So I bought an iPhone. I bought it on the 15th from AT&T and I was waiting for them to ship it. It took quite a long time and I know a few friends who got one in the days between then and yesterday by just walking into Apple stores at the right time. I was getting pretty annoyed at AT&T.
So when I got the notification that my iPhone had finally shipped, I was a bit annoyed but overall I was happy. By the end of the day when I got off work AT&T still hadn’t sent me an email or made a phone call telling me my iPhone was ready. So I printed out the shipping information from FedEx (which proved they had it in store) and went down there ready to argue about why they should be willing to sell me my phone (see my previous experiences with AT&T.)
In the end it took me ~50 minutes to get my iPhone, of which at least 40 minutes was spent waiting. When I arrived I was rather happy but after 20 minutes my mood really started to sour. AT&T, in their infinite wisdom, decided I had to complete my transaction with the person I started it with by ordering the phone two weeks ago. This meant that I got to watch not only everyone in front of me in line when I got in the store get served before me, but also 6 or more people who came in after me. Making matters worse I saw at least one other person who came in after me pick up his iPhone. He came in and went through the whole process while I was waiting. He was sent to the head of the line and didn’t wait at all. The only difference between him and me seemed to be the person who was in charge of the line when we walked in.
So I spent the time watching people, as I didn’t have much else to do. Sitting next to me was an elderly lady who I later found out was waiting on someone (probably her daughter) who was talking with AT&T the whole time in the back of the store. She was nice, and quite. She sat there watching people too.
While I was waiting I saw numerous people coming in for iPhones. At least there walked in, found out they’d have to put in an order, and walked out. Sales lost due to supply chain problems.
At least two came in, found out about the ordering mess, and stayed to order iPhones. They wanted one and were willing to wait.
But there were at least three sets of people who came in with children for iPhones. A parent and the kid would come in and ask about it. They’d find out they’d have to wait and some did. But these aren’t 16 year olds, these kids were more like 12. One girl didn’t get one (she was getting a phone THEN so since they didn’t have the iPhones she got something else). It was amazing to watch the father find out he’d have to spend $300+ on an iPhone and he was stilling willing to do it. He did a “are you sure you want to do this, it’s very expensive” but he was going to spend $300+ on a cell phone for a 12 year old. I saw at least two other families do basically the same thing. What kind of parent gives a 12 year old a $300 phone. Why does a 12 year old even need a phone, let alone one with the features of an iPhone? If the kid was 17 it would make much more sense, but at that point you’d think the kid could get a job to afford it.
The other thing I noticed was how poorly many people acted. There were a fair number who like me came in, took their place in the virtual line (it was on a sign-up sheet) and sat down quietly or browsed the store. There was one girl (who looked about 16 or 17) who was there when I walked in who was very well behaved. There was a nurse who walked in (carrying her infant) during my time there who was quiet (her child was too). Various middle aged women and business men behaved well when they entered the store.
Yet there were at least three people who entered the store or dealt with representative while chatting to friends on their phones. One girl walked in talking on her phone and when a representative came up, she immediately said goodbye and ended the call. Yet these three people just continued on talking. I see this all the time at some other stores. I’d hate to be the sales person having to deal with them.
A pair of boys (20 or less) came in talking loudly (and in “hip” poor English). They did quiet down after a while, but they were still quite a bit louder than everyone else in the store.
The other group I noticed was a group that was checking out for the first 20 minutes or so I was there. They were at the register directly in front of where I was sitting, so I saw quite a bit. It was a family of four (with a girl and a boy, both 5-9 or so). The boy was an energetic little boy, who wasn’t controlled terribly well. He, at various points, jumped on either of his parents, mock kicked his sister, climbed around the store displays in the front, and sat on a chair rocking it forward and back so it would hit the wall over and over in a loud thump. He also didn’t mind once or twice when they were walking from one area of the store to another and the parents needed them to follow.
The boy was “disciplined” by his father a few times. This mostly consisted of the father saying “(name) stop it.” in a menacing tone two or three times until the kid stopped. When trying to get the boy to move over to the cash register (from the other side of the store where they were) the child wasn’t minding and has basically pushed by the back of the neck. The fact that the father thought that this (which would be strangling if he had one hand on the front of the neck) was necessary (this was the start of the kids behavior that I saw) says quite a bit about how the kid behaves. He (the child) was also wearing a while wife-beater and shorts. I don’t know why they let him dress like that.
I observed a mother and her son (17 or so) walk into the store and reserve their place in line. They left the store to go somewhere nearby while waiting their turn. When they returned and walked back in the door she was in the middle of (quietly) yelling at the kid. He had apparently just been discovered lying about something rather important to her, although I’m not sure what. Yet after doing this (and since she continued to rebuke him in public somewhat quietly, I assume it must have been serious) they stayed and he still got his phone (or whatever they were there for).
The AT&T staff didn’t entirely know what they were doing. One woman (who seemed somewhat important) was often walking around the store moving merchandise or getting things from the back. There were at least 2 or 3 people in charge of the line who would switch off at random intervals or when they discovered that whoever was supposed to be watching the line had walked off to do something else. The other sales reps were all busy the entire time I was there with customers. They could have easily used some help from the people not doing anything useful but that never happened.
Amazing how poorly behaved some people are in public, and how bad AT&T is at handling the traffic in their store. What I saw yesterday perfectly matched what I saw 3-4 days ago (when I went to ask them when my phone would come in and had to wait 20+ minutes) and most of two weeks ago (when I first ordered my phone).
