Today, I decided to see if any of the Jackson, MS-area AT&T stores had iPhones in stock. I called all four, including locations on Pear Orchard Road, on Robinson Road, in Flowood, and in Madison.
The first annoyance: even if you call a local AT&T store, you’re going to have to listen to a recorded announcement and wrestle an automated call routing system (“For sales, press 2!”) before your call will be transferred to the local store.
The second annoyance: no one seems to be answering the phones in Jackson’s AT&T stores. The phone rings about ten times before you’re told “All representatives are busy” and offered a chance to leave voicemail.
The third annoyance: no one seems to be checking that voicemail or returning customer calls. I left a specific message, featuring my name, number, and an offer to purchase an iPhone. Seven hours later, I still haven’t received a return call from any one of the four local AT&T stores.
Unable to reach out and touch someone, I dropped by the store … where the fun continued.
When I walked in the door, a stern-faced fifty-something woman barreled toward me, stopping me at a makeshift checkpoint where customers must sign in. She gave me a frown and said, “Help you?”
“Do you have the iPhone in stock?”
She shook her head. “NOT the four!”
Ooookay. “So … do you have the eight gigabyte model in stock?”
“Eights,” she said, “but NOT the four!”
“I’ll be back,” I said. And — maybe — I will be.
UPDATE: Seven and a half hours after I left messages at all four area stores, one person from the Floowood store returned my call. Remember: I left a message including my name, my phone number, and a very specific question: “Do you have the iPhone in stock?”
Here’s my message from the Flowood AT&T store, ver batim: “This is AT&T, returning your call.” Click.
No answer. No name. No informaiton. No number to call for more information.
Clueless. Totally clueless.
In my experience, the new at&t customer service has been very variable. Until recently, I have been with every permutation of Cingular wireless since their nascent days as BellSouth Mobility when I lived in Jackson. Those were the days! When I got my first convertible with a built in cellular phone, they had it activated and I was on my way in no time. Can you imagine trying to get that done at an at&t store today?! They have had fantastic coverage in the Mobile area for years, as well. But lately, the network seems to have degraded, voice quality sucks, and customer service has been hit or miss. I have called over and over again about the poor voice quality…after all, I use my phone for making calls…and long-story-short, they offered to release my contract. Not really what I wanted, but I’ll take it and move on. Ironically, I’m going with T-Mobile. They have great coverage here, they offer HotSpot@Home service on several of their handsets, and their voice quality is stellar!