Filed under: iPhone
Calling AT&T
As June 29th approaches, it's probably best if you called around to your local Cingular/AT&T vendors in advance to make sure they'll actually be carrying the iPhone. According to ZDNet, only corporate AT&T stores will carry the iPhone. Third party authorized franchises will not.
I've recently made a few calls of my own. I called AT&T to ask about their new on-the-go data plans. I was transferred to a data plan "expert". (I believe that is something like an Apple "genius".) She asked me which phone I'd be using and I said the iPhone. She asked me what that was and who sold that.
I also called my local Cingular (now AT&T) store. They quickly confirmed that they would be carrying the iPhone and that it would be available on June 29th, but then continued on without my prompting, telling me that they knew pretty much nothing more than that including whether the phone would be on sale in the morning or at 6PM and that they did not yet know what it would cost and had no further details to give. One suspects I was not the first to call. At least they were forthcoming and clueful.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Moburkhardt said 4:52PM on 6-15-2007
Haha, that is so funny, stupid at&t hotline!
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YodaMac said 4:54PM on 6-15-2007
I am waiting to do my AT&T calls until the last week of June. I figure they really DONT know anything yet- as much as we wish they did. :)
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friktionn said 4:59PM on 6-15-2007
they're just playing dumb. I got the same response when I asked about the iPhone over the phone. The representative pretended to know nothing. I was paying a Pay-As-You-Go bill over the phone and when I was done I asked the gentleman on the other side if he planned on getting an iPhone and he said to me, "I'm sorry, I actually don't know what that is."
"really?" I replied, "you should get on the internet as soon as you go home and find out. you just so happen to be working for a company that sells them."
I think it's a script they follow. Apple's got everyone's lips sealed. otherwise they loose their jobs.
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jh said 5:10PM on 6-15-2007
So wait.. you're saying it's AT&T's job to look incompetent in this position, and thus scare away people on the brink with regards to the purchase of an IPhone?
That seems to be a very odd tactic. I don't recall reading about that in the marketing books.
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Tom said 5:53PM on 6-15-2007
Well, I can't seem to find a store locator on their website, but I got a few from Google Maps:
Store 1: Said they were "out of stock" already. I asked if that meant they were taking preorders, they said no, but it was already sold out online and wouldn't be available until mid July... sounded like BS to me.
Store 2: "Yes", the only helpful response I got. Looks like I'll be going to that one...
Store 3: "No, no, no, NO" ... sounded like she had already gotten a few calls about it :-)
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Chris Tutor said 7:08PM on 6-15-2007
Customer service reps "playing" dumb has gotten AT&T this far, why change now?
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gareth said 5:42PM on 6-15-2007
sorry - but TUAW is just getting worse and worse. You asked a first line support centre what a high level deployment was and got nothing back. you guy's need a life, just stand back and look what you are contributing to the world and ask yourself do people need to know they ran out of diet coke in canteen of xyz. consider my RSS feed droped, shame because your good stuff was good - the rest is f'in dross.
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BdeRWest said 5:48PM on 6-15-2007
I called my local store. The dude told me they'd be carrying them, they'd go on sale at 6 p.m., and the store would be closing down beforehand to get ready for the launch (all the rumors, basically, that I've read online). So nothing about plan prices, but that's the word on the street.
He also said they've only got a couple calls, and when people learn the price they back away slowly. So I would invite you all to come to MY AT&T store on the 29th, but I don't want to stand in line, so find your own!
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SpoonDogSVT said 6:10PM on 6-15-2007
Store locator: http://www.wireless.att.com/buy/store_locator
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Jonathan Stieglitz said 6:10PM on 6-15-2007
will the iphone be on sale in apple stores at all?
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CB said 9:04PM on 6-15-2007
Same thing for me. Called a couple of local Cingular/AT&T stores and asked if they would be selling iPhone. All said yes, but they didn't know anything about 6 pm, etc.
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Donald MacKenzie said 7:57PM on 6-15-2007
I called my nearest AT&T store today for a different reason (battery issue with one of our phones). Got a really nice guy on the phone so I thought I'd ask him about the iPhone. He said they were staying open later on the 29th to handle demand. They usually close at 8pm, but they're staying open until 10pm. I asked if the iPhone was going on sale at 6pm, and he said they were going to be selling them when they opened at 10am. He said they didn't have any info on rate plans yet, or how they would handle in-contract customers not eligible for an upgrade yet. But he did say, "If someone wants to pay $500 for a phone, we're going to figure something out to get them that phone." Very pleasant guy, told me to ask for him when I come in on the 29th to check out the iPhone. FWIW
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Graham Forden said 8:26PM on 6-15-2007
When I went into my local Cingular store (about a text messaging related problem) i casually asked about the iPhone, and the guy behind the desk FREAKED OUT at me and practicly started yelling at me for even wanting it. He gave what seemed like made up prices and random connection speeds and tried to convince me that the phone was a going to be horrible.
It was quite strange, as he is a sales representative and should be encouraging me to BUY a very expensive piece of equiptment with expensive two year contract.
He also claimed to have used it... but why would the only sales guy in the smallest cingular store in the armpit of California have access to it? Such BS....
Soooo Odd..
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zerock said 1:09AM on 6-16-2007
you guys are lucky, here in Puerto Rico, our AT&T (which are owned by AT&T) stores after first saying they would be carrying it. Apparently aren't. :(
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artifex said 1:30AM on 6-16-2007
Erica: you didn't happen to notice any unusual accent during that AT&T call, did you? I suspect the call center may not have been local. :)
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Squirrels said 2:13AM on 6-16-2007
hope this answers some questions:
http://mac.blorge.com/2007/06/13/the-tawdry-truth-about-the-iphone-wifi-and-edge/
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kim said 8:09AM on 6-16-2007
My sales guy confirmed 6pm availability and said they had minimal training, but he could not divulge anything further. He expected to be getting more training before the units go on sale.
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basscadet said 11:22AM on 6-16-2007
a friend in Atlanta GA phoned to 2 stores and the only thing she got was just a "yes we will be selling them on the 29th" and no more details :-S
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Catt said 3:17PM on 6-16-2007
On Thursday I noticed that my local Cingular was in the process of changing their sign and putting up a big AT&T sign on the front. I kind of wondered why they were doing that... Also noticed that they expanded into some adjacent space. This all makes sense to me now must be getting ready for the big launch.
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asttony@iphonestockist.com said 8:08AM on 6-30-2007
Please see this Iphone related website
www.iphonestockist.com
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