Hello Everyone,
Since October 7th, when iPhone 4 S went on pre-order, I decided for various sundry reasons not to purchase in favor of continuing to use my beloved iPhone 4. Since the 14th, however, I have been delightfully inundated by so many of you calling, texting, or emailing to either ask questions or confirm that you are so darn glad you took the plunge and updated to 4 S (Smile); I just couldn’t stand it anymore; the pressure was too great and I, in the “blink of an iPhone”, (get it (Smile)) decided to get one also.
Unlike with my previous two purchases of iPhones in which I pre-ordered and was literally the first person to walk into an A T & T Wireless corporate store on the day of release, this time I had done none of my usual reconnoitering such as meeting the store manager a day or so earlier.
This time, while on the way to a restaurant with my cousin whom I have not seen in over 30 years, I decided to go to an A T & T Wireless corporate store to which I had not previously patronized.
We were greeted at the door by a lady who, like so many sales people today, began blabbing out some script that is supposed to make the customer feel warm and fuzzy; this script only made me feel disgusted and belittled. Since I was with my cousin, who has never seen me “handle my business”, as it were and who would, no doubt not understand my curtness, I decided to play along with the hostess by answering her very basic and very disarming questions: “My name is Mark.” “Yes, I am an A T & T Wireless customer.” “Yes, I am happy with A T & T Wireless.” “This pretty young lady is my cousin.” “Thank you for saying we look like a cute couple, did I mention she is my cousin?” “Yes, I heard there is a new iPhone now being sold.” “Really? Colors to choose from?” “Yes, I know my wireless number.” “She is not an A T & T Wireless customer.” “Yes, I have some questions about the phone.” “Yes, I know what a Smartphone is.” “No, we’re not out on a date, did I mention she is my cousin?” “Yes, I would like to speak to a knowledgeable sales employee.” “No, we don’t live around here.”.
With jaws clinched, we walked deep into the bowels of the store to wander around until my name was called. I will tell you that, after the “conversation” with the greeter, I was ready to postpone my purchase for another day in another land.
After about 10 minutes, a small framed man walked up to me, stuck out his hand, and introduced himself. In that instant, I realized that this entire experience was, for me anyway, going to be little more than a trek through talk-time-technology Hell!
With this in mind I swiftly shook his hand, put my finger up to my lips, signaling him to stop and listen, and, stepping away from my cousin, stood beside him. Then, with a very carefree demeanor I explained to him that I own both an iPhone 3GS and an iPhone 4; that I beta test for both iPhone and Microsoft; that I used to be a customer service sales employee in a technology retail store; that I am low-vision, that it had been a long day; and that I would greatly appreciate not being “handled”. This took less than two minutes to say, at the end of which he politely said, “No problem. How can I help you?” I told him that I wanted to purchase a 64GB iPhone 4 S, black-on-black-on-black.
He said, “OK. Lets go see if we have any left. Would you like to take my arm? Then we can walk over to the counter.” Even though I did not require his assistance as the store was very well lighted, I accepted his invitation as a means to forge a bond that I hoped would translate into streamline and sincere conversation. My cousin walked behind us clearly surprised at how things were unfolding.
The sales representative informed me that he did, in fact, have plenty of the 64-gigs in stock. I informed him, after authorizing him to access my account, that I was well aware of all the charges, restrictions, constrictions, subscriptions, etc to which I would have to agree in order to complete the purchase.
He went to get the phone. Upon his return I informed him that, regardless of A T & T Wireless’ general policy, I would not be using/activating the SIM card that ships with the iPhone 4 S; I gave him several reasons including that I did not want my incoming call wait time to be reset, I did not want my voicemail messages to be lost, etc. I concluded by informing him that I, not he, would transfer the SIM card from the old phone to the new.
Upon hearing this, he replied with something totally unexpected but that I think I will never forget. He said, quite matter-of-factly, “Mr. Taylor, you clearly know more about this than I do so we will do it your way.”
After handing me the tool used to eject the SIM card drawers, he folded his arms and patiently waited while I made the transfer; after which, I returned the tool to him, powered on the phone, answered the three or four setup questions, and confirmed that the SIM was working properly.
The salesman was even more delighted than I in so far that he did not have to take the steps necessary to activate a new SIM and register it to my account. With a smile in his voice, he informed me that from now on, when dealing with those upgrading from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4 S, he will simply transfer the SIM from the old phone to the new.
Please note that I was able to transfer the SIM card because, in this case, both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4 S use the same size SIM card.
I completed my purchase in about 15 minutes at the end of which I spoke to the store manager informing him how pleased I was with the extraordinarily refreshing customer service I received from a salesman who both accurately assessed as well as graciously assisted his customer.
As for my cousin? She was delighted and made me promise to go with her when she is ready to upgrade her phone. She offered to pay for dinner; I refused, of course but as is often the case, it’s the thought that counts.
Mark
