867-5309/Poshy: Call me . . . help me.
I am getting a new phone tomorrow (or in the next several days) as one of my early Chanukah present from my boyfriend. I got the itch because he just got a Blackberry Storm that I'm certain he loves more than me.I saw that it had GPS and that feature is intriguing to me because I have a terrible sense of direction, hate using maps of any kind and regularly get lost in DC (even to places I've been to before); and I will use MapQuest only when I absolutely have to because I find their directions cryptic sometimes and, in the case of D.C., inaccurate. He asked me if I wanted to go look at phones at AT&T and I agreed because we were already out yesterday doing some window shopping. I am thinking that was a mistake now because I've become frustrated with the total experience so far.
The first AT&T store we went into was moderately busy but not at all swamped, which surprised me. However, I was immediately glad because I thought I would get informed assistance from a saleperson. Riiiiiiiight . . . Well, I must be f_cking retarded because that didn't happen. I can't believe I expected these salespeople to know their f_cking product!
I must be spoiled by my work. In luxury goods, there's no such thing as not knowing your product and your competitor's product; even if that product never comes up in the conversation it's best to assume that the client has cross-shopped, especially in cars. It's folley to think that an individual looking at a Quattroporte hasn't at least sat in a Flying Spur or even a CLS. And it blows the entire scene if you're in a Louis Vuitton and an SA doesn't know that each year the Epi Alma comes in at least one limited edition color and since 1985. Well, this was worse for me and this is exactly why I've owned the same phone since I entered college. Oh, and if you want to know if your Louis Vuitton SA is worth a damn, ask them which pattern came first, Damier or Monogram Canvas.
Anyway, the salesperson asked me if I wanted some help and I told him I was looking for a new phone and was interested in the BlackJack II, since I'd heard good things about it from Epinions and the price was appropriate for an item with the shelf life of yogurt. Well, I must have been speaking in tongues because he took me right over to what I found out was a Samsung Epix which he claimed was "one thousand times better" because it was "so much newer." And I told the guy that this didn't look like what I saw online and he said I should try it and I would see that this was a better choice. I was annoyed but I fiddled with it (to be polite) and thought it was okay but not for that kind of money. He then thought it would be prudent to ask me what phone I had already and I told him. He immediately pushed me away from the Epix and toward something called the QuickFire which has EVEN LESS features than my LX, GPS notwithstanding, but that he swore was "better" than what I had. Although it was certainly a nice phone, it wasn't professional-looking at all so I asked to see the BlackJack II again. He took me over to it, finally, and just then decided to ask me what I planned on doing with it. I said I wanted it to use as a phone (duh), hold contacts, do a lot of texting and sync with Outlook. He said that it should be able to do all that and then just left me with it! I tried to get it do things and failed miserably. It was sitting next to a Motorola Q, which looked very similar. That phone seemed to match the BlackJack for features but was not as attractive and, quite frankly, I want a cute phone. LOL
Well, in any event, I had no idea what I should be looking for or what I was looking for exactly (but I knew what I didn't want) and felt like I'd just been hit by a truck on the Information Superhighway and left for dead. The saleperson, while looking the part of well-groomed technocrat, was really just there to stand around and point at things that were new and therefore "better." I said we had to go to a store where someone would be more helpful. Remember, this was an uninitiated visit to look at phones and so I definitely needed a great deal of advice. My boyfriend's response was to shut the f_ck up with the whining and get a Storm. I don't know if I mentioned this already but I did NOT want a Blackberry.
I did not like the service there so we left and went to another AT&T store nearby; service there was better because the salesperson seemed like she at least knew what the products did. But she was insistant on me looking at the iPhone before answering any of my questions about the Blackjack II. I mean, she was not overly aggressive but she absolutely knew that what I needed was an iPhone. Even though I didn't say anything about needing to watch movies, TV or listen to music, she went on and on about those things as if it was going to CHANGE MY ENTIRE LIFE! She at least had one which greatly helped lend her spiel credibility but her comments and presentation was a little too effusive. I've seen the iPhone in action as several people I know have them but I didn't think there was a great deal to it. Everything the first generation one did my LX did as well, and actually faster. The thing that kind of stopped her from hooking me up to the iPhone Soul Transplant machine was when I asked her what justified this cost over any other phones which were as capable if not more capable. The reason she felt I should have this over the BlackJack was 1) it would reduce the need to carry my iPod AND a phone in my purse 2) it looks good and 3) it was Apple. I sh*t you not. That last reason she considered an important factor for me.She never once asked me what I wanted from my phone so she couldn't match up to a product that way. Needless to say, I left there with no phone either.
I am so upset and confused over this whole mobile phone thing! I have used a T-Mobile Sidekick forever, since T-Mobile was Voicestream, and love it. My latest one is the LX which I LOVE but want something that's more professional. While this phone is great at a club, it looks very childish anywhere else. My Paris Hilton phase has passed and I think I would like something upscale, professional but not too trendy. I do NOT want a Blackberry and I kinda think I don't want an iPhone. I want something easy-to-use, like anybody else I suppose, but I am not afraid to crack a manual and read how to use a product. Price is not a factor IF the phone justifies its cost through killer design, one-of-kind features or exclusivity. And no, I do NOT believe in buying a replica phone. LOLInternational RepGeeks chime in as well because I don't mind getting a phone from outside the US if it means I can have everything I want. And I do want everything.
I didn't realize exactly how many choices I would be bombarded with, really. I then go online and get equally if not more so overwhelmed than I was at the stores yesterday! I need some advice from anyone who's used any of the phones I'm looking at or has some insight into what would be best for me, either based on first-hand experience or knowledge about phones. This is another caveat to all this: I need at little bit of objectivity. There seems to be a remarkably little around. Your advice is greatly appreciated and I'm certain it'll help others too.
Originally Posted by smcx
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