Mystery Shopper: Croydon

Mystery Shopper is looking for a prepay smartphone with a budget of around £150. He wants a decent handset but does not wish to be tied into a contract

Product range – 4/5
Product knowledge – 2/5
Airtime knowledge – 4/5
Questioning ability – 1/5
Sales ability – 2/5
Shop appearance – 4/5
Total – 17/30

=3: Three

Product range – 4/5
Product knowledge – 3/5
Airtime knowledge – 4/5
Questioning ability – 3/5
Sales ability – 3/5
Shop appearance – 4/5
Total – 21/30

=3: Carphone Warehouse

Product range – 2/5
Product knowledge – 4/5
Airtime knowledge – 3/5
Questioning ability – 4/5
Sales ability – 4/5
Shop appearance – 4/5
Total – 21/30

2: Orange

Product range – 4/5
Product knowledge – 4/5
Airtime knowledge – 4/5
Questioning ability – 4/5
Sales ability – 3/5
Shop appearance – 5/5
Total – 25/30

1: T-Mobile

Product range – 4/5
Product knowledge – 5/5
Airtime knowledge – 5/5
Questioning ability – 4/5
Sales ability – 4/5
Shop appearance – 4/5
Total – 27/30

Summary

T-Mobile pipped Orange with the more rewarding tariff deals, and more options generally. Customer service was good in both, which should please their common parent.

The BlackBerry 8520 is a popular choice for prepay despite the additional costs. With few mentions of Nokia, Samsung, LG or Sony Ericsson products it seems BlackBerry has stolen a march on its rivals in this lower price bracket.

Other retailers performed well generally, but O2, the ‘home of the smartphone’, and Three, the leading data network, only just kept pace.

Full review in Mobile News issue 469 August 2, 2010).

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