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  1. #1
    james g. keegan jr.
    Guest
    about a week ago, i decided to visit the cingular/at&t store on
    central avenue in albany, ny.

    my verizon commitment is up and i wanted to see what cingular/at&t
    could offer even though my colleagues have consistently labeled
    cingular the worst of the worst.

    i entered the store at 11:05am. there were 4-sales / customer service
    kiosks and a welcome area with a sign up for service sheet.

    as there were 4 sales reps and only 2 customers being serviced, i
    signed the sheet certain i'd soon be speaking with a rep.

    how wrong i was.

    the customers being served when i entered left the store. now there
    were 4 sakes reps, a person who might have been a manager, a greeter
    and me. still nothing.

    at 11:22AM, i advised the greeter that i was leaving since no one has
    waited on me and i was a potential customer. i was imagining the
    horror of being under contract to such fools.

    no wonder cingular/at&t is so badly thought of.

    --
    get real. like jesus would ever own a gun or vote republican.



    See More: experience in a cingular/at&t company store




  2. #2
    Nick Danger
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    It's pretty common, in any setting, for a queueing or sign-in-and-wait
    system to fall apart when there is no one waiting and there are available
    customer service people to wait on anyone who walks in. They assume that if
    you don't go straight to one of those people, then you just want to be left
    alone. If I had been there, I would have considered it a relatively pleasant
    shopping experience - no pushy salesdroids hovering over me. This reminds me
    of the oft-repeated sitcom scene where someone walks into an empty shop,
    takes a ticket - number 123 - from the dispenser, and then stands there all
    alone while the clerk calls out "Number 79 ... Number 80 ... Number 81 ..."
    etc.





  3. #3
    Bob Walker
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store


    "Nick Danger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > It's pretty common, in any setting, for a queueing or sign-in-and-wait
    > system to fall apart when there is no one waiting and there are available
    > customer service people to wait on anyone who walks in. They assume that
    > if you don't go straight to one of those people, then you just want to be
    > left alone. If I had been there, I would have considered it a relatively
    > pleasant shopping experience - no pushy salesdroids hovering over me. This
    > reminds me of the oft-repeated sitcom scene where someone walks into an
    > empty shop, takes a ticket - number 123 - from the dispenser, and then
    > stands there all alone while the clerk calls out "Number 79 ... Number 80
    > ... Number 81 ..." etc.
    >


    I agree. Take the chip off your shoulder, walk up to someone and start the
    conversation. "Hi, here's my situation.........."





  4. #4
    Chuck
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    Cheer up, it might have gone another way. Think of car dealers.
    Darken the doorstep, and a sales person is all over you.

    "james g. keegan jr." <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > about a week ago, i decided to visit the cingular/at&t store on
    > central avenue in albany, ny.
    >
    > my verizon commitment is up and i wanted to see what cingular/at&t
    > could offer even though my colleagues have consistently labeled
    > cingular the worst of the worst.
    >
    > i entered the store at 11:05am. there were 4-sales / customer service
    > kiosks and a welcome area with a sign up for service sheet.
    >
    > as there were 4 sales reps and only 2 customers being serviced, i
    > signed the sheet certain i'd soon be speaking with a rep.
    >
    > how wrong i was.
    >
    > the customers being served when i entered left the store. now there
    > were 4 sakes reps, a person who might have been a manager, a greeter
    > and me. still nothing.
    >
    > at 11:22AM, i advised the greeter that i was leaving since no one has
    > waited on me and i was a potential customer. i was imagining the
    > horror of being under contract to such fools.
    >
    > no wonder cingular/at&t is so badly thought of.
    >
    > --
    > get real. like jesus would ever own a gun or vote republican.






  5. #5
    XS11E
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    "james g. keegan jr." <[email protected]> wrote:

    > about a week ago, i decided to visit the cingular/at&t store on
    > central avenue in albany, ny.
    > no wonder cingular/at&t is so badly thought of.


    It's entirely the personnel that make or break a store. Most direct
    stores for Cingular and others have minimum wage employees and they
    really don't care if you're happy or not.

    OTOH.... I've posted this before but it's worth repeating:

    Interesting story about employees, my sister asked me to go with her to
    get a new phone, she was eligible for a free upgrade from her carrier
    (NOT Verizon). We went to the place where she'd bought her phone and
    service 2 years before and found a young man who REALLY knew about
    carriers, plans, phones, etc. He actually listened to her as to what
    she needed, realized she didn't know much about phones and took the
    time to go over all the features of her new phone, explained and
    demonstrated how everything worked and what features she would want and
    wouldn't want. After getting the phone home, more questions came up,
    she called and was told to bring the phone back and he went over
    everything again!

    It was an unusual experience to find someone who knew his stuff and
    was willing to take whatever time needed to make sure the customer was
    happy!

    And what store was this? Radio Shack, believe it or not! Why was the
    service so much better than you encountered with a Cingular store?
    Because Radio Shack pays their employees commission. It pays an
    employee to know his stuff and take the time to be sure the customer is
    satisfied.




    --
    XS11E, Killing all posts from Google Groups
    The Usenet Improvement Project: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html



  6. #6
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    "Nick Danger" <[email protected]> wrote in
    news:[email protected]:

    > This reminds me
    > of the oft-repeated sitcom scene where someone walks into an empty
    > shop, takes a ticket - number 123 - from the dispenser, and then
    > stands there all alone while the clerk calls out "Number 79 ... Number
    > 80 ... Number 81 ..." etc.
    >


    Candid Camera did a great segment on this. They had an empty bake shop
    with the take-a-ticket machine near the door. The guy takes the ticket.
    It reads 92. The sign up over the counter reads 24. The girl calls out
    for number 24, even though he's the only one in the shop. After a 2
    minute pause for 24 to respond, she clicks the numbers up to 25 and
    repeats the call for 25, 26, 27, 28. Somewhere around 40, ticket holder
    92 is now screaming at her obvious stupidity, throws the ticket at her
    and runs out the door before Allen Funt can catch him. They interview
    him on the sidewalk to the laughs of all...(c; Great stuff on CC...

    Larry
    --
    God I miss great television.....





  7. #7
    Larry
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    "Chuck" <[email protected]> wrote in news:zFDdi.124173$vE1.19601
    @newsfe24.lga:

    > Cheer up, it might have gone another way. Think of car dealers.
    > Darken the doorstep, and a sales person is all over you.
    >
    >


    Take a test drive. Drive to your destination.

    "I don't think I like this car or your attitude much. I'll get out here."

    Put it in Park and just walk away....(c;

    Larry
    --
    http://www.spp.gov/
    The end of the USA and its Constitution....RIP




  8. #8
    Kurt
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    In article <[email protected]>,
    "Bob Walker" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > "Nick Danger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > It's pretty common, in any setting, for a queueing or sign-in-and-wait
    > > system to fall apart when there is no one waiting and there are available
    > > customer service people to wait on anyone who walks in. They assume that
    > > if you don't go straight to one of those people, then you just want to be
    > > left alone. If I had been there, I would have considered it a relatively
    > > pleasant shopping experience - no pushy salesdroids hovering over me. This
    > > reminds me of the oft-repeated sitcom scene where someone walks into an
    > > empty shop, takes a ticket - number 123 - from the dispenser, and then
    > > stands there all alone while the clerk calls out "Number 79 ... Number 80
    > > ... Number 81 ..." etc.
    > >

    >
    > I agree. Take the chip off your shoulder, walk up to someone and start the
    > conversation. "Hi, here's my situation.........."


    Exactly. "The barking dog gets the biscuit."

    --
    To reply by email, remove the word "space"



  9. #9
    Diamond Dave
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:26:07 -0400, "james g. keegan jr."
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    >at 11:22AM, i advised the greeter that i was leaving since no one has
    >waited on me and i was a potential customer. i was imagining the
    >horror of being under contract to such fools.
    >
    >no wonder cingular/at&t is so badly thought of.


    The difference between night and day. My wife used to be a Stinkular
    customer. Sat in the waiting room for over an hour to get waited on.

    Verizon, on the other hand, usually got to us within 5 minutes.

    Glad I switched over 5 years ago.. never looked back. Got the wife to
    switch over to Verizon last year (she was on Stinkular before we got
    married).

    Dave




  10. #10
    Jeffrey Kaplan
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    It is alleged that james g. keegan jr. claimed:

    > i entered the store at 11:05am. there were 4-sales / customer service
    > kiosks and a welcome area with a sign up for service sheet.
    >
    > as there were 4 sales reps and only 2 customers being serviced, i
    > signed the sheet certain i'd soon be speaking with a rep.
    >
    > how wrong i was.
    >
    > the customers being served when i entered left the store. now there
    > were 4 sakes reps, a person who might have been a manager, a greeter
    > and me. still nothing.


    I had a similar setup to a visit to a Cingular store about two weeks
    ago. My Cingular contract expired the day before, so I went into a
    corporate owned store to ask them what they can do for me to entice me
    to stay with Cingular/AT&T rather than take my newish and unlocked
    phone over to T-Mobile.

    There were three or four service reps behind the counters, and two or
    three customers being helped. I noticed the sign-in book by the front
    door, so I signed in. Then I noticed that the last person to do so was
    several hours earlier. So I looked at the CSRs again and saw one with
    no customer.

    So guess what I did...

    What I did NOT do was stand there like an idiot. I walked up to the
    counter and posed my question to her.

    --
    Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
    The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

    If I Am Ever the Sidekick... 15. If the Hero does something that hurts
    my feelings, I shall presume that it was an honest mistake. I will not
    go wandering off by myself in a fit of self-pity, only to be captured
    by the Evil Overlord.



  11. #11
    tscottme
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    If they can't read your mind they probably can't provide reliable phone
    service anyway.

    --

    Scott





  12. #12
    james g. keegan jr.
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    In article <[email protected]>,
    "tscottme" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > If they can't read your mind they probably can't provide reliable phone
    > service anyway.


    i thought this was a typical cingular/att apologist response to
    follow-up on.

    the store had a sign up sheet and the greeter advised people that the
    sales clerks would call their name when it was their turn.

    so, when no names from the list are called, no one is serviced: not
    current customers, not potential new customers.

    it is clear that the manager on duty at that time should be
    terminated; perhaps some of the sales reps too.

    current employees like those in the central ave., albany, ny store
    are a big part of the reason cingular/att customer service is so
    widely, and fairly disparaged.

    --
    get real. like jesus would ever own a gun or vote republican.



  13. #13
    el KaBong
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store


    "XS11E" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > "james g. keegan jr." <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > It was an unusual experience to find someone who knew his stuff and
    > was willing to take whatever time needed to make sure the customer was
    > happy!
    >
    > And what store was this? Radio Shack, believe it or not!


    I had the same experience at Sam's Club. I later found out their phone
    kiosk spaces are leased by Radio Shack.




  14. #14
    Jeffrey Kaplan
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    It is alleged that james g. keegan jr. claimed:

    > current employees like those in the central ave., albany, ny store
    > are a big part of the reason cingular/att customer service is so
    > widely, and fairly disparaged.


    I am no one's apologist. I started with Cellular One some time ago,
    when the StarTac was the top of the line phone. I switched to
    BellAtlantic Mobile because I needed to tether a cellphone to my
    laptop's cellular modem and TDMA was no good for that. BAM became VZW,
    and I stayed with them because the service worked. Then, eventually, I
    moved somewhere that happened to be in a signal shadow, neither VZW nor
    Sprint would work but there was a line-of-sight to a GSM tower used by
    both Cingular and T-Mobile. Cingular had the handset I wanted.
    Cingular is now AT&T, and I just renewed my contract. Because the
    service works.

    I've had both good and bad CSR experiences with every provider I've
    used. They're human, not robots, and some humans are just rude selfish
    jerks and some are very nice people. But on average, I've found that
    the CSRs at the stores and/or kiosks, the ones you talk to
    face-to-face, have been courteous and professional regardless of which
    carrier they work for (except for the Sprint reseller mall kiosks,
    where they accost almost everyone asking them what phone they have...).
    Every encounter I've had that I can recall, the clerk has been able to
    answer all of my questions about service coverage, options and rates. I
    do not expect them to know the specific capabilities of all of the
    actual phones, especially since I use a Treo which is typically outside
    of their normal training. When I was still with Verizon, I was using a
    Kyocera 7135, also a PalmOS smartphone.

    The only times when I've had an actual bad experience with a CSR from
    either cellular carrier I've used was over the phone, and both are
    equally guilty. The trick I've learned is to know what types of
    questions can be answered by the store clerk, which by the phone rep,
    and which by 2nd tier or the "data group" and just go straight there.

    As for your complaint about being ignored in the store, I still say
    it's your own fault. In your original post, you made no mention of a
    greeter. When did that person show up? I've only seen greeters in VZW
    stores, nowhere else. Then again, I don't live in NYC. But if, as you
    said, there were more CSRs at the counters than customers in the store,
    just go up to one, say "hi", and explain your situation.

    --
    Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
    The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

    Tips for the Innocent Bystander: 20. Never purposely investigate the
    Hero in order to learn his true identity. Success will get you
    kidnapped by the Evil Overlord.



  15. #15
    james g. keegan jr.
    Guest

    Re: experience in a cingular/at&t company store

    In article <[email protected]>,
    Jeffrey Kaplan <[email protected]> wrote:

    > It is alleged that james g. keegan jr. claimed:
    >
    > > current employees like those in the central ave., albany, ny store
    > > are a big part of the reason cingular/att customer service is so
    > > widely, and fairly disparaged.

    >
    > I am no one's apologist.


    sure you are

    > As for your complaint about being ignored in the store, I still say
    > it's your own fault.


    of course you do, even with more direct information that it wasn't.

    > In your original post, you made no mention of a
    > greeter.



    but i did say "i entered the store at 11:05am. there were 4-sales /
    customer service kiosks and a welcome area with a sign up for service
    sheet." i suppose i could have been more clear bu explaining that a
    human said to sign up and wait to be called, but even without that,
    the intent was obvious.

    people entering the store were to sign up and wait to be called.

    > When did that person show up?



    see how argumentative you are?

    any reasonable manager would have been ashamed by the people in that
    store that day.

    any cingular/att person would have also been humiliated by them.

    except, perhaps, those few like you who are " a big part of the
    reason cingular/att customer service is so widely, and fairly
    disparaged."

    --
    get real. like jesus would ever own a gun or vote republican.



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