Store opened at 9am. I called ahead but was told they couldn't discuss stock levels. I wasn't able to escape the office immediately so I arrived as soon as I could at 9.35.
So around 30 people still there purely for the GN 35 minutes after opening. Another 7 or 8 people eventually joined the line behind me.
The store manager was flitting between inside and out, logging the first couple of people in the "outside" line into the sales queue as sales moved through. Wouldn't let on about the stock levels though. Much later he did talk to the people at the back of the line -- assumedly letting them know that they *may* not have stock for them -- but at no point was he willing to give any more info than that, no solid figures.
At 10.50 I finally got logged into the sales queue and allowed inside to browse/wait. About 11am -- after almost 90 minutes of waiting in line -- I reached a sales rep.
Nexus, new contract, please. Rep checked the stock room. Emerged again after a couple of minutes. Talked to the manager. Rep went back into the stock room. I got a bad feeling. Rep came out of the stock room: sorry, we just ran out.
Manager came over to double check the stock screen against his sales queue/log, confirmed what the rep was saying. Both guys apologized. (Though they seemed almost surprised to have run out that soon, which was bizarre considering that's just about all the store had been doing all morning and they were tracking it.) The guys who had been standing in line behind me and were awaiting their turn came over and joined in my disappointment. The other (cute, female) sales rep next to us looked over and gave a kind of adorable frowny/pouty face in sympathy when she overheard, too, which made things marginally less sucky.
To their credit:
So, while I was still irritated to be leaving without the phone and at having wasted an hour and a half standing outside in the cold (and with having to figure out a "plan B"), I didn't leave angry at the store staff. They were as efficient and empathetic and helpful as they could be in the situation. I'm not a current VZW customer so I'm still unimpressed with the whole corporate handling of this mess -- from the lack of communication, to the lack of launch day stock, to the apparent corporate ban on discussing stock levels with customers -- but the actual store staff did a good job of giving me hope that the entire VZW experience may not be the same.
- 20 people in line ahead of me, outside the store
- 2-3 people inside the store. (Already logged into the sales queue by the manager, waiting for their names to be called.)
- 4-5 reps handling sales.
So around 30 people still there purely for the GN 35 minutes after opening. Another 7 or 8 people eventually joined the line behind me.
The store manager was flitting between inside and out, logging the first couple of people in the "outside" line into the sales queue as sales moved through. Wouldn't let on about the stock levels though. Much later he did talk to the people at the back of the line -- assumedly letting them know that they *may* not have stock for them -- but at no point was he willing to give any more info than that, no solid figures.
At 10.50 I finally got logged into the sales queue and allowed inside to browse/wait. About 11am -- after almost 90 minutes of waiting in line -- I reached a sales rep.
Nexus, new contract, please. Rep checked the stock room. Emerged again after a couple of minutes. Talked to the manager. Rep went back into the stock room. I got a bad feeling. Rep came out of the stock room: sorry, we just ran out.
Manager came over to double check the stock screen against his sales queue/log, confirmed what the rep was saying. Both guys apologized. (Though they seemed almost surprised to have run out that soon, which was bizarre considering that's just about all the store had been doing all morning and they were tracking it.) The guys who had been standing in line behind me and were awaiting their turn came over and joined in my disappointment. The other (cute, female) sales rep next to us looked over and gave a kind of adorable frowny/pouty face in sympathy when she overheard, too, which made things marginally less sucky.
To their credit:
- They were very apologetic. (If oddly surprised at having reached the end of the stock so suddenly.)
- They checked stock in the other local stores, but noted that they also looked low and probably had lines waiting so it would be worth calling ahead.
- The rep explained that they couldn't confirm when they'd receive in stock because they don't request shipments, they just receive drop shipments (seemingly at random), so they could potentially have more phones tomorrow or (outside chance) possibly even later today.
- The rep did also take my name and number without prompting, and offer to call and hold one for me if they did get more in stock today/tomorrow.
So, while I was still irritated to be leaving without the phone and at having wasted an hour and a half standing outside in the cold (and with having to figure out a "plan B"), I didn't leave angry at the store staff. They were as efficient and empathetic and helpful as they could be in the situation. I'm not a current VZW customer so I'm still unimpressed with the whole corporate handling of this mess -- from the lack of communication, to the lack of launch day stock, to the apparent corporate ban on discussing stock levels with customers -- but the actual store staff did a good job of giving me hope that the entire VZW experience may not be the same.
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