When I used to work in retail, we had a rule: ”If you don’t know the answer, say so“.
The reason was that some of the guys would answer some simple questions with the weirdest of things. Sometimes something simple like “yeah, it’s got PiP, so it must have 2 component video inputs”. You would think harmless, but a second or 2 to actually check the TV would save the customer getting upset when they had to bring it back. I always felt that a customer would respect you more if you were honest about your ignorance and then you both would go along the knowledge adventure together. That shared experience would help tie the customer service experience together. Rather than irritate the customer.
Anyways, that was meant as a segue into this article I’ve stumbled across on Phandroid.
Wacky Things Heard In A Carrier Store: Apple Is Clearly The Better Phone Maker, SG3 Not Guaranteed Support After Lawsuit, and More
Customer: “Hi, I’d like to look at the Galaxy S3.” Employee answers with, “Why?” in a patronizing tone.
AT&T employee: “Android is less secure than iPhones because my 14 year old nephew can program Android apps. Apple is pickier about who can make apps.”
AT&T employee: “Well, Apple won the lawsuit, so clearly it’s the better phone maker.”
AT&T employee: “Because [the Galaxy S3] violates Apple’s patents, we can’t guarantee we can support this phone after you buy it.”
Wow… read through it.
We’ve all seen those videos where the customer asks stupidly for an iPhone…
But the reverse scenario can be just as true … where the retailers, in the above case, a carrier, doesn’t really know the full story and makes it up; or is trying to put their own bias into educating their customers.
Either way, the caveat here is “don’t believe everything you’ve heard”.
I’m hoping I don’t have to explain on the many levels how they were wrong there.
What dumb things have you ever heard in your travels? My favourite thus far has been “this is the iPhone, it’s the one you can ‘talk to’“.
In fact, today, Bell even posted the 5 reasons you should buy the new iPhone 5. Some of them are pretty funny, if not vague.
- IT HAS LTE
- IT HAS A LARGER SCREEN
- IT HAS WIFI
- IT SUPPORTS HD VOICE
- IT’S BEAUTIFUL AND REMARKABLE AND YOU SHOULD GET ONE
I’m just going to leave those there for you to determine which is a feature and … which (*ahem* all of them) aren’t.