I was playing with a Nokia N900 at a small booth in Roosevelt Field Mall when I heard a most interesting conversation. A customer was interested in the N900, but wanted to stay with AT&T. At first I was alarmed that someone in NY actually wanted to stay with AT&T, but the Nokia sales rep’s words quickly knocked that thought out of my head. He told the customer that the N900 doesn’t support AT&T 3G, but a firmware update in Q1 will correct that.
The N900’s 3G radio supports the 900/1700/2100 WCDMA frequencies. This is great if you’re a T-Mobile customer, because the company’s 3G uses the 1700/2100 MHz bands. For AT&T customers — like the one curious about the N900 — the N900’s 3G radio is pretty useless since the company uses 850/1900 MHz for 3G. Nokia’s FCC filing for the N900 (PDF link) does not mention support for AT&T’s 3G frequencies.
Perhaps the sales rep was talking about an advanced type of firmware that physically changes the mobile radio in your phone (with magic nano-elves of course). Or maybe he was trying to be all hush-hush about it since Nokia didn’t mention support of the 850/1900 MHz bands in its FCC filing (how dastardly!).
Just for the hell of it, I called Nokia telesales to ask if the N900 would be able to support AT&T 3G through future firmware updates. The telesales rep told me that it’s not possible since it’s a hardware issue and not a software issue.
What do you guys and gals think? Was the Nokia funployee at Roosevelt Field lying to the customer for a quick sale? Or was he just stupid? And yes, that is a photo of the actual booth with the reps’ faces blurred out.
I personally believe those people are just ignorant. They are just uniformed minimum wage employees.
Just this weekend I sat there and listened to a Best Buy employee "lie" to a couple about the PS3. As soon as he walked away, I stepped over and told them the truth. I've seen similar misinformed employees at Fry's and AT&T.
I think it is a bit of both. Sales people usually don't know that much about what they are selling except extended warranties and sales ad specials.
When I bought my truck 3 years ago, I asked about the 5.3 liter engine. He gave me totally wrong information.
AT&T news: No longer selling the Iphone online in NYC. Guess that is one way to help the network..
@SlickyFats A Best Buy or GameStop rep is one thing, but this was a Nokia employee working at a Nokia booth. I don't expect a Best Buy rep to know everything about every television in the store. A Nokia salesperson doesn't have a lot of spec sheets to memorized (remember, they're only selling their unlocked phones directly).
I hate those center kiosks in the mall. I really do. You can't walk through a mall without getting bombarded with sales pitches. I generally go to the mall for one of 3 reasons:
1) I know what I want to buy, and as soon as I get it, I'm leaving.
2) Taking my son to the indoor playplace to escape the 120 degree AZ heat.
3) I'm there with my wife, which means I'm probably aggravated.
In any of these cases, I don't want skin lotion, a new phone, a massage, or whatever else they're trying to sell.
As we've discussed previously, I hate salespeople.
@RPad
That's true, but how much do you think they require those people to actually know about the products. I know if it were me I'd try to be well informed, but I know some people just show up for a pay check.
You should have totally cock-blocked that guy's sale, Mr. Padilla. Sure you would have made an enemy that day, but you would have done the right thing.
Also, as a public service announcement: Do not go to H&R Block to do your taxes. As an example; that Nokia employee you talked about in your article, HE would be a typical candidate to work at an H&R Block. All those people do is sit there and ask you questions that pop up on their screen and charge you an arm and a leg for it. They may or may not have any accounting experience at all. All you need to do to file your taxes is just follow the directions on the instruction booklet that you get in the mail from the IRS or just go to their website if you need help. You could also get Turbo Tax to make it really, really easy. Avoid H&R Block like the plague and keep your money.
-M
or you could pay someone like me…
Righ, Smartguy, I forgot that you have knowledge in the field of accounting. I'll have to remember that for my next rant. You seem like someone with a conscience and I am assuming that you wouldn't charge what those a-holes charge for reading text on a screen who probably don't know the difference between EVA and Topside Accounting Adjustments.
-M
@iceman
It depends. If you only have 1-3 W2s and 1-3 1099s, then it would be cheaper to use me (personally) on top of it just being more advantageous to you the client. If you have a trust fund, a few 1099s and need to fill out a schedule C, 4797, and 4262…then it will be more expensive.
I however have the ability to make decisions…unlike the vegetable sitting in front of a copy of TaxCut (that HR Block tax software). Those people seriously offend me.
@R-Pad
I would expect a Best Buy or GameStop employee to know almost everything about the only three consoles on the market. If you only have three different pieces of hardware to sale, how can you not know anything about them? The games are a different story. Sure you can screw up on what is exclusive to what every now and then, but the consoles don't change specs every 6 months.
LoL I'm with Slicky on this, he/she is an uninformed low wage employee who's prolly only there part time for the holiday season. I've seen this with everyone phone company, gaming stores, Best Buy, ect. Offer commission and I'd bet they would sell their momma.
@Sandrock – lol don't "expect" anything. Sales reps even in those places are totally uninformed about systems too.
Depends on the employee. Regular employees are much more likely to know what they're talking about than seasonal ones. And 'tis the season to hire warm bodies….
@SlickyFats Uninformed I can accept and expect. Saying that there's firmware coming that will make the impossible happen? That's just dishonest.
@Iceman You're right. You guys should use a small firm in Queens for your taxes.
http://padillacpa.com/index.php
I'm going to start charging my dad and my brother for all these plus. Ha!
Along the lines of the best buy situation with the ps3 that slickyfats mentioned, I like to have fun with the employees who don't know anything. I pretend like I have no clue about the 7th gen systems, and the avalanche of stupidity that comes out of their mouths is worth a huge laugh after I leave!