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Target had 5s' in stock - they refused to let me buy one

C

Cscottrun

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 8, 2011
546
276
Got in contact with a local target, they had a few 16gb att 5s' in stock. Went over, saw that they had a few out on the counter and waited. Finally the associate took me and said he was ready for me. Had me log into my att acount on the computer. He clearly saw I had an upgrade on one of my lines. I asked him nicely not to open the phone because it was a gift for my younger brother, and as I am sure many of you are aware, part of getting the phone is tearing the plastic off and opening it up. He refused, telling me he was required to make a test call before I left. He saw that I was aggitated and offered to let it slide. I was once again in good spirits. A few moments later, he asked me what line my brothers number was. I pointed it out (it was not the one eligible for an upgrade), the one eligible is my number. He then refused to sell it to me, telling me I would have to do a cross upgrade. I explained to him that what I was doing with the phone after I left the store was irrelevant and none of his concern but he wouldn't budge. He said I could potentially leave with the phone activated on my line, switch my 5 back to my line and sell the 5s, and he just wouldn't let that happen. Then he expressed concern that if in a month, I switched the 5s from my line to my brothers for his birthday, it would cost target money because I didn't switch the phone to my brothers number today, while I was at target.

I asked to see the written policy but he refused to show me anything. I got his first name, not his last. And he also refused to give me his employee id number, or any other identifying number.

Edit: Also, after arguing for a few minutes, he told me he couldnt help me and that he had other customers to deal with. That other customer was an on the clock target employee who was also getting a 5s.
 
Cscottrun said:
Got in contact with a local target, they had a few 16gb att 5s' in stock. Went over, saw that they had a few out on the counter and waited. Finally the associate took me and said he was ready for me. Had me log into my att acount on the computer. He clearly saw I had an upgrade on one of my lines. I asked him nicely not to open the phone because it was a gift for my younger brother, and as I am sure many of you are aware, part of getting the phone is tearing the plastic off and opening it up. He refused, telling me he was required to make a test call before I left. He saw that I was aggitated and offered to let it slide. I was once again in good spirits. A few moments later, he asked me what line my brothers number was. I pointed it out (it was not the one eligible for an upgrade), the one eligible is my number. He then refused to sell it to me, telling me I would have to do a cross upgrade. I explained to him that what I was doing with the phone after I left the store was irrelevant and none of his concern but he wouldn't budge. He said I could potentially leave with the phone activated on my line, switch my 5 back to my line and sell the 5s, and he just wouldn't let that happen. Then he expressed concern that if in a month, I switched the 5s from my line to my brothers for his birthday, it would cost target money because I didn't switch the phone to my brothers number today, while I was at target.

I asked to see the written policy but he refused to show me anything. I got his first name, not his last. And he also refused to give me his employee id number, or any other identifying number.

Edit: Also, after arguing for a few minutes, he told me he couldnt help me and that he had other customers to deal with. That other customer was an on the clock target employee who was also getting a 5s.
Click to expand...

and you walked out without speaking to a Store Manager? WOW.
 
report him to corporate, I promise they read those emails customers send to them and a district manager (above manager) will get in touch with you. Try to get more info on the lack luster employee like last name.
 
Beezy253 said:
Wait, so you went to the Customer Service desk and asked to speak to a Store Manager? He could of been the DEPARTMENT Manager, but I highly doubt a Store Manager would let a Customer leave unhappy.
Click to expand...

Thats probably the case, unfortunately I did not have time to go to the customer service desk. I waited close to 40 minutes for him to finish up with the first customer before he took me, by the time I stopped arguing I was in there for an hour and a half already. Had somewhere to be. I am not desperate for the phone, so Ill handle it through corporate.
 
Cscottrun said:
Thats probably the case, unfortunately I did not have time to go to the customer service desk. I waited close to 40 minutes for him to finish up with the first customer before he took me, by the time I stopped arguing I was in there for an hour and a half already. Had somewhere to be. I am not desperate for the phone, so Ill handle it through corporate.
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Ahh, ok.. Hopefully they both get written up. (The Department Manager AND the Employee on the clock purchasing an iPhone).
 
Anyone going into a Walmart, Target, Best Buy, RadioShack, etc has got to know ahead of time that the employees are idiots and it's a pure gamble.

Can't be mad when an idiot acts like an idiot.
 
Waste of time. Buy the phone elsewhere. There are already some threads on here stating that target employees won't sell phones at full retail. They want the commission for the upgrade or new service activations.
 
user-name-here said:
Anyone going into a Walmart, Target, Best Buy, RadioShack, etc has got to know ahead of time that the employees are idiots and it's a pure gamble.

Can't be mad when an idiot acts like an idiot.
Click to expand...

Exactly

I always expect the worst when going into those stores so can't really be surprised.
 
user-name-here said:
Anyone going into a Walmart, Target, Best Buy, RadioShack, etc has got to know ahead of time that the employees are idiots and it's a pure gamble.

Can't be mad when an idiot acts like an idiot.
Click to expand...

I knew, but as I said, it was local, was told it was in stock, then saw with my eyes it was in stock, so I made an attempt to grab one. Like I said, I am in no rush, but worth a shot.
 
Cscottrun said:
Got in contact with a local target, they had a few 16gb att 5s' in stock. Went over, saw that they had a few out on the counter and waited. Finally the associate took me and said he was ready for me. Had me log into my att acount on the computer. He clearly saw I had an upgrade on one of my lines. I asked him nicely not to open the phone because it was a gift for my younger brother, and as I am sure many of you are aware, part of getting the phone is tearing the plastic off and opening it up. He refused, telling me he was required to make a test call before I left. He saw that I was aggitated and offered to let it slide. I was once again in good spirits. A few moments later, he asked me what line my brothers number was. I pointed it out (it was not the one eligible for an upgrade), the one eligible is my number. He then refused to sell it to me, telling me I would have to do a cross upgrade. I explained to him that what I was doing with the phone after I left the store was irrelevant and none of his concern but he wouldn't budge. He said I could potentially leave with the phone activated on my line, switch my 5 back to my line and sell the 5s, and he just wouldn't let that happen. Then he expressed concern that if in a month, I switched the 5s from my line to my brothers for his birthday, it would cost target money because I didn't switch the phone to my brothers number today, while I was at target.

I asked to see the written policy but he refused to show me anything. I got his first name, not his last. And he also refused to give me his employee id number, or any other identifying number.

Edit: Also, after arguing for a few minutes, he told me he couldnt help me and that he had other customers to deal with. That other customer was an on the clock target employee who was also getting a 5s.
Click to expand...

I would be so angry! That's ridiculous behavior from the employee.
 
Cscottrun said:
Got in contact with a local target, they had a few 16gb att 5s' in stock. Went over, saw that they had a few out on the counter and waited. Finally the associate took me and said he was ready for me. Had me log into my att acount on the computer. He clearly saw I had an upgrade on one of my lines. I asked him nicely not to open the phone because it was a gift for my younger brother, and as I am sure many of you are aware, part of getting the phone is tearing the plastic off and opening it up. He refused, telling me he was required to make a test call before I left. He saw that I was aggitated and offered to let it slide. I was once again in good spirits. A few moments later, he asked me what line my brothers number was. I pointed it out (it was not the one eligible for an upgrade), the one eligible is my number. He then refused to sell it to me, telling me I would have to do a cross upgrade. I explained to him that what I was doing with the phone after I left the store was irrelevant and none of his concern but he wouldn't budge. He said I could potentially leave with the phone activated on my line, switch my 5 back to my line and sell the 5s, and he just wouldn't let that happen. Then he expressed concern that if in a month, I switched the 5s from my line to my brothers for his birthday, it would cost target money because I didn't switch the phone to my brothers number today, while I was at target.

I asked to see the written policy but he refused to show me anything. I got his first name, not his last. And he also refused to give me his employee id number, or any other identifying number.

Edit: Also, after arguing for a few minutes, he told me he couldnt help me and that he had other customers to deal with. That other customer was an on the clock target employee who was also getting a 5s.
Click to expand...


Yeah antsmarching!! ;):D:apple:
 
Lets be clear. Target Corporate does not care about one customer who didn't get an iPhone 5S. Target is a multi-billion dollar company :)

Sorry, but I'm betting the manager had specific instructions on how to sell the iPhones. And, Target is every right to refuse service to anyone (as all businesses do).
 
Cscottrun said:
He was the manager lol. Im going to corporate.
Click to expand...

The people at the Target mobile counter are not actual Target employees. They work for a 3rd party company that handles mobile phones. Certainly, contacting Target corporate will help, as they don't want that going on in their store, but I think it is Marketsource that runs the actual sales departments in the store. You might want to contact them, but good luck. They make money only when you use an upgrade or activate a new line, so I doubt they will have much sympathy for you.

If you use an upgrade or activate a new line, they make somewhere between $100-$200 in profit because of the commission paid to them by Verizon because you locked them into 2 years. If you buy the phone at full retail, they can actually lose money. These "authorized agents" pay about as much for an iphone as you would at full retail. Their stock is limited. They don't want to make $10 by selling the phone to you when they might make $150 by selling it to someone with an upgrade.

Sad, I know, but until we eliminate phone subsidies, this is how it will work.
 
This is why you shouldn't tell them stuff they don't need to know.
You should of just walked in, do the upgrade, leave the store, and do what you were going to do. You elaborated too much.
 
JOSE891 said:
This is why you shouldn't tell them stuff they don't need to know.
You should of just walked in, do the upgrade, leave the store, and do what you were going to do. You elaborated too much.
Click to expand...

And if it really was for a present like he said then why does the shrink wrap really matter? I doubt his brother would like the present any less just because it wasn't shrink wrapped still, however it does make listings more attractive when trying to sell...
 
Due to my wife exclusively breast feeding both of our babies we will never step foot in a Target. It is their company policy to breast feed in the toilet. Why would you want your baby to eat in a dirty bathroom? :confused:
 
Sounds fishy to me too. Maybe it's not. Regardless, Target can choose to refuse service to whomever they want. Somehow I think the agent may have had a little more indication that the "brother" was really Craigslist, and that the "birthday present" was just an attempt to avoid opening/activating the phone.

And the store manager was selling phones that day? Okie dokie.

Corporate will get a good laugh out of this one, but ultimately they give their employees some leeway with high demand products when they believe (as he obviously did, even by your story) that you are only intending to buy it to resell it at a profit.

Maybe he was holding it for his buddy. Maybe he wasn't. It's a phone, you didn't wait in line, and your "birthday present" can be easily obtained well in advance of your "brothers" "birthday". But hey, maybe if you complain enough they'll give you a $5 gift card towards the reservation of the 6!

----------
veedubshafer said:
Due to my wife exclusively breast feeding both of our babies we will never step foot in a Target. It is their company policy to breast feed in the toilet. Why would you want your baby to eat in a dirty bathroom? :confused:
Click to expand...

So people who don't want to look at your wife's breasts while shopping at Target don't have to. They won't let me pee in the aisles either (even if I clean it up! the nerve!), even though it's a perfectly natural thing :D
 
itjw said:
Sounds fishy to me too. Maybe it's not. Regardless, Target can choose to refuse service to whomever they want. Somehow I think the agent may have had a little more indication that the "brother" was really Craigslist, and that the "birthday present" was just an attempt to avoid opening/activating the phone.

And the store manager was selling phones that day? Okie dokie.

Corporate will get a good laugh out of this one, but ultimately they give their employees some leeway with high demand products when they believe (as he obviously did, even by your story) that you are only intending to buy it to resell it at a profit.

Maybe he was holding it for his buddy. Maybe he wasn't. It's a phone, you didn't wait in line, and your "birthday present" can be easily obtained well in advance of your "brothers" "birthday". But hey, maybe if you complain enough they'll give you a $5 gift card towards the reservation of the 6!

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So people who don't want to look at your wife's breasts while shopping at Target don't have to. They won't let me pee in the aisles either (even if I clean it up! the nerve!), even though it's a perfectly natural thing :D
Click to expand...

LOL no silly she always is covered up. Besides this is the only country where breast feeding is weird or unacceptable. It's the best thing for a baby and should be done by more mothers instead of feeding them chemicals. Anyway, sorry OP for this getting off onto a different subject.
 
user-name-here said:
Anyone going into a Walmart, Target, Best Buy, RadioShack, etc has got to know ahead of time that the employees are idiots and it's a pure gamble.

Can't be mad when an idiot acts like an idiot.
Click to expand...

ALL employees of the above mentioned stores (plus whatever stores are ETC..) are idiots?? Sure, there are SOME idiots at those stores, but not everyone.

I take offense to your remark, as I have family members who work at the stores you mentioned, and they are not idiots.

Stereotyping sucks. And your attitude sucks.
 
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