More than one MacDailyNews and iPodDailyNews reader has complained about how some corporate-owned AT&T stores are handling Apple’s iPhone in recent days.
These reader accounts, from scattered locations around the U.S., share the same common thread: AT&T store staff making it difficult or impossible for customers to even see Apple’s iPhone.
Some AT&T stores are giving customers of widely-ranging age groups trouble when the employees are asked to show an Apple iPhone. From what we can tell, these aren’t packs of teenagers storming AT&T stores demanding to see iPhones, but adults, alone or in pairs, asking politely to see the iPhone.
Some AT&T stores reportedly have no iPhone displays on the floor, but still claim to stock the iPhone. Other accounts tell of AT&T stores with iPhone displays, but employees who refuse to bring out the iPhones “on Sundays” or for “fear of theft” due to small staff on-hand, or even claiming that “Apple won’t allow” them to bring out the iPhone to show to customers.
One pair of customers, “business-owning adults in our mid-30s,” on two separate occasions in two different AT&T stores, asked AT&T employees point-blank, “If we have $600 in cash and want to walk out with an iPhone, will you bring one out for us to see?” Both times, the customers said the AT&T employees refused to do so.
Readers report that, at best, some staff in some AT&T stores do not seem motivated to make iPhone sales and, at worst, seem downright antagonistic.
We’re wondering: Are these just isolated instances or signs of a widespread issue or an indication of some AT&T policy we do not understand or simply misunderstandings? Have you experienced any “iPhone friction” at AT&T stores? Please let us know in reader feedback below.
@ weeks ago I went to my local AT&T store in Phillipsburg NJ..THey have two Iphones on display and were more than happy to demonstrate the phone. They were friendly and happy
Al
It’s actually quite simple. The customer activates the phone at home and the Commissioned sales rep gets nothing for it. AT$T promised to commission reps that sold the phones, but AT&T employees are reporting that it’s not happening. Now should the employees not show the phone? Certainly not, they are salespeople and should be working to build relationships with customers. Do I understand why they would not want to bother? Yes I can definitely see that point of view.
one AT&T store at a mall in my area did not have them on display. They had accessories out, but no iPhones. They said they had them in stock, but did not offer to show one to me. At that point I decided to go to an Apple store instead.
I went to AT @ T in portland oregon and they did not have any iphones on display. They also said they didn’t have any and that I could not even order the iphone. They were pretty rude about it…
The iphone is going to prove the industry doesn’t need nearly as many salepeople and will be able to save a ton in commisions.
Activating the phone at home is going to be like self-serve cashiers at the supermarket.
This is the problem with the Corporate worship we have going on in this country. The corporation (ie, AT&T) sees a way to screw their employees out of a commission, so they do it, and we’re supposed to accept it as a normal part of doing business. Meanwhile, CEOs and their board of directors make hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year. No wonder nobody wants to work for a living.
att store on fifth avenue doesn’t even have iphone on display. but when i told an employee that i’m thinkin about getting the iphone, she smiled and said it’s a really cool phone and started asking me questions about what my carrier is
You’ve missed the point entirely. The iPhone will sell well, but there will be a need for sales people as long as products and services are sold to people. All that’s happening here is that AT&T is taking advantage of a hot new product to screw their employees. When it’s been out for a while and they want to encourage sales people to push it, the commissions will return. Until then, Apple as well as the salespeople, is being screwed.
Again, another example demonstrating that Apple chose a horrible wireless company. Would anyone expect less from AT&T. Take AT&T’s history of bad service and combine the for a commission based sales representative = recipe for disaster. There is a saying in HRD – “If you put a good person in a bad system, the system will win almost every time.” To paraphrase, if you put a great product in a bad system, the bad system will win (or do it’s best).
these jerkoff salespeople are just that.
Have I been shown an iPhone – – no
have I been into AT$T – – no
Went to the AT&T store the Monday after launch – 3 functional iPhones on display, and you didn’t have to sign in to be “assisted” by pushy salespeople to play with them. But if you pulled them too far on their tethers, an ear-splitting alarm went off (and this happened frequently).
A week later their iPhone display area was empty, no explanation given (maybe the employees got tired of resetting the alarms). Fortunately we have an Apple Store in Jacksonville, and they had about 9 display units, all being heavily used by prospective customers the night I bought mine.
Two problems I encountered with all display units: Safari and Maps crash or lock up frequently, presumable because the phones aren’t being turned off and the caches fill up with heavy use. Apple needs to fix this pronto. I’ve only encountered one other iPhone owner out in the world, and he was ready to return it due to the lockups. I had to show him how to quit the apps and reset the phone if needed. He was so happy I “saved” his iPhone he wants to send me flowers.
Damn, Chris, you ought to be a motivational speaker…..
MW:society
This is absolutely true. I’ve been into my local AT&T shop twice since the iPhone came out. On the first occasion I was told I could watch the iPhone video that was showing but I couldn’t actually have a look at an iPhone, although I could see two sitting there in their cradles. I stood watching the video, along with another 4 or 5 people who had been told the same thing, After a minute or so I walked out.
On the second occasion, I walked in with a friend from England who hadn’t even heard of the iPhone, so I wanted to show one to her before I took her to the airport to fly back home. We went straight over to the display and I picked one of them up. At that point I was shouted at by one of the employees to put the phone down immediately, and at the same time two security guards stepped over to me and took the phone. I was pushed away from the display and told not to pick up the phone again. Needless to say I was both alarmed and horrified at their behaviour, and my friend grabbed my arm and we left the shop. I was hoping I’d have a chance to tell someone about this bizarre experience, so here it is.
Around 4pm launch day,@ the Cingular/ATT store in S. Tampa, I stopped to check my wife’s account status, (she had just gone out of contract @ T-Mobile & ‘switched’, ick, to ATT). The store staff was discussing the new iPhone with a customer. To say the least, they were not impressed with the device or Apple. They also had fun trashing the ‘idiots’ outside in line for the launch. Apple may as well have teamed w/Redmond for all the support they seem to be getting from ATT… We took our business to the International Mall Apple Store & they seemed happy enough about selling the phone to us.
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The evening of the release of the iPhone my wife and I went to the AT&T store at the Meriden Square Mall and no Kiosk was set up and the only way you could view the phone was to purchase it. Oh by the way we were the only ones in the store with around 6 sales people present. They suggested we go to either another AT&T location in Meriden or the Westfarms Mall!
The evening of the release of the iPhone my wife and I went to the AT&T store at the Meriden Square Mall and no Kiosk was set up and the only way you could view the phone was to purchase it. Oh by the way we were the only ones in the store with around 6 sales people present. They suggested we go to either another AT&T location in Meriden or the Westfarms Mall!
The evening of the release of the iPhone my wife and I went to the AT&T store at the Meriden Square Mall and no Kiosk was set up and the only way you could view the phone was to purchase it. Oh by the way we were the only ones in the store with around 6 sales people present. They suggested we go to either another AT&T location in Meriden or the Westfarms Mall!
The evening of the release of the iPhone my wife and I went to the AT&T store at the Meriden Square Mall and no Kiosk was set up and the only way you could view the phone was to purchase it. Oh by the way we were the only ones in the store with around 6 sales people present. They suggested we go to either another AT&T location in Meriden or the Westfarms Mall!
AT&T. = A–holes Through & Through.
I’m glad this was posted…
The week after the launch (Tuesday or Wednesday), I stopped in at my local AT&T store (Clear Lake Shores, Texas) and asked about the iPhone. I was told by the manager of the store that they had sold out on Friday night (no surprise there).
What was surprising was that he took the time to tell me that I shouldn’t get an iPhone even when they are available because:
they have crappy battery life (which I know is wrong)
they won’t work with the system at my job (which I couldn’t care less about)
they are vulnerable to attack (I’ll worry about that when I see it)
they don’t have much storage space (I’m familiar with the space, that’s why I asked about an 8GB iPhone)
the new version will be out soon and it will be twice as good for half the price (wow, Apple Insider could use this guy)
And most laughably, they aren’t as cool as they seem on TV.
I am lucky enough to have an Apple store close by and they have a table full of iPhones to check out. They are way cooler in person than I even imagined.
It might be worth noting that I have had conversations with this guy before (although I doubt he remembers since I’m rarely in the store) and he is 100% an Apple-hating, PC apologist.
Save yourself some time and hassle and just order the iPhone from Apple, or if you’re fortunate enough to have a local Apple Store, go pick one up (when they’re available).
~M
PS- On a somewhat related note (since I was waiting to get one before I get an iPhone), we finally got an AppleTV last night and it is incredible. Strangely, the picture at home is tons better than the picture on the TV at the Apple Store. If anyone has thought about getting one, but didn’t like the quality of picture on the display, you should still try it out. I was shocked at the quality of a SteveNote after watching them for years on my desktop.
I think we are all missing the point.
Remember.. iPhone is only sold at the AT&T corporate owned stores. There are more AT&T dealer/Franchise/Authorized reseller stores who do not sell iPhone.
So, remember only AT&T corporate owned stores sell iPhones.
– M
Last week I was in the Cape Cod Mall in MA and strolled by the ATT store.They had a big iPhone banner in the store front window, but no iPhones on display. We just walked out….
@Chris
Your manifesto is out of date. Corporations aren’t evil. Their job is to make money. Someone got it right. As long as the phones are selling AT&T is doing what they do as are the employees. When it becomes an issue, the commissions will return.
We have choices! As consumers we can choose to not shop there. We can report what we know to be true and put pressure on AT&T to do what we feel is the right thing.
Just please don’t think we need to get the government involved. Those CEOs making the big bucks deserve it. If they can negotiate that kind of money, more power to them. Just like our athletes and pop musicians. It Capitalism baby and while flawed, it is the best system on earth.
Chris, you need to learn to think logically. If this situation is what MDN suspects, it will be worked out do to pressures from the market. Either we’ll keep buying and the employees will keep getting screwed (they have choices too) or AT&T will have to change their tune either to fend off what they perceive as bad press or low sales.
Chill out comrade! MDN is right to report this. It’s all part of the process. I for one would rather go to an Apple store or by on-line anyway.
The AT&T store in syracuse, ny also avoid to show their iphones. you have to ask them and you can only see it in their presence.
About 2 weeks after the iPhone launch I went into an AT&T/Cingular store in a mall in Baton Rouge, LA, (after calling to make sure they had iPhones in stock). I walked up to a man at the counter, who appeared to be the manager. He asked if he could help me. I handed him my credit card and told him I wanted to buy an 8 gig iPhone. He then told me to “go sign in.” He didn’t say “please sign in and someone will be right with you.” He just abruptly said “go sign in.”
I signed in and waited and waited while this guy took his time talking with a couple of customers who had other phone (not iPhone) problems, while 3 or 4 other AT&T employees milled around the store. All this manager had to do was ask one of these others to get an iPhone and ring up my credit card, and he would have had an $600 sale in the course of a couple of minutes.
While I waited two guys identifying themselves as AT&T reps hit on me trying to sell me some home phone service I didn’t want. I told them all I wanted to do was buy an iPhone, but, they wouldn’t or couldn’t help me do that!
I finally got tired of waiting and left, vowing never to enter an AT&T store again for any reason!