So I took advantage of the Microsoft Store's Free Lumia 1020 or 1520 when you trade in your old iPhone 4, 4s or Galaxy 2 and am now the proud owner of a white Lumia 1520. Form factor is great, albeit a little slippery with dry hands. Screen is magnificent and the size is not daunting once you hold it a few times. Fits nicely in the pocket of my shorts although it doesn't fit nearly as well as my 920 does in my coat pocket. I have to take extra care to not let it drop out when getting in and out of the car. Great Nokia quality and so far I'm extremely happy.
Although it worked out exceptionally well for me, I was a little dismayed by the store. I was there to get the 1520 by upgrading a line that is eligible for a new 2 year contract, but I was going to cross upgrade and actually use the phone number of my 920 for the new 1520 instead, leaving the upgraded line with it's original phone. AT&T was on board and I was ready to go.
The employees were fantastic, friendly and talkative if not a little playful, which is great to be around when you're stuck dealing with poor equipment and bad information. To try to make a long story short the employees had to go through 3 different Surface Pro machines and multiple type covers just to start to process my order, multiple printings of documents needed for the exchange with AT&T, and an inordinate amount of time sitting while they frantically looked for a password that would allow them to finalize the order with AT&T. Email bombs were being sent, managers were being contacted and no one could get into the AT&T system via any electronic means to get this processed.
After roughly an hour of waiting for this to happen, they came to the decision that they would honor the swap, give me the phone and swap SIMS with my 920 effectively giving me the upgrade without it affecting my eligible phone. In essence I walked in and handed them the SIM from my 920 and they called AT&T and changed it to SIM for a 1520 and handed it back to me. This cost me nothing but time, did not effect my contract, did not change my eligibilities and I left with the phone I came for in perfect working order.
The part that had me shaking my head was that all of the equipment the employees were using was basically crap. It was beat up and little of it worked well if at all. And if there was anything negative I would say about the staff it was that they were very vocal in their complaining, which should never happen in the front of house with the guests. They were very frustrated and apologetic throughout and did everything they could to make it all work, and the outcome was perfect for me, but I wonder how a store that is in an affluent mall (Millennia Mall in Orlando) could have such junk available to work with the guests (one staff member grabbed a bad Surface and said "Is this a demo unit?" and the girl helping me stated that it was, but it was junk, to which the first member shrugged and grabbed it).
Again, in the overall scheme of things, this was a huge win for me (sorry AT&T, after nearly 20 years you owed me one), but MS has got to do a better job with the products that are on display for customers to touch and demo. Appearance is everything, and behind the desk where I was sitting was a pile of beat up Surface units being handled by a bunch of frustrated employees chasing their own tails looking for working product.
The staff did a great job, worked hard and provided an outcome that went above and beyond what I could have expected, which is great customer service. But I hate that the store looked the way it did and that good people who are passionate about the product (and they genuinely were) are stuck working with, and trying to sell, inferior hardware due to lack of corporate care.
Although it worked out exceptionally well for me, I was a little dismayed by the store. I was there to get the 1520 by upgrading a line that is eligible for a new 2 year contract, but I was going to cross upgrade and actually use the phone number of my 920 for the new 1520 instead, leaving the upgraded line with it's original phone. AT&T was on board and I was ready to go.
The employees were fantastic, friendly and talkative if not a little playful, which is great to be around when you're stuck dealing with poor equipment and bad information. To try to make a long story short the employees had to go through 3 different Surface Pro machines and multiple type covers just to start to process my order, multiple printings of documents needed for the exchange with AT&T, and an inordinate amount of time sitting while they frantically looked for a password that would allow them to finalize the order with AT&T. Email bombs were being sent, managers were being contacted and no one could get into the AT&T system via any electronic means to get this processed.
After roughly an hour of waiting for this to happen, they came to the decision that they would honor the swap, give me the phone and swap SIMS with my 920 effectively giving me the upgrade without it affecting my eligible phone. In essence I walked in and handed them the SIM from my 920 and they called AT&T and changed it to SIM for a 1520 and handed it back to me. This cost me nothing but time, did not effect my contract, did not change my eligibilities and I left with the phone I came for in perfect working order.
The part that had me shaking my head was that all of the equipment the employees were using was basically crap. It was beat up and little of it worked well if at all. And if there was anything negative I would say about the staff it was that they were very vocal in their complaining, which should never happen in the front of house with the guests. They were very frustrated and apologetic throughout and did everything they could to make it all work, and the outcome was perfect for me, but I wonder how a store that is in an affluent mall (Millennia Mall in Orlando) could have such junk available to work with the guests (one staff member grabbed a bad Surface and said "Is this a demo unit?" and the girl helping me stated that it was, but it was junk, to which the first member shrugged and grabbed it).
Again, in the overall scheme of things, this was a huge win for me (sorry AT&T, after nearly 20 years you owed me one), but MS has got to do a better job with the products that are on display for customers to touch and demo. Appearance is everything, and behind the desk where I was sitting was a pile of beat up Surface units being handled by a bunch of frustrated employees chasing their own tails looking for working product.
The staff did a great job, worked hard and provided an outcome that went above and beyond what I could have expected, which is great customer service. But I hate that the store looked the way it did and that good people who are passionate about the product (and they genuinely were) are stuck working with, and trying to sell, inferior hardware due to lack of corporate care.
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