AT&T pushing old iPhone over Aria

[whitenack]

Went into AT&T store today, checking out the size of the Aria, which was on display. Right next to the Aria was the iPhone 3GS. A salesperson siddled up next to me and said "What about the iPhone?" I told her I wasn't interested in an iPhone. I said it very plainly and confidently, as if to communicate to her that I was not going to be persuaded. She didn't take the hint. She said, "You can get the iPhone for cheaper than the Aria." I didn't say anything, just shook my head and kept looking at the Aria. Still didn't take the hint..."The Aria requires the same data plan as the iPhone." By this time, I must have shot her a "Leave me alone" look, because that was the end of the conversation and I didn't hear from her again.

 

[quetzalcoatl]

What do you expect. Which is also why I say the Aria should be free on contract.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Unfortunately it's the way of life in AT&T dealers that carry the Iphone. Don't blame it on the individual, the direction probably came from higher up (even higher than the store level). Dealers that don't carry the Iphone (there are a TON) love the Aria because it gives them something to sell against the Iphone (I know that sounds weird lol). It's a sad reality that AT&T doesn't let every authorized retailer carry the Iphone.

 

[GQ50]

I experienced that Friday. Went in there just to size it up and the Aria was next to an 8gig 3GS w/IOS 4 for $99.

 

[whitenack]

What do you expect. Which is also why I say the Aria should be free on contract.

I started to tell her that I could get it free through Wirefly.com, but didn't want to give her any other reason to continue the conversation.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Wow I just said that it's a sad reality that every AT&T retailer doesn't carry the Iphone. LOL I need to stop posting when I'm halfway asleep. What I should've said was

"it's awesome that every AT&T retailer carries the Aria (or should) so that you can go to the ones without the Iphone and actually get the phone you want."

 

[waltah#AC]

I know that in my store we don't actually push the iPhone over other devices. The issue is that most people come in and gravitate to the iPhone and end up buying one. They don't even know why, but they have to have it. I think that reps can get conditioned and assume after a while that the iPhone is going to end up in your bag.
I've actually persuaded people coming in to look at iPhone to buy the Aria and Pre Plus. They just needed some hands on time with the devices and then they make up their own mind.

 

[wyountrx]

I think whitenack accurately potrayed my experience when I picked up my Aria. There were 3 or 4 people standing around the iPhone display with salespeople helping them, but when the kid walked up to deliver the sales pitch he was actually excited someone wanted to talk about the Aria with him. He actually dropped any scripted BS and just started talking to me about it.
Kirk

 

[Buzwa]

when the kid walked up to deliver the sales pitch he was actually excited someone wanted to talk about the Aria with him. He actually dropped any scripted BS and just started talking to me about it.

I actually had a similar experience to this. The sales rep was so excited that i mentioned Android, he actually started pushing me to a Nexus One (which they obviously don't even sell). He even whipped out his personal N1 to let me check it out. I ended up with the Aria though.

 

[jchapman01]

Unfortunately it's the way of life in AT&T dealers that carry the Iphone. Don't blame it on the individual, the direction probably came from higher up (even higher than the store level). Dealers that don't carry the Iphone (there are a TON) love the Aria because it gives them something to sell against the Iphone (I know that sounds weird lol). It's a sad reality that AT&T doesn't let every authorized retailer carry the Iphone.

I work at a dealer that carries the iphone in the DFW area. My store is actually the #1 store in our company (i'm sure alot of sales reps say that, but in our case its actually true). We all HATE the iphone. If you've ever been to my store you won't even see a display iphone out (we keep it in the back because our view is if you come in asking about it, you've probably already seen it. there's no reason to see it again.)

We all love the Aria and actually do a very good job at selling against the iPhone, and it helps that none of us carry it. Well, except our rookie and we make him keep it in his pocket or in the back. Most of the sales people at our store are pretty smart about how to sell around it and i'll be honest we we've only had 1 return since we've started selling it. I don't personally own the Aria (I have the Palm Pre Plus) but I would have bought it if I didn't know the Captivate is coming out.

For now, it's Aria all day long at our store. And if all dealers have the same crappy iphone commission arrangement as ours do, they're iTarded for not atleast trying to sell against it.

 

[mtmjr90]

I just hate that every time I go to an AT&T store (I've tried several), the salespeople seem to have no idea what to do with Android devices. I really want to see if the small size is manageable, especially in regards to typing. But the thing is I want to try with ShapeWriter instead of the stock keyboard...which I'd have to download from the market. Not a single AT&T store has a Google account to sign into the phone and thus I cannot download ANY apps to test. (Granted, I have an Evo and I'm just checking out the Aria to perhaps suggest to my AT&T-cursed friends, but they don't know that.)

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I work at a dealer that carries the iphone in the DFW area. My store is actually the #1 store in our company (i'm sure alot of sales reps say that, but in our case its actually true). We all HATE the iphone. If you've ever been to my store you won't even see a display iphone out (we keep it in the back because our view is if you come in asking about it, you've probably already seen it. there's no reason to see it again.)

We all love the Aria and actually do a very good job at selling against the iPhone, and it helps that none of us carry it. Well, except our rookie and we make him keep it in his pocket or in the back. Most of the sales people at our store are pretty smart about how to sell around it and i'll be honest we we've only had 1 return since we've started selling it. I don't personally own the Aria (I have the Palm Pre Plus) but I would have bought it if I didn't know the Captivate is coming out.

For now, it's Aria all day long at our store. And if all dealers have the same crappy iphone commission arrangement as ours do, they're iTarded for not atleast trying to sell against it.

I wish all dealers were like you. Are you corporate or authorized? I think that makes a big difference with how you're trained.

 

[ravyn80]

i work for an authorized retailer and we don't carry the iPhone...yet... Both of us that work the store regularly carry the Aria and our relief carries an N1.
We've noticed though that people that want an iPhone only want an iPhone because their friends have it and it's the cool thing to have. You can show them the Aria and tell 'em about the fact that you can pretty much do everything on it that you can an iPhone, and they don't care, it's not the cool thing to have. Oh well...

Quick story, I went into a corp store not too long ago to see if they had anything for the Aria that we didn't have yet. They didn't have any kinda display for it and it was hidden in a corner that wasn't really noticeable. Not a single sales rep (there were probably ten and no one was in there) asked if I needed anything until I stepped up to the iPhone display. I was in there for 10 minutes. I called their manager and talked to him.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

i work for an authorized retailer and we don't carry the iPhone...yet... Both of us that work the store regularly carry the Aria and our relief carries an N1.
We've noticed though that people that want an iPhone only want an iPhone because their friends have it and it's the cool thing to have. You can show them the Aria and tell 'em about the fact that you can pretty much do everything on it that you can an iPhone, and they don't care, it's not the cool thing to have. Oh well...

Quick story, I went into a corp store not too long ago to see if they had anything for the Aria that we didn't have yet. They didn't have any kinda display for it and it was hidden in a corner that wasn't really noticeable. Not a single sales rep (there were probably ten and no one was in there) asked if I needed anything until I stepped up to the iPhone display. I was in there for 10 minutes. I called their manager and talked to him.

What did the manager say?

 

[ravyn80]

Just that he'd talk to his employees. He did seem pretty upset....but I don't know what happened. Luckily I can take care of everything here in my store myself.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I wonder if he was just pretending to be upset. I'm sure he cares about customer service, but maybe not so much about selling the Aria or anything to do with it.

 

[ravyn80]

I wonder if he was just pretending to be upset. I'm sure he cares about customer service, but maybe not so much about selling the Aria or anything to do with it.

I told him that customer service at his store over all was horrible. I didn't have a single person say a word to me for around 5 minutes UNTIL I looked at the iPhone.

Heck, I could've been in there interested in a goPhone and they probably still woldn't helpe me.

I've been pushing the mess out of the Aria mainly because we don't have iPhones for one, and two, I think the Aria (and soon Captivate) are better phones overall.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I told him that customer service at his store over all was horrible. I didn't have a single person say a word to me for around 5 minutes UNTIL I looked at the iPhone.

Heck, I could've been in there interested in a goPhone and they probably still woldn't helpe me.

I've been pushing the mess out of the Aria mainly because we don't have iPhones for one, and two, I think the Aria (and soon Captivate) are better phones overall.

I know many dealers that are in the same boat as you.

 

[jchapman01]

I wish all dealers were like you. Are you corporate or authorized? I think that makes a big difference with how you're trained.

We are definitely 'Authorized'. We are trained exceptionally well, infact some of our training is alongside corporate employees. Strictly as a sales person I wouldn't have so much of a problem selling the iphone if we made more than 3 dollars commission on it. But as a gadget lover, I would never own one. I love WebOS in my Palm Pre and I love Android's ability to be hacked and rooted as well as all that it allows you to do. I've found that if you are informed about your product it's actually easier than you would think to convince the iBlind that they actually need something else.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

We are definitely 'Authorized'. We are trained exceptionally well, infact some of our training is alongside corporate employees. Strictly as a sales person I wouldn't have so much of a problem selling the iphone if we made more than 3 dollars commission on it. But as a gadget lover, I would never own one. I love WebOS in my Palm Pre and I love Android's ability to be hacked and rooted as well as all that it allows you to do. I've found that if you are informed about your product it's actually easier than you would think to convince the iBlind that they actually need something else.

i agree. i've converted many "i want an iphone because it's an iphone" to android devices. the aria really made that a lot easier (because let's be honest the backflip is a tough sell for people that want iphones.)