Verizon Reps

[justwar88]

So my wife got me a fatboy charging pad (I think she was trying to say something) for Christmas which I really wanted. She doesn't really get into phones like myself and others around the forums so I know she doesn't know any better. So she took the Verizon reps help picking one out for me. She explained to me that he seemed like a total idiot, Had no idea what a wireless charging pad was and then told her that I didn't need a wireless charging shell.. He said only the 820 needed it.. Well DUH! I have the 822. God these people are just plain stupid sometimes.. I can't believe that they had special training and all that and still don't know anything about the OS or the phones.. Thanks for listening to my after Christmas Rant

 

[jgbstetson]

Tmo is just as bad. The guy trying to sell me a phone was a deer in headlights when I said I was there to look at wp8. But he was a nice guy and I spent the next half hour teaching him the difference between 8x and 810. I think that indicates a problem for MS Tmo or both.

 

[BigRThanHuge]

They are everywhere. I have seen reps from several vendors tell people they don't want a windows phone. The last one was at Best Buy. The customer pointed at the 8x and the 822 is was standing next to while checking out a Surface and asked what about those. The rep said you don't want those they have no apps. I normally ignore stuff like this but I couldn't this time. I said that's not true. The rep went on to prove me wrong by pulling up the windows store on a HP laptop running windows 8. I said you need to educate yourself. The customer turned to me and started asking me questions. I answered the best I could, showed him windowsphone.com so he could make sure all the apps or alternatives he needed were there. He thanked me and that was that. Sales reps everywhere are still pushing people away from WP. I think unless someone says flat out I want WP8 most will get talked into something else by the reps and most are ignorant.

 

[Flagz]

After reading all these threads and experiencing myself, I think its if the person has the heart for WP they'll be educated and see it ilas a viable option. My ATT store has ALLL WP in the back, claim to have no stock even if I see the stock under desk, and ask me to try the iPhone 5 and 4s display in front of store. Same with Verizon. Tmobile on the other hand, showed me a good few alternative apps to pintrrst, and instagram and said WP is "the next big thing." Best Buy told me yesterday that they'll never carry a surface device and the only tablet they directly promote is the new iPad Mini. Sprint Kiosk told me that they're dying for a WP so they can use it on their network and begin selling it. Different store different experiences. Tbh it all depends on the employees.

 

[MadDogFL62]

The "real" VZW store reps know enough about Windows Phones to be dangerous. The "authorized retail store" reps not only know nothing about Windows Phones, but they have also been given very limited device supply. At least there is a little bit of a control factor there.

Not to brag (but okay I am bragging) I talked my VZW Rep into upgrading her iPhone to an 822 when I bought mine. I would say that 95% of us on this forum know more about the 822 and Windows Phones than most of the VZW reps. She was sold on the UI, camera, ability to upgrade memory, ability to replace the battery, Nokia software (maps, music, photo), and the future potential of NFC.

Don't be insulted. Do the right thing. Share with them why you like Windows Phones and the 822. Share with them why you opted NOT to buy the HTC 8X. A little education goes a long way.

I, too, work for a company where the product I represent is not the primary product sold. My coworkers and I have a saying: "One rep at a time!"

 

[OldSkoolVWLover]

I have to say this isn't exclusive to VZW or WP, it is all over in any type of sales, you just notice it with phones because you have a higher interest level than your average sales rep (remember minimum wage or close to it and maybe some commission depending on the place you sell for. I see this with cars all the time, but it's not exclusive to anything.

I like those at you that help out and teach people something I usually just argue with the sales rep until my wife pulls me away or the sales rep turns around and stops talking to me. It's usually one of two things though, ignorance of the product/not caring because it's not the device you use or get the most commission on or just wanting to make a sale and not carrying if the customer is happy or is given the correct information.

 

[hopmedic]

I like those at you that help out and teach people something I usually just argue with the sales rep until my wife pulls me away or the sales rep turns around and stops talking to me. It's usually one of two things though, ignorance of the product/not caring because it's not the device you use or get the most commission on or just wanting to make a sale and not carrying if the customer is happy or is given the correct information.

DUDE! You're ME!

 

[RedV412]

I have to give major props to the folks that helped me at BestBuy. I was in before Christmas waiting to pick up an 822 because I really wanted the extra memory expansion and replaceable battery but I was in a line of people buying iPhone 5s and various Androids. I was waiting for the reaction to my choice and to my surprise the guy waiting on me said "this is my favorite phone and I'm due for my own upgrade soon and can't wait to grab it". He was one of their senior reps, you could tell by the number of other reps asking him questions. Then he called over another senior guy in the mobile area who had just walked in, still had his coat on, and said "tell this guy about your phone" and the guy proceeded to pull out his own 822 and raved about it. Said he had it since the day it came out and loves it. He took the back off to show me the wireless charging connections and apologized for not having any wireless charging pads in stock but told me I could probably find them online. He said it was the best phone he ever owned.

 

[OldSkoolVWLover]

dude! You're me!

roflmao

 

[Mr. MacPhisto]

The "real" VZW store reps know enough about Windows Phones to be dangerous. The "authorized retail store" reps not only know nothing about Windows Phones, but they have also been given very limited device supply. At least there is a little bit of a control factor there.

Not to brag (but okay I am bragging) I talked my VZW Rep into upgrading her iPhone to an 822 when I bought mine. I would say that 95% of us on this forum know more about the 822 and Windows Phones than most of the VZW reps. She was sold on the UI, camera, ability to upgrade memory, ability to replace the battery, Nokia software (maps, music, photo), and the future potential of NFC.

Don't be insulted. Do the right thing. Share with them why you like Windows Phones and the 822. Share with them why you opted NOT to buy the HTC 8X. A little education goes a long way.

I, too, work for a company where the product I represent is not the primary product sold. My coworkers and I have a saying: "One rep at a time!"

I did this to the rep at my local Verizon Store. When I was looking at the 822, his first question was why I didn't want the 8X. I ended up downloading a bunch of exclusive Nokia apps on the demo phone outside of explaining about expandability. He had not seen City Lens, Cinemagraph, or really looked at Drive. Also loved Nokia Trailers. Drew a couple people over as I demoed the phone. The 8X is a sleek looker, but the 822 has so much more going for it.

I wasn't up for my upgrade yet when I went in looking, but have since gotten my free 822 in the gray. I really love that color. Had the phone for over a week and a half and LOVE it. Can't stop adjusting my Start screen, though. It really is a great expression of the user.

I've said it before. Not sure if I really want anything other than a Nokia phone going forward. It'd be nice if they could work with MS to make Photobeamer work with Powerpoint off of the phone. If you haven't grabbed Photobeamer, give it a go. Very cool.

 

[Honestabebread]

I've seen mixed scenarios. I was at a store the other day hanging out and they sold all of the black 822s and all of the blue 8Xs. About 15 phones total. The reps new a ton and were excited about WP8.

 

[hopmedic]

Yes, it is encouraging to see that some stores have had good results with Verizon employees, but it will take time. We'll get there.

 

[dgoode0424]

Sorry for the bad reps you guys are dealing with, there are always people in every job who know more and less. I work for a premium retailer for Verizon and Nokia actually let all of our employees test out the phone for a month, so the people who didn't know as much around here do now. But yea before Nokia gave everyone phones the only people that were excited about them were me and this other techy guy i work with.

 

[Martog]

When I went to get my 822, the rep was using an 8X but said the 822 didn't need a charging cover as the 822 they had in store worked on the plates...evidently those in store models had the charging cover installed. Though I still have not picked up the back or plate yet, not sure if I want one, but still funny to see them not informed it does not included wireless charging functionality out of the box.

 

[RichHowerton]

Went into the VZ store here, and picked up the 822 and the 8x and rep came over. Told him how cool the phone looked and how much I liked it. And glad there is a phone that will take an SD card. He yanked out his black 822 he was carrying i his pocket, and said that his did not take a card, and didn't think the 8x did either. I told him to look again, that his 822 will hold an micro SD card. He was shocked. And yes, this rep despised the Iphone as well.

 

[Ntropy99]

And for that VZW rep who HAS the 822, we all say "doh!". Surprising really as that was the main feature that separated it from the 8X when I upgraded, that and the Nokia apps. Love Nokia Drive and Maps. Wonder how many people don't know because the SD slot is on the inside?

 

[Raptor007]

I do my best to help customers in distress when I am in the store(s) to help save someone from making a several hundred dollar mistake. I don't focus on the OS question instead I focus on what they actually want to do with the phone, how familiar they are with moving around smartphones. From my personal experience, WP is the easiest of all mobile OS's out there. It takes zero effort to set up, use, and make changes in settings. With iOS or Android you have to drill down into menus and that can be scary for some users.

I have use iOS, Android OS, WP7.x, Windows Mobile (SmartPhone & PocketPC in the day), Palm OS, WebOS and the only OS I haven't used was Symbian because there were no great offerings. I can switch devices and OS's without issue. I actually asked the rep at the store yesterday how to resize the icons on WP8 since I hadn't played with it yet, she at least admitted she was the least technical sales person in the store and wasn' the WP champion. Seriously, ever retail wireless sales rep should know the basics of the different OS's so they can help customers and avoid returns and charge backs.

I will say I have stopped into a local ATT store and talked with a rep who had the Nokia 920 (yellow) and he could not stop talking about how GREAT it was. At least once person there has a clue.

What WP needs is MS to pus some "real" marketing dollars behind how easy the OS is to use, how much you can do with it and help drive the sales and get developers to support it. While I have a Nexus 7 for my tablet use I am looking at the new Win8 tablets too.

 

[kyderr]

What we need is all of us to create an on line store and sell to the expert crowd. We'll need commission, and free phones. But none of the fancy useless fluff they put in the stores.