases and a little corner for the Samsung Galaxy. They're basically creating a feedback loop.

Of course, another dynamic here is that in American retail companies often pay for retail space. This is why Apple has those cute little displays set apart from everyone else. Microsoft's various divisions not operating as a cohesive unit means that marketing resources probably aren't being diverted where they should go. So you'd get a neat little corner for the Xbox and nothing for Windows Phone. And they probably have placed too much confidence in the effectiveness of Microsoft stores. But even if they were paying for shelf space there's no guarantee that the individual stores will ever follow through.

As for the contribution of the store employee; well, that's a two-fold problem. On the one hand, they're usually ignorant about everything and will just peddle what they know. Many can't see past their own biases. The second problem is that management tells them to push profitable items. Often, the most popular phones are almost the most profitable.

 

[omniusovermind]

So the Lumia 928 is no longer featured on Verizon's homepage... only Androids. I guess a week's worth of marketing is all they did.

That's kind of a bummer, didn't someone from Vzn issue a statement something to the effect of "we're going to do for WP what we did for Android"? I was actually pretty excited for WP when they said that.

 

[dksf42]

That's kind of a bummer, didn't someone from Vzn issue a statement something to the effect of "we're going to do for WP what we did for Android"? I was actually pretty excited for WP when they said that.

NO, I "just picked the WRONG DAY" to decide to go into a local Verizon store ... TODAY IS the Samsung Galaxy S4 "launch day" ... on Verizon!

 

[cckgz4]

Went to a store in Australia to buy a 920 today. Pointed to the phone and the salesman asked why you'd want it and tried to steer me away.
I said I really want the lumia, he apologised and said he thought i was pointing at the Blackberry Z10

This is a picture of the CBD and largest carrier store in my state: http://i.imgur.com/v4SDKO6.jpg

Best reply LMAO

 

[Condairy Windham]

Lets be honest here guys. The majority of these reps have no clue what they are talking about. I myself went into the store and started to ask questions and as soon as I opened my mouth the rep says... "oh no, you gotta get the Samsung Galaxy S4". So I sat there for a second and I already knew that this rep had no idea about the 928. So like I always do I thought I would educate her on the phone and the perks that came with it.. starting off with the price.. then I worked my way to the promos that windows is giving.. then enlightened her how the camera is surpassing the big boys by a long shot.. the the infamous "well the app center is horrible". I said explain.. well it doesnt have as many apps as itunes n google play... im like, how many apps do you actually have on your phone?? I mean facebook, pandora, mapquest, twitter, now instagram, flashlight.. maybe a few others are like the dominant apps.. anyways point being the app center has all the apps you will ever need and then some.

It just drives me crazy how these guys get paid so well to sell these phones and know absolutely nothing about them. They go off bulletin features on the cover box or something they heard someone say. BTW reps.. the primary carrier is VERIZON!! You might want to actually do your homework before opening that trap to a customer..

ok the ranting is over. I have had an iphone 4 ever it seems like but this 928 along with windows is convincing me to get back to my roots!! Apple is played out and charge WAYYYYYYYY too much for their products.. ANDROID simply is over rated.. the reason they are so high in sales bc 80% of phones being produced are on that platform. I have always been a windows man and always will be. Simply cannot wait to get this phone

 

[Laura Knotek]

I think this getting blown out of proportion anyway. I rarely see a phone store or big box store go to the bother of the scenarios some of you are hypothesizing. The vast majority of the time they just grab your box and send you on your way if you simply just tell them I want this can you grab it for me.

You seem like a tech-savvy person. I believe that makes a difference.

The folks at the local AT&T store all know me and know that I am tech-savvy. They just leave me alone and let me play with any device I want to play with. I actually played with an SGSII for over an hour once (and posted on CrackBerry using the SGSII). Nobody tried to sell me the SGSII or bothered me at all during that time.

When I purchase a new device, the manager usually is the person who takes care of me. He just gets whatever I want and checks me out. When I tell him I'll set it up myself at home, he says "ok".

I believe that the folks who are persuaded to purchase something other than what they originally might be interested in are those who might not be quite so tech-savvy.

 

[Laura Knotek]

That's kind of a bummer, didn't someone from Vzn issue a statement something to the effect of "we're going to do for WP what we did for Android"? I was actually pretty excited for WP when they said that.

I think it might be a regional thing. I checked VZW's site about an hour ago, and this is what I saw.

 

[odin09]

One of my friends just went to his local Verizon store looking for a gs4. He said the salesman was pushing him toward the 928 big time. He ended up getting Samsung but at least there are salespeople pushing Nokia.

 

[Vallos]

facepalm... Sorry guys! I meant to say Square, like the card reader add on for small businesses!

That does make more sense. Ha. It's a real bummer Square won't support WP.

Doh! Yeah...that one sucks. Someone really needs to come up with a WP8 solution for the small mom & pops doing card swipes via their phone. I'm sure this situation will change soon, especially if Nokia can sell the 8 million+ Lumias they forcast for this quarter. WP8 will become harder and harder to ignore.

I surely hope so... Square is the one reason why my girlfriend went to the iPhone, and she hates it. She is chomping at the bit, waiting for a good point of sale app/reader on Windows Phone so she can ditch, what she calls, the "I-Bore"

 

[epowers007]

Yeah I was in the same boat went into the Verizon Store to get my beautiful White 928, no one tried to sway me to get any device than what I wanted (was ready to unload if they did). During the initial phone boot up I was talking about the features and women was like "Wow thats awesome". She said that she only gets a very quick general overview of the phone. I think thats the problem is the training. But your right, any question on an iPhone or Andriod they can answer it.

So instead of trying to sway people myself, I just show it off and I tell them I really like it. At my work I'm in a sea of iPhones and Andriods, its always a running joke that I'm all Microsoft. One of my coworkers just bought his wife a new Surface Pro and she said she absolutely loves it. He said he loves playing around with it to, mind you he has a iPad, iPhone, Macbook for work. His contract is coming up and he said he's thinking of getting a Lumia 928.

He did ask me if it comes in mens....hyuck hyuck!