Interesting Encounter at Walmart

[shartomjam]

I went to our local Walmart to buy a sim card.  The salesperson said yes.  She asked me if I wanted to activate it and I said no.  After the purchase, I mentioned that lots of people are having difficulty buying a sim at Walmart without activation.  She said they are not supposed to sell many of them without activation in case they run out and don't have any for customers who wish to activate in store because those customers come first.  Interesting.......  She did ask me if I was aware of the in-store specials - I told her that the online specials were better.  

[srlawren]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@srlawren

BTW have you seen the OnePlus roaming feature yet?

That looks very interesting

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@kav2001c I've seen mention of it, but it hasn't made its way to my 5T yet.  Definitely an intriguing feature that I will look into if/when it becomes available to me for sure.  I have no idea how well it would compare to other options, but it's always nice to have options.  I'm guessing it's a type of eSIM or virtual SIM implementation and a network of roaming agreements, but would love to learn more.

[kav2001c]

@srlawren

Although to be fair some major brands (notably Samsung & Apple) will sell directly to consumer

But carriers are evil haha

BTW have you seen the OnePlus roaming feature yet?

That looks very interesting

[srlawren]

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@kav2001c wrote:

Pick any branded carrier store walk in and try to buy a hot phone for full retail price

Most will simply tell you no

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@kav2001c all the more reason to not buy your phones from your carrier.  🙂  I'll stick with ordering my OnePlus devices directly from OnePlus, thank you very much!  

[lemew07]

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@RobertQc wrote:

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@shartomjam wrote:

I went to our local Walmart to buy a sim card.  The salesperson said yes.  She asked me if I wanted to activate it and I said no.  After the purchase, I mentioned that lots of people are having difficulty buying a sim at Walmart without activation.  She said they are not supposed to sell many of them without activation in case they run out and don't have any for customers who wish to activate in store because those customers come first.  Interesting.......  She did ask me if I was aware of the in-store specials - I told her that the online specials were better.  

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@shartomjamFunny, you would think a company worth $175 billion could just order a box of extra sim cards for each store.

Order more instead of selling less would be the better business practice?

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Now that would require that 175 billion dollar corp to dig into profits since I am sure the commision is bigger with a instore activation. Come on whats next paying them a decent wage lol Cheers Lemew

[RobertQc]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@RobertQc

But EVERYONE makes those decisions daily

Fact is they get paid MORE for an activation than handing a SIM to you

Look at EVERY carrier whenever a hot new phone launches (eg iPhone XS or Samsung S9)

Nearly all the time, they prioritize selling to new activations first, upgrades second, and (maybe) selling outright to a non-customer distant third

Pick any branded carrier store walk in and try to buy a hot phone for full retail price

Most will simply tell you no

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@kav2001cI am not talking about a "hot new phone launch" I am talking about a low cost item, which holds its value, does not deprecate and is the size of a credit card that could be ordered in unlimited quantities. Not talking about limited availability extremely high value "hot new phones"

[kav2001c]

@RobertQc

But EVERYONE makes those decisions daily

Fact is they get paid MORE for an activation than handing a SIM to you

Look at EVERY carrier whenever a hot new phone launches (eg iPhone XS or Samsung S9)

Nearly all the time, they prioritize selling to new activations first, upgrades second, and (maybe) selling outright to a non-customer distant third

Pick any branded carrier store walk in and try to buy a hot phone for full retail price

Most will simply tell you no

[shartomjam]

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@kav2001cSo they would have less capital then walmart. Who ever it is, should order more sim cards instead of having to be choosy about who they sell to.

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 I agree - a sale is a sale!  It would make sense rather than have the person walk away and go somewhere else.

[RobertQc]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@RobertQc

The wireless booth inside Walmart is not actually Walmart

Totally seperate company

Same with booth inside Costco and many others

OSL is Walmart

https://oslrs.com/

Many other brands around (eg GlenTel out west) etc

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@kav2001cSo they would have less capital then walmart. Who ever it is, should order more sim cards instead of having to be choosy about who they sell to.

[kav2001c]

@RobertQc

The wireless booth inside Walmart is not actually Walmart

Totally seperate company

Same with booth inside Costco and many others

OSL is Walmart

https://oslrs.com/

Many other brands around (eg GlenTel out west) etc

[RobertQc]

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@shartomjam wrote:

I went to our local Walmart to buy a sim card.  The salesperson said yes.  She asked me if I wanted to activate it and I said no.  After the purchase, I mentioned that lots of people are having difficulty buying a sim at Walmart without activation.  She said they are not supposed to sell many of them without activation in case they run out and don't have any for customers who wish to activate in store because those customers come first.  Interesting.......  She did ask me if I was aware of the in-store specials - I told her that the online specials were better.  

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@shartomjamFunny, you would think a company worth $175 billion could just order a box of extra sim cards for each store.

Order more instead of selling less would be the better business practice?