Dan’s wife Elana was not the only Gear Diary spouse to give in to the iPhone pressure this weekend-Sarah replaced her HTC Incredible with a 16GB 4S! However, the Verizon salesman betrayed his Android fanboy colors during our sales experience.
You see, the salesman approached us and asked Sarah what she was looking to purchase. She said she was looking to replace her phone with an iPhone, and when he found out she was moving from Android to iOS, he proceeded to give her the hard sell. First, he informed her in a very condescending tone that “Android is different from the iPhone and some people have trouble adjusting.” Sarah didn’t skip a beat and informed the salesman she was very aware of the difference in operating systems and she didn’t care.
So then Mr Android asked her why she wanted to switch, and she told him the truth. She hated how big the Android devices were (I believe her exact words were “I don’t need a phone the size of my face”). So the sales guy attempted to sell her an LG Enlighten, a decent entry level Android phone, but a significant step down from an iPhone and probably not much better than her Incredible. After she blew off his suggestion again, he finally went to the back to get her iPhone.
I didn’t speak up or intervene because this was Sarah’s phone and purchase, but I found the exchange rather interesting. The salesman did not listen to a word Sarah said, and basically wanted to sell her on what was likely more advantageous for him. He seemed almost annoyed to be selling an iPhone. If this was his own personal bias, he needs to check it when he clocks in for work, and if it is an issue of incentives to sell Android phones over iPhones, Verizon needs to reevaluate their business plans. If nothing else, they need to price their Android phones more competitively against the entry level iPhone. Size aside, Sarah had a really hard time even considering most Android devices because she simply hated the idea of spending $299 on a smartphone when the iPhone started at $199. Yes, the $299 phones matched the 32GB iPhone in price and memory capacity, but psychologically that $100 difference mattered when Sarah was comparison shopping. Plus, from pure “contrarianism” alone she wanted an iPhone after the way the sales guy treated her!
All’s well that ends well, and Sarah is happily playing on her new iPhone. But the attitude of the guy at Verizon still bothers me, especially because it was clear from the start of the conversation that Sarah knew what she wanted. He made a sale in spite of his attitude and not because of it.
Have you had any Verizon employees try to sell Android over iOS? Share your good and bad customer service experiences in the comments!