AT&T denies accusations that it pushed its retail outlets to sell iPhones alternatives

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  • Reply 21 of 62
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mrbigrobot View Post


    It's very common for sales people in the stores and telesales to get better incentives to sell what the manufacturers want you to sell.


     


    For example, they get commissions sheets that pay more for Windows/Android than Apple. There are also additional spiffs like extra $ for a certain number of Android/Windows phones, free trips, etc.  I consulted with Rogers Wireless telesales and they make more $ selling non-Apple or if they have too much of a product, there would be a promotion for the reps to push that product to customers. 


     


    I hear it all the time when the customers would say, "No, I want an iPhone 4S..."  Rep: But this HTC is quad core, HD, dropbox, makes coffee, etc...  Customer: "No, I want an iphone 4s - are you going to sell me the iPhone or not?".



    I've no doubt that a lot of people say it's so. Surely someone must have a link to some fairly recent page somewhere that has the commission schedules or copy of a carrier memo or something better than they heard it from somewhere or "that's the way it was when I sold phones back in the day".


     


    Further than that, does Best Buy or Radio Shack make more from Verizon or Sprint or whatever carrier they push you to if the customer gets a phone other than an iPhone, or is the commission to the company the same no matter what smartphone the customer contracts with, dependent on the contract services themselves? I truly would like to know what the facts are and I'm confident someone here has them. We have a wide range of members.

  • Reply 22 of 62
    2 can play that game. Apple should "steer customers away" from AT&T when selling the iPhone through their own stores.
  • Reply 23 of 62
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member


    Trust me there is no directive that comes out and tells store manager or employee not to sell the Iphone, However, what you need to look at are the incentive plans for selling phones, what phone gets the SA more money in his pay check each week. Employee are rewarded for moving phones and depending how many they are sitting in the back room will dictate what phones are being pushed on any given day. Not sure if Apple forces AT&T to take so many phones each month. However, Samsung, Motorola, HTC and other push carriers to take lots of phones each months. Of course they are going to make sure those move.


     


    The only problem AT&T and VZ has is apple sell more phones themselves which still get activated on their networks, Apple does not really need them pushing phones.


     


    Personally I have seen AT&T and VZ store push one phone over another for many years, every time I took my dad in to buy a phone they kept trying to convince him to buy something he did not need. This tactic is not new.

  • Reply 24 of 62
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member


    I guess I'm left wondering why AT&T should care about it?  If they want to push a certain platform, it's not like Apple can do anything about it right?  Apple's not going to ban AT&T from selling iPhone right?  I'm curious what the ramifications (if any) would be.

  • Reply 25 of 62
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post

    If they want to push a certain platform, it's not like Apple can do anything about it right?  Apple's not going to ban AT&T from selling iPhone right?


     


    That's exactly what they could do.

  • Reply 26 of 62
    sflocal wrote: »
    I guess I'm left wondering why AT&T should care about it?  If they want to push a certain platform, it's not like Apple can do anything about it right?  Apple's not going to ban AT&T from selling iPhone right?  I'm curious what the ramifications (if any) would be.

    Could Apple? Sure. Would they? Probably not.

    But if I was AT&T... I'd be careful.

    Nearly 3 out of 4 smartphones sold by AT&T are iPhones.

    AT&T would be devastated if something happened and they couldn't sell the iPhone anymore...

    But again... I doubt Apple would pull their phones from AT&T.
  • Reply 27 of 62
    jkgmjkgm Posts: 22member

    "our reps do what it takes to align customer needs with the best device for them*"


    * where "them" means the reps, not the customers
  • Reply 28 of 62


    Two good friends of mine went into an AT&T store to buy iPhones (and to dump the Android phones they didn't like) and were absolutely badgered by the salesperson to consider the "totally awesome" Android phones.  He went so far as to tell them he wasn't sure the iPhone was going to last on the market.  At this point, my friends tell me they laughed out loud and said "just get us 2 iPhones."


     


    So, yes, AT&T has been pushing Android at the expense of the iPhone.

  • Reply 29 of 62
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,630member


    Screw you, AT&T.  I'm going to Verizon when the Iphone 5 comes out.

  • Reply 30 of 62
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    eriamjh wrote: »
    Screw you, AT&T.  I'm going to Verizon when the Iphone 5 comes out.

    Why bother? Just switch to Straight Talk when your AT&T contract runs out. You can even use the same iPhone you're already using. I switched and I'm very happy with the savings. And since it's the AT&T network, I don't see any difference in performance.
  • Reply 31 of 62
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post

    Why bother? Just switch to Straight Talk when your AT&T contract runs out. You can even use the same iPhone you're already using. I switched and I'm very happy with the savings. And since it's the AT&T network, I don't see any difference in performance.


     


    I've heard there's the possibility that they'll just up and give away your number without warning.


     


    I can't have that happen. Has anyone else heard this?

  • Reply 32 of 62


    Sad to say, I've witnessed this on several occasions while visiting my local ATT store. The last time, when I overheard a customer ask about the iPhone, the sales rep stated he used to have an iPhone, but this (Andriod Option) is "The best phone in the store."  Sounded like a sales pitch to me! I knew there was an agenda.

  • Reply 33 of 62
    adamcadamc Posts: 583member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Michael Scrip View Post



    The iPhone represents 73% of AT&T's smartphone sales.

    It doesn't seem like they did a very good job of steering people away from the iPhone...


    Apparently you refuse to believe this part


     


    "internal sales figures from AT&T retail sources pointed to a decline among the carrier's own outlets from a high of 80 percent down to sales "between 50% and 60% since regional managers instructed stores to actively push other smartphones in place of the iPhone."


     


    Apparently they did.

  • Reply 34 of 62
    icomaicoma Posts: 13member


    "in the carriers' interest to promote cheaper, simpler phones tied to the same kinds of plans."


     


    My phone, a Samsung Note, is niether "cheaper" nor "simpler"; indeed it costs about the same, and in my opinion is more advanced than an iPhone. AT&T has come out and said they are not pushing people one way or another, yet the conspiracty rages on, even despite the fact that the sales numbers show that it is almost certain that people are not being steered away from iPhones. Ultimately even if a carrier were steering people at a particular phone or service in order to increase profit, I believe it is their right to do so, and some may even argue their responsability since they do happen to be a company that is traded on the stock market. For instance an Apple store does not carry anything but Apple products, almost like they are steering people to buy Apple products at the exclusion of all else in order to increase profits and take care of their share holders; what if a Blackberry were a better fit for someone? I don't suppose an Apple Store employee would guide that person to a Blackberry, indeed there would not even be a Blackberry in the store to sell them.

  • Reply 35 of 62
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by iComa View Post


    For instance an Apple store does not carry anything but Apple products, almost like they are steering people to buy Apple products at the exclusion of all else in order to increase profits and take care of their share holders; what if a Blackberry were a better fit for someone? I don't suppose an Apple Store employee would guide that person to a Blackberry, indeed there would not even be a Blackberry in the store to sell them.



     


    I hope you realize the inherent problem with that analogy.

  • Reply 36 of 62
    icomaicoma Posts: 13member


    I do hope you grasp the context.


    I apologize if I did not construct my analogy to your specific tastes, or if some of my grammar or spelling is not up to par; though I do hope that I do good enough to communicate, and I hope that we can talk abou the article instead of my lacklust writing skills.

     

  • Reply 37 of 62
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by iComa View Post

    I apologize if I did not construct my analogy to your specific tastes, or if some of my grammar or spelling is not up to par; though I do hope that I do good enough to communicate, and I hope that we can talk abou the article instead of my lacklust writing skills.


     


    Doesn't have squat to do with any of that. AT&T is supposed to be nondenominational by definition. Apple is not.

  • Reply 38 of 62
    adamc wrote: »
    Apparently you refuse to believe this part

    "internal sales figures from AT&T retail sources pointed to a decline among the carrier's own outlets from a high of 80 percent down to sales "between 50% and 60% since regional managers instructed stores to actively push other smartphones in place of the iPhone."

    Apparently they did.

    Refuse to believe?

    Sorry... I got my info from quotes like this around the web last week:

    Tuesday, Jul 24, 2012 - AT&T has announced their second quarter results, and this time around the iPhone accounted for 3.7 million or almost 73% of the 5.1 million smartphones sold.

    If that's not good enough for ya... here's a link directly to AT&T's recent Q2 results:

    http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=23091&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=34898&mapcode=

    Here's the important part... for clarity:

    AT&T sold 5.1 million smartphones in the second quarter..... In the quarter, the company activated 3.7 million iPhones...

    Now... what am I refusing to believe???
  • Reply 39 of 62
    icomaicoma Posts: 13member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Doesn't have squat to do with any of that. AT&T is supposed to be nondenominational by definition. Apple is not.





    I was not aware that any mega-corporation would be "non-denominational", indeed I always assume a company will look out for it's best interests; if they did not, I doubt that they would stay in business very long.


     


    Indeed, human beings in general will look out for their own best interests; if you have product X, and product Y, and both products perform the same function, albeit they do that function in differing ways, and you could increase your profit margin by selling product X over product Y, and some customers like the way that product Y fulfills the function, are you going to try to sell more of product X while still keeping product Y available for those that prefer it? Or ignore that increased profit potential and just let the chips fall where they may.


     


    In any event, AT&T has so far said that they are not giving preferential treatment to anyone in particular, so I don't know what else needs to be said; sounds like the only thing that could make many happy would be for AT&T to sell nothing but iPhones, if that were to happen, I do admit I'd miss my nice big screen with my Smart Pen though.

  • Reply 40 of 62
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by iComa View Post

    I was not aware that any mega-corporation would be "non-denominational", indeed I always assume a company will look out for it's best interests; if they did not, I doubt that they would stay in business very long.


     


    When you own spectrum, you have certain legal requirements.

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