Monday, July 21, 2008

ATT just doesn't get it.


One of my hesitations in buying a new iPhone is my fear of the abysmal service of the former Cingular, now ATT in-store reps (and by, extension, I'm presuming the whole support infrastructure team). Today I wandered in with my son and ran into several friends from his high school. We stood and chatted in the store for 15 minutes or so; I touched the new iPhone (eh, not much different) and then prepared to depart. I recalled I wanted to buy another car charger for my Nokia device. I picked one up and walked to the counter to pay. The young lady asked me if I'd had the chance to sign in? Incredulous, but really politely I asked ''you have to sign in to make a purchase?'' She said ''yes, so we can ensure orderly service.'' WTF!!! Ok, if I come and ''need'' service, i.e. have a question, want to ''feel up'' an iPhone, discuss pros and cons of service plans, etc... then, yes, I should queue up. But if I walk in and pick up an item off the shelf and I'm ready to pay, then take my money. Set up an express checkout line for accessory purchases or put a self-checkout kiosk in the store. Oh, I put the charger back on the wall and walked out. Later, I spent the same 29.99 on a ''combo'' wall / car charger at the T-Mobile store. I'm very content now to wait for someone besides ATT to sell the Apple device. Charge me more and serve me less....Not!

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