kittie143
03-15-2007, 12:00 PM
Alright...so I've been a dealer since pre-merger days. I came from the Nextel side.
Here's a few tips for customers trying to get the best service available from stores.
DON'T BE RUDE!!!!
EX: I had a man in my store who was blatantly hitting on me in front of other customers...and was using some fairly graphic language. This does not fly over well with me. And just a little clue...we have the power to put your bill in languages you've never dreamed of. Not supposed to...but hey. I put his bill in Farsi.
Ask questions.
> We have a lot to remember and a lot of steps to go through, now granted a good sales person has pretty much everything memorized, but we do sometimes forget little things like mentioning that you get your deposit back within 12 months of on-time payments.
Find a store that is geared towards customer service!!!
> I can't express this enough. And I can't tell you how many accounts I have fixed for customers who went to a store that just didn't give a crap about anyone. Yes we are all looking at the bottom line, but there are stores out there that care about your bottom line as well, and a good store rep knows how to maximize your benifits while minimizing your bill.
YOUR FIRST MONTHS BILL WILL BE HIGH!!!
> but there is a way to not let it be as high...if you are a new customer ask the store rep to set your bill cycle a few days after the day you signed up for your account. This will minimize proration. But there is almost always (unless there is a promo going on) a $36 activation fee for the first line and $26 for the second line...and so on and so forth. Your first months bill is also billed in advance (just like a cable bill..etc) BUT setting your bill cycle date a few days out will help this proration!!!
TEP (Total Equipment Protection)
>I can't tell you how many people come into my store saying that they broke their phone or (my personal favorite) it fell in the lake. TEP protects you against damage, theft, loss, liquid damage...etc. Basically if your phone is repairable (like a broken antenna..etc) you can take it into a service center and get it fixed for free. If it is lost, stolen, or damaged beyond repair (which includes liquid damage) then you can call Insurion (the insurance company) and have it replaced for $50 dollars.
>> Let me explain why this benefits you
For $7 a month (it just went up from $6) you can get your phone fixed or replaced as explained above. If you don't have it then you may have to pay full list price for a new phone, depending on what kind of upgrade rebates you are elligible for.
Upgrade Eligibility
> Please Please Please don't complain or get mad at the store reps because you are not eligible for an upgrade. We didn't do it. And if we did do it...please keep your cool because it's most likely that we didn't mean to. Now granted I train my employees to give detail in everything that they are doing, and I oversee everything that they do. But sometimes the system that we work with screws something up for us.
Let me explain the upgrade eligibility:
This only has to do with YOUR PHONE...(not your contract, not the amount of time you've been with Sprint..not anything else) THIS DEPENDS ON THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU HAVE HAD YOUR DEVICE!!!!!
0-11 months: No rebates
12-22 months: $75 rebate (off of the full list price..not the $29.99 you see on TV!!)
22+ months: $150 rebate and any mail in rebates (this makes you eligible for the price you see on TV or in an add!!)
REMEMBER: The price you see in an add is most likely already had $150+ dollars taken off of it. It's an add...it is designed to get people into the stores!!!
ALSO: Take into account if you have switched phones with your buddy Jim Bob...this resets your rebates...now there are ways around it...but we really can't do anything about it.
BUT: If you had your phone replaced through a service center or through insurance, this should not effect your rebates...although I have seen where it was entered incorrectly by a service tech and it reset the rebates...this is just something we have to work around..not an issue you have to deal with (hopefully). Find the right store to deal with.
NON CORPORATE LOCATIONS:
> something to remember is that not all locations are corporate. They are called Indirect dealers. I am an indirect dealer. Being an indirect dealer does not make us any less experienced than a corporate store. Typically these stores know more about the ins and outs of the company because we did not receive a little book that told us so. Although I don't know if corporate does or not, I have my own issues with corporate stores. Typically corporate locations and indirect dealers get along, but there are tensions between the two. Something for the customer to know is that an indirect location can help you just as much as a corporate location can...and you can almost always find an indirect dealer with a principle officer (owner) working at specific times.
Jumping from store to store:
> I recommend that you find a store that works well with you and treats you great! Reason being is that if you bounce back from store to store...they don't treat you with any special regard. If you come into one location everytime you need something or something is wrong, 1) the employees start to recognize to and 2) the will treat you better if they know you are loyal to that particular location.
Know that there are stores out there that will bend over backwards for you!!
>I deal with this in my locations. I have become the "billing lady". For some reason people with billing issues are drawn to me...simply because i can fix them. Find a store that will do this for you! Don't just go to a store that will sell you a phone and then leave it be.
I think I'm done for the moment...but if there are any questions...feel free to ask!!
Here's a few tips for customers trying to get the best service available from stores.
DON'T BE RUDE!!!!
EX: I had a man in my store who was blatantly hitting on me in front of other customers...and was using some fairly graphic language. This does not fly over well with me. And just a little clue...we have the power to put your bill in languages you've never dreamed of. Not supposed to...but hey. I put his bill in Farsi.
Ask questions.
> We have a lot to remember and a lot of steps to go through, now granted a good sales person has pretty much everything memorized, but we do sometimes forget little things like mentioning that you get your deposit back within 12 months of on-time payments.
Find a store that is geared towards customer service!!!
> I can't express this enough. And I can't tell you how many accounts I have fixed for customers who went to a store that just didn't give a crap about anyone. Yes we are all looking at the bottom line, but there are stores out there that care about your bottom line as well, and a good store rep knows how to maximize your benifits while minimizing your bill.
YOUR FIRST MONTHS BILL WILL BE HIGH!!!
> but there is a way to not let it be as high...if you are a new customer ask the store rep to set your bill cycle a few days after the day you signed up for your account. This will minimize proration. But there is almost always (unless there is a promo going on) a $36 activation fee for the first line and $26 for the second line...and so on and so forth. Your first months bill is also billed in advance (just like a cable bill..etc) BUT setting your bill cycle date a few days out will help this proration!!!
TEP (Total Equipment Protection)
>I can't tell you how many people come into my store saying that they broke their phone or (my personal favorite) it fell in the lake. TEP protects you against damage, theft, loss, liquid damage...etc. Basically if your phone is repairable (like a broken antenna..etc) you can take it into a service center and get it fixed for free. If it is lost, stolen, or damaged beyond repair (which includes liquid damage) then you can call Insurion (the insurance company) and have it replaced for $50 dollars.
>> Let me explain why this benefits you
For $7 a month (it just went up from $6) you can get your phone fixed or replaced as explained above. If you don't have it then you may have to pay full list price for a new phone, depending on what kind of upgrade rebates you are elligible for.
Upgrade Eligibility
> Please Please Please don't complain or get mad at the store reps because you are not eligible for an upgrade. We didn't do it. And if we did do it...please keep your cool because it's most likely that we didn't mean to. Now granted I train my employees to give detail in everything that they are doing, and I oversee everything that they do. But sometimes the system that we work with screws something up for us.
Let me explain the upgrade eligibility:
This only has to do with YOUR PHONE...(not your contract, not the amount of time you've been with Sprint..not anything else) THIS DEPENDS ON THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU HAVE HAD YOUR DEVICE!!!!!
0-11 months: No rebates
12-22 months: $75 rebate (off of the full list price..not the $29.99 you see on TV!!)
22+ months: $150 rebate and any mail in rebates (this makes you eligible for the price you see on TV or in an add!!)
REMEMBER: The price you see in an add is most likely already had $150+ dollars taken off of it. It's an add...it is designed to get people into the stores!!!
ALSO: Take into account if you have switched phones with your buddy Jim Bob...this resets your rebates...now there are ways around it...but we really can't do anything about it.
BUT: If you had your phone replaced through a service center or through insurance, this should not effect your rebates...although I have seen where it was entered incorrectly by a service tech and it reset the rebates...this is just something we have to work around..not an issue you have to deal with (hopefully). Find the right store to deal with.
NON CORPORATE LOCATIONS:
> something to remember is that not all locations are corporate. They are called Indirect dealers. I am an indirect dealer. Being an indirect dealer does not make us any less experienced than a corporate store. Typically these stores know more about the ins and outs of the company because we did not receive a little book that told us so. Although I don't know if corporate does or not, I have my own issues with corporate stores. Typically corporate locations and indirect dealers get along, but there are tensions between the two. Something for the customer to know is that an indirect location can help you just as much as a corporate location can...and you can almost always find an indirect dealer with a principle officer (owner) working at specific times.
Jumping from store to store:
> I recommend that you find a store that works well with you and treats you great! Reason being is that if you bounce back from store to store...they don't treat you with any special regard. If you come into one location everytime you need something or something is wrong, 1) the employees start to recognize to and 2) the will treat you better if they know you are loyal to that particular location.
Know that there are stores out there that will bend over backwards for you!!
>I deal with this in my locations. I have become the "billing lady". For some reason people with billing issues are drawn to me...simply because i can fix them. Find a store that will do this for you! Don't just go to a store that will sell you a phone and then leave it be.
I think I'm done for the moment...but if there are any questions...feel free to ask!!