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.
I bought my iPhone at a local at&t store and had an excellent experience. They gave me $100 in rebates for switching 2 lines, and offered to waive the activation fee. I felt like they were extremely motivated to sell me the iPhone, and thus I bought one.
By the way, I love it.
Tommy,
I believe the correct term for Limbaugh is a Chickenhawk. He, along with Five Deferment Cheney and AWOL-never went to Nam Bush are leaders of the Chickenhawk Party.
I have never had a positive experience in an AT&T (Cingular) store, so why would the iPhone be any different.
Although I bought my iPhone at my local Apple store, I went to AT&T to look a cases that were different from those Apple was stocking.
As usual, I was ignored; and then, again as usual, somebody who came into the store after me got helped before me. And, also as usual, I dropped the case I was going to buy and stormed out of the store.
The only unfortunate thing here is that there are way more communities that DON’T have Apple stores than those that do, and citizens of those locations have no alternative to dealing with the AT&T store.
Hopefully Apple’s people are reading these comments and will be able to get on AT&T’s back (breech of contract?) and get this straightened out.
@rws,
Good job! Explaining something logically on an MDN thread may feel like you’re speaking German in a Chinese village, but kudos to you for trying!
Good God…report this behavior!!! Don’t just let it slide of your back!
@SBG- AT&T wireless home page- you’re greeted by the iPhone.
With regards to having other carriers having the phone, please remember that there are only two major carriers in the US that can support the phone- AT&T and T-Mobile- out of the box, the choices will be limited regardless. Given what I’ve heard of Verizon’s behavior of charging for every option, I’ll stick with the $20 a month (data) that I pay for the AT&T service.
The way I see it, there is ALOT of animosity towards Apple and its products. I have shown my iPhone to no less than half a dozen perfect strangers who wanted to play with it. (I even let a few hold it, gasp).
Each one of them asked about the various “problems” the iPhone supposedly had, ranging from poor battery life, poor voice quality, and lack of feature “X.”
These people seemed to know more false negatives with the phone than they knew about the true positive – and these were people interested in the phone.
I bet, just like Best Buy, AT&T reps are mostly PC guys / Blackberry guys / etc. They don’t like Apple at all and are resentful of it’s immediate impact on the phone market.
Add in the fact that you can practically sell iPhones from a vending machine (due to the iTunes pick-a-plan home activation) and I can see sales reps REALLY hating the phone.
As for the commissions aspect, thanks goodness you can buy the phone at Apple Stores and online. Commission sales are the worst. Last thing I want is my sales person looking out after themself before they are looking out for me. Seems bass-ackwards from a customer point of view.
I switched from T-Mobile to AT&T and I can say AT&T is inferior in customer service, pricing, and call quality / dropped calls. But, it’s not deal breaking to me.
Maybe the iPhone will start a trend of self-activated, carrier independent smart phones. I’d switch to T-Mobile in a heartbeat, as long as I still had Visual Voicemail and all the rest of my current iPhone features.
As for the corporations are evil / dittoheads are idiots thread, I am the farthest thing from a Rush supported or Republican for that matter, but I don’t see how employees are getting screwed because they don’t get a commission on an iPhone. They don’t have to do anything to sell the phone other than take my money. It’s not like they are being forced to drive iPhone sales to the detriment of their other sales.
If I want an iPhone, it’s their JOB to sell me one. If you don’t like your job, quit . If you don’t like your employer, quit. If you don’t want to sell iPhones, don’t punish the customer.
I don’t care who gets what share of the $600 I dropped on my phone. It’s not my job to make sure some front line service employee gets his “cut” of my sale. It’s my job to buy and it’s the emplyees job to sell. Doesn’t seem too hard of a concept to grasp. Odd that some many AT&T reps don’t get it.
Jeez Louis, folks, can we avoid another pointless political debate? How about we just apply the simplest solution possible?
1.) Lots of AT&T stores are *not* owned by AT&T as others have mentioned. These stores either haven’t received any iPhones or only very limited amounts. They are, and have been since the iPhone came out, very pissed off about it. I’m sure they are giving people a hard time.
2.) If AT&Y salespeople are not getting some financial bonus, then, again, it is no surprise that they aren’t thrilled about showing or talking about the iPhone. This is exactly why the Apple Stores don’t work on commission. I don’t mean to make any sales guys angry (i’ve been on myself), but we all know that commission always results in crappy service. No one wants to make a small sale, a sale that carries no commission, or a sale that doesn’t show up on the sales person’s metrics.
If you walk into a circuit city ready to buy a 5000 entertainment system, you are going to get top notch service. If you go into a circuit city to buy a 15 dollar iPod accessory, you’ll be lucky if anyone even speaks to you.
This has always happened with Apple products and I’m sure it is happening with the iPhone now. Apple has always refused to pay out a bounty to get what you should get for free: basic, decent, polite service.
I have absolutely no need for cell phone salespeople or consultants. Normally, I know the answers they don’t. They will definitely be phased out as companies mimic Apple’s process. There’s no reason to do it any other way.
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?
I don’t believe this is an iPhone thing. I think it’s an Apple thing.
Go into any Big Box electronics store and try to find information on Apple Macs. You will mostly get the same reaction. For years, Apple didn’t provide kickbacks to salesmen to move Macs, so even customers asking point blank about Macs were steered to PCs. And some of the intensely stupid statements PC floor flacks made and still make about Macs make you want to punch them.
And the worst, and still most common threat retail Macs face anywhere but in an Apple store? The Ladder. That 10 foot tall rolling airline style ramp for accessing the upper shelves. If I had 5 bucks for every time I walked into FutureShop, Best Buy or Compusmart and saw that damn ladder sitting in front of the Macs, I’d have me one of them 8 processor Power Macs by now.
I went to the AT&T store in Potomac Mills and the staff was less than willing not only to help me but – how dare I ask to see an iPhone. I was told that they are not kept in public but, I can make an appointment to see one. I guess the shock in my eyes was too much and they volunteered that they were too understaffed for me to touch one. But, I could come back
Gee, how does a simple story on bad ATT salespeople turn into a diatribe against conservitives, Gush Limbaugh, Prez Bush and Corporate evil?
I really value free expression. And I value macdailynews.com. But let’s use a modicom of intelligence, or I should say ‘reason,’ in this discussion.
I was thinking that perhaps the earlier posts about ‘lost commission’ for iPhones indicated some ATT salespeople might be venting. But then it deteriorates into the evils of capatialism (this from Macheads who venifluxes before Lord Jobs).
Regardless of your take on your employer – good or evil – you should do your job to the best of your ability…or quit! If it bothers you that much that your corporate master is overpaid then don’t feed the beast. Your choice.
Yes, I too detest the fact corporations overpay top execs while cutting jobs to improve the stock valuation for their stock owners. I believe minimum wage is a good thing and should be $10 an hour. I think Limbaugh is a middle-class dweeb that is out of touch with the reality of real life – pull-up-your-bootsraps is a load of crud. Some just aren’t capable, period. I think Bush would have been a great president if he’d played politics the hard way instead of just concentrating on the war on terrorism. I think Democrats or nothing but Kruchev communists who betrayed the country and our brave military warriors all for the sake of gaining power and taking us further down the socialist path.
Oh, wait..this is supposed to be about iPhone sales at ATT stores….
Seems to me that macdailynews.com should forward this story to some media outlet…like USA Today. Maybe, if they chose to investigate, some bad coverage might provoke Apple to take ATT to the woodshed…or get out of their exlusivity contract for ATT’s failure to abide by its terms.
I hope to see more on this issue in the media. It will be interesting to see if this is a real complaint or just Apple-bashers.
Cheerio mates…and you politicos…get a real life already.
rws says: “go fight global warming.”
Ah, your political slip is showing. Go play in Freeperville, Boy.
It does seem that AT&T has not properly integrated the iPhone into their business, at least on their website. While they do link to the iPhone on their main page, once you are into the site, the iPhone is no longer listed. It is not listed as a music phone or a camera phone or a smartphone. Apple is not listed as one of the phone manufacturers on their phone comparison choice page either. Also, AT&T ads on TV do not mention iPhones at all either.
While I have used AT&T for years as my cell phone carrier due to various discounts, I have NEVER been impressed with the customer service in the stores. They have never wanted to sell me what I wanted to buy and getting someone to talk to me has always been a hassle. AT&T is out of touch with reality and has been for a long time. Ever seen their ‘fewest drop calls’ ad? If you use AT&T at all, then you know that is completely bogus.
I visited an “AT&T” store in Chicago & Tampa but didn’t buy from either one due their lack of interest, rudeness & the inablility to handle/demo an iphone in person. It soured me so much that I’ve yet to buy one. I could visit the Apple store but my interest level isn’t what it was. One thing for sure, if someone unlocks this phone I’ll go with T-Mobile & not AT&T.. Right now I want nothing to do with AT&T, If their service is anything like their sales people why would I.. Plus, I’ve heard that the iphone browser is very slow due to AT&T’s inferior network.
I went to a AT&T store…
….but I won’t tell you where because this is what happened.
I walked in, there were a couple of very nice guys who said yes they had a iPhone but due to a concrete wall I had to go in back to get reception.
So I entered the door behind the counter, down a hall and thru a steel door. Stepped over a couple of guys chained to the floor, brushed past another chained to a wall, one dancing on stage and into a small dark room.
The iPhone was on display, through a small hole in the wall which I could just stick my head and arms through.
After a few hours of very uncomfortable physical action upon my person, I left the store with my iPhone. Complete with a filled address book of telephone numbers.
I didn’t realize what it took to get one of these things…
It took four days for AT&T to figure out how to activate my phone. It was only accomplished with heavy assistance from Apple’s phone support team. Four calls to AT&T’s support, probably three hours total standing in the local AT&T store and two calls to Apple (this doesn’t include the times I spoke with Apple after conferencing in with AT&T) and still it’s worth it to have the phone. But even with all the trouble, the local AT&T staff were still very helpful despite the fact that they probably didn’t see any commission from my purchase.
The biggest problem, I think, is AT&T corporate. All of the phone support people with whom I spoke were ignorant, and I use that word in its strictest definition.
I went to a AT&T store…
….but I won’t tell you where because this is what happened.
I walked in, there were a couple of very nice guys who said yes they had a iPhone but due to a concrete wall I had to go in back to get reception.
So I entered the door behind the counter, down a hall and thru a steel door. Stepped over a couple of guys chained to the floor, brushed past another chained to a wall, one dancing on stage and into a small dark room.
The iPhone was on display, through a small hole in the wall which I could just stick my head and arms through.
After a few hours of very uncomfortable physical action upon my person, I left the store with my iPhone. Complete with a filled address book of telephone numbers.
I didn’t realize what it took to get one of these things…
@Keith,
Who’s got anything against true Capitalism? It’s the naive view that anything good for a multinational corporation is capitalism that has caused this problem.
In a truly free market, AT&T wouldn’t be able to sell products without paying their employees because the employees would have the right to refuse to sell them and they would be open about their refusal. Remember that in a Capitalist society, you get what you pay for, and nothing more.
This has nothing to do with AT&T being good or evil. It has everything to do with simple minds and their insistence on removing necessary government controls, resulting not in Capitalism, but Feudalism, where the Lord of the Manor in the 21st century is the immortal Corporate entity. AT&T is just another example.
Yeah, “Best Buy’d” or “Comp USA’d”. I remember the day when I grabbed a iMac at Comp USA, took it up to the checkout, where a store clerk promptly took it from me, saying “You really don’t want this” and returned it to the shelf I had taken it from.
This attitude is almost the same and just as imbecilic.
Unfortunately, Apple chose to use a service provider that refuses to offer service in the state I’m in at the moment and won’t sell the iPhone here. I continue to be appalled that Apple would not care about serving all 50 states. There is no reason for this except AT&T’s incompetence and unwillingness to offer services other companies provide. Well, one other reason: Apple’s decision to use AT&T when they knew, or should have known, that all states would not be served. I suspect Europe and Asia will have the phone before it finishes rolling out in the U.S. AT&T should be fired for failing to support/sell the iPhone as contracted.
I noticed that the downtown Boston AT&T store no longer has them on display. The cradles are still there but are empty. I thought it was strange. It has been that way for at least a week. And surprise, there is less foot traffic in the store now than when they were still displaying them.
It’s a free market for labor as well.
If you don’t like your employer, find another job.
If your employer can’t find replacement workers, they will change their money grubbing ways.
I live in an area with an acute labor shortage. I see checkout girls get $1000 signing bonuses. You’d be surprised how quickly employers change their policies when they can’t fine anybody to work for them.
Big deal. So what is new? Underpaid, under apreciated store sales staff give shitty service. Why doesnt MDN start listening to its readers for a change? Like cutting all the invasive ads on this site?
I went to an ATT store in suburban Washington, DC. They told me they had no iPhones, so I thanked them and immediately turned to leave. Then they said they had one in stock and asked me if I wanted 4GB or 8GB. (They didn’t mean I had a choice, they meant they wanted to know if what they had was what I wanted.) I asked if I could see it first. They said they couldn’t open the box. They appeared to be very sincere. I wished them well and left.
The next weekend, I went to the Apple store, which is nearby but in a highly congested area that is inaccessible some parts of the day.
Was ATT understocked and are they reticent to sell because they don’t want the network clogged with activations? Are the sales staff trained so well in what they are not allowed to do that they are scared to do anything? Seems likely to me.