AT&T Store Suggested Everything But iPhone

[iPhoneGleek]

For some ood reason when I went to the AT&T store for my upgrade the salesman was selling me everything but the iPhone. At that point I was deciding between the iPhone or the Torch and he ended up selling me the torch, but before my 30 days was up I ended up returning it because I wanted an iPhone. When I told them this they tired to sell me an Android but I was NOT interested so I ended up getting the iPhone like i wanted! But it just left me wondering why they were against Apple so much. It's a great phone i haven't had any problems or any drop calls.

 

[BLiNK]

let me guess.. you went to an "Authorized AT&T Retailer"?

the way i understand it they do not make any $ off of the iPhone and most employees that work in those stores are douchey

hence is the reason i will only go to a corporate location and even then i'm still taking a chance

 

[ghostface147]

I personally don't deal with the ATT store at all.

 

[tlo07]

I think BLINK hit the nail on the head. I don't think the AT&T folks make a commission on the iPhones so its not to their advantage to push them.

 

[frostey]

I Work at a AT&T Authorized Retail store. The way it works is that the store buys the iphone for 574. We sell it for 199 on upgrade. 399 on early upgrade, always 200 more then normal upgrade / activation price. We make 26 dollars off the phone, then in 6 months, if the customer doesnt cancel thier service, we get paid 400 commision for the phone. The customer must Keep that iphone on the line it was assigned to for 30 days or we loose commission on that phone too. Authorized retail stores make more money off accessories then they do phones. If you tell the the sales rep that you want to buy a case with the iphone, they have no problem selling it to you as long as you get features and a expensive case. THE ATT NAVIGATOR IS NOT FREE DO NOT FALL FOR IT. in the system it says ' AT&T Navigator (no 30 days free) ' lol. But every other ATT phone is free for 30 days. And the Roadside Assistance is free for 30 days so thats okay to take advantage of, And when they say on 27 / 29 day it will send you a text message. IT DOESNT. you must call and tell them you dont want it anymore. the number is 611. Just say u want the iphone, your going to need 2 car chargers and a case. then at the end when you pay, say nevermind im going to come back for the chargers and the case. then your set! hahaha

 

[frostey]

They tryed pushing you into the Samsung Captivate and the torch, because we make 200 bucks off the phone lol

 

[xDAKx]

The two posts above are entirely the reason I go to corporate stores and never to anything but corporate, I only have positive things to say about our corporate stores in the Phoenix area, Even though I'm well aware someone lost a bit of commission when I ditched my Torch for an iP4 they were still overly nice about doing the exchange.

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

Well AT&T is now not the only one that sells the iPhone. Hell, they never were as you could have gotten it off Apple and Best Buy mobile even.

Don't forget ATT is about end the contract with Apple not to menton they have a whole line of other phones.

I personally think it was just the guy that was against the iPhone. What the right thing to do is to sell the phone the customer wants and needs.

But you are the customer right? couldn't you have just said no, I want the iPhone. Were you really gonna let the sales men push you?

 

[anon(4698833)]

Well AT&T is now not the only one that sells the iPhone. Hell, they never were as you could have gotten it off Apple and Best Buy mobile even.

Don't forget ATT is about end the contract with Apple not to menton they have a whole line of other phones.

I personally think it was just the guy that was against the iPhone. What the right thing to do is to sell the phone the customer wants and needs.

But you are the customer right? couldn't you have just said no, I want the iPhone. Were you really gonna let the sales men push you?

What are you talking about? Ending exclusivity does not mean ending a contract...AT&T will retain a partnership with Apple to sell the iPhone until the end of time...it would make little to ZERO sense for either side of that partnership to back out at any point, the iPhone is literally their cash cow on both ends of the spectrum.

Also, iPhones purchased @ Best Buy were activated and use AT&T, they shared a licensing agreement and i assure you, plenty of profit was sent AT&T's way for every phone sold through Best Buy.

 

[frostey]

Well AT&T is now not the only one that sells the iPhone. Hell, they never were as you could have gotten it off Apple and Best Buy mobile even.

Don't forget ATT is about end the contract with Apple not to menton they have a whole line of other phones.

I personally think it was just the guy that was against the iPhone. What the right thing to do is to sell the phone the customer wants and needs.

But you are the customer right? couldn't you have just said no, I want the iPhone. Were you really gonna let the sales men push you?

The way it works is that, since apple is a set price, i make a certain amount of money on every phone but the iphone, because we make nothing on the iphone. I Have the iphone. its obv the best user friendly phone, but i refuse to sell it bc i dont make commision on the effort to put it on the persons account and stuff. get what i mean?

 

[Garz]

Well AT&T is now not the only one that sells the iPhone. Hell, they never were as you could have gotten it off Apple and Best Buy mobile even.

Don't forget ATT is about end the contract with Apple not to menton they have a whole line of other phones

I personally think it was just the guy that was against the iPhone. What the right thing to do is to sell the phone the customer wants and needs.

But you are the customer right? couldn't you have just said no, I want the iPhone. Were you really gonna let the sales men push you?

man you are so wrong again

 

[xDAKx]

The way it works is that, since apple is a set price, i make a certain amount of money on every phone but the iphone, because we make nothing on the iphone. I Have the iphone. its obv the best user friendly phone, but i refuse to sell it bc i dont make commision on the effort to put it on the persons account and stuff. get what i mean?

Again people, Corporate stores are the way to go. I've believed in that concept for years now and it's yet to prove me wrong on not just AT&T but two other carriers as well.

Nothing against the rep above in a personal front, I'm just saying for the consumer, going to corporate is almost always better.

 

[frostey]

Me personally, i will go to a authorized retailer because i know how the system works, and i know what the phones go for and the fees behind each sale, and i know how much the dealer pays for the phone, and i know how much commision that the store itself makes on one single upgrade. Im a salesman, they make a good amount on the phones, just less on the iphone. Each store has a goal of sales per month. My store quota is 99, and we haven'[t hit that since the first month we have been open. HAHA if anyone needs to get hooked up on a phone for a 2 year contract, i may be able to get u a good price and money off accessories and sell them to u for the price i buy them for. U help my store out on numbers and ill help you out on your phone and accessories. PM me

 

[ghostface147]

Don't forget ATT is about end the contract with Apple not to menton they have a whole line of other phones.

What on earth are you talking about???? AT&T is losing exclusivity only. They are still going to sell the iPhone. If you meant to state they were going to end the exclusivity contract, then you have no clue how to write.

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

man you are so wrong again

how so?

at&t and apple contract end date - Google Search

and

Cell Phones, Smartphones, and Prepaid Cell Phone - Wireless from AT&T

Clearly these say other wise

The way it works is that, since apple is a set price, i make a certain amount of money on every phone but the iphone, because we make nothing on the iphone. I Have the iphone. its obv the best user friendly phone, but i refuse to sell it bc i dont make commision on the effort to put it on the persons account and stuff. get what i mean?

of course. What I don't get is how all these people decide to let the sales men win.If the sales men is pushing a phone you don't want, just say no. If he keeps bugging you, ask for another sales rep or go to another store.

 

[big9erfan]

how so?

at&t and apple contract end date - Google Search

and

Cell Phones, Smartphones, and Prepaid Cell Phone - Wireless from AT&T

Clearly these say other wise

AT&T only lost the contract for exclusivity, they didn't and aren't losing the iPhone. It will continue to be sold on AT&T as well as Verizon come February.

 

[frostey]

of course. What I don't get is how all these people decide to let the sales men win.If the sales men is pushing a phone you don't want, just say no. If he keeps bugging you, ask for another sales rep or go to another store.

Ha, but the thing is, your not a succesful salesmen if you cant push a terrible phone. I push pantech impacts instead of iphones.....I sold a samsung captivate to a 83 yr old man the other day lol. There going to come back and exchance...but the thing is. the store already made the money for the commission. so therefor, if they come back and get iphones, we already made the upgrade and the commission on that phone, charge restocking fee, then sell them iphone and make double commission plus extra on stocking fee and everything else...and who seriously keeps the box perfect as is? if the box isnt perfect then they get charged for what they are missing. u have no idea how much money u can make when u push a phone instead of an iphone

 

[anon(4698833)]

Oh chris...in typical fashion, you seem to miss details that completely derail your comments...the only "contract" that AT&T loses is exclusivity...not really a contract per say because they still very much have a contract with Apple to sell the iPhone, they just share that contract with Verizon now.

And then you post a link to one of the main pages of AT&T, i'm guessing randomly? lol...doesn't seem to support your statement in any way, shape or form.

You were wrong, bottom line...your comment was inaccurate...accept it and move on kiddo.

 

[TampaDude]

All the salespeople at every AT&T store I've ever been to are complete douchebags.

I got my iPhones at the Apple Store. The salespeople there are cool and way, WAY more knowledgeable about the iPhone.

The AT&T service, including customer service, is excellent, however. It's just the pushy salespeople that suck.

 

[LocoStrange]

I like how non-corporate stores (based on my experiences) claim that you MUST buy an accessory when you get a phone because its an incentive for getting the phone cheaper, hah.