vB Easy Archive - Agents getting canned in my area.

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Agents getting canned in my area.
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Posted by: WebologyChicago

In my area in Chicago (sw burbs) every single 3rd party dealer, exclusive or not, has been killed for AT&T to go with Radio Shack, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart Exclusively.

Anyone else know any details, or feeling the effects of it?

Posted by: smartnewbie

Same here (from a different area of the windy city.) Certain franchisers got shut down entirely. I don't mind it at all being at COR, our traffic has shot up! But I feel bad for the agent employees.

Posted by: WebologyChicago

They lost their residuals they had, one I know has 18 years of residuals cut off with 7 days notice. Given Cor doesn't hire enough people to make the customers happy. I think this will bite AT&T. A lot of the agents in my area are going to Verizon Wireless, and calling each and every customer they have, offering to pay the ETF if they port.

Posted by: SuxBeingU

I amnowhere near Chicago BUT when they eliminated all the multi carrier agents here it was clear, it just a matter of time before they kill off the agent channel completely. In So Cal there are non "Mom adn Pops" lefts, all agents that are still in business are 10+ locations, most are far bigger than that. The Kiosks in the malls are all basically owned by the same company now

Posted by: corys00

Quote:

Originally Posted by WebologyChicago

They lost their residuals they had, one I know has 18 years of residuals cut off with 7 days notice. Given Cor doesn't hire enough people to make the customers happy. I think this will bite AT&T. A lot of the agents in my area are going to Verizon Wireless, and calling each and every customer they have, offering to pay the ETF if they port.

Knowing VZW's indirect channel like the back of my hand, they do not pay out enough on commissions for a company to take a hit on ETF, cover a phone's subsidy and make enough profit to stay afloat. Also, VZW has some very stringent requirements for indirect, including location distance between them and a COR store, unlike ATT which will allow there to be 8 kiosks in 1 mall location (Florida Mall, Orlando), there was one location for VZW in that mall and they've closed shop months ago.

Posted by: Sincere759

Yeah they are shutting down a lot in Chicago with the exception of a few premier dealers. Im praying mine doesnt get the boot cuz they are the best ive ever been with. And so far we have survived the intial round but whos to say how long we got a contract for

Posted by: WebologyChicago

Quote:

Originally Posted by corys00

Yes, but also knowing that a the dealer I know doing this owns 10 locations in 3 counties, has been in business for 43 years, selling wireless via CellOne, Cingular, AT&T Mobility for 18 of them. She's paying out of her OWN money to get revenge, and Verizon is also helping her on phone prices because of how well respected the owner is in the community. She has made her money doing this business, now she's getting revenge on AT&T.

And most large corporate accounts, after they sign their contract, only renew if they need new phones. So a lot of those lines are out of contract.

Posted by: WebologyChicago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sincere759

Yeah they are shutting down a lot in Chicago with the exception of a few premier dealers. Im praying mine doesnt get the boot cuz they are the best ive ever been with. And so far we have survived the intial round but whos to say how long we got a contract for

Because of how the economy is, for your sake I hope so too!

Posted by: locke629

Quote:

Originally Posted by WebologyChicago

Yes, but also knowing that a the dealer I know doing this owns 10 locations in 3 counties, has been in business for 43 years.

43 years? wow...and my parents did not get a cell phone until 1996.....

Last time i checked...there werent mobile phones availible in 1965?!? Did someone invent the flux capacitor recently and change history that I was not aware of?

Posted by: cingman66

Quote:

Originally Posted by locke629

If you bothered to actually READ the post, you would have seen that they were in business for 43 years, but only in wireless for 18 years. Doh!

And btw, Best Buy sucks!

Posted by: locke629

Quote:

Originally Posted by cingman66

If you bothered to actually READ the post, you would have seen that they were in business for 43 years, but only in wireless for 18 years. Doh!

And btw, Best Buy sucks!

Sorry! MY BAD!!! lol......just couldnt help making a flux capcitor joke.....

And why you say Best Buy sucks? If people actually read policies and such like they are supposed to it would stop people from being disappointed when they feel they are entitled to something they're not. I will say that some stores do have some pretty dumb employees and there are certain stores in my area I will not shop at. However, overall Best Buy does have good knowledgble employees and a great product selection. Anyone who thinks buying an Olivia TV at Walmart is a great decision...GOOD LUCK! lol

Oh and Best Buy Mobile is considered a seperate entity from Best Buy. It is a join partnership with Carphone Warehouse. We even have our own CEO for Best Buy Mobile. Also, the way things are displayed and approach to customers is different than the rest of Best Buy. There are even stand-alone Best Buy Mobile stores opening up that will not be in Best Buy locations. Some have already launched! :-D

Anywho.....happy selling!

Posted by: xbox360gamer

I always say good bye and good riddens to all the agents in the entire country. they should just nuke every single one of them and be done with it. maybe that'll get rid of the trashy side of the AT&T cell phone business.

Posted by: locke629

Quote:

Originally Posted by xbox360gamer

I always say good bye and good riddens to all the agents in the entire country. they should just nuke every single one of them and be done with it. maybe that'll get rid of the trashy side of the AT&T cell phone business.

If that ever happened that would be on of the worst things to happen to the consumer. Agents help create direct competition with corporate stores. It keeps everyone on their toes and the end result (hopefully this happens), creates a satisfying experience for the customer. The only downside is people will say some pretty untrue things to sway a customer to buy from them, from both the corporate store and the agent. My favorite one I get at Best Buy is the corporate store down the street from us tells their customers that the phones we get are "refurbs". Seriously? Come on now......we contacted our Account Exec and she was pretty upset at those comments so yeah.... lol

Posted by: cingman66

Quote:

Originally Posted by locke629

My favorite one I get at Best Buy is the corporate store down the street from us tells their customers that the phones we get are "refurbs". Seriously? Come on now......we contacted our Account Exec and she was pretty upset at those comments so yeah.... lol

The really ironic part about that statement is that COR stores are always telling customers that Agent stores only sell refurbs, when in reality, AT&T is the one directly advertising and selling refurbs both on line and in some stores, while Agents usually don't even carry refurbs. Go figure.

Posted by: SuxBeingU

Quote:

Originally Posted by xbox360gamer

That could would cool huh, then your job would be reduced top essentially, WalMart. no need for comissions, we have no competition. They go away soon after so does your paycheck, you'll become a 9.00 an hour employee, that great huh.
you should think things through before you speak

Posted by: timburke

Webology, where in the southwest burbs are you?

I'm in Plainfield, and the agents here have been closed as well, except for a few of them, which have been selling AT&T since it was Cellular One. The local agent here, which is where I have been getting my AT&T phones, still has the AT&T Authorised Retailer sign up and everything... but are now out of business.

Posted by: WebologyChicago

Quote:

Originally Posted by timburke

Webology, where in the southwest burbs are you?

I'm in Plainfield, and the agents here have been closed as well, except for a few of them, which have been selling AT&T since it was Cellular One. The local agent here, which is where I have been getting my AT&T phones, still has the AT&T Authorised Retailer sign up and everything... but are now out of business.

I'm in Joliet, The business I was talking about is CTC Wireless, they have sold pagers, CB radios, FM trunked radios. They have the contract with every PD & FD in the area to provide their radios. They have done car audio before.

Posted by: timburke

Quote:

Originally Posted by WebologyChicago

Ah, yes, CTC Wireless - that's the one I had been getting phones from for a while, due to the fact that it's closer than the closest AT&T COR store (the closest COR store for me is in the Joliet Mall). So are they out of business, or are they just no longer selling AT&T wireless?

Posted by: locke629

Quote:

Originally Posted by cingman66

HAHA thats soooooooooo true!!!!

Posted by: WebologyChicago

Quote:

Originally Posted by timburke

They are now a Verizon Wireless Master Agent, they also now sell pagers, dish & direct tv, and CB/walkie talkies again, something AT&T forced them to quit doing.

Posted by: krisguy

RedSkye Wireless left Nebraska a few weeks ago.

Posted by: WebologyChicago

That's so sad that so many people are losing their job.

Posted by: PSUcheerDee

I'm in PA & they closed all of the agent locations in my county except one... my store. Good for us! But terrible for the employees of the other agent locations. It's pretty clear to us that AT&T is much more COR focused and would probably rather see us closed as well. It's been a struggle ever since the switch from Dobson Cellular One to AT&T.

Posted by: cingman66

It's no secret that AT&T has a directive to decrease the Agent presence...it's just now apparent how widespread it has become. Last Fall, they shut down (or more accurately, forced out) the two largest Agents in New England (over 120 stores combined) and converted many of the locations into COR stores. Short term, there is alot to be worried about...although many of the good Agent employees were scooped up by either the new COR stores or other competing Agents. But long term I wouldn't worry too much...pretty soon AT&T will realize what a mistake it was to go this route and eventually the remaining Agents will expand and re-take some of those stores.

Then again, we could all be out of jobs in 6 months as more and more customers feel that the internet is a better place to conduct business. It's a crap shoot.

Posted by: ATnt-RSC

Please, stop whining about the internet boogieman. Wirefly, the biggest and baddest of them all, does the equivalent of ~6-8 fairly busy COR stores. I did almost as good as newegg.com. The corporate att.com does better, but is still a FRACTION of what the retail channels do.

It's all in DSR, just click the indirect tab (I have no clue if they give that to dealers, but all of you at COR can verify what I say).

If you want to know what's going to take your job, just look over to the nearest Wally World. They do more sales than the web and half the call centers combined, and growing. AT&T is consolidating the retail indirect into Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart, forcing out the struggling agent and buying out the successful ones and make them corporate. The independent agent is a dying breed, the casualty of changed strategy, and all we have here are tired arguments of "dealer vs COR" and "retail vs web," while completely missing the true enemy.

Posted by: Linkman

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATnt-RSC

Please, stop whining about the internet boogieman. Wirefly, the biggest and baddest of them all, does the equivalent of ~6-8 fairly busy COR stores. I did almost as good as newegg.com. The corporate att.com does better, but is still a FRACTION of what the retail channels do.

It's all in DSR, just click the indirect tab (I have no clue if they give that to dealers, but all of you at COR can verify what I say).

If you want to know what's going to take your job, just look over to the nearest Wally World. They do more sales than the web and half the call centers combined, and growing. AT&T is consolidating the retail indirect into Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart, forcing out the struggling agent and buying out the successful ones and make them corporate. The independent agent is a dying breed, the casualty of changed strategy, and all we have here are tired arguments of "dealer vs COR" and "retail vs web," while completely missing the true enemy.

There is less business for everyone nowadays. As the market matures it will be more difficult for anyone to reach the levels of the past.

Look at Wirefly, their parent company InPhonic was whipped out in bankruptcy mainly because of VERY shady business practices. Yet, somehow the assets were allowed to continue on even after its customers lost out on all of those “great” 2nd rebates. Big box and little box (radio shack) will continue to do big numbers because they have so many doors. Best Buy had 1,300 stores and Radio Shack has more than 6,000, all they need to do is one activation a day at each and their numbers look big. Radio Shack is struggling at best – their stock dropped 14% earlier in the week. Why, disappointing wireless numbers! I remember when everybody was panicking because Radio Shack started selling AT&T/Cingular. They are what they are, an electronic haberdashery.

Independent stores will continue on for many years. They just won’t be opening a lot of new stores and making tons of money like they used to. Best Buy hasn’t closed down all of the independent home audio stores or all of the independent Camera stores. If you meet a niche in the market you can continue to be successful.