Clerks

Posted
by
Steve St. Pierre
on January 12, 2007, at 3:16 PM
in Editorials
.
Comments: 10 responses
10 Comments

staffclerkslogo.jpg

And you know what? The lack of information can’t even be blamed just on the fact that these kids are in school. There was always boatloads of misinformation floating around my store, and I think we can all atest to the latest Cingular muckup that things haven’t changed in a while.

businessmoneymoney.jpgPrices are always changing, products are even on the shelf or not, release dates seem to always be in flux. And say a product WAS released last Sunday? Sorry, sir. Our shipment doesn’t come in until Tuesday. I’m not the one behind the wheel of those trucks or sending out the packages. I’d sell it to you if I could – hell, I could use the commission.

Pardon the rants contained in the above, but I think I was able to get my point across. It sucks that all this times passed and I’m still stewing about it, but that’s the kind of effect well-informed consumers like ourselves have on innocent wireless retail reps who are simply paying their due to society.

But I’d really like to hear your horror stories, I’m not going to lie. Have you ever been shown up by an employee? Or did you make the poor kid’s head spin around with all of the knowledge you were spitting? Have any of you been employed by one of these retailers and been lambasted or lambasted someone else with BlackBerry knowledge? Let me know. And as for those clerks? Just let ‘em be. Let ‘em be.

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  • Aaron

    Let me tell you, I’ve worked at a cell phone store.

    I’ve had Reps come in from all over. I’ve had BlackBerry Reps swear that there will never ever ever be a BlackBerry with a Camera or with a Removable memory card.

    I’ve had Reps come in and say that GSM is dead and CDMA is being used by , and the other way around.

    I’ve had my Boss and teacher say that HSDPA will come out next week, next month, next year, never, they cancelled it for WiMAX, that HSDPA is just another name for EVDO, that the Goverment’s Cell Towers are blocking free tv stations and that’s why I can’t get anything on my TV without subscribing to Satellite or Cable TV.

    My store kept a stock of 3 BlackBerry devices, 1 Smartphone that ran Windows Mobile, and about 5 of every other cell phone on the market. When we sold one of our phones, we had to wait a week to get another one in.

    The best thing that a customer can do, is to make friends with one of the sales people, to get their card, and to thank them. You should never buy something in a contract without thinking it over for a day. Ask the sales person why they have the phone that they have. And remember, the pimply faced sales clerk doesn’t know why you’re getting spam, either.

  • Aaron

    Let me tell you, I’ve worked at a cell phone store.

    I’ve had Reps come in from all over. I’ve had BlackBerry Reps swear that there will never ever ever be a BlackBerry with a Camera or with a Removable memory card.

    I’ve had Reps come in and say that GSM is dead and CDMA is being used by , and the other way around.

    I’ve had my Boss and teacher say that HSDPA will come out next week, next month, next year, never, they cancelled it for WiMAX, that HSDPA is just another name for EVDO, that the Goverment’s Cell Towers are blocking free tv stations and that’s why I can’t get anything on my TV without subscribing to Satellite or Cable TV.

    My store kept a stock of 3 BlackBerry devices, 1 Smartphone that ran Windows Mobile, and about 5 of every other cell phone on the market. When we sold one of our phones, we had to wait a week to get another one in.

    The best thing that a customer can do, is to make friends with one of the sales people, to get their card, and to thank them. You should never buy something in a contract without thinking it over for a day. Ask the sales person why they have the phone that they have. And remember, the pimply faced sales clerk doesn’t know why you’re getting spam, either.

  • Krad

    There is a much larger issue involved. People especially Americans feel that certain jobs or situations are beneath them.

    My whole life i have put 100% into what I do. Every job I had i learned as much as I could. I did for two reasons. First reason to take pride in my work and not look like stupid ass. The second to find ways to take shortcuts or make smarter quicker decisions to save time and energy.

    There is at least 10-30 minutes a day where a person has nothing to do and they pop on their cell phone or do a sudoku puzzle… if they took that time to memorize or learn features of phones it would help out customers…

    But being frank… and not susan, Retail salesman/customer service is very lazy and couldn’t be bothered…. it is very dishearting as a customer and i look to buy from local small businesses…

    However the only store not like that for me has been Target… There is always someone to help and they do it with a smile…. you know… how home depot used to be…

    I have made alot of sales and i consult now in the I.T. biz… #1 knowing your customers and knowing your products….

    A.B.C. bitches….

  • Krad

    There is a much larger issue involved. People especially Americans feel that certain jobs or situations are beneath them.

    My whole life i have put 100% into what I do. Every job I had i learned as much as I could. I did for two reasons. First reason to take pride in my work and not look like stupid ass. The second to find ways to take shortcuts or make smarter quicker decisions to save time and energy.

    There is at least 10-30 minutes a day where a person has nothing to do and they pop on their cell phone or do a sudoku puzzle… if they took that time to memorize or learn features of phones it would help out customers…

    But being frank… and not susan, Retail salesman/customer service is very lazy and couldn’t be bothered…. it is very dishearting as a customer and i look to buy from local small businesses…

    However the only store not like that for me has been Target… There is always someone to help and they do it with a smile…. you know… how home depot used to be…

    I have made alot of sales and i consult now in the I.T. biz… #1 knowing your customers and knowing your products….

    A.B.C. bitches….

  • Krad

    The best is when a salesperson claims they don’t know of a phone sold by their company.. when it is right behind them on the damn floor!!!!

  • Krad

    The best is when a salesperson claims they don’t know of a phone sold by their company.. when it is right behind them on the damn floor!!!!

  • Jason

    Why do I enjoy giving the poor kid at cigular a hard time? It’s simple. This is the one of the few things I know a little about. The first thing to remember, that poor kid is a sales person who gets commission for talking your grandma into signing up for 2000 min a month and buying a $400 camera phone so he gets the commission.
    I go to the car lot, where I don’t know much about engines and such, the sales guy lifts the hood and says look at that, and my wife snickers while elbowing me. She knows I’m trying to think of something to say, it normally comes out sounding like. . . “Yea, that’s an engine”.
    I try to buy a home theater system, washer and dryer, oven, whatever; the sales guy attempts to confuse me with the knobs and fancy lights.
    YET, when I go to the cell phone store, hours wasted on the internet all pay off. It is the only time that I probably know more than my adversary at the counter.
    Do I go to the store with the decision already made? Yes. When I walked into the cigular store there was no doubt that I was buying the Pearl. Did that stop me from asking the guy very specific questions that I knew he wouldn’t know the answer to, like does the upgrade allow for 2 gig cards?
    I just wanted to watch the sales person squirm. It’s nice not to be the one on the hook for once. I’m married and I dislike my job, my life is filled with very small victories

  • Jason

    Why do I enjoy giving the poor kid at cigular a hard time? It’s simple. This is the one of the few things I know a little about. The first thing to remember, that poor kid is a sales person who gets commission for talking your grandma into signing up for 2000 min a month and buying a $400 camera phone so he gets the commission.
    I go to the car lot, where I don’t know much about engines and such, the sales guy lifts the hood and says look at that, and my wife snickers while elbowing me. She knows I’m trying to think of something to say, it normally comes out sounding like. . . “Yea, that’s an engine”.
    I try to buy a home theater system, washer and dryer, oven, whatever; the sales guy attempts to confuse me with the knobs and fancy lights.
    YET, when I go to the cell phone store, hours wasted on the internet all pay off. It is the only time that I probably know more than my adversary at the counter.
    Do I go to the store with the decision already made? Yes. When I walked into the cigular store there was no doubt that I was buying the Pearl. Did that stop me from asking the guy very specific questions that I knew he wouldn’t know the answer to, like does the upgrade allow for 2 gig cards?
    I just wanted to watch the sales person squirm. It’s nice not to be the one on the hook for once. I’m married and I dislike my job, my life is filled with very small victories

  • bradley

    i carry a t-mobile blackberry 8700g and a t-mobile blackberry pearl 8100… I walked past a t-mobile dealer in the mall, mind you i was within grabbing range from them, one of them asked me what phone i had and swore he had one better than the ones i had… i laughed and told the guy to learn the stuff he’s selling… just a reason why i hate 3rd party vendors

  • bradley

    i carry a t-mobile blackberry 8700g and a t-mobile blackberry pearl 8100… I walked past a t-mobile dealer in the mall, mind you i was within grabbing range from them, one of them asked me what phone i had and swore he had one better than the ones i had… i laughed and told the guy to learn the stuff he’s selling… just a reason why i hate 3rd party vendors