| rev:text
| - I don't throw around the phrase "bone stupid" very often - we all have our DUH days - but I wouldn't trust these guys to give me the correct time, let alone any other information.
It's not that they're not friendly and professional here... they are, but I think it's because everyone who works here is a trained actor. Decent trained actors, too, because they've learned the script, but said script is out of date and not open to improvisation.
I've been here twice. The first time I was treated nicely, but I quickly realized that the fine print of the ad that got me in the door wasn't what I wanted. (That's an AT&T problem - not the store's fault.)
The second time, oh boy. My husband and I went in with his new, unlocked iPhone. Now, I know AT&T wishes we all had iPhones locked to them, but they should at least just be open to taking whatever money people are willing to try to give them. Besides, *my* phone walks the Green Mile with AT&T already, which I made clear right away, so they ought to sense that making me happy could pay off in the long term.
Anyway, what we wanted was a prepaid SIM card for my husband to use in the States for a short time before he took the phone out of the country. International tourists had spoken all across the Internet about visiting the United States with their unlocked iPhones and sometimes getting such things at AT&T stores.
Well, according to this store, that was just crazy talk. Oh, wait, never mind (after two employees pondered together), maybe it wasn't crazy-crazy talk, but we should keep in mind that as soon as we put in an AT&T SIM card, Mike's unlocked iPhone would be locked to AT&T (dramatic pause) FOR-EV-ER!
*crash of imported Transylvanian thunder*
Hold on. Wasn't one big attraction of an unlocked iPhone that you could swap out SIM cards as you traveled through different countries?
"Yes, but then when you put the prepaid SIM in, it will lock your phone to AT&T."
Luckily no one else was behind us at the front podium because - while everyone stayed very polite - I refused to let this drop. I just get all twitchy when I see people being paid to spout lies... mostly because I'm jealous and want that job, but also because it's just wrong.
(And please know that I'm totally skipping the minutes lost where one of these two employees claimed she had been confused because we kept saying "home wireless network" when we meant "home wi-fi network.")
Eventually Mike and I wore the remaining employee down to admitting that maybe unlocked iPhones didn't lock forever to the first SIM you put in them. Maybe. She wasn't sure because "unlocked iPhones are really new and nobody really knows how they work yet."
(Indeed, "nobody" knows. It's a mystery. Someday, with enough funding, maybe scientists will be able to crack it. ARGH! At this point the unlocked 4s had been available for 6 weeks and had been available for pre-order a month before that. Six weeks isn't a lot of time for us ordinary customers, maybe, but it's enough time if it's a well-publicized product that is directly related to your job... or at least enough time to know better than to tell crazy lies about it.)
We left, went down the street to T-Mobile, and had a prepaid SIM card in a matter of minutes. (With a better and cheaper plan than my monthly AT&T payment. No 3G, of course, but it made me think.)
Bottom line: If I ever need something from an AT&T store, I'm going elsewhere. I don't mind funding the arts, but this troupe needs a new act.
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