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I helped a friend

Jude526

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I have a friend whose new part time job has a lot of things she has to do on her phone regarding her scheduling. She had gone into a Verizon store to see if they would help her and was told he couldn’t. My friend has no patience for learning new applications.
She flusters easily. It is too bad the rep couldn’t had made the gesture to try to help her. When I sold wireless I was happy to show a customer how to do something if they asked and not send them away.There was no one in the store and she felt slided by him.
I knew what to do and I helped her. And it only took a second.

This is what I find wrong in our selling today. Customer service has gone out the door. It sometimes doesn’t end with the sale.
Unfortunately she will remember the bad experience.

It only takes a moment to be helpful and kind. I wish people in technology sales could remember that not all customers know the
In’s and out’s. They were new at one time on their sales job and had to be shown and taught. So, please, when you have questions and aren’t busy, show your knowledge and expertise.
 

metllicamilitia

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That’s why I’m glad I know how to do things myself or usually know where to go to learn it. Most people aren’t helpful. Even my job I tend to give more help and information than I probably should, however, I also feel that helps the customer better understand where I’m coming from and why I might not have been able to correct an issue, or even why it took me so long to find the issue and correct it. It would be nice if cell service reps were more helpful in stores.
 

kataran

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Mar 11, 2013
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I use to make house calls in the name of Tech Help. Everything from Smart TVs to phones and PCs. I use to enjoy it till friends started taking advantage so now I mainly give the speech about not keeping up with the Tech stream which is not entirely false

My local Sprint store does have knowledgeable employees and I see a lot of advice and help given when I stop by to use the reverse ATM to pay my bill
 

Annie_M

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Mar 2, 2016
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I've noticed this at some of the local AT&T stores. When I was going out of the country to Canada last summer, I was trying to figure out whether or not my plan covered making calls and sending texts. I had had such a fantastic experience purchasing my Apple Watch from a local AT&T store, that I was confident they would be able to help me. On the contrary, I went in, and the salesperson who sold me my watch was not on duty. Instead, there was a petulant, apathetic associate on duty who didn't give a rats butt about helping me. So I went to another store and was told yes yes you're covered. That person came across a little too carefree, and I just had a "bad feeling". So I finally called AT&T support and got someone who was happy to first listen and then help me. In the end, I wasn't covered and had I not checked, I would have racked up a ton of charges. I opted not to add international calling onto my plan, because I was only going to be gone 4 days. I could connect via hotel wifi, and that was good enough.

It was frustrating to see the inconsistency between sales associates. It seems to me that they really don't get enough training and don't really know the answers to so many questions. At least when I go into an Apple Store, store associates are friendly and interested in helping. And they don't seem to hesitate to reach out to a co-worker if they are unable to answer a question.
 

Quis89

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This is too bad. I have been out of wireless sales for around 5 years now but I recall my time in wireless and I prided myself on establishing a rapport with my customers and going above and beyond. I developed great relationships with many awesome people during my time. Even to the point that I got quite a few wedding gifts from various customers when I got married, lol.

But at the end of the day, it was about creating an experience they couldn't get anywhere else. I refused to push them out the door at the completion of a sale (despite some not so great feedback from a poor manager or two during my time). This goes a long way in ensuring repeat business as well as referral business. So it benefits from both ends. The customer enjoys their experience, and I acquire new business opportunities from potential referrals. That, and I just enjoyed working with a variety of people.
 

Ken Magel

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What I do when I get poor service is to say something like "I am sorry. May I speak to your manager, please." Almost always the service improves a lot, or I get much better service from the manager.
 

Lee_Bo

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Unfortunately I read this as "My friend went to Verizon to get some free how-to training", and possibly on apps Verizon doesn't support. While I do not condone what was or wasn't done, mobile reps don't make money by doing free training.

Now, does friend have an Apple store nearby? If so have them sign up for one or more of their training classes. I've been to several myself just to see how they are and they really are very informative and helpful.
 

Annie_M

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So many of my older "church" friends are beginning to delve into iPhones or other smartphones. They are terrified of them, and don't want to use them... and tend to keep them powered down. This drives me crazy! So, I've reached out to another church-friend, whose son works at an apple store, to see if he might be interested in coming to help older members of our parish with their new-fangled phones. I've not heard back from him, but I have seen notices here and there about specialized smartphone training for seniors. There's obviously a need! It's also important to realize that what may be obvious to us, it's not to them. Other than sharing all sorts of spam from their email accounts, most have had little to no experience with technology and aren't intuitive about it.
 

edswife1970

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So many of my older "church" friends are beginning to delve into iPhones or other smartphones. They are terrified of them, and don't want to use them... and tend to keep them powered down. This drives me crazy! So, I've reached out to another church-friend, whose son works at an apple store, to see if he might be interested in coming to help older members of our parish with their new-fangled phones. I've not heard back from him, but I have seen notices here and there about specialized smartphone training for seniors. There's obviously a need! It's also important to realize that what may be obvious to us, it's not to them. Other than sharing all sorts of spam from their email accounts, most have had little to no experience with technology and aren't intuitive about it.

I have a friend who teaches classes at the senior center in our town. Things like iPhones and Facebook and that sort of thing. She really enjoys it and I think the seniors do too!
 

Not Quite Right

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Of late I feel why do we even need carrier stares at all? Seriously if you're not BUYING anything, they are not interested in helping you. If you really think that the twenty something with gauged ears, neck tattoos, and pink dreadlocks wants to spend a 1/2 hour teaching you how to use an app, or pouring over your plan while their co-workers are getting all the sales you're being quite delusional ...
 

Lee_Bo

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Years ago, yes, customer service meant something.

Today, all that matters is "how much money can I make before my shift end and I can go home".
 

steveh552

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Of late I feel why do we even need carrier stares at all? Seriously if you're not BUYING anything, they are not interested in helping you. If you really think that the twenty something with gauged ears, neck tattoos, and pink dreadlocks wants to spend a 1/2 hour teaching you how to use an app, or pouring over your plan while their co-workers are getting all the sales you're being quite delusional ...

I would not say that is always the case. I had an issue on my iphone xs max where my voicemail was not showing up nor did I get any notifications, this was after a replacement phone from the Apple store. The T-Mobile store rep tried to figure it out and when he could not, he called their support and spent 35 minutes give or take a few with tech support until we got it working, this while there was a couple others who walked in and wanted to buy phones. They were understanding and he was taking polite. I felt bad beause I know he is not making the big money helping me at this point but he did not seem to mind.

I was going to go to the Apple store but felt it was on the T-Mobile end so I let them fix it.
 

Not Quite Right

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I would not say that is always the case. I had an issue on my iphone xs max where my voicemail was not showing up nor did I get any notifications, this was after a replacement phone from the Apple store. The T-Mobile store rep tried to figure it out and when he could not, he called their support and spent 35 minutes give or take a few with tech support until we got it working, this while there was a couple others who walked in and wanted to buy phones. They were understanding and he was taking polite. I felt bad beause I know he is not making the big money helping me at this point but he did not seem to mind.

I was going to go to the Apple store but felt it was on the T-Mobile end so I let them fix it.

That's a great story, but not par for the course. Most would (and should have) directed you to 611 and had you speak to tech support, they are the ones in the end that actually fixed your issue.
The salesperson at T-Mobile should've immediately realized he wouldn't be able to help you and directed you to the appropriate source that could. That person not only did you a dis-service, they also did the others in the store a dis-service by wasting their time by trying handle something completely out of their capabilities ...
 

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