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AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

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Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#61

Post by takeda »

bognition wrote: post #8

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

T-Mobile is better than them, but frankly, once their network improved enough to be competitive to Verizon and AT&T they no loner are as good as they once were.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#62

Post by cbozeman »

ysavir wrote: post #24
bombcar wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact you haven’t switched lines yet speaks volumes for where they have you. Right where they want you.

I don't think it's that simple. There's a lot involved in switch carriers, and it's worth taking the time to cool down from the initial frustration and evaluate your options more objectively.

> it's worth taking the time to cool down from the initial frustration

No it isn't.

Every single company in America needs to operate like Chick-Fil-A. You will never have a bad Chick-Fil-A experience. Ever. I've eaten there for over 25 years. The slightest problem with anything is immediately resolved to your satisfaction.

And why is that? Because there's competition, and because they want to be the best fast food restaurant in the nation.

There's no incentive for any of these companies to do that, because there's not enough competition. I imagine it's a combination of regulation, high start-up costs, and probably other factors of which I'm not aware, but we should definitely have more than three major carriers.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#63

Post by gnicholas »

bognition wrote: post #8

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

MVNOs are great. If you want to be on the Verizon network and happen to have Comcast, their xfinity mobile service is super cheap. You can buy one data pool and split it across your whole family, and the cost per GB is $15 or so. Unlike all the big carriers, they don't charge a per-line monthly access fee. I have five people on my family plan and the cost per line is almost always under $10/mo.

If you need to be on AT&T's network, there are other MVNOs like Pure Talk, which has good customer service and pretty good pricing.

One downside to MVNOs is they often lag behind the major carriers in getting support for smartwatches and cellular-capable tablets. But other than that, they're great!

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#64

Post by Talanes »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #55
Talanes wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Consequently, most retail seems to focus on training employees to "not be bad" vs "being more good." More like they just don't give adequate training time at all. I've never had a retail job that gave as much time with the training material as the material itself said you'd spend with it.

I would think retail/general public facing working environment being basically the least desirable working environment, the most capable people will always self select out for better opportunities, especially since the pay is the lowest.

No, some of us stick it out way too long because we actually do like it.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#65

Post by bsanr2 »

Talanes wrote: post #45
ethbr0 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You’re at the mercy of randoms working retail. So true, even for Apple or (insert beloved company here). Between the turnover, low salaries, and the terrible scheduling patterns, you're blessed if you get someone who doesn't assault customers. Consequently, most retail seems to focus on training employees to "not be bad" vs "being more good."

>Consequently, most retail seems to focus on training employees to "not be bad" vs "being more good." More like they just don't give adequate training time at all. I've never had a retail job that gave as much time with the training material as the material itself said you'd spend with it.

Best Buy had very good training during the tenure of the previous CEO. It was emphasized as an important part of one's duties as an associate and incentivized with generous accommodations (I'm watching a large OLED I was able to buy for 1/3 retail; I was able to truthfully attest to its quality thereafter and made quite a few sales on that). My understanding is that good and plentiful accommodations are essentially gone now (at corporate, not the vendor's, behest; workers looking to get a television accommodation will apparently have to win a sweepstakes), and that training focuses less on product knowledge and more on high-margin service and branded payment upsells. If you think you hate hearing about thowe as a customer, imagine how tired the salespeople are getting nothing but constantly chided for not ruining customers' credit.

Leadership matters, and unfortunately, much of retail's are cynical number crunchers who don't understand the value of investing in labor. Guess what, not even Amazon can get away from the necessity of quality customer service; that need won't be automated away anytime in the near future, and you really don't want to anyway (algorithmic up-sell is terrible at edge cases and exhausts everyone else short-term).

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#66

Post by [deleted] »

ethbr0 wrote: post #40
dimmke wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have used t mobile for like a decade. They’re a better carrier, but I have had terrible experiences in their stores before too. You’re at the mercy of randoms working retail. The best experience is no experience. Just buy your phone directly from Apple and perform the SIM swap yourself. Apple’s stores are worse than the ATT situation in this article. For most of COVID you literally could not walk in and get added t…

> You’re at the mercy of randoms working retail. So true, even for Apple or (insert beloved company here). Between the turnover, low salaries, and the terrible scheduling patterns, you're blessed if you get someone who doesn't assault customers. Consequently, most retail seems to focus on training employees to "not be bad" vs "being more good."

[deleted]

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#67

Post by henrikschroder »

bombcar wrote: post #12
bognition wrote: post #8

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

The fact you haven’t switched lines yet speaks volumes for where they have you. Right where they want you.

When cell phones came to Sweden in the 90's, all the carriers did the exact same thing, offering phones and plans as bundles. But after a couple of years of fierce competition, margins were so thin that it was 100% obvious that any plan that came "with" a phone was essentially just their regular phone plans + a payment plan for the phone. You saved absolutely no money by paying for your phone through a carrier, and for the last decades I've always bought my phones separately, and getting phone plans separately.

And I'm amazed that this shit still flies in the US, that consumers still haven't figured this shit out.

I've lived in the US for almost a decade now, and I've never had a phone subscription or bought a phone through a carrier. Always buy unlocked phones. Always get a pre-paid subscription.

If I buy a phone and don't like it, it's between me and wherever I bought the phone, and I can look up their return policy before I make the purchase.

If I don't like the carrier I'm with, I can switch the next month, and the new carrier will happily help me port my number to them for free.

Don't get plans. Don't get multiple "lines". Don't get family plans. They're traps. Expensive, annoying, traps that cost you time and money and hassle.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#68

Post by chasil »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #53
bombcar wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact you haven’t switched lines yet speaks volumes for where they have you. Right where they want you.

There are 3 networks in the US. Verizon, ATT, and T-Mobile. T mobile is good in urban areas, but breadth and depth wise, I think it is pretty established that Verizon > ATT > T-Mobile, and the prices reflect that. My solution is to simply never deal with agents at the mobile companies, especially not the minimum wage ones in stores and reseller outfits paid on commission. And I always just buy from Apple, although Be…

I have always used MVNOs, so I have no loyalty to the big 3.

I would not sign a contract if you paid me. No phone company deserves to know my credit history, nor should they aspire to any other lock in.

The only one that I haven't tried is T Mobile.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#69

Post by cardiffspaceman »

dimmke wrote: post #29
bognition wrote: post #8

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

I have used t mobile for like a decade. They’re a better carrier, but I have had terrible experiences in their stores before too. You’re at the mercy of randoms working retail. The best experience is no experience. Just buy your phone directly from Apple and perform the SIM swap yourself. Apple’s stores are worse than the ATT situation in this article. For most of COVID you literally could not walk in and get added t…

My local apple store can now be walked directly into. I concede I didn't go there during the launch of the new phone. I did go there a few weeks before to buy an accessory, and it was free of fuss. I can confirm that during the still-COVID-but-almost-open phase, there were tents, appointments, and rude people.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#70

Post by rmason »

Many years ago I did coding for a web hosting company. They actually had a retail store in the front with the rest of us in the back.

Twice a year an AT&T business sales guy would come through and he'd always have three trainees with him. The boss would never have the time to meet with him. So I interacted with him and trying to be helpful I told him when our contract was up. I said if you come by within 30 days of the contracts expiration you might have a chance at the business.

He never even wrote the date down. He came through every six months on a set schedule and always with the three different trainees. I wondered if he even wanted the business? Or maybe felt they wouldn't let him be competitive. Either way he wasn't the guy AT&T wanted training other sales guys cause he set a poor example.

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