Kim has been begging me to purchase a better camera than what she currently uses which is the camera on her iPhone 4. When I read online that Walmart was selling the iPhone 5 for $127, I decided the time had come.
I wasn’t sure if Walmart had phones in stock or if they were still running the promotion so I decided to call two stores in my area. Here is my experience:
1. Called, transferred to Electronics where nobody answered.
2. Called, transferred to Electronics where nobody answered.
3. Called, transferred to mobile services where nobody answered.
4. Called, transferred to mobile services where nobody answered.
5. Called, transferred to Electronics where a man answered but said I needed to speak with mobile services. He transferred me to mobile services where nobody answered.
6. I went to Walmart and made my way to mobile services which is located inside the Electronics department. Asked woman if she sold the iPhone 5. She said they were in stock but she could not sell them to me because, “the system goes down in five minutes" but I could return tomorrow. “What system?” I asked. “The system where you buy an iPhone.” she replied.
7. I went to the same Walmart this morning where four Walmart associates were helping customers. I asked if the system was up and the woman asked, “What system do you mean?” I said, “The system that lets people buy iPhones.” which resulted in a strange look on the face of the associate.
8. The associate was courteous as she took down my account information. Two other associates, standing less than five feet from me, were talking potential customers out of any phone that wasn’t a Samsung Android phone. I had a difficult time keeping my mouth shut when one of the male associates told a customer who had inquired about the iPhone that one “couldn’t do anything with an iPhone until it was jailbroken”.
9. After my account information had been entered into the system, the printer decided to crap out. The women asked me to wait a few minutes until she could figure out the problem. She tried turning it off and back on again. Nothing.
10. All the while, several more customers came to the counter to inquire about the iPhone 5. When the male associate couldn’t talk them into an Android phone, he asked them to stand in line behind me. At one point, he flashed his Samsung Note at a couple and said, “I have an iPod and an iPad, but I won’t buy an iPhone. This here is the phone you want.” Around the time where he pulled out a stylus, the couple had seen enough and got in line behind me.
11. The printer was still refusing to print. The women helping me was getting frustrated and began clicking around her screen. When I was about ready to ask if I should come back later, the printer came to life!
12. I signed my name and dated four sheets of paper.
13. The woman handed me off to one of her coworkers who offered to help setup my phone. By now, there were at least a dozen customers waiting to put their details into the system that would allow them to buy an iPhone. “I can set it up at home.” I told her.
When I got home, I plugged the new, white iPhone 5 into Kim’s PC and restored her applications and settings. That took less than 10 minutes.
Is it any wonder why Apple wisely decided to build their own stores?
Nordquist Blog 