[3GScottishUser]

I could'nt resist it and popped into a deserted Threestore today for a nosey!!

Four blackshirts (3's uniform) were desparately trying to while away the time trying to look busy and pace the place.

My initial consideration was that it looked pretty barren and the black and white decor simply made the lack of product range even more obvious. The lack of colour gave the place a sense of austerity, it felt strangley cold and uncomfortable.

A nice enough young salesperson (girl) decided to ask if I had a handset and I replied I was just browsing as Vodafone were calling me to confirm my upgrade or discount to remain with them (clue that I was a good prospect). The focus moved to what I was currently paying and what I got for the money. I explained that with my Anytime 200 contract I get plenty of x/net mins and with Stop the Clock I rarely ever use the full number, same applies to my text use. She suggested I get a 'new' phone on 3 (Nokia 6280 or SE K610i) and I could get much better value. The offer was on Direct Talker 1000 which would cost £17.50 a month for the whole 18 months of my contract.

The deal sounded good and included 750 X/Net mins, 150 SMS, 50 Picture Msgs and 50 Mins Video calls + £5 of downloads. The salesperson kept talking about downloads even although I told her I dont buy stuff from Vodafone and use bluetooth to swap songs and pictures. I was shown 'My 3' and told that it was a great thing for ensuring that you dont go over your inclusive allowance.... which is great but if I don't with Vodafone on Anytime 200 how is it likely with 750 mins?

I asked about data and using the handset as a modem occasionally and was initially told that only the x-series did that (Nonsense!). I explained I use the phone to access my work e-mail via bluetooth on my laptop when outwith wifi coverage and whilst it was not a massive issue it was quite handy as a backup. A couple of the staff then had a conference about this and proclaimed that I could get that with their web-based service. I said thats fine but I need it on my laptop as I download attachments when required and also my eyesight did not lend itself to the screen size easily. More conference and they suggested that I could get occasional data access with the handset as a modem for £7.50/MB!! I responded that I use some excess SMS allowance on Vodafone to get data and a £17 Wireless Web add-on was suggested.

I needed to get back to the car park before the time on my ticket expired so they asked if they could take some details and call me after they explored more options. No problem..... gave them some details and was given a really tacky 3rd generation photocopy with some brief details scribbled on it. The salesperson advised I could have £70 worth of accessories of my choice if I returned that day to place an order and £40 worth if I returned later.

It was'nt until I got home I looked at the deal in more detail and one very important detail had been ommited..... the phone on offer at the £17.50 a month for the duration of the contract is refurbished.... a Nokia 6280R!!

Very naughty of the salesperson not to mention that the 'new' phone on offer was actually legally classed as Second Hand!!

I was'nt in the store long (about 10 minutes) and not a soul came in whilst I was there.... it had a pretty lonley feel to it. I loved the parting comment from the salesperson who suggested that if I got the call from Vodafone I could use their offer to get an even better deal!!! Good advice that I suspect I will take heed of!!

Moral.... if you visit a Threestore make sure you listen carefully and read all the details very carefully..... having said that the store is new the staff appear to be new and unsure of their product but if you dont mind a 2nd hand handset the deal is pretty good when you factor in all the freebies.... with the advice about keeping within your allowance its hard to imagine 3UK making money from customers opting for this deal but they'll probably fare better than being used a churn champion by the major retailers.

Overall my score for my visit was as follows:

Store Design and ambiance - 25%
Staff Friendliness ad Helpfulness - 75%
Staff Product Knowledge - 50%
Suitability of product offered - 50%
Value of Product offered - 75%
Provison of full details - 20%
Handout/Litrature - 10%

3 are a new retailer and clearly have some lessons to learn. Warmer colours, LCD screens and professional litrature would help a lot. Staff training needs to be improved but its early days and I'm hopeful they will make adjustments as the months progress.

[getti]

That was naughty of them. My first ever customer today was a guy fed up with Orange and wanted any old phone with a good plan.

I got him on 18 months 1/2 price and a Moto V3x and £70 free stuff so he was more than happy.

They should have pointed out its a referb phone though

[3GScottishUser]

Glad someone else thought it naughty..... bad news being sold a 'new' phone that turns out to be a 2nd hand reconditioned thing. A very bad start to a new customer relationship.

[Ben]

I think this is probably a poor reflection on the individual staff in the store rather than Threestores in general. It's not going to be Three's official line to try and flog refurbished handsets without telling the customer as getti has confirmed.

I did pop into the Threestore in Bluewater last time I went and it was similarly stark in appearance. There were working demo handsets though, which always scores points with me, and somebody asked me if I needed any help which, again, scores big. Contrasted with the brand new big O2 store in Canterbury (an old Link that has been fully refurbed and rebranded since the purchase) where not one of the staff were with customers and just sat there chatting amongst themselves, and all the handsets were fake, the Threestore wasn't a bad experience.

It's so hard to know whether you're speaking to a good advisor or not in a phone shop. Commission driven service is never going to be a winner at the customer end. Excellent sales staff do exist though, and I'd urge anyone who has encountered particularly good service with accurate recommendations to post the name and location of the store and even the first name of the consultant!

[miffed]

Contrasted with the brand new big O2 store in Canterbury (an old Link that has been fully refurbed and rebranded since the purchase) where not one of the staff were with customers and just sat there chatting amongst themselves, and all the handsets were fake, the Threestore wasn't a bad experience.



Sorry to go OT - But have you noticed that the old O2 shop ( tiny , dingy litte place) virtually opposite the new one is now being opened as an Orange shop ?

I sincerely hope ( for Oranges sake ) that this will be a second shop , as the one round in the marlowe arcade is Much bigger , more modern & has a nice fish tank ! Would be a step backwards if they just move from one to the other IMO

[3GScottishUser]

Interesting points..... but I cant get away with how cold and funerial the Threestores are.

Colour and atmosphere is a really important factor in the retail environment. I remember when I worked with a national multiple a few years ago they changed the flouresent tubes and the new ones produced a blue light which i thought nothing much of. It was important though as it increased the sales of white goods by 15% across the company!!

Looking at the stores in our local town centre we have Vodafone and Orange which are Red and er well Orange surprisingly and they radiate warmth and are also quite eye catching. 02's colours are also bright and distinctive and T-Mobile's Pink is kind of cute and homley in a way.

I cant think why 3 have opted for the minimalist look and the drab black and white. I had to look twice at the non-descript sign above the door and it took a while for me to figure out what the place was! They had big white plinths in the windows backed by white material and a handset on each which simply looked lost! Inside was quite biazzare with little to see really and lots of duplication although there were some live phones on floor standing plinths which was good. No music, no LCD screens (apart from the POS one) and no litrature that I noticed. I got the impression that they had kept the refurb budget to the bare minimum!

I think 3 are going to have to get some professional point of sale designers to brighten up their new stores and make them look busy so folks stop and browse. It's always a good idea to put free offers next to the products they relate to so customers can clearly see the value proposition but I saw no accessory bundles next to any handsets in the windows! It was a quiet Friday lunchtime in the centre where I was but Phones4U, Vodafone and 02 all had browsers and some were sitting filling out forms. 3 had nobody but the staff in either their Superdrug concession or their new Threestore when I passed both entering end leaving the place. I make a point of looking when I'm in another centre in the East of Glasgow and I have yet to see a customer in the Superdrug 3 concession there!

I wonder what happened to the colour varients on the 3 logo. They had that colour changing thing on their site for ages and it was pretty eye catching. The critters were similarly quite interesting but now appear to have been binned. I just do't understand why they would substitute a nice interesting trademark for a bland and dull black and white 'Threestore' frontage in Times New Roman!!

I will make a point of passing by again now that I know what the place is and it'll be interesting to see if it appears any busier next time.

[Hands0n]

Who designed the 3 stores, does anyone know? I wonder if it was not Norman Foster Group, as they have a great liking of Black. Take a look, if you are in Canary Wharf, at the HSBC tower - the foyer is dark grey granite flooring with Black glass walls. The working floors in the building are all Black and Grey also. It is a hallmark Foster's design, and they are quite insistent on the control of the colour scheme during their designs.

Either Fosters or one of their ex-staff would have had a hand in the colour schema for the 3 stores, I'd wager.

[getti]

To be fair i think the 3 stores look great. Thats not just cause i work in 1 but cause its what i really think. My opinion on the worst store look would have to be t-mobile or o2 but again thats just my opinion. Was the 3 store you went go new?. A few stores are not fully setup yet. also 3 are good cause they have live working phones on show for you to feel and have a real play on. Other networks have boring old dummy phones that don't do the real handset justice. I thought this before i worked for 3 so my view has not been changed because of the new job.

[3GScottishUser]

The Threestore I visited was a former Link one and it's quite big and well positioned at the entrance to the shopping mall. I still think the lack of colour is a big mistake as retail has to be exciting and vibrant.

The store is new but there can no excuse for no proper litrature. The handset suppliers could help in this area I am sure and will even pay part of the cost to help promote their product. Rather than a tacky handwritten photocopied quote what about a nice glossy brochure explaining some of the services, phones, accessories and listing all the available tariffs?

I know 3 had to get things rolling pretty quickly but lets not forget that Hutchison are world leaders in the retail sector with Superdrug and Savers across the UK so they should have people that know what retailing is about.

The problem for 3 is that your average High Street has a lot of mobile phone outlets. Multiples like CPW and Phones4U are now very distinctive and are always pretty busy when I pass by. The other networks have the advantage of having a much bigger product range thanks to GSM and heavy pre-pay promotion. I am very surprised 3 are not making a lot more of their available services like inclusive videocalling, Mobile TV, Music Downloads etc etc. Nowhere did I see a 3 download chart which one would have thought would be a good thing to have next to the LG U400 perhaps? I don't think I even saw any x-series in that place although there was a Slingbox in a box in a locked cabinet. I wonder just how many customers know what it is and what it does?

Perhaps some decent POS material will follow but one thing is for sure 3 will have to become far more professional if they want their new stores to deliver decent volumes of connections.

[3g-g]

...also 3 are good cause they have live working phones on show for you to feel and have a real play on. Other networks have boring old dummy phones that don't do the real handset justice.

I think in any of the retailers selling phones, if you want to see one working then you only need to ask, it'll be swiftly brought from the back in order for you to have a play with!

[3GScottishUser]

Yeah.... that's the norm. The sales person dissapears into the backshop and gets a real phone for you to play with. That is classic sales technique. Once the customer has the product in their hand the process of ownership begins... I still remember that from sales training 25 years ago!!

Amazing!!