T-Mobile Lacks Demo myTouch my Touch G3 Cell Phone

by editor

Wackety-wack-wack: It seems ironic that T-Mobile (TMobile) has rolled out "the largest product launch advertising campaign in T-Mobile history" inclusive of celebrity-laden tv commercials for the HTC-manufactured my Touch 3G. Despite the fancy commercials and smooth Cat Stevens lyrics, T-Mobile stores make it virtually impossible to see how the functionality works, and offers no in-store connection for customers to try before buying.
 
The HTC my Touch 3G is based on Google’s (GOOG) Android platform and the commercial blitz run by T-Mobile which began mid-August, appearing on television, in print ads and on radio ads. It appear big bucks were spent on T-Mobile tv commercials set to the Cat Stevens 1971 song ’If You Want To Sing Out’ (from Stevens’ Footsteps in the Dark album) based on the celebrity lineup. Each myTouch G3 mobile phone television commercial focuses on a theme with related celebrities. The opening, first my Touch G3 mobile phone commercial includes Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, comedian Whoopi Goldberg and motorcycle-fame celebrity Jesse James. The Comedy-focused T-Mobile my Touch G3 mobile phone tv commercial includes celebrities Molly Shannon, Dana Carvey and Chevy Chase. The Music-focused  T-Mobile commercial includes star musicians Brad Paisley, Avril Lavigne and Wyclef Jean.
 
T-Mobile itself touts this cell phone advertising campaign as "the largest product launch advertising campaign in T-Mobile history,” an ironic push since the physical T-Mobile customer stores seem to be as interested in not selling cell phones as the ads are in pushing those same cell phones. Two T-Mobile stores offered identical store layouts, and based on those displays at both locations, it’s assumed the set-up is what T-Mobile considers normal for its stores (after all, why change something that’s clearly not broken): non-functioning cell phone. There is a full HTC my Touch 3G phone display, which includes all available colors for the myTouch model, but no working model that includes internet connection.
 
The HTC my Touch 3G cell had its own dedicated, in-store, display island featuring the new mobile phone model, complete with signage and pricing at T-Mobile stores. Every my Touch 3G cell phone at T-Mobile was set up as, for the most part, a dummy model (cell buttons push but with no actual connection functioning, to be able to test the speed or features fully). Customers can only see this move on T-Mobile’s part as counter-intuitive, when a phone with the name ‘touch’ in it can only be touched, nothing else. It’s questionable how much T-Mobile is truly saving by offering the HTC-manufactured phone that can’t even be partially tested by customers interested in buying one.  Is TMobile trying to cut back on same connection bill? Is Tmobile having HTC manufacture some in-store model with limited features, that’s cheaper than one with connection? Does TMobile not want customers to be able to compare cell phone models in the store, for fear that less-advertised or cheaper phone models run at similar speeds or have similar features to the myTouch G3? What the heck is the deal here? It seems there must be far more to the HTC ‘my Touch’ than touching a dummy model alone, although maybe there isn’t:  TMobile apparently thinks it useless to allow the models to be internet-connected.
 
T-Mobile Salesman likes Apple iPhone better than myTouch G3:
 
Asked the representative, at the second location visited, if he was familiar with the my Touch 3G mobile phone, what he thought of it, and whether there was any functioning model in the T-Mobile store. The T-Mobile rep said he’d gotten rid of his cellular Apple iPhone, obviously because he is working at T-Mobile, but that he likes the iPhone better because it has far more apps while the myTouch 3G has nearly no apps in comparison. He said there would be more myTouch 3G applications coming, just that no one knows exactly when. Salesman also states the iPhone works more smoothly and is faster, and apparently owns the myTouch G3 solely due to employ with T-Mobile; the salesman spoke fondly of his missing Apple iPhone, having less to say about the HTC myTouch G3.
 
T-Mobile Salesmen strike again with ‘information’:
 
I made it extremely clear to the T-Mobile salesman, or representative, from the get-go, that I am very tech-savvy and therefore had just a few specific questions. Normally I would use the phone myself in-store, however none were set up to work with any connection, making it impossible to test the model. When asked to see how the HTC  myTouch G3 works, the rep pulls his own HTC myTouch out of his pocket, literally holding it above his head, stating how great it was. This proved only a point in futility, since I am not 6’4” and could not even see the screen nor could touch what was his personal phone.
 
T-Mobile service representatives strike again with ‘information’:
 
When asked how fast, in general, the G3 service is for the HTC myTouch, the store representatives (aka T-Mobile Salesman) clearly informed me that the myTouch G3 is faster than my computer. Being polite, I tried to remedy the situation without embarrassment, adding that the statement is relative as computers vary. He repeated his initial statement, this time truly emphasizing that the HTC myTouch G3 is faster than my computer at home. This was quite a statement, one I couldn’t resist, and tried to even tip him off before his response, saying the computers are custom-built: I asked, are you speaking of a laptop computer or tower computer? When the response of ‘both’ was received, I had to say, “so you’re telling me a custom-built rig with 4 gigs onboard, quad-core processor and SLI graphics card is slower than this myTouch  G3 phone? Because I don’t think so.” The representative, still oblivious concerning technology, informed me that no, the HTC myTouch G3 is faster for sure.
 
Representative has no clue about myTouch 3G:
 
Asked T-Mobile salesman about features and whether the new HTC myTouch 3G  phone could be used with my current unlimited data plan for HTC Excalibur (aka Dash). Rep first said it could be. When I thought further to ask him whether that would limit access for a G3 phone, rep then said it might actually. Finally had to be straightforward and say, “so, you’re telling me I could buy this new, expensive HTC myTouch G3 phone and try to use it with my current data plan. That it might work. But the part you’re leaving out is that all the connectivity features, the reason for buying the HTC myTouch G3, would be useless. The T-Mobile salesman wasn’t entirely clear on this factor but finally agreed that may well be the case.
 
In-store ads for reduced T-Mobile pricing for the new model is available only for extended contract agreement for a new data plan. Having had the most expensive, unlimited data plan, it seems the G3 plan is even more expensive, monthly connection. This means the data plan in place is not grandfathered in, and changes both the grandfathered unlimited text plan also. In addition, the cost for the G3 plan is yet another $10 additional per month, on top of the costly data plan already subscribed to, and supposedly due to different servers used for G3 service. None of this information is made readily available in literature, in the store, or made any more clear when speaking to T-Mobile store reps. You have to know the right questions, specific questions, or you’ll get yourself a phone with no answers.
 
Perhaps T-Mobile might be wiser in actually making their physical stores more in line with their tv commercials and ads. On television, T-Mobile shows the phone being passed around, touched by every celebrity in the commercials. In-store, that’s about all you can do, is touch. You won’t get much farther than that, considering there’s no internet connection the myTouch G3 models are hooked up to. It’s absolutely incredible that T-Mobile is selling any phones in this manner, highly-advertised or not. It’d be interesting to know how many they really do sell, and how many ads they might have bypassed just by making their physical stores more customer-friendly with usable test phones.
 
After all the ad bucks spent on these flashy T-Mobile commercials, complete with celebrities,  it’d be yet more interesting to find out how many more HTC my Touch G3 phones would be sold if the company actually allowed customers to use the phone, in-store, utilizing a connection for testing. How many people really are gung-ho to buy a technology product, a product they’ll be depending on daily, when they’ve never gotten to use it for the prime feature in its advertisements. 
It’s really wack to spend so much on advertising, trying to get people into T-Mobile stores, only to be a disappointed customer whom is met with the obstacle of not being able to actually test the phone for even a brief period, on-site. Who  wants to purchase a cell phone, touted for speed, when that speed can’t even be tested before you buy the phone and the service plan required with it. Which brings to mind the next question:
 
Is this the reason for no HTC myTouch G3 Connection in T-Mobile Retail Stores?:
 
The T-Mobile reduced pricing for the myTouch G3 requires an extended contract to sign up: So now that you’ve purchased this phone you’ve never tested for connection, and at a reduced price because you’ve signed up for an extended contract for the data plan that’s required to use the phone, what happens if you get home and hate the phone? How easy is it going to be to take back what is now considered ‘used’ since it’s had your card in it, and moreover how easy is it going to be to cancel the data plan contract you needed to be able to use the phone? . And if it has to be returned as new, what’s considered new; if the first time you’re testing the new phone is after you’ve purchased it, is it no longer new once your SIM card is placed in it? If that’s the case, even if you find out immediately that the connection or functionality sucks, are you going to be able to even return the item to the store if they no longer consider it ‘brand-new’. Just curious: sounds a little pre-planned on behalf of one party.
 
For those purchasing the HTC myTouch G3 as a holiday or Christmas gift, it seems you’re doubly stuck if you’re trying to buy ahead of time in order to ensure T-Mobile doesn’t run out of the color or model. A gift recipient only has 14 days to make an exchange, so buying ahead of time is a virtual impossibility. You can’t tell the recipient, “this is great, you should see how the HTC myTouch flies, and I know you’re gonna love it,” when you don’t even know yourself if it works correctly or is as fast as advertised. Then you, or the lucky recipient, is stuck with a phone that can’t even be exchanged if the HTC myTouch G3 phone is lousy or has a slower connection than expected. And, again, there’s that little data plan contract, of a year or more, to contend with. If you are successful in getting the mobile phone back in time, how successful are you going to be in resolving the contract portion? Are you going to pay $150 cancellation for the lack of in-store model functionality and connection? Or does it get chalked up to you, for being foolish enough to buy a product that requires contract and can’t fully be tested, with extremely limited return time as new.
T-mobile might benefit from stepping it up a notch in matching the bucks spent on advertising to the set-up of their actual physical stores. No company can expect people to freely kick down hundreds of dollars for a technology item they can’t even try out in the actual store.
 
“It’s a knick-knack, paddy-wack,”  maybe you should keep your phone.

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