Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 17 February 2008 07:31
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 4
Being able to try out a phone, pop in my own SIM card and make a few calls, and just see if I like the damn thing first before spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars is a simple ‘no brainer’.
Why can’t we try the phone out first at the retail level as everyday customers? I was still on the phone with my friend, so I asked to be transferred to the manager of the store, who was much nicer than the incredibly rude first salesperson.
The manager explained to me that they were still waiting to receive ‘demo’ phone stock of the HTC Touch Dual 850 from Telstra that could be used to let customers try before they buy, and that if they opened one of the phones in the store there now, it would be then be classed as a ‘second hand phone’.
Now, I suppose I can understand the retail store not wanting to open up a unit which we be classed as second hand, especially when official demo units are on the way.
But why isn’t Telstra organised enough to ensure that every store has at least ONE working demo model of each phone they sell when new phones arrive in store, and people are most interested in them?
Why is there a two or more week delay before a demo handset is available? Why should the customer take the chance that the phone they’re about to buy is what it says on the tin?
At this point we decided we’d had enough of this run around and she was going to leave. The original rude sales person at the end of the ordeal she went through then decided he’d had enough, saying ‘I’ve got to go, I’ve got a runny nose’ and he disappeared.
So, why was getting a Windows Mobile phone important, and why was it vital that my friend be able to spend a few minutes in store test driving it first, with her own SIM card at that, before handing over hundreds of dollars? Please read onto page 3.
