wings10
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3 edits | Why is this always the case with AT&T..... Most of the time.
A little off topic bought it is AT&T.
Quote:
Last night, at the last minute, I succumbed to iPhone lust as I passed a line in front of an AT&T store on Broadway in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
The line was less than a hundred, and it seemed for a while that the wait might not be too long. Wrong! The employees at the AT&T store at 2195 Broadway were in no hurry. In fact, a woman employee at the door seemed annoyed by all the people in line and would offer no information about wait times or availability of the iPhones.
But one thing she did make certain, this AT&T location was closing at 11 p.m., line or no line. There were no promises to service those who had been waiting for hours.
A friendly restaurant next door handed free samples of a mango drink and even offered take-out food, but not one AT&T employee ever came outside to interact with waiting customers or to explain the situation.
At about 9 p.m. a customer who finally got in the store spilled the beans that all the 8 GB models were sold out. AT&T remained silent. At this point, several of us hopped cabs to head to the nearby Apple
store on 5th Ave. There, we saw the other side of this take of two American companies.
Even though the line was longer than that at AT&T, the wait was short -- less than 15 minutes. Friendly Apple employees stood by with wireless credit card terminals taking orders. The process took only
minutes. Leaving the store, a cheering row of Apple workers high-fived new iPhone owners.
Day one revealed what all Apple aficionados fear. That AT&T, through the depths of its incompetence, could derail the iPhone.
»gizmodo.com/gadgets/a-tale-of-tw···3978.php
This might be a bad deal that Apple made hooking up with AT&T?
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ArgMeMatey
join:2001-08-09
Milwaukee, WI
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| said by wings10  :This might be a bad deal that Apple made hooking up with AT&T? Market-based cultural difference?
AT&T is primarily interested in getting your money every month for as long as possible. Once you're on that two-year contract, and past the tryout period, they don't care what you think. They know you are there mostly to get the phone, and that you're accepting their service because you have no choice. If you did have a choice, you'd go to their better-rated competition, and they know that, even if it's only subconsciously at the retail salesperson's level.
Apple, on the other hand, wants your money maybe once every two or three years. They figure you'll buy more of their stuff because you've liked your previous experiences with Apple products. OK, they make plenty on your iTunes purchases but they don't exactly have a lot of competition there.
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jordanair
join:2000-08-15
Wylie, TX | reply to wings10
Wow iphone a product by apple hmmmm makes you wonder.. also you decided @ the last minute and you think the store should open for you.. I'm glad when I pick a product I know what I'm getting keeps me from complaining so much |
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ArgMeMatey
join:2001-08-09
Milwaukee, WI
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| said by jordanair :also you decided @ the last minute and you think the store should open for you OP appears to be quoting someone else's blog, not personal experience. I read right over the "Quote" line the first time, too.
The link at the bottom is the source citation.
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nwrickert
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| reply to wings10
When I was young, it was a basic business principle, that "the customer is always right." For too many businesses today, this has morphed into "the customer is always wrong."
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wings10
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3 edits | reply to jordanair
said by jordanair : also you decided @ the last minute and you think the store should open for you.. I'm glad when I pick a product I know what I'm getting keeps me from complaining so much Yes it was not me but a quote from an article. And the story is about the people that waited outside for over 24 hours in advance for the iPhone to go on sale at 6pm Friday. While the Apple stores had a party atmosphere the AT&T stores were rude. The AT&T employees felt "Bothered". And while everyone that waited inline at Apple had a chance to buy a iPhone until they were sold out. NO MATTER IF THE STORE WAS CLOSING. AT&T shops closed up and 11pm and the people that were waiting inline had to come back the next day.
I guess that is why Apple sold out of iPhones and the AT&T stores still have them in stock.
I am sure Steve Jobs would like to talk to AT&T about this on Monday morning.
This was not an isolated incident. Complaints are coming in from other AT&T stores.
The iPhone is an Apple product but AT&T can and might anger customers away. If AT&T wants to be the service provider then they should behave like a "SERVICE". If not I am sure Sprint, US Cellular, Verizon etc would jump at the chance to provide "Service" for the iPhone.
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Dennis
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| said by wings10 :While the Apple stores had a party atmosphere the AT&T stores were rude. The AT&T employees felt "Bothered". Thats a pretty general statement, I know for certain that some of the people handing out water and snacks were volunteers.
I read every comment on the story you linked to, and they weren't all negative. I think the main problem here is that there is an obvious difference between the two types of locations they were available from. Expecting the same experience from both is really a bit unfair.
That being said, sure I think there are always things you can learn from to make the next "big thing" flow better. Hopefully this will be the case, as I can't think of AT&T Wireless ever having to handle a launch like this before.
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wings10
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1 edit |  said by Dennis :Thats a pretty general statement, I know for certain that some of the people handing out water and snacks were volunteers. I read every comment on the story you linked to, and they weren't all negative. I think the main problem here is that there is an obvious difference between the two types of locations they were available from. Expecting the same experience from both is really a bit unfair. That being said, sure I think there are always things you can learn from to make the next "big thing" flow better. Hopefully this will be the case, as I can't think of AT&T Wireless ever having to handle a launch like this before. Good point.
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