Stories from your local sprint store

[themuffinman]

So I am here at my sprint store and there are people every friggin were buying these phones. Now I hate to say this but every single sprint employee here are total n00bs. Literally, no one knows anything about this phone. Employees are asking how to remove the cover to install the battery. I was like "uhhhh, the battery is built in and not removable". I am standing here educating these people on their own product. They didn't even know how to install the memory card. One guy thought that little pin hole up top was to pop out the cover, but I had to explain to him that it's a second mic for noise canceling. Now there is another issue, they are having activation issues and they wanted to do a battery pull but since it's built in they were stuck. I shook my head and told the manager to just press the power button for 10 seconds. The manager then shook my hand and got me a sprint evo tshirt from the back.

 

I am posting this from the sprint store using my gnex so sorry for any typos, I will be home shortly

 

Edit:

 

Just got home, just so everyone knows I wasn't upset or mad or anything just a little shocked as to how unprepared they were. If I wasn't there this morning things could have been a lot worse. LOL. All in all though, it was a great experience and they still deserve all 5 stars on their survey. Go sprint!!!!

 

Edit#2:

 

Oh yeah, this evolte is one bad ass phone!!!!

[MacinJosh]

Ouch. That sounds horrible that there are idiots working there. Talk about a bad experience.

[aerxx]

I always have to psych myself up before I go into a Sprint store. With the way you can get information on the internet these days, it just shows you how lazy consumers are. Listening to conversations, you can tell that NOBODY educates themselves before they go to make a purchase. I will say that there customer service 800 line has improved significantly....Just pray you don't have to call outside of normal business hours...lol

[themuffinman]

Ouch. That sounds horrible that there are idiots working there. Talk about a bad experience.

 

Well I wouldn't say they were idiots and it actually wasn't a bad experience at all, I actually had a lot of fun. It just boggles my mind that they didn't know a thing about a phone of this caliber. I mean no one knew anything and I can't even say they were new employees because many of them been working there for years. They all said that this morning was the first time they actually handled the phone, they didn't receive any kind of formal training which personally I find hard to believe but I guess I should believe it since it was pretty obvious. Anyway, right before I left the manager gave me a sprint employee htc evo t-shirt and a sprint coffee mug. As I walked out I told him to call me if you have any questions, we both LOL'd then I left.

[irev210]

Yes, they are just normal people trying to get their commission. This seems to happen with every new phone launch.

 

Only thing they care about is getting "5" scores and getting new lines/upgrades. There is really little training involved on how to remove the back cover. It's on the job - good thing you were there to help.

 

Sprint should really let employees play with the phone a little prior to launch, but that's not how it goes. They have to complete those online training things online, but the level of detail and the amount of information retained is probably very low.

 

They recently put this up at my local sprint corporate store - it SCREAMS professional.

 

and yes, this really is a sprint corporate store.

 

[Odell]

This just confirms my resolve to never go into a Sprint store unless it's absolutely necessary. You would think that folks working in those stores would be phone enthusiasts but that's rarely the case. It doesn't make sense that the people charged with pushing your new flagship have no idea about the features of the device.

[MacinJosh]

When I bought my EVO Shift, I went to a Sprint store. The person who helped me was very knowledgeable and did tell me the original Epic was a better phone than the Shift, and I should have listened and gotten it. But he did help me and explained the advantages and disadvantages between the 2 phones as well as the original EVO 4G.

 

So not all Sprint stores are bad.

[stitch1007]

Well I went to my local Sprint store about a week ago to inquirer about the Galaxy Nexus and the Evo LTE. The guy there was super excited about the Evo and pretty much told me to forget about the Nexus. He was super honest about everything going on with sprint. He did know more then I expected about the hardware but not so much the software. He did call Ice cream sandwich "ice cream scoop" I couldn't help but laugh. It caught me off guard. He made a face like why are you laughing. My wife corrected him. He was really nice about it but I could tell he was embarrassed.

 

Anyways I ended up waiting till today and getting the Evo but I bought it from best buy. The guy there told me up front he didn't know anything about phones but was willing to help the mobile department because there were so may people there. Took longer then normal but he got me all setup. I was his 1st ever phone activation.

[aerxx]

Anyways I ended up waiting till today and getting the Evo but I bought it from best buy. The guy there told me up front he didn't know anything about phones but was willing to help the mobile department because there were so may people there. Took longer then normal but he got me all setup. I was his 1st ever phone activation.

 

Wow, I rarely receive that level of customer service at ANY Best Buy I go to.

[MacinJosh]

 

Wow' date=' I rarely receive that level of customer service at ANY Best Buy I go to.[/quote']

 

Same here. Best Buy in Visalia is terrible for customer service. Total dummies.

 

Sent from my LG Viper 4G LTE using Forum Runner

[WiWavelength]

A decade ago, I sold home audio part time at Circuit City while I was in college. Since I happened to know a little bit about wireless, I also occasionally sold wireless phones. Many of you may not know that, at the time, Sprint devices were sold cash and carry. Walk in. Pay your $200 for the phone. Go home. Call to activate it. Or use it as a paperweight. Do whatever you want with it. Regardless, Sprint did not require a contract, though you could opt to sign an "Advantage Agreement" that gave you a monthly discount and/or free added features.

 

I would like to see one or more of the four national wireless carriers return to all or part of this simpler sales model. Wireless carriers do not need to and should not function as de facto brick and mortar electronics retailers. Leave device sales to third party retailers and, if necessary, the carriers' own online stores. I assume (though I could be wrong) that wireless carriers operate corporate brick and mortar stores at significant net cost. And the stories shared in this thread indicate -- at least anecdotally -- that corporate brick and mortar sales do not generally offer superior knowledge nor service.

 

So, I wonder whether Sprint would ever consider closing all of its corporate storefronts and whether that would result in a notable cost savings.

 

AJ

[BenChase7]

Same here. Best Buy in Visalia is terrible for customer service. Total dummies.

 

Sent from my LG Viper 4G LTE using Forum Runner

 

Same here. My BB experiences have been horrific, too, Josh. My last phone purchase at BB was last summer... and it will be my last... I'll never buy another phone from best buy. FWIW, I prefer the Sprint Corporate stores.

[Treadhead]

The corporate store I ususally use has always been pretty knowledgeable and helpful. I know they had hands on training with the new EVO. I stopped in about a week before the original launch date and they said the HTC guy just left after doing their training.

 

An agent store opened recently just down the street from me so I have been stopping by there to check on the new EVO news. They have so far seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about the phones. I stopped by last night on my way to work to see how many EVO's they had to sell. They got one and that was it. Of course they already had it out fingering it and showing to everyone. They also had several people on a waiting list for one. Then they told me the manager had already tried to set aside for his friend but, they found it and told me it was mine as long I was the first one in the door this morning. As much as I want one, I'm not gonna take it from someone who is already ahead of me on a list. Not to mention they have already had their hands all over it. I just ordered on Sprint.com when I got home this morning.

[ScandaLeX]

I have to give my Sprint store credit. Many of them are extremely knowledgable and spend quite a but of time on sites like this one, xda and ac.As a matter of fact, they know so much that they often forget their average customers don't know what the hell they're talking about. More than once I've found myself telling them to dummy it down so that the customer isn't left feeling so overwhelmed.Not everyone wants an iPhone yet at the same time, Android shouldn't be made to feel so frightening.

 

Tappin' from my SGP 5.0

Edited June 3, 2012 by ScandaLeX

[digiblur]

The guy activating my phone at the Sprint store was trying to find the battery but couldn't. It was pretty funny to listen to him ask his coworker about it. The other guy says it is because they wanted to get rid of battery problems and go with new batteries like the iPhone. I couldn't help but chuckle.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

[JeffDTD]

Wish I had something nice to say about the old corporate store here, but they closed years ago. I actually applied to work there back in college and honestly think they purposefully did not hire phone/tech savvy people because the only people that ever got hired were tards.

 

 

To be fair, the people working in my local verizon store knew bat shat nothing about the nexus earlier this year when I went shopping and acting like a noob. I stopped by the 3rd party store yesterday to see about the evo lte... they had none, but were excited and knowledgable about it.

[irev210]

A decade ago, I sold home audio part time at Circuit City while I was in college. Since I happened to know a little bit about wireless, I also occasionally sold wireless phones. Many of you may not know that, at the time, Sprint devices were sold cash and carry. Walk in. Pay your $200 for the phone. Go home. Call to activate it. Or use it as a paperweight. Do whatever you want with it. Regardless, Sprint did not require a contract, though you could opt to sign an "Advantage Agreement" that gave you a monthly discount and/or free added features.

 

I would like to see one or more of the four national wireless carriers return to all or part of this simpler sales model. Wireless carriers do not need to and should not function as de facto brick and mortar electronics retailers. Leave device sales to third party retailers and, if necessary, the carriers' own online stores. I assume (though I could be wrong) that wireless carriers operate corporate brick and mortar stores at significant net cost. And the stories shared in this thread indicate -- at least anecdotally -- that corporate brick and mortar sales do not generally offer superior knowledge nor service.

 

So, I wonder whether Sprint would ever consider closing all of its corporate storefronts and whether that would result in a notable cost savings.

 

AJ

 

T-Mobile does this.

 

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Packages/ValuePackages.aspx?pkgcatid=simonly&line=1

 

sim-only, BYOD plans

 

The 500-minute + 2GB data plan for 44.99 is actually a pretty decent deal. If you live in a wimax area, own an iPhone 4/4s unlocked - you can take the freedompop wimax jacket + the 500 minute no-data t-mobile plan for $35/month.

[Oleyo3D]

Hehe, the kid at the Sprint store today told a customer that LTE stood for "Lightening Thunder Electricity" because it was so fast.

 

I was just there to get my hands on the EVOLTE before I decided if I wanted it (awesome device...just wary about when NV updates will go live in my greater boston area). I had a good chuckle though.

[MacinJosh]

Hehe, the kid at the Sprint store today told a customer that LTE stood for "Lightening Thunder Electricity" because it was so fast.

 

I was just there to get my hands on the EVOLTE before I decided if I wanted it (awesome device...just wary about when NV updates will go live in my greater boston area). I had a good chuckle though.

 

I live in a full WiMax deployment area about half the year, and didn't hesitate one bit to get the Viper 4G LTE. Plus my 2 areas aren't scheduled for LTE this year at all. If you really want the EVO LTE, then you should get it. I want to check it out as soon as I can at my local Sprint store, but from what everyone who got one on here has said, they really love the phone.

[Mofus]

In my experience the people who work in the franchise stores are absolutely clueless; however, the the corporate store I go to has pretty knowledgeable staff. This leads me to believe the franchise stores don't get any of the training the corporate stores do.

 

I think it's really bad PR for Sprint to have company representatives that come off as total morons. The only thing they're good for (franchises stores) is to handle little old ladies that need their flip phones reset...and to sell iPhones. Ouch, did I just say that

[ahecht]

Hehe, the kid at the Sprint store today told a customer that LTE stood for "Lightening Thunder Electricity" because it was so fast.

 

I was just there to get my hands on the EVOLTE before I decided if I wanted it (awesome device...just wary about when NV updates will go live in my greater boston area). I had a good chuckle though.

 

 

If that was the store next to the Burlington Mall, I've had plenty of bad experiences there over the years.Everything from reps trying to insist that my SERO plan didn't exist to the person that kept trying to rip the speakerphone cover off my EVOLTE to get to the battery. Only good experience I had there was with returning accessories.

[WiWavelength]

Hehe, the kid at the Sprint store today told a customer that LTE stood for "Lightening Thunder Electricity" because it was so fast.

 

That kid has watched one too many VZW LTE commercials...

 

 

 

AJ

[jefbal99]

One corp store in the area had bad experience buying my moms phone, the guy knew jackshit, I was in a hurry and she got stuck with a Samsung transform. They didn't even show her how to make or answer calls after I had left. She couldn't even unlock the damn thing. She was a brand new smart phone user (and I told them that). The salesman told them, after I had left, that she should just ask me questions because I knew more than he did.

 

Sent from my CM9 Epic 4g Touch using Forum Runner

[dabhome]

My local store varies. Sometimes they know stuff. Other times they don't. But, at least they admit when they don't know stuff. The last time I went in they recommended I wait and see the Samsung Galaxy S III.

[EggotheKilljoy]

Back when I had my original Evo, I took it in to my local Sprint store. I was using Launcher 7 at the time, and as soon as the guy looked at it, the thought I was rooted and running a custom ROM(which neither were the case). He tried to tell me that I had too many apps downloaded and needed to delete some things, when I had at least 100 MB of open storage. I ended up calling their customer service number, where my problem got fixed then. Back when my old Hero was having problems, I had taken it in 3 or 4 times with no fixes, and then I decided to root and put CM7 on it. Fixed my problem easily.