Walmart forcing my dad to sign up in store...

[Olitheon]

Hi everyone. My Dad is at Walmart and they won't allow him to buy the sim and take it home. They are forcing him to sign up in-store. Is this allowed? I bought mine no problem when I signed up.  It is also not recognizing my phone number for referral.  Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks in advance.

[TiaMaria]

i left Walmart with mine...

can't make you stay.

[dna2016]

@Olitheon, wow this is totally not allowed, and as @ShawnC13 mentioned please provide as much information about the Walmart location and which reps you were dealing with, to the PM MODS @CS_Agent.  This is definitely not the way it's supposed to be.  

These reps must have some type of incentive from their store or management by setting up a certain amount of activations within store because it makes no sense why they would treat your father like this if there was no incentive.  I used to be in sales in the communications industry awhile ago, and sales reps would only act this way if there wasn't some type of target or commission involved.

Regarding the phone number referral, you'll need to figure that out first before activating because if you activate without your phone number being input in the "referred by" section, then you won't get the monthly referral credit/bonus, and to my knowledge the MODS won't be able to help you out with that.

[choding]

when I bought a sim card at walmart, they said they have to activate it in the store. So I did. I thought it is their policy. I don't know the relation of business between PM and Walmart. I thought it is good service for stranger, but no good for people to how to do. In my case, I know how to do, but they asked me to do in the store. If issues of referal, you shoud send a message of your story and solve it.

[JL9]

Ughhhh...soooo annoying and frustrating!

[Olitheon]

Thanks for the info everyone. I had to leave for work 10 min after my original post. I spoke to my dad and he actually punched in my phone number incorrectly, that was the issue with it not recognizing my phone number. The guy at Walmart said that because a lot of people set up their accounts incorrectly they have been told to do it in store now... Even though it took the guy at Walmart 30 min to set up the account and it would have taken me 5 min. Lol anyways, my dad got his account set up in the end. I'll try to get into tomorrow about the store location and the guy's name. I am pretty sure it was Ajax Walmart, as my dad had to go to Costco afterwards.

[jjhack84]

Either commission or targets involved. I know that virgin brought back prepaid targets when lucky mobile opened.

Targets affect their bonus, yearly pay raise and promotion options. With Bell I had lost out on a promotion due to being low on home phone sales. It is something that most veteran reps keep in mind.

Or boredom... never discount the fact that they may have been standing for hours waiting for people to come by.😀

[NDesai]

---

@Acekiller wrote:

sounds like they try to earn that commission.

how do you know it is not recognizing your phone number for referral ?

---

Yes, there must be commission involved, but it is usually not so much. I have no idea why they still force people to sign up for a few bucks. 

[will13am]

---

@jjhack84 wrote:

Most good sales reps have been brainwashed into hearing "opportunities". They can pick out small bits of information and turn it into a sales pitch.

For instance, someone looking for just a sim card is either looking to setup a new line (ka-ching) or is having issues with their current one and were told to go into the store by customer service to get a new sim card.

Sales rep are taught to be like sharks who don't understand the word "no". A sales "shark" would hear sim card like a real shark senses a drop of blood in the water. By trying to activate in store you can get pieces of info and try to upsell the customer into either of post paid sale and/or other services like tv/internet/home phone/security systems/tablets etc.

If you think the manager will protect you from this you are wrong. If the manager gets involved they will try the same thing without you knowing it. In fact, if they found out that the sales rep gave up and sold a sim card after trying just twice to upsell, that rep would get written up. A good sales rep are taught to overcome a minimum of 4 "no" responses.

It is even worse then you think. It is purely a numbers game with reps. If a customer comes in looking for an upgrade to their current device, and the rep successfully upgrades the phone and nothing else. BOOM, all hell breaks loose. If a customer was eligible for a other line (think tablet) or  another service(like tv or internet) you as a rep have to sign them up for those news services. It is sales tactics like this that the CRTC is supposedly looking into.

The CRTC will never actually stop this practice. Shark reps are rewarded were customer orientated reps are typically out of a job rather quickly.

*end of rant* 

---

How these agents respond may be dependent on their read of the situation and the amount of "blood" they smell.  I can offer up as much blood as a stone if they are up to the challenge.  I work on the principle that the customer is always right.  Everybody has a boss and I am not afraid to engage the entire food chain.  If my service provider understands these basics, we can work well together.  

[srlawren]

---

@jjhack84 wrote:

If a customer comes in looking for an upgrade to their current device, and the rep successfully upgrades the phone and nothing else. BOOM, all hell breaks loose. If a customer was eligible for a other line (think tablet) or  another service(like tv or internet) you as a rep have to sign them up for those news services. It is sales tactics like this that the CRTC is supposedly looking into.

---

@jjhack84 sounds like a great reason to only buy your upgraded devices on Amazon (or other such site) to avoid ever having to deal with any of these sharks.  

[daredogg]

To address @jjhack84's rant... saying "no" 5 times seems like the solution! 

[jjhack84]

Most good sales reps have been brainwashed into hearing "opportunities". They can pick out small bits of information and turn it into a sales pitch.

For instance, someone looking for just a sim card is either looking to setup a new line (ka-ching) or is having issues with their current one and were told to go into the store by customer service to get a new sim card.

Sales rep are taught to be like sharks who don't understand the word "no". A sales "shark" would hear sim card like a real shark senses a drop of blood in the water. By trying to activate in store you can get pieces of info and try to upsell the customer into either of post paid sale and/or other services like tv/internet/home phone/security systems/tablets etc.

If you think the manager will protect you from this you are wrong. If the manager gets involved they will try the same thing without you knowing it. In fact, if they found out that the sales rep gave up and sold a sim card after trying just twice to upsell, that rep would get written up. A good sales rep are taught to overcome a minimum of 4 "no" responses.

It is even worse then you think. It is purely a numbers game with reps. If a customer comes in looking for an upgrade to their current device, and the rep successfully upgrades the phone and nothing else. BOOM, all hell breaks loose. If a customer was eligible for a other line (think tablet) or  another service(like tv or internet) you as a rep have to sign them up for those news services. It is sales tactics like this that the CRTC is supposedly looking into.

The CRTC will never actually stop this practice. Shark reps are rewarded were customer orientated reps are typically out of a job rather quickly.

*end of rant* 

[Luddite]

@Olitheon Try WOW Mobile; no rpoblems at my local shop.

[Acekiller]

sounds like they try to earn that commission.

how do you know it is not recognizing your phone number for referral ?

[daredogg]

@computergeek541 I was just wondering the same as @brent_liza if they're "forcing" people to sign-up in store so that the associate will get a commission? I'd imagine this has something to do with it... does anyone know for sure? 

[kav2001c]

They must

But usually paid much less for a prepay act

[brent_liza]

I wonder if they get a commision for just activating whether it is prepaid or postpaid vs selling the sim only. That is the only thing i could think of.

[computergeek541]

---

@jjhack84 wrote:

They legally can not force anyone to sign up in store no matter the carrier. I would tell your dad to go to a different location. He can ask to talk to a manager, but in my experience, a lot of locations are without a manager in house for the majority of the day.

---

They also don't have to legally sell to anyone.  They can refuse to do business.   As for the Walmart locations refusing to sell a sim card without activation, this story has been repeated by quite a few customers. I know that Public Mobile keeps saying that this is not the way that they want things to be, but based on the way this keeps happening, I suspect that Public Mobile may be essentially powerless to stop this practice.  The way that this situation keeps presenting itself, I strongly suspect that the people working at these locations have in fact been ordered not to sell these sim cards without activation (ordered by their bosses, not be Public Mobile), at the very least unless the customer causes a fuss about it and insists.

Another location is an option, but I would just order the sim card online. What does someone really gain by getting the sim card in-store, other than having the sim card immediately? 

[brent_liza]

They can't force him to sign up in store. Contact a moderator so they can contact the correct persons at the store. your dad shouldn't be pressured into signing up right then and there. He is paying for the sim card. They are at no loss if he activates it at home vs the store. 

[mimmo]

As for you number not being recognized for referrals you will need to ask the mods to look I to it 

[cappaj]

Also let the mods here know all the details (rep's name, store location, etc.) - they want to get to the bottom of these things asap.

[ShawnC13 · Accepted solution]

---

@Olitheon wrote:

Hi everyone. My Dad is at Walmart and they won't allow him to buy the sim and take it home. They are forcing him to sign up in-store. Is this allowed? I bought mine no problem when I signed up.  It is also not recognizing my phone number for referral.  Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks in advance.

---

NO it isn't allowed.  Get the store number and ask for the managers name and the person that is helping you.  If you are out West and can get to a London Drugs you will also get a $20 bill credit if you activate with them before the 26 of July

[jjhack84]

They legally can not force anyone to sign up in store no matter the carrier. I would tell your dad to go to a different location. He can ask to talk to a manager, but in my experience, a lot of locations are without a manager in house for the majority of the day.