US Cellular Store vs. Authorized Dealer
Is there really a difference or an advantage/disadvantage with going with either. I'm not getting insurance so that has no bearing on me.
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I truly hope that you are ready for the can of worms that you just opened up by posting this thread. To start, we can bill things to your account and do bill reprints at retail stores. The list goes on, you will see.
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HA! I think imma like you, Jack. And yeah, I lost a 4 line renew the other night b/c I can't bill to an account. I dang near burst into tears. I for one am an agent that does not hate a corporate store. Ya'll do fine by me. As for your question, maximus, I think you'll find that some agents kind of slack in their duties. We do our best not to do that at my store. Techs are usually at corporate stores, and they do have the billing option. However, both stores will have US Cellular on their doors, and both stores can and should provide you with excellent customer service each and every time. Diplomatic enough for you, Jack? 🙂
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I worked for 10 months in an agent location and now have been with the corporate side of things for 10 months. Having done both, I have to say that I prefer the corporate side. As a customer, the biggest differences are really just the access to the bill, being able to bill-to-account, and the ability to access the account directly through our system, rather than having to call CS for help on things. The 4.0 Experience should be the same anywhere that has the star on the door, ya know?
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Our Corp store tends to have a line out the door for the reasons stated above. but if your just wanting to do a simple upgrade,activation, pay bill, get info then an agent store will do you just fine.
if you wanna put it on your bill i would go to the corp. store
if you wanna put it on your bill i would go to the corp. store
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OK
Agent
4.0 experiance
Sell/Renew Phones
Feature/Plan change
Pay Bill or call CS about bill issues
Help with contact changes/ esn changes
Cheaper accessories (i sell car chargers for 10.00 corp 29.99)
Corp
4.0 experiance
sell/ renew phones
Feature/Plan change
Pay bill or go over bill
Help with contact changes/ esn changes
Retail priced accessories
Tech repair some locations
Bill to account (account must be over 6 mo old and in good standing)
Agent
4.0 experiance
Sell/Renew Phones
Feature/Plan change
Pay Bill or call CS about bill issues
Help with contact changes/ esn changes
Cheaper accessories (i sell car chargers for 10.00 corp 29.99)
Corp
4.0 experiance
sell/ renew phones
Feature/Plan change
Pay bill or go over bill
Help with contact changes/ esn changes
Retail priced accessories
Tech repair some locations
Bill to account (account must be over 6 mo old and in good standing)
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There are good associates and bad associates on both sides, however, due to the pay, benefits and training that corporate associates receive they tend to have more tenured associates which in some cases may lead them to being more knowledgable. Like I said above there are some excellent and extremely knowledgable agents, but it is what it is.
Also corporate stores carry larger quantities of eachmodel of phone. Agent stores keep smaller quantities in stock so they have a tendency to run out of certain models.
BTW I replace those crappy retractable $10 car chargers everyday...there is a reason they are only $10 man, you get what you pay for. I mean honestly why do you think you can sell them for $10? Because corp just jacks their pric...
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Also corporate stores carry larger quantities of eachmodel of phone. Agent stores keep smaller quantities in stock so they have a tendency to run out of certain models.
BTW I replace those crappy retractable $10 car chargers everyday...there is a reason they are only $10 man, you get what you pay for. I mean honestly why do you think you can sell them for $10? Because corp just jacks their pric...
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I agree with you there are good and bad apples anywhere you look.
As for chargers (retractable i dont know what you mean, i never said anything about that)
We to carry multiple charging solutions
Home only
Car only
USB/CAR/Home Pack too (even though my cost on this is only 10.00)
My point is we as agents have a little cheaper cost on accessories due to the lack of corporate markup (dont say it doesnt exist)
As for chargers (retractable i dont know what you mean, i never said anything about that)
We to carry multiple charging solutions
Home only
Car only
USB/CAR/Home Pack too (even though my cost on this is only 10.00)
My point is we as agents have a little cheaper cost on accessories due to the lack of corporate markup (dont say it doesnt exist)
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Having work in a corporate store for 4 years in two different markets as an RWC and now working for an Agent. I enjoy the Agent side 100x more. BUT and i do mean BUT it has a lot to do with the owners of the agent, which in turn can create a better experience for the customer or worse. As far as billing stuff...we are close to our community and we have sent our own bills to customers instead of having it bill to their cell bill. Now working for an agent has made me realize as far as customer view there isn't much difference its all in the rep and the knowledge of the rep corp or agent. Agents can sell phones cheaper if they want also most have the same brand accessories as corporate stores. Even the employee discount of 40% for people ...
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Its interesting looking at the numbers for the agents and the numbers that the corporate stores put up, and hearing the experiences that customers have in agent stores v. the experiences they have in corporate stores.
I know here in St. Louis, that's why the company bought out the agents - because the agent experience wasn't consistent with what USCellular promotes and wants our customers to have. I used to work at an agent, just north of the St. Louis market boundaries, and that agent continues to do well because it is in a small town setting where USC is the only carrier.
I think it is really apples and oranges, and not fair to either side of the retail experience to compare them.
I know here in St. Louis, that's why the company bought out the agents - because the agent experience wasn't consistent with what USCellular promotes and wants our customers to have. I used to work at an agent, just north of the St. Louis market boundaries, and that agent continues to do well because it is in a small town setting where USC is the only carrier.
I think it is really apples and oranges, and not fair to either side of the retail experience to compare them.
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agents are consistantly higher mystery shop scores than corporate i remember being told time and time again about those score on the corporate side. we all know how mystery shops are tho 🙄
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