VizualBusiness: AT&T Did Not Want To Sell Me a Nokia Lumia 920 (Update: Got it!)

Sunday, November 11, 2012

AT&T Did Not Want To Sell Me a Nokia Lumia 920 (Update: Got it!)

AT&T Did Not Want To Sell Me a Nokia Lumia 920 (Update: Got it!):
The Nokia Lumia 920 went on sale today in the US at AT&T stores, but actually buying one this morning was harder than I expected. I went to two AT&T stores and both of them couldn’t sell me a Nokia Lumia 920 without a contract. Here are the details.
My money

I went to the first AT&T store (2152 Bartow Avenue, Bronx, NY) at 10am and asked for the Nokia Lumia 920. First thing they asked was the color I wanted. The saleslady then asked for my number. I told them I wanted to buy it off-contract. She then went to the back to ask someone else (maybe her manager). She came back and said she couldn’t sell me the phone off-contract.
Confused and annoyed, I checked out another AT&T store on the way home (61-44 188th Street, Fresh Meadows, NY). There was a greeter at the door with a Windows 8 t-shirt. He said they had the Nokia Lumia 920 in stock. When I told him I wanted to buy it off-contract, he went to someone at the register. He came back and told me I have to go online to buy it off-contract.
WTF?
I was a little disappointed because I wanted to get this phone this morning. I thought it would’ve been faster to buy it at an actual AT&T store in the morning instead of buying it online then waiting for the delivery guy to come.
How about you? Did you try buying a Nokia Lumia 920 today at an AT&T store? How did it go?

Update: AT&T’s PR got in touch and told me

The store you visited wasn’t correctly applying a policy and we were sure to re-emphasize this to the staff.

An AT&T NYC/NJ Area Retail Sales Manager also insisted to meet me at my nearest AT&T store to ensure I was able to buy the Nokia Lumia 920 off contract without any more problems. My local store actually ran out of the red one, so he drove over to the store to bring one for me. Thanks, Marc!
After NYC taxes, the total was $489.90. I’m happy with that because I didn’t have to sign up for a 2-year contract.
The lesson here is that if an AT&T store says you can’t buy the phone off contract, ask to speak to the manager. If they say no, ask to speak to their manager.
Did you try buying a Nokia Lumia off-contract today? How did it go?