Buying an iPhone at Walmart (product provided)
March 30, 2009
As you may be aware, I’ve been one of Walmart’s Elevenmoms since last August.
This year, Walmart started carrying the incredibly popular Apple iPhone at its stores that supply AT&T wireless service. In order to see how Moms (and in general, the average phone-buyer at Walmart) experienced the in-store process of buying the iPhone, we were asked if we wanted to participate in a program to evaluate & review the entire procedure at stores near us. It was a voluntary program, in return for which, we’d be allowed to keep the iPhone.
Despite my still unbridled affection for the Palm Treo 680 I’ve been using for about a year and a half now, I’ll admit that I was very curious about the iPhone and so I signed on for the review.
The Shopping Experience
A few of my fellow ElevenMoms had headed out before I had a chance to and reported back that not all stores seemed to have them. Given that a day spent with a squirrelly 6-year-old, driving from one store to another in order to find one that carried it near me sounded like a quick way to kidlet meltdown and parental frustration, I made a list of stores within reasonable driving distance, with their phone numbers, and handed it off to GeekDaddy.
Why hand it off to GeekDaddy? Well, to be honest, I’m not terribly fond of making phone calls. I have a tendency to get frustrated rather quickly when on the phone and figured that it was probably the better idea for him to call.
First, he called the store we usually shop at. He was transferred to the Electronics department and the guy at the phone desk. The response of “iPhones? We don’t carry iPhones” followed by being disconnected was certainly not what we expected – but it turns out that it was the better idea to have GeekDaddy call, because that would’ve set me off! When GeekDaddy called back to verify the information, whomever he spoke to (no name was given) only let him know “we don’t have AT&T phones” when directly queried. Unwilling to continue to drag info out of Mr. Less-than-helpful GeekDaddy moved on to the next store on the list.
This experience was night & day from the first one. I have no problem sharing with y’all the fact that Randy Brown on the phone desk at the Walmart at Chambers & Parker Rd in Aurora CO (Store #1689) was not only pleasant but incredibly helpful.
He told GeekDaddy that “not all stores have an agreement with AT&T – we only carry Verizon phones here. The stores that potentially have them are I-70 & Tower (#5334), E Hampden (#3566), Centennial (#3313), I-70 & Quebec (#3533) maybe Aurora Mall (#1492).” Seriously… he not only told us why some stores carried and some didn’t, but he also provided a list of nearby stores that should have them. That kind of customer service is refreshing.
Calling the rest of those stores let us know that many only had the 8-gigabyte iPhone in stock, and we were looking for the 16-gigabyte 3G iPhone. Two of the stores had the 16gb and they were about equidistant from Case de GeekFamily… but one of the sales reps was incredibly brusque and only quoted the price for the 8gb when asked if they had iPhones, and when asked if that was for the 16gb he replied that they ‘only had that in white’ and rattled off the price again.
At the other store, the Centennial store (#3313), the young lady on the phone was not only pleasant and polite, she was helpful and didn’t require GeekDaddy to drag information out of her slowly and painfully. So we opted to go there.
In The Store
We really should’ve taken the kidlet with us, but you know, some days you just don’t feel like dealing with it if you don’t have to and she was at my Mother-in-law’s playing away – so GeekDaddy & I just figured we’d run in and get it taken care of.
At the phone counter, we were met with a smile by a young woman named Shaina Lotko. Shaina was the one who had been so helpful on the phone earlier! She was also incredibly pleasant and professional in person – despite being nearly 7 months pregnant. Seriously, you can check with GeekDaddy but I’m fairly sure I was never that nice to anyone at any point when I was pregnant… so it was kind of notable!
Shaina was also terribly apologetic and sympathetic throughout the lengthy signup process that followed. Apologetic despite the fact that none of the delay was inside her control.
Over the course of the next hour and a half, I watched her have to consistently re-enter information that she’d already entered at least once. Sometimes having to do so multiple times. There were 2 systems – AT&T Wireless’s system and Walmart’s system – both of which seem to have be written by programmers who were of the ilk of student I used to have to fight the system to flunk when they couldn’t really pass my intro classes.
Seriously – the databases are clearly not well-architected and tables not linked. It was bad enough that both moved at the speed of dark and were clearly not talking to each other – but that they required the sales rep to continually enter information already entered with each new screen? Reprehensible.
Shaina did her best to be engaging while waiting for each new screen to enter and to allow her to go on to the next. But despite that, the process still took an hour and a half. This would’ve been unbearable had my 6 year old been with me instead of my husband. Even GeekDaddy’s legendary patience wore thin over the course of the signup. I can’t even imagine how frustrating it would be with more than one squirrelly, bored child.
Still – that fault lies with those who set up the process, not those who have to use it. Sadly, I expect that most Moms and buyers would not necessarily be aware of that… and might get frustrated with the sales clerk. I rather wonder if that might account for some of the less-than-cheerful voices on the phone. It must be frustrating to deal with customers who blame you for something taking this long when there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.
After we finally got through the lengthy setup process, Shaina helped us with adding on Apple Care and getting a bluetooth headset for it. She didn’t even break a sweat when my Walmart gift card with the money to pay for the phone & setup didn’t want to slide right through. She entered it manually and got us checked out and on our way as quickly as possible.
Summary
So, can you get an iPhone at Walmart without too much trouble? Yes, if you’re willing to be patient. I don’t know how long it takes to get one through an Apple store, given that I haven’t done it, but I do know that I wasn’t expecting it to take 1 1/2 hrs even though I knew exactly what I wanted.
Here are my tips if you decide to do it:
- Leave the kids at home. It’s just too long to have squirrelly, bored kids underfoot. Nevermind if you have questions first!
- Call ahead. Make sure the store you’re heading to has AT&T and has the phone you want in stock.
- Bring a book. Or something to distract you. I don’t know that you’ll be in a position to go shopping while the process finishes – there was the occasional question that couldn’t be answered just by looking at my Driver’s License, so you’ll probably need to be nearby.
- Don’t blame the clerk. If the process takes the 1 1/2 to 2 hrs that seem to be standard with the ElevenMoms, you can rest assured that it’s not the clerk’s fault s/he is just inputting things in the order they are asked for.
Meanwhile if you do decide to buy an iPhone at Walmart? Make sure to get the survey receipt so you can give them feedback on the process and if you get great service like I did from Shaina Lotko? Get the name of the person who helped you. Because it’s clear that not everyone has the patience it takes to do that job and still maintain a cheerful disposition – so it’s always good to let a store manager know when they’ve got an employee who does.
Administrative Note: the preceding post was not compensated monetarily. However, in conjunction with the review program, the phone and service were paid for by Walmart. This is often referred to as “soft compensation” by bloggers and advertisers. Since the point of the review was of the purchase process of the iPhone at Walmart, no review or endorsement of any sort for the iPhone itself is included herein. Neither Walmart nor any other agency had editorial input into this article, nor was the author in any way encouraged to represent anything other than her own personal opinion of the process.
Ice Bar Orlando
March 30, 2009
Forever and a day ago, I was lucky enough to go down to Orlando to meet the folks from Izea and to hang with some blogging friends of mine while we toured SeaWorld’s upcoming Manta experience.
During the trip though, we were also treated to an experience at Ice Bar Orlando and boy did I get asked a lot of questions about that experience!
Since a number of folks asked what it was like to go to an Ice Bar and since it was my first experience, I promised back in January (and February and probably March… sheesh!) that I would post some pictures and a recounting of the outing!
Like any true geek, the moment I found out we were going, I went to their website and started looking up every little detail I could. Fortunately, Ice Bar Orlando has a slick website that is also informative… so before going I had even looked up a map of the floorplan that let me know that local twitter friends could meet us in the Chill Lounge after we had experienced the ICEBAR section – so we had a small tweetup* there as well.
Step By Step
Dinner ran late that night – so we were a bit later to Ice Bar Orlando than expected. Having missed our reservation window, we had to wait for the previous group to finish up their time. So we were given little glowing badges and spent a few minutes playing around in the Chill Lounge. Ashley Edwards from Izea, Julia Roy and I couldn’t resist playing around in a ball-bearing chain curtain that hung near the window.
I really wanted to keep the glowing badge – but apparently that wasn’t part of the deal. Still, I got to suit up and go into a bar completely carved out of ice, so I guess I can live without the flashy jewelry.
The ICEBAR itself is pretty awesome. Kept at 27° F, the entire thing (except for the floor, thankfully for those of us capable of falling at the mere thought of ice on the ground) is made out of ice. The furniture is carved out of ice, the walls are ice bricks, there are elaborate ice sculptures around the room. Even the glasses are made out of ice.
Because of the overwhelming “iciness” of the bar, suitable attire is required… Fortunately since no one tends to stock winter clothing in Florida, the bar provides heavily lined ponchos and gloves. As modeled by my friend Ashley.
So we donned our ponchos and gloves and entered the ICEBAR after surrendering our flashy badges. (Can you tell I really wanted a flashy badge? Yeah, sigh.)
It was the nicest feeling after hours spent in the Florida heat. This Colorado gal was happy to be in the chilled air of ‘normal winter’ instead of humid and hot. While I often find myself dreaming of sunny climes on days like today (current outside temperature? 23°F) it turns out that I’m more of a cold weather girl after all. So the chill was refreshing and welcome. We bellied up to the bar where our drinks were served in glasses made of ice (seriously cool! Keeps the drink nice and cold without ice cubes!) And began lounging about on the fur-covered ice couches. I finally had a chance to chill out (yeah, I know) and chat with friends like Carri Bright from Izea (pictured left).
Any rumors that half way through I got fed up with the poncho and removed it are completely true.
Of course, I don’t recommend that for most people – but I was approached by a fellow sojourner from Finland who had removed his as well and we basked in the chilly goodness amidst shock from our warmer climate friends.
We sat around drinking and chatting and taking pictures of everything and anything we could… until the toes on all of our feet started feeling a bit numb – then took a last round of pics (my favorite is this one of Ted Murphy, Izea’s CEO lounging on the Ice Throne…) and headed out into the Chill Lounge to meet some more Twitterpals and regain feeling in our extremities.
A few hours later, we rolled out with the general consensus that Ice Bar Orlando is a must see experience. I know it will be on my agenda next time I’m in Orlando. I can’t wait to show it to GeekDaddy and anyone else I can drag along!
So if you’re in Orlando for a family trip and can steal away from the kids? I highly recommend checking it out. Don’t forget to bring your camera – and if you think of it? Socks are good.
Administrative Note: This post is completely unsolocited by either Izea or Ice Bar Orlando. Requests to post details of my adventure there came from friends and readers. This post is uncompensated in any form. I shouldn’t have to post that, but I wanted to make it clear – this review is 100% the opinion of the author.
*tweetup: meetup of folks who use twitter
24c vs. Vitamin Water (sponsored)
March 30, 2009
The Setup
When I gave up soda at the beginning of 2009, one of the hardest ones to give up was Jones Soda. I got hooked on their Cream Soda down at BlogWorld Expo last year and I’ll admit, I’ve always been kind of partial to their quirky, offbeat approach to being “the little guy” in the soda world.
So when they contacted me to see if I wanted to compare their new 24c Water against Glacéau’s Vitamin Water I was totally game. Yes, they offered me a small stipend for my time and effort, but I would’ve done it regardless – as I’m always on the hunt for new drinks to replace the void that soda has left in my life. Sh! Don’t tell them that tho… if they knew how much fun it was for us to do this test, they might decide not to pay me – and I need to be able to afford more flavored enriched water!
Okay, so the Test then
You know that there’s probably an easy way to do this – but if you’re half as geeky as my family, easy isn’t nearly as fun as “scientific process.”
With the help of GeekDaddy – I set up a “triple blind” taste test of the 5 sets of flavors to be compared. First, we took 5 pairs of blue plastic cups and labeled the bottoms with a sharpie so that they had a number and a letter to represent each pair (i.e. 1a, 1b thru 5a, 5b) and put each pair in front of the bottled pairs. Then slid them around a few times, turned them over and assigned the appropriate bottle to each one on our list.
The first list was essentially just showing which bottle went to which cup. But after listing each one, GeekDaddy and Buttercup went into the other room while I poured each one into it’s respective cup and lined them up by pairs. Then before calling them back in, I shifted each pair around a few times randomly so I didn’t even know which one was which.
Then I went into the other room while GeekDaddy came in and did the same – playing the shell game with each one. Then he went and randomly switched the order the pairs were in. All we knew at that point was that each cup in the pair went together.
I came back in, sent him out again and rotated the cups yet again. At this point, unless you had memorized the color and clarity of each one, there was no telling which was which. We kind of tried to vary the taste order by color – but we knew we were going to be drinking water and eating saltines in between each to clear our palates.
So we started a new page and made a list that would allow us to taste each one and record which one each of us liked best. At this point, the kidlet was getting a bit impatient… after all, all this cup switching and whatnot was keeping her from “drinking the water already Mommy!” I have to admit, I was more than ready myself.
The Water
Before we get much further, I suppose you’re probably wondering my now what flavors of water we were comparing.
To save you from trying to peer at the picture above that has cups on top of bottles and determine what they were, I’m going to take a moment to show you what we were ‘experimenting’ with here.
Glacéau’s Vitamin Water has titles for their water, whereas Jones Soda’s 24c is just named by flavor. Since “energy” and “endurance” don’t exactly indicate the flavor, I just went ahead and used the flavor titles in my research data. Besides, the name for the Vitamin Water Blueberry-Acai-Pomegranate one is likely to bring in a lot of the wrong kind of traffic, see the picture if you want. We couldn’t get an exact match on flavors, but here were the lineups:
The Results
I know you’ll put up with a few more pictures here – just because well, I wanted to make sure that everyone wasn’t baffled by the process. We had cups that we couldn’t see the designation on, we had a hidden list that went with the cups, and we had a bunch of yummy water to try.
So you saw the randomly selected order above. I was keeping notes by hand, but it didn’t take long for the data to migrate to a spreadsheet. Yes, it’s true, I’m one of those kind of geeks. You should see the dozens of spreadsheets on my hard-drive, you’d laugh.
Anyhoo… as you can see, with the exception of the first go round, there was no unanimous decision. Nor were our palates always in agreement. I did take some notes as we went – but I think you can see for yourself that while we all loved #1 & #5, #4 wasn’t exactly a winner with any of us.
So we’ve got our list… to decipher it, I made another list (yes really!) of winners by cup.
Then I went back and deciphered the cups – because seriously, if you’re doing a triple-blind test, it’s kind of one of those “now which one does that mean we liked?” And because I like you enough to do it for you? Here’s the deciphered results: 
So what does that mean? Well, the Glacéau Vitamin Water Tropical flavor was a hands-down winner over the 24c – but for the rest of the groups, 24c edged out Vitamin Water on flavor. Granted, as you can see by the notes, all of us would drink either brand when it comes to the Peach Mango flavor. After Thoughts So they’re pretty comparable flavor-wise, but 24c tends to be a bit better to us on most variants. The prices are pretty comparable as well. So why choose one over another? Well, the 24c waters have 500% of the USRDA of Vitamin C and they seem a bit more vitamin enhanced than the Vitamin water… so that might be the tipping point for me. But honestly? I was a little disappointed in the labels. Yes, labels – I know, I should only be focusing on the flavor, content and vitamins – but I’m sort of hoping that the marketing guys at Jones realize that part of the reason I always gravitate toward their product is that I can find it in the drink case at the convenience store. Given how similar the labels of the 24c product are to Vitamin Water? I’m liable just to grab whichever one is closest in the peach mango flavor. Still, it’s nice to have some great new options to help me out in my resolution to drink healthier… Just don’t expect me (or my family) to go with the Berry-Pomegranate versions of either. They’re the only bottles that got poured out rather than finished following our experiment. Ick. Tasted like perfume.
Bring on the Peach Mango!!
*Administrative note: as mentioned early in the post and in the title – the author of this post was compensated by Jones Soda in order to participate in the taste test. All opinions expressed are the author’s or where noted, her family’s. Jones Soda and their representatives had no editorial input over the post, nor were the opinions in any way affected by the compensation, nor the amount of compensation impacted by the findings.
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