Beyond belief!

[Anonymous]

On Thursday 2nd February I went along to the o2 shop in The Mall, Stratford E15, to purchase an iPhone 7 plus. I didn't want a contract and I never order a new mobile on line via courier delivery - I like to be sure of what I'm getting. The assistant was polite and professional BUT he said he couldn't sell me the phone (I already have a SIM contract with o2) and tried to hard-sell me a contract instead. I asked him a direct question "all I want is a new phone; it's not rocket science- it's all very easy - so what's the problem"? Back came the hard-sell about how he's unable to do that with this phone and wanted to sell me a contract which would have ended up costing me around £15 a month more than it need be. He couldn't tell me what I'd get for the extra money and vehemently denied he got commission (tell me when the next rainstorm is mate - I'll come along with it!!) disgusted, I walked out, told him he'd lost a sale on an iPhone 7 plus and went to the Apple Store instead. Oh what a difference!!! Professional and good customer service all the way! You'd have thought that as a 10year plus customer of o2, loyalty would have counted for something, but as with all big businesses these days, with o2 loyalty counts for squat! Well done o2! You certainly teach your staff how to kill a sure-fire sale!

[Cleoriff]

Sorry to hear that @Anonymous I have no idea why they wouldn't allow you to purchase the phone outright?

In fairness we always recommend people go directly to Apple. You certainly can't fault their customer service

Enjoy the phone..:smileywink:

[MI5]

Low stock levels enforced by Apple so O2 stores will be wanting to keep stock for new contracts or upgrades.
Sounds simple enough to me.
If buying outright anyway, you are better off going to Apple direct (which is where they are forcing everyone to go)

[sheepdog]

After 10 years, I'd have thought you knew exactly how mobile phones shops work with high demand models especially the iPhone latest whizzbang model (Wait: just realised thats quite apt these days with exploding batteries )

Can't really blame the sales person as they've been ordered to sell contracts which are high value compared to a one-off purchase and I suspect it would have been the same with Vodafone or EE. I suspect they've raised this time and time again with management which must be demoralising for them to hear customers repeat the same statement of "you've lost out..."

Or put yourself in their position - what would you have done? Open ended question for everyone to discuss...

[Cleoriff]

Apart from mixed reports from Apple (dependent on which rag/mag you read). Last I heard before I got bored  they were cuttng back on production of iPhone 7's as they weren't selling well and would be concentrating on iPhone 8.

Obviously a marketing ploy to make the iphone 7 seem more desirable and a must have item...

[MI5]

Dread to think what will happen with the Anniversary model!

[jonsie]

So you can either sell a phone with very little commission or a phone with a contract for a decent bonus. Also with limited stock the phone won't stay on the shelf for long so I can easily understand the logic.