https://www.zdnet.com/article/at-t-says-it-has-big-problems-a-t-mobile-salesman-showed-me-how-big/
So selling off/closing all the company owned retail might not have been the smartest idea maybe?
8 replies (most recent on top)
Following the Sprint PCS model of success. Genius!
I mean, the author gets on the wait list at ATT, goes to a competitor to look at a phone that he knows he doesn't want because "iMessage works better because diversity breaks things". Then he goes back to ATT to complete his purchase of a new iPhone.
The author doesn't like change, and they didn't end up going with the friendlier sales rep. If anything they showed why ATT will stay in business. People are so afraid of change that they will put up with unbelievable amounts of poor treatment.
you keep thinking that genius. att is well grounded and will be successful for many years to come.
At one time the local (now outsourced) test center had 15 minutes for each trouble call. If the call went beyond that they would “discontinue” the call to make numbers.
That's not really a problem. He went into TMobile, kept the sales rep busy for nearly 30 minutes and didn't buy anything because "hur dur muh iPhone!" and the rep didn't tell him about wifi calling as a workaround for mediocre coverage at home.
ATT told him to wait, implying that their time is worth something. Probably worth enough that they will show him how to turn on iPhone wifi calling so he can work from home with mediocre coverage. I'd rather go to a store that helps me instead of chatting me up to waste my time.
AT&T needs to just become a distributor. This way they don’t have to focus on retail and staff it. Just focus on building pipes in the ground and wireless network. Simple telco model that will make money. This model will also help reduce headcount which will help the bottom line.
They should have never done away with the SSR position for one! They pay all this money on surveys for COR reps to give there input but yet it hasnt produced one positive thing! Go back to the right way of businesw
At&t has become so metrics driven that in the end, the metrics are the final product that the reps are focused on producing. The almighty spreadsheet. Reps required to sell other products and services when the sole reason the customer is in the phone store is well, to buy a phone. Constant pressure on reps. More, more, MORE! As a technician I see this in the field as well. You better damn well make your numbers (or fudge them) to keep management off your case. And if you satisfy your customers and happen to fix a few things right the first time, well that is a bonus. It is endemic to this entire company. In some environments (call center) you have reps that never really fix anything. They focus entirely on their numbers and punt the call to another group if fixing something will take "too long" and hurt their metrics. Yet they win praise from management all the while the stubborn ones with a view to really resolving issues and fixing stuff are called out by management for poor performance numbers. This is the worst company as far as customer service that I have ever worked for.