AT&T

I have very little need to go to the store, but when I do, this is the one I visit. Every time I’ve gone in, there’s never a wait. I also usually go in the morning before things pick up. You have to have your timing right, that’s what it boils down to. The two guys that helped me out were fantastic and polite, fixed my problems, and on both occasions I was out of there in less than 20 minutes.

Really slow service. The service representatives are nice. But you have to wait forever to be helped. Also a worker with the first name starting with J and ending with N was sick and kept wiping his nose with the same tiny tissue. Then he would ask for our license and phone without sanitizing first. So gross! I was too shy to ask him to use the sanitizer sitting right in front of us. I was also sick a few days later but won’t completely blame him since I’m not sure.
Anyway much faster to use online services or call for assistance. If you have time to waste, go to the store.

Bottom line: it’s now like a used car dealer. Go to the Apple store for iPhones. Stay away from this place. I have been a very long-​time customer of AT&T, and have purchased several phones and accessories through this store. My experience this week was extremely disappointing. It really reminded me of a used car lot from the 1980s. Very icky. Here’s the story:
My wife is due for an upgrade on her iPhone. It’s cracked and old. Perfect timing for a Christmas gift. I called yesterday to ask if they have plenty of iPhone 5s in stock. I was told a definitive yes, so I headed in. I was asked by a salesperson whether I wanted to upgrade my cell plan and switch to a different upgrade plan (pay monthly vs. traditional 2 year deal). I declined both. He then asked what model I wanted. I told him a 5s 32mg black. He headed in the back, and came back a couple minutes later and told me they didn’t have any in stock and should get another shipment tomorrow. What?! I called first. Very suspicious. Ok, then how about a white one. He seemed to get a little uneasy… said he’s unsure they had any (would have to check… what!?), and assured me that I can get exactly the one my wife wanted the next day. Ok… I kept calm and left.
I returned today. Another salesperson asked me the same basic info. I told her the same thing and told her I was there yesterday. Amazingly, it was the same story. «Sorry we don’t have any of that model.» What?! I asked to see a manager and told him I was calling BS. He stuck to the story… we didn’t get in as many as we thought, maybe we’ll get more in later today, If I had one I’d sell it to you, etc. All BS. I asked him to show me what he did have… he did himself proud by bringing a 64mg gold one. I could of course compromise on the color, but the larger model would be much more dough. I handed it back to him and said I’m done with the place.
The game there became very clear to me – they do have limited inventory, which I understand. They must make a little dough selling the units, but they make real dough by selling different calling plans or an upgrade plan that locks you in to monthly payments and assures them you renew with their devices later. They tell you by phone that they have inventory to get you on the lot. If you’re not willing to buy their rust-​proofing, then you’re not such a profitable use of that limited unit in inventory, so you’re encouraged to move along. Maybe more inventory later, etc. They know most will likely go to another store. Those young men and women in the store just lied to me. Awful. Disgraceful. Time to think about other options entirely.

We arrived at the store at 8.45pm on a week day (store closes at 9pm). We had a tough problem about a phone, caused by AT&T. We were very lucky to get this consultant, who was patient enough to work with us and the AT&T customer service to resolve our issue. The important thing to mention here is that we had originally bought the phone from an Apple store and bought nothing from this store. By the time we were done, it was 9.35pm. We couldn’t thank him enough. That was customer service at the best. The only reason I am not giving the store 5 stars is due to the fact that the AT&T customer service, before we went to the store, was not great.