[scottw911]

One of my buddies took his girlfriend to purchase a new Verizon phone yesterday. He called me, frustrated, having just walked out of the local Verizon company store. He was asking me where the nearest AT&T store was to go buy her an iPhone. Of course, I had to suggest he go somewhere else and check out the Pre. Apparently, the Verizon staff had already soured them on any idea of looking at the Pre. He would "not sell them that junk" because the salespeople are tired of losing their commission when people return the phones to the store.

The only thing this salesperson seemed to know about the phone was that he can't make money selling it.

It seems that, besides the Palm hardware issues, Palm has done a terrible job educating another entire mega-sales force. It still seems that end-users don't understand all the nuances of the WebOS and blame their lack of knowledge on bad phone.

Unless Palm/HP can radically change the mindset of the dirbags selling this hardware to the consumer, WebOS will always be the next Betamax.

I hate Verizon now, more than ever.

[sputnik767]

I would think that palm should spend their time actually designing good hardware and error-free software, so that users are not forced to return their phones, and sales reps can actually keep their commission.

[Giblet]

Actually as a sales rep I can say that a properly educated customer is much less likely to return a phone. I have saved many pre returns by educating the customer on how to use the phone. Basic things like the back gesture (since most reps will just blaze through the tutorial instead of having the customer learn) or that there actually is an application market and awesome things I've found that they would love. I also demonstrate to them my own personal google calendar setup so they can see how much this phone can be a tool as well as a toy. I usualy show the under 30 crowd a 3d game or too also.

Edit to clarify I'm a print rep and this phone has helped my commission greatly

[bluenote]

From this thread below, not sure that Verizon salespeople hate the phone because it is being returned by users, the poor effort seemed to start immediately and be way beyond what we have heard from Sprint. If you could get the address of the store from your buddy and post in this thread below (link below) which Palm reads, perhaps something could be done for the next customer that walks in the store. Presumably these salespeople will be around for the next Palm launch and although I'm sure HP's clout will do alot to help, best to be proactive:

http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pr...zon-store.html

[vasekvi]

Actually as a sales rep I can say that a properly educated customer is much less likely to return a phone. I have saved many pre returns by educating the customer on how to use the phone. Basic things like the back gesture (since most reps will just blaze through the tutorial instead of having the customer learn) or that there actually is an application market and awesome things I've found that they would love. I also demonstrate to them my own personal google calendar setup so they can see how much this phone can be a tool as well as a toy. I usualy show the under 30 crowd a 3d game or too also.

Edit to clarify I'm a print rep and this phone has helped my commission greatly

I agree completely. I sell phones also and part of qualifying a customer is qualifying them to use the device. Training the customer to use the phone goes a long way toward phones not being returned and gives me many referrals.I tell every customer to go use their phone for a week after I show them the basics, then I tell them to stop by anytime if they need further training and for me to answer any questions that have come up after they become familiar with their new device.

[Nerelda]

The customer service reps in my "local" store have been awesome. The one who sold me my phone also let me know that if I had any questions, that I could come in any time and talk to him. Of course I was already pretty well educated before the purchase (always do with any big investment), but he made sure I was clear on using the basics before he let me walk out with my new phone. That itself was highly appreciated.

[evanderlongoria]

yeah, i walked in to a store this weekend and pretended to act dumb and not know anything about any phone, as i was expecting i was getting the incredible shoved down my throat, i kept walking over to the pre, they kept trying to make me play with a droid or incredible. they told me that the pre was no good and i was better off going with the chocolate touch if i wanted a phone like the pre, i couldnt believe what i was hearing. they then told me the incredible has an OS lightyears better than any phones including the iphone and blah blah blah, i just laughed and walked out of the store.

[Joescan09]

See I couldn't just walk in any store and listen to sales rep's bash the pre I would try to fight them and would get arrested.

[starbuckk]

when these kinds of things happen yoou should ask to see the store manager. Tell the manager in front of the salesman that the salesman was rude, dissed the products that they sell and you want to see a salesman that listens to customers. Do not let these twits get away with this stuff.
After leaving the store follow up with a letter to Verizon Customer Service with date time and store location and what happened.
Ironically I have a Pre because a letter to customer service asking questions resulted in a Verizon rep calling me and convincing me that I'd be happier with a Pre than a Droid.

[chiliu78]

I really don't think you can blame Verizon 100%. I think this is the end result of Palm's less than stellar hardware quality/reliability and if stores see a high percentage of returns, then yes, the sales people lose money and the store will as well. No matter how much you educate these workers, they have one goal: to make money - as much and as fast as possible. If workers see that these phones are being returned, they see their efforts as wasted and will try to get future customers to get something else instead. That's the reality of it. Not saying the Palm Pre or Pixi is a bad phone - I've had mine since June, but I think the blame can be spread to multiple places - Verizon, Palm and even some customer's lack of understanding

[Reeves]

I really don't think you can blame Verizon 100%. I think this is the end result of Palm's less than stellar hardware quality/reliability and if stores see a high percentage of returns, then yes, the sales people lose money and the store will as well. No matter how much you educate these workers, they have one goal: to make money - as much and as fast as possible. If workers see that these phones are being returned, they see their efforts as wasted and will try to get future customers to get something else instead. That's the reality of it. Not saying the Palm Pre or Pixi is a bad phone - I've had mine since June, but I think the blame can be spread to multiple places - Verizon, Palm and even some customer's lack of understanding

Exactly. People here must think "dirtbag" (Real classy, folks) Verizon reps have a personal vendetta against the Pre. Get real. They have a vendetta against not making money. If Droids starting getting returned en masse because they didn't meet the average joe's needs or the hardware was falling apart, you can bet that Verizon reps would try selling people on another device whether it was the "house brand" or not.

They don't and continue to sell well with relatively high customer satisfaction, so OF COURSE they are going to push people toward it. It's not their responsibility to carry Palm's water. It's great that some reps here do, but that's above and beyond. It shouldn't be expected.

Again, the Droid BRAND is pushed to the exclusion of ALL phones. It's not just Pre or Pixi. And it is just good business, not anything personal.

[hparsons]

I would think that palm should spend their time actually designing good hardware and error-free software, so that users are not forced to return their phones, and sales reps can actually keep their commission.

Yep, that way they can be like the other error-free phones that have never had hardware issues like ... mmm ... ...

[MiguelATF]

I have no axe to grind one way or the other with respect to Verizon. Last week I bought my first Pre (!!!!!!) - and before I purchased it, I spent some time in my local (Southern Oregon) Verizon and Sprint stores - talking with salespersons to try to get a feel not just for the phone....but also for whether or not the local store could be a resource for me in case I ever needed help or advice.

I wound up going with Sprint - because the two Sprint salespersons I talked to were both incredibly knowedgable about Pre's and helpful - and one of them, who is the 'lead' sales associate for the store (a step below manager) uses the Pre as his personal phone. The combination of truly knowledgable salsepersons who were willing to share their knowledge - plus one or two things about the Sprint Plan and service - helped me make a decision. And, to be honest, it wasn't easy saying no to Verizon's giveway/fire-sale pricing.

But - in all fairness to the Verizon - one of the reps I talked to was quite positive about the Pre. He happily demonstrated many of its features and didn't 'diss' or put down the phone at all - nor did he try to push an Android phone on me. But, to tell the truth, I had a few questions for him - about how the OS operated, or certain specific things one could do with the phone - which he didn't know the answers to. And that factored into my decision-making process as well. For me, it was comforting to know that not only was I buying a waaaay cool phone/device - but that there were several extremely knowledgable local people at a local store who actually knew more than I did.

The other Verizon rep I spoke to was quite polite but didn't know anything about Pre's. Verizon is clearly spending a lot of money, energy and marketing muscle pushing their current and new lineup of Android phones - especially the HTC Incredible - to the point where all the VZ in-store salespersons and reps are actually wearing these slick small hanging Ad-Cards around their necks....pushing the Droid Incredible.

And the truth is....they're just doing their job. If you work at a Chevy dealership, your job is to sell Chevy cars and trucks to people who walk in the door. And not Saturns or Isuzus.....even though you may also be a dealer for them. The metaphor doesn't totally work with phone sales but it's close. For me though, there's a moral to the story, and it is: you get what you pay for. With Verizon right now, you can get a great phone at a good initial price....but not much knowledgeable service. Having previously been an AT&T customer, I'm used to not getting knowledgeable service - when I was with AT&T the people at the local store were friendly and polite....but not very knowledgeable. Having someone who actually knows a lot about your phone - and can help you with it if need be - is a cool thing.

Miguel

[hparsons]

Exactly. People here must think "dirtbag" (Real classy, folks) Verizon reps have a personal vendetta against the Pre. Get real. They have a vendetta against not making money. If Droids starting getting returned en masse because they didn't meet the average joe's needs or the hardware was falling apart, you can bet that Verizon reps would try selling people on another device whether it was the "house brand" or not.
...

Sorry, I disagree. Reps tend to sell what they are comfortable with, and reps are generally more comfortable with the phone they use. The lazier the rep, the more likely that is to be true.

No customer is going to accept the reps recommendation if they say "I'd rather you buy xxyyzz, because that's what I use, and it saves me from having to learn other phones, plus, since I like it, I push it." Instead, they blame excessive returns.

Excessive returns is totally bogus. If/when someone returns a phone, they almost always will get another phone from the same store, even if it's a different brand. The rep doesn't lose the sale. That argument is a straw man, plain and simple.

[schnoid]

You're not the first, and definitely not the last. I posted months ago about my experience with verizon reps and how they go out of their way to tell you how crappy the Pre is and how great the Droid is. I was really hoping this attitude would change, but doesn't seem it has. I agree with some that say it would help if Palm had released the phone with better hardware quality. I'm actually getting my 4th one this week, but they really shouldn't be completely trashing a truly superior phone because of some build quality issues.

[StuckwVerizon]

Let me see, me and two other friends of mine got the Pre Plus when Verizon made the hotspot free. Now, I am the only one who still have the phone. All three of us exchanged Pre Plus atleast once due to hardware and software issues. That's 6 Pre Plus within a month. And then they returned the Pre Plus and got Droid.

So this verizon sales rep, sold three Pre Plus, and got exchanged 3 times and got 2 back. If I were that sales rep, I wouldn't recommend Pre Plus to other customer after that.

Before we blame on Verizon rep, you guys should demend Palm, now HP, to make better product in the future.

[Reeves]

Sorry, I disagree. Reps tend to sell what they are comfortable with, and reps are generally more comfortable with the phone they use. The lazier the rep, the more likely that is to be true.

No customer is going to accept the reps recommendation if they say "I'd rather you buy xxyyzz, because that's what I use, and it saves me from having to learn other phones, plus, since I like it, I push it." Instead, they blame excessive returns.

Excessive returns is totally bogus. If/when someone returns a phone, they almost always will get another phone from the same store, even if it's a different brand. The rep doesn't lose the sale. That argument is a straw man, plain and simple.

Annnd I disagree with that. Excessive returns aren't necessarily about losing the sale, but tying directly into customer satisfaction. Why would a rep want to sell a device that even people who like - even LOVE - it sometimes have to get 3+ returns to get a fully functional one? I've seen plenty of them on this board alone.

Now that's an anecdotal situation, so this wouldn't apply to every rep that sells a pre or Pixi. But it's certainly true for some, and I cannot blame them for pushing people away from it IN THOSE SITUATIONS.

[StuckwVerizon]

I'm actually getting my 4th one this week, but they really shouldn't be completely trashing a truly superior phone because of some build quality issues.

4th replacement? if the phone is a truly superior like you said, it shouldn't have this much issue with the quality.

[urkel]

. Apparently, the Verizon staff had already soured them on any idea of looking at the Pre. He would "not sell them that junk" because the salespeople are tired of losing their commission when people return the phones to the store..

why blame the salesman when the problem is the product?

[Reeves]

4th replacement? if the phone is a truly superior like you said, it shouldn't have this much issue with the quality.

Yep. That about says it.