Things you hate about phone salesmen

[thehustleman]

A salesman that doesn't produce is useless. Could be their job on the line. At least politely decline their up selling.

Who knows maybe they will offer you something you are interested in and didn't know about.

I have it so burned into my brain to not buy warranties and such that there have been a couple times I regretted it. For example I just bought about 2k in office furniture. For 99 buck I could have got a 5 year warranty on defects AND damage I caused, if I didn't use it at the end of 5 years I get it back as a store credit. It's almost a win win for everyone. But me being so used to not liking salesmen I instantly declined it.

I'm the opposite, i only ever filed ONE insurance claim for a broken screen because someone running from police bumped into me and my phone fell to the concrete floor.

It was cheaper to pay the deductible than it was to replace the screen.


I always get insurance because you never know what may happen and with asurion I'm getting my phone the next day.

Better than paying 650 for a new one.

If someone doesn't want insurance fine, but i can't front I push it, not hard as some, but i push it, but I've had several people tell me take it off their account only to come back a month or 2 later with a broken phone and no insurance expecting me to sell them another phone at the contract price!

Or even worse, my customer from the other day who demanded I take her insurance off of her iphone 5 because "it's a waste, when the phone breaks I still have to pay 170 dollars to get it replaced when I can just buy a new phone! Besides, I went with Apple care and the do it for only 99 dollars a year!"

I explained that they don't cover loss or theft, she said "I'm responsible, i don't let my phones get lost or stolen" (dumb line but i let her have it, no need irritating a customer who thinks they can predict what the world has in store)

She'd upgraded recently, then just the other day she came to me to buy another phone, when I told her how much it costs, she tried to argue me down and tell me in trying to sell her a 200 dollar phone for 650. I explained it to her that that price with with a contract, she said "i already have a contract!" I dropped my head then explained it more thoroughly to her.

I felt bad for her, wish I could help but i just couldn't, my boss already told me we can't discount iphones so I couldn't give her a slight discount on it. She told me about what happened , she was robbed at gunpoint, the guy took her wallet, purse, phone, jewelry (including her wedding ring), and left. Terrible experience.

I suggested swappa.com and craigslist to find a replacement.




I hope she's better off now and got her phone replaced

 

[cynics]

I'm the opposite, i only ever filed ONE insurance claim for a broken screen because someone running from police bumped into me and my phone fell to the concrete floor.

It was cheaper to pay the deductible than it was to replace the screen.


I always get insurance because you never know what may happen and with asurion I'm getting my phone the next day.

Better than paying 650 for a new one.

If someone doesn't want insurance fine, but i can't front I push it, not hard as some, but i push it, but I've had several people tell me take it off their account only to come back a month or 2 later with a broken phone and no insurance expecting me to sell them another phone at the contract price!

Or even worse, my customer from the other day who demanded I take her insurance off of her iphone 5 because "it's a waste, when the phone breaks I still have to pay 170 dollars to get it replaced when I can just buy a new phone! Besides, I went with Apple care and the do it for only 99 dollars a year!"

I explained that they don't cover loss or theft, she said "I'm responsible, i don't let my phones get lost or stolen" (dumb line but i let her have it, no need irritating a customer who thinks they can predict what the world has in store)

She'd upgraded recently, then just the other day she came to me to buy another phone, when I told her how much it costs, she tried to argue me down and tell me in trying to sell her a 200 dollar phone for 650. I explained it to her that that price with with a contract, she said "i already have a contract!" I dropped my head then explained it more thoroughly to her.

I felt bad for her, wish I could help but i just couldn't, my boss already told me we can't discount iphones so I couldn't give her a slight discount on it. She told me about what happened , she was robbed at gunpoint, the guy took her wallet, purse, phone, jewelry (including her wedding ring), and left. Terrible experience.

I suggested swappa.com and craigslist to find a replacement.




I hope she's better off now and got her phone replaced

I hear ya. I know a lot of people are very confused about cell phone contracts. I've heard a million different theories.

Maybe try pulling up Apple.com for the person and showing them how much a phone not on contract cost directly from the source. Their highest model is 950 bucks in the US!!!

 

[lordofthereef]

I felt bad for her, wish I could help but i just couldn't, my boss already told me we can't discount iphones so I couldn't give her a slight discount on it. She told me about what happened , she was robbed at gunpoint, the guy took her wallet, purse, phone, jewelry (including her wedding ring), and left. Terrible experience.

You can feel bad, but let's be realistic. Is the jeweler going to replace her wedding ring? How about the wallet and purse? Let's be realistic. Why does a person expect the buesiness to replace something that was stolen from them. The only business that should ever be expected to do that would be an insurance company, because that is what they do! Personally I would be upset with the lady for making you feel guilty for something that was totally out of your control!

Unfortunately, this happens all of the time in retail. My wife deals with it on a daily basis. She gets to deal with the lovely irate customers demanding for a manager.

 

[Sedrick]

re: iPhone sales people: I never witnessed so much smug in one little twerp's body in my 50+ years.

 

[scaredpoet]

I've never had a decent experience dealing with a phone salesperson. They either lie about something, try to insist that they know what I want more than I do, or try to push unneeded features. Or all three.

I pretty much avoid them whenever possible now. I either buy at the Apple store, or online (for non-iPhone purchases). A much more pleasant experience.

Since 2007 the only experience I've had with carrier salespeople is when I had to (through AT&T's incompetence) visit a store to get a replacement SIM. Apparently, once a SIM is activated it can't be re-used on AT&T, and the activation process is botched in any way, the SIM can be rendered useless. So, I spent half an hour convincing a corporate AT&T sales rep to give me a new one, while he tried to convince me to return my iPhone and buy whatever Android-of-the-week they're hocking, through him.

 

[designs216]

I've never had any problems with a salesmen...

It's not just phone salesmen. In the past when buying a car, I would make the deal over the phone before ever setting foot on the lot. The funny thing is, the F&I man always tries to add a bunch of upsell stuff and looks all verclimpt when I tell him no repeatedly.

 

[vikingjunior]

The restocking fee disclosure was a biggie for me. I paid $200 for a LG L9 didn't like it and when I went to return it i was informed of the $50 restocking fee wow did i lose it that day. I could see $20–30 but $50 ridiculous!

 

[Risco]

Lack of product knowledge and not listening to the customers needs.

 

[mpayne2k]

I was recently browsing in a store and I overheard a customer / salesman conversation and was pretty appauled by the whole exchange. It was very hard for me not to come in the conversation and interject my opinoins but I stayed away, figuring it wasn't my store, wasn't my employee, and who am I to say anything?

Anyway, what was crazy is the customer had 5 Galaxy SIII phones on Sprint and was saying he's eligible for an upgrade and was considering moving over to Verizon. His biggest complaint was that the Sprint service in his area was kind of spotty and was hoping VErizon had better service.

The salesman, who admitted to having Sprint himself, but not a Galaxy SIII said it was just the wifi chip in the Galaxy SIII that was causing the issue, not Sprint's service. He said his phone gets screaming speeds on Sprint's 4g network and that it was his opinoin that the SIII was rushed to the market and the chips weren't fully funcitonal.

So which phone was the customer looking to get? The Galaxy S4...the "next" phone from the same manufactuer of the SIII. If I were the customer and I just got fed that Samsung rushed the SIII to the market which caused my crappy service (not Sprint), why would I even consider the S4???

 

[cynics]

re: iPhone sales people: I never witnessed so much smug in one little twerp's body in my 50+ years.

I have to confess I think the only salesperson I actually just did not like was an Apple sales dude. He was just arrogant and trying to up sell me to stuff before he even knew what I wanted.

I actually came back to the same store a couple hours later and a nice young lady helped me and I bought a Mac from her. If the same guy would have been working or someone that acted like him I would have bought a PC.

 

[rockyroad55]

I have to confess I think the only salesperson I actually just did not like was an Apple sales dude. He was just arrogant and trying to up sell me to stuff before he even knew what I wanted.

I actually came back to the same store a couple hours later and a nice young lady helped me and I bought a Mac from her. If the same guy would have been working or someone that acted like him I would have bought a PC.

Yup. There's always that one sales person at an Apple store that someone always doesn't like.

 

[Oridus]

Alright, so from what I can see, anybody who is posting about sales people on these forums has a very skewed perception of sales people at a cellular store.

Reason I say this is because people who browse these forums are people who find cellular technology (or otherwise) more interesting than that of the average joe. You spend your time researching product, reading review after review, reading over every spec day in and day out until you're finally able to get your hands on a device. How is it fair to a salesperson when you go into the store and get upset that they don't know as much as you? Most sales people at a cellular store is trained on the basic specs of a device, and the basic functionality. Nothing more and nothing less. The reps that do know a great deal deeper than that are people that are like you and I that breath and pour over specs day in and day out.


I work for AT&T at a retail store as a sales rep. I know more than most of my co-workers because cell phones are a hobby for me. They're not for my co-workers. They know enough to get the job done, but at the end of the day for them, it's just a job. Just like any other sales person in any other industry.

 

[2298754]

They are so desperate to make a commission, most will say anything for a sale.

A couple years ago, I upgraded my line to a Nokia E71x. Couple months later, I noticed that I was being charged for Roadside Assistance. Called CS and it turns out that the rep had added it without my knowledge. I did get a huge bill credit after that though. Completely ridiculous.

 

[FlatlinerG]

I blame the average consumer. If you think you can walk onto a car lot thinking the salesman will give you a good deal, you are dead wrong. You should always research large purchases beforehand.