2degreesmobile - New Wellington CBD store
The store is nicely laid out and the displays are simple. It looks good and there's comfy looking seats, easy guides on all their pricing and everything you'd expect from a good telco.
When I walked in there were two staff members in the doorway talking. Fair enough I thought, I wanted to look at the mobile broadband options so I went about 5 meters into the shop. By the time I turned around both staff members were gone, there were at least 7 customers in the store and the only staff visible were behind the counter serving people.
A customer came up to me and asked about the opening specials, I honestly replied I didn't know anything about them.. the guy told me off for being a useless staff member!
He wasn't the only one, after that more customers came up and asked me questions.. I left pretty quickly!
2degrees have a good thing going, but their staff are letting them down. Keep in mind all the 2D staff were wearing blue shirts with 2D logos.. I was wearing a black shirt.. I wasn't approached or acknowledged by a single staff member and by the looks of it at least 5 others weren't either.
Sorry 2D, but it looks like I'm sticking with XT for now.
Comment by Hayden, on 29-Oct-2010 16:42 , user id: )
I guess I would prefer the Telecom shop staff and their "welcome to Telecom" greeting that sounds like you're on the phone with a call centre, then being completely ignored as you were.
Comment by nate, on 30-Oct-2010 17:01 , user id: 30356)
Their kiosk in the centre of Sylvia Park is very, very basic. Especially when compared to that of Vodafone/Telecom.
The store isn't too bad, was pretty empty when I walked past on Monday.
Comment by eskay, on 31-Oct-2010 16:36 , user id: )
The store is pretty simple and clean which is what I expected from 2D. Looks good, but does look a bit dark inside from out on the street.
Staff on the other hand, while friendly, showed pretty poor customer service, failing the instant they (eventually) tried to greet me.
I am young. But I have been fortunate to work in a retail role that involves heavy customer service and lots of 1 on 1 time. To me, it appeared the 2D staff (on the day I was there) lacked any formal training in proper 'greet and seat' methods. The shop wasn't busy at all, so perhaps a bit of boredom had set in, but come on, its not hard.
If anyone from 2D's reads this, tell those guys stop hanging around behind the counter or so close to the doors when people come in. Brushing up on some greet and seat rules and reading your mission statement again couldn't hurt either.
Comment by Foo, on 1-Nov-2010 07:39 , user id: 33478)
Both I and my partner had a slightly different experience.
My partner popped in on Friday at about 3:30pm and she said the staff were quick to help her with the double your top up deal.
I went into the store on Saturday morning and there were two staff members who were smiley, polite and seemed to be very helpful. They did say that things were very busy the previous day with the $2 phones on offer. Personally I think their service was great, but there could have been different staff working on the weekend.
Comment by rovente, on 1-Nov-2010 11:52 , user id: 56389)
You were mistaken for staff? Classic buddy. Did you correct the impression?
Comment by 5011, on 1-Nov-2010 14:31 , user id: 51527)
Popped down to the same store this afternoon (Customhouse Quay, ~2pm) to take a look at the IDEOS Android 2.2 handset.
The store was quiet - only two other customers in there, so I got plenty of attention from the dude behind the counter.
The IDEOS wasn't on display at the time as it was charging, so he got it out for me and stood nearby ready to answer any questions I had (like: 'how do I get the GPS to pick up? - I want to see how long it takes to get a lock on satelites')
I was amused when he told me the IDEOS had the 'same screen as the iPhone'.
I was also told that to use the GPS I'd have to manually enter a starting point. .. which defeats half the purpose of GPS ("dear satelite please tell me where I am now!"). It's possible that this is a limitation of the software loaded onto the IDEOS.
Nice store, attentive CSR .. but he didn't have the answers to the (very handset specific) questions I was asking.
Comment by Foo, on 2-Nov-2010 08:15 , user id: 33478)
That sounds a bit odd that you have to manually enter a starting point. Did it have Google maps installed? If it did, it would be worthwhile starting that up and use the 'current location' button. If the GPS function is actually off, Google maps will prompt you to turn it on, so follow the on screen directions.
Comment by llvonn, on 2-Nov-2010 17:57 , user id: 51729)
Nowadays, I wouldn't expect any staff member at most places to be knowledgeable about technology products - but they get points with me if they are.
I always research the product I am going in to look at. I get more of an idea off the internet and groups like nzgeeks than from any store representative
Comment by graemeh, on 3-Nov-2010 15:57 , user id: 30592)
@5011
This is probably the same guy who told me "it is illegal to SIM lock a phone in NZ" when I asked if it was SIM locked.
You've probably worked out now he didn't know what he was talking about.
To use the GPS you run the maps app and it works out where you are. It's pretty quick, picked up my location to within about 10m as I crossed the street outside work. I turned it on when I left the building.
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Comment by heavenlywild, on 29-Oct-2010 16:36 , user id: 15814)
The problem is - and I am only guessing here - is that most customer service reps are too young to even know what "customer service" is about.