Walmart's selection

[jmcook79]

In my area AT&T has really spotty reception, with T-Mobile being basically useless and Sprint only slightly better than AT&T. It would make sense for the local Walmart to carry more Straight talk phones that use the Verizon network since it's the only network within a 45 minute drive that gets decent reception. However, that's not the case.

They usually only carry 2 or maybe 3 models that use Verizon towers and most of the rest use Sprint or AT&T. It makes absolutely no sense. Especially when elderly people just want a simple flip phone and the only option available to them is one that runs on AT&T. I actually work there and many people don't even realize or even look into which carrier the phone uses until they get home and realize they have no signal. Depending on who's working they may get advised of the situation but sometimes they don't. I know so many people who have just bought their favorite Straight Talk phone and then complain about their crappy signal. People should really do their homework first!

Has anyone else noticed this at their local Walmart? This probably only applies to people who live in the middle of nowhere like me.

P.S. If you're one of those people who didn't do their homework, no offense is meant if it came across that way, it's just advice

 

[Rukbat]

I've noticed that most Walmarts carry ST phones that work in their area - I guess some don't.

This afternoon, as I was passing the ST display, I noticed a couple looking at the Walmart whatever-they-call-it plan phones (the ones on TMobile - Family Plan?) TMobile has about the worst coverage of all 4 carriers in this area (even Sprint has just a few large holes), so - as a customer - I asked them if they'd like a little advice from experience, and they listened. But the Walmart plan is cheaper, and that's what they were looking for - price. I pointed out that, regardless of price, if they have no coverage where they live (and I know that TMobile has a huge dead zonbe where they live), they're basically paying for no service. They didn't care.

I was in retail until the early 60s, and the only thing that mattered then was how much money you paid (but a higher total price, if the discount was huge, sometimes made the sale - even though you were paying more). Seems that nothing's changed.

 

[linuxuser21629]

I too work at walmart, we carry an equal amount of Verizon and AT&T models. Most common one sold in my store is the Samsung Galaxy Legend (Verizon). We don't carry a single sprint phone at all since we sold the last of our boost phones, and our selection of TMO phones is slim. All of our sales people know and explain the difference in the ST phones, and service.