Comments on: Zeus Jones iPhone field trip.

By: Nicklese

Nicklese — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:29:00 +0000

i've been with at&t wireless since '96. i have two months to go before my next upgrade. i have been holding out for the 3g iphone, and when i tried to cash in the loyalty chip to have the two month wait waived, an at&t rep asked me — after telling me NO — 'given all the carrier options available, why have i stayed with them so long'? dumbfounded, i had to hang up and gather my senses.

By: Pope

Pope — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:05:00 +0000

wow. well, since day one, i have been counting down the days till AT&T’s exclusive partnership with Apple expires…

but yeah, this post speaks to a surprisingly universal truth in corporate america – that common sense isn’t very common.

By: Katie Konrath

Katie Konrath — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:33:00 +0000

It always amazes me when a company acts like they don’t want to take our money.

To add to your message to AT&T, there’s no point in spending money on promoting a hot product if you don’t have the capacity (or will) to handle the demand. There’s nothing worse then getting someone all excited about a product and ready to hand over the money… only to send them home empty-handed.

By: David Esrati

David Esrati — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:56:00 +0000

Adrian-
I spent an entire day in my effort to get a new iPhone (since my old one went swimming 2 days before the keynote and hasn't been usable).
After 3.5 hrs in line at ATT- the person in front of me got the last iPhone. They told me I could order one- but it would come in 3-7 days (however, they would still get phones every day on a first come first served basis).
After paying for a phone I didn't have- I then called the Apple store in Cincy- where I had to be for a clients grand opening- another 3.5 half hour wait- so in line, I called ATT to double check that I would still be able to buy a phone. They tried to tell me they would charge me a 10% restocking fee on the phone I didn't have. I asked for a supervisor- got that squared away, only to get into the store- and find out my number wasn't in the system. We called ATT- got it back, and not only did Apple sell me the black 16gb I wanted- but gave me a warranty replacement on my old iPhone! That's customer service.
I still think Apple's 2x the speed, half the price is false advertising and they shouldn't go down without a spanking too- but, at least they tried to keep people in line informed.
The reality is- the insistence on physically coming into the store was a major IDIOTIC move, as well as limits on phones for corporate customers like you ran into.
Just think if Apple hadn't done an exclusive with ATT- I'd still be with Sprint- and much happier.
If Steve Jobs wants to apologize to the world for this screw up- he should offer OSX for Windows machines at $249, wipe out Vista- and the would would be a much better place (and Crispin would finally have an unsolvable marketing dilemma)
Keep plugging for a new iPhone- the Search and the new jack make it all worthwhile.

By: Gavin Heaton

Gavin Heaton — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:39:00 +0000

This seems to be a worldwide problem. Despite enabling the evolution of new marketing, telcos the world over have been the slowest to understand the changes in the market (and in individual and corporate behaviour) that they have helped facilitate.

Perhaps it is time for some crowdsourcing to hit the telco/infrastructure industry. Now, that would be fascinating.

By: Helen Phin

Helen Phin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:29:00 +0000

so true, that. AT&T majorly sucks – I’ve been a customer for 5 years and its just gotten worse and worse. I was very surprised when Apple chose them as the exclusive partner – such a different culture when it comes to customer service.