Lukewarm attention to T-Mobile Lumia 925? Customers complain about lack of information

I'm a tmobile customer...they sent me an email a few weeks ago saying I had 'exclusive' preorder for the 925 and the xperia

^This.

They were the same way here in Las Vegas when the WP 7 launched. They had the device in the drawer and you had to ask for it.

It's true here in Vegas when I got the 710 they had no idea about the specs or wp in general

I think these store reps ate too used to not knowing anything about anything. Its like its normal for em. They are just as dumb about android too. Especially tmo and sprint reps in Vegas.

I have met like 2 people in this city that knows anything or cares about cell phones beyond a paycheck

The manager new the device name and release date for the 925
 
Grammer Police alert!

(Waves magic edit wand) No idea what you're talking about :)

Says the person who misspelled "grammar." -_-

LOLZ

Burn...

Hahahahahaha

ROTFL

Haha sweet!

Just because a person's grammar is correct, doesn't mean their spelling is top notch :D

i think he meant to do that

The T-Mobile location in my neighborhood (Brooklyn NY) hadn't the slightest clue about the Lumia 521 upon its release date. This is a very sad trend. I'll check later on today to see if the clueless employees are informed this go round.

Good news about the 521 is that it has gone on to sell very well for TMO so these pre-launch hiccups don't necessarily translate to an unsuccessful product.

Let's hope the 925 does the same. I'll be picking up 2 with the new upgrade insurance program.

I currently own a 928. However, I've convinced my sister whom is already a T-Mobile customer to take the 521 for a spin. She went ahead and purchased 3 Lumias. The other two are for her daughters. I should mention this is not a conversion story as they were all upgrading from WP7s.

I stopped by the T-Mobile on 34th ST. and was blown away that they knew about the device and that they would have stock.  I can't wait till Wednesday!

Hopefully, such competency will expand across all T-Mobile locations throughout the US.

Since this first came up today I went to a TMO and spoke w/a Mgr just as he was unloading a UPS drop he'd just received... 9 Lumia 925's and he was excited. Will have the opportunity to take either the Xperia Z or 925 as his next phone. Says he's leaning toward the Lumia... He loves the build quality/camera. Was definitely knowledgeable and excited for launch on Wed.

That is fantastic to hear. Why would anyone settle for less than the 925 on T-mobile?

It is disgusting! I complained to T-Mobile about this too. I mean, it is not even listed on their website. There is an option to upgrade to the Xperia Z but not the 925. T-Mobile is not being very WP/Nokia friendly. I called my local T-Mobile store and they don't even have the pricing for the device yet. this tells me that there is little or no training going on.

I am always amazed when people clamr for high end Lumia devices  (i.e. L920, 1020) to 'come to T-Mobile'; devices of this caliber would simply be wasted on that network. 
 
T-Mobile had this opportunity to bring a L920 caliber (some would say slightly better) to their network, and this is their launch?
 
I think Nokia is on the right track in presenting low to mid end Lumia devices as the norm for T-Mobile - they cannot be trusted to support/advertise the 'flagships' that need massive exposure.  After the Lumia 925, I simply don't see any devices of this caliber or better coming to T-Mobile.

Hahaha... Mr smart4ss. You should become nokia's ceo. Probably you are in love with att because your dad pays the phone bill.

I've been to my local T-Mobile store 3 times since the announcement and none of the reps know anything about it. One guy admitted that he had no idea what the 925 even was let alone a release date,T-Mobile really needs to get there act together this phone is coming in two days and the have no idea.

I've been waiting for this sort of device to come to T-MO US I'm still sporting the HTC HD7 that is way too out of it now. They come out and tell us on the 17th and yet you can't find any information on T-MO website at all. To me this is a fail it's a fail because it was announced two days before they announced of the 1020 any and all of that thunder was killed. first fail on this Nokia second fail on this T-MO  How in the hell can you announced the L925 and within 24 hours announced a device like the 1020. of course no one is going to be talking about it. maybe it's me but I think this was nothing but a Custer bang all around.

I don't believe its the 1020 fault,its tmobiles fault for not training there own people or promoting a phone that's coming to there network.

All those reps don't know anything about cell phones. Go to Verizon, att, sprint and tmobile and all talk only about Android phones. They know about android just because they have bunch of fart apps for free. That's it. Selling phones is not a career, for that reason the pick any person to work at the store. Don't say that you guys will get advice about cell phones from those guys!!!

You're exactly right! Got lost in the shuffle. Why it took them two months to get it here is beyond me. They really missed their chance.

This is definately not a fail on Nokia.  The 925 was announced on May 14 for release in early June to the rest of the world.  They also had the phone featured in "Man of Steel".  TMobile "announced" (if you can call it that)  the phone 2 days prior to the 1020.  Weeks after the Superman movie came out and everone has seen it and forgeten it, 1.5 months after the rest of the world got it, 2 months after Nokia announced it.  I don't know what Tmo was thinking here, but given the way they are handling this phone, it will be EOLed 5 months after the release date, just like the HTC 8x and the Lumia 810.

Jabtano...Sorry, but I think you are reachin'!
 
AT&T's announcement of the Lumia 1020 had zilch to do with T-Mobiles preparedness of their own new Lumia device (925).  T-Mobile had plenty of time!
 
There simply is no excuse for T-Mobile to not to have been up and running and ready to go with this launch.  Even if they had to delay availability by another week, that their is no advertising or that the staff is not fully informed about the device is just, pathetic.  I am not surprised AT ALL.

Same thing happened with the 521. Just a few weeks before I got it from HSN, the reps I spoke with here at a Tampa store had NO IDEA about it. NOTHING. Literally -- not exaggerating. I was simply asking if they would carry any of the swappable color shells (which only exist for the 520 apparently I learned later on my own). They seemed apathetic, and didn't even care really to talk Windows Phones. 

I bought my nokia 521 from walmart the day it came out. They didn't even have a display for it. I had to get my sim card upgraded from a regular sim to the micro sim. So I took my nokia 521 to tmobile and THEY didn't even know what it was. The people at the stores aren't being properly trained on these phones. EIther Ms or Nokia isn't sending the info out on them, or the employees simply refuse to learn about them or even try to sell them.

Its T-Mobile they don't have a web page set up for winph. So if tmo corp does not care then why should the employee. its going to be a word of mouth device. Side note though looks like they also took down the bbx page. IPhone and android are the 2 easy finds

I don't know...here in the UK it's the same regardless of which store you go to! It's a cultural thing imo, the sales reps always tend to be in their twenties and always love pushing droids and iPhones...most likely because they have one or the other!

That's T-miserable for you. They are a bunch jokers, l like price though. I want this phone really bad to replace my yellow 920 which now gets decent 4g speed on T-Mobile network but does not allow me to tether to my Surface. I have visited 4 T-Mobile stores and called customer service on a couple of times but nobody seems to have any concrete information about the 925. The irony of this is, my brother and I received several notifications from T-Mobile for us to register our interest for this phone but have yet to receive any response after we have registered.

I went to Northridge Mall here in Southern California, and I saw a small stand with a Nokia banner on top of it displaying 925 and 520. I ask if I can get one right there and she told me it won't be available until Wednesday 17th.

Thats sad!

I'm glad Daniel decided to write an article about this, because it's absolutely astounding. To think, once upon a time, before they carried the iPhone, T-Mobile actually gave a damn about WP. What a sad turnaround they've done.

Same here, thank you Daniel!

+925

I agree.

Fucken T-Mobile. I guess they want to continue a duopoly

As I posted in that thread, the MS store rep in Scottsdale mentioned that they would get them, but had no idea when. She said they would be $500.

And that's why T-Mobile is 4th

+10000 LOL  T-Mobile is the joke and problem here, not MS or Nokia.  And before I get flammed, yes, it behooves MS and Nokia to do everything they can to get every possible customer on every possible network to use WP.  But, if I had to prioritize what carrier in the US I'd like to see MS or Nokia spend time and money training and help launching phones, T-Mobile wouldn't be high...they're not going to move the needle, hence the focus on AT&T + Verizon.

I swear Nokia and windows need some young talent, no unlocked options this no blogs apple have endless people pushing and giving user feed back all WP 8 have is this sad

I guess I got lucky. The manager at my local T-Mobile store knew about the device, but not about the release date. That being said that was a while ago, before the official launch date was announced.

521 selling is selling by the bucketload. Sure once peeps see it in store they'll go wild for it

Luckily I already go mine!! It is quite frustrating to hear those complaints, though...

Let's face it, as much as we'd like to hate on at&t, that's the only carrier who actually pushed windows phone.

I've sent an email to John Legere concerning about the way they are handling Windows Phone. My main beef was the Lumia 810 being EOL a few months after the release, and the HTC Radar not being upgraded to 7.5, and I informed him that other service providers are still providing updates to their Windows Phones. Of course, someone did contact me after all of these, however, they were unable to to resolve my concerns. After over 12 years with T-mobile, I am ready to move on, and this news is just making me want to move on right away. I refuse to purchase a Windows Phone from a provider that can't provide proper support and information to their staff.

I have the 810, too, but that is exactly why I chose to purchase my unlocked Rogers 920. It runs well on T-Mobile, but I'm glad to have an unlocked device that will actually get firmware updates as they come instead of having to rely on the carrier for them.

I thought about that too, but there were an issue with the SMS and Internet Sharing. I utlize my Internet Sharing when I am on the road.

I'm in the same boat... I had the HD7, my wife the Radar.  Now I've got the 810 and when I saw the EOL, I was not happy.  I wonder if they'll actually continue to support the 925 after a couple of weeks.  Does Rogers have all the same LTE bands as T-Mobile?

Yes, the Rogers 920 has the same bands T-Mobile uses, so you will get 4G and LTE on it if you're in a refarmed area.

I have the Rogers 920. Mms is spotty in non lte areas. It seems to toggle 4g and 3g and network time outs often. - all tmo network. In my area I have pockets of lte when I'm in an lte zone its blazing 25-35 meg down 8-12 up. Of course I'm probably the only node. Internet sharing will be an issue if you install the Nokia apn app. If you don't and do manual apn setup you will be ok. Except you may have to hit resend on mms pics for a while.

That's great info from you both. Thanks so much!  I'll start watching for prices on ebay and see how this 925 rollout looks over the next couple of weeks.

thank you

It's been that way for a lot of devices. The Lumia 920 sold well for Rogers here (well, as well as Rogers' incompetence allowed it to) and the service rep in the highest volume store in the city (downtown Calgary) had no idea it even existed or that it came in different colors. The "manager" then interfered and told me that Rogers only carries phones in black and will not be carrying anything in color. This was two days after the 920 was listed in every dam color on their websites. TELUS did them one better. Bought an Ativ S there and the rep had no idea how it worked and then kept telling me how it sold even less than the Optimus G which was an abysmal phone by his admission. It's literally too much to expect to go into a store and have the rep know anything about phones other than the iPhone, S4 or in some cases, the HTC One. Nokia will have to push above its weight on this one because Microsoft is clearly sorry at dealing with carriers.

I left T-Mobile a while ago due to poor customer service, looks like nothing has changed. I was willing to give them a shot again based on their pricing and network but they can't back it up. They procrastinated the launch, even though international partners have had the 925 out for a while. They almost want the device to fail. Sad.

Say what?! I've STAYED because of their customer service (and prices). In store it's crap, but when I go in there and look a teenager in the face I pretty much expect the wrong information.
 
Just saying

Having to deal with billing issues or ask a question, by phone, easily took an hour each time. I am in Dallas, AT&T is good here, just expensive, I am still hoping T-Mobile provides good support for wp8 devices and customers. I have yet to see it. 810 was a bad omen as well as the 8x.

We need to flood T-Mobile with complaint about this.

I'm in.

down with it.

err...  T-Mobile really needs to care about customer service in order for complaints to really do anything.    Personally I think they just give customer service "lip service."  

Went to a T-mobile store today and asked about 925...they had no idea..there was no advert in the store promoting the device..except the new Jump service they have launched today..

I move to have "810" recognized as a verb meaning to provide poor marketing and software support, ultimately leading to the premature obsolescence of a handset.  As in "I'm not sure I should spend $530 on the 925 since they're probably just going to 810 the device."
 
Seriously, this gives customers nothing but bad feelings about the future of this device.  I want to know if they will have accessories on day 1.  Will reps even have the device out for demo (they didn't for the 521)?  Can anyone in the store tell me anything about it?  Do you even know that it exists?
 

^^This!

JB, that's hilarious!!!!

I have convinced two of my family members to get this phone. I hope that T-Mobile will not make this an aweful experience for them.

I stopped by my local store (Spokane, WA) on Saturday and they knew about the device and even had a dummy available so I was able to actually see it in person for the first time which was nice.  The guy I spoke with took my number and offered to call me when it came in.  So overall, not bad.  I did stop in a few times previous to that and got mostly blank stares and one employee trying to convince me that I was thinking of the 928 (not really a good sales tactic)

Was going to get the 925 the first week, but if this pre-launch is any indication, I'm going to wait, incase TMo decides to EOL it and not offer any support. I'm almost ready to jump to ATT, even though I rather stick with TMo. But I want a high end Nokia WP with guarantee support, and am tired of waiting.

It's outrageous. These store employees don't care and managers have little incentive to educate them. My understanding is that other phones, especially the iPhone, are more profitable so they push those a lot harder. Even if there's money to be made on Windows Phone, the competition is a known quantity and thus an easy sell. Why waste your time trying to push something new when it doesn't take much effort to peddle the popular device. It's kind of outrageous that even employees at the Microsoft store wouldn't be aware of these phones. Then again, the last time I was in a MS store I felt like their enthusiasm was forced. I get more sincerity from Apple store employees. American retail is a travesty.

i smell an 810ish-like approach to marketing from TMo..... wouldn't be surprised if it gets axed in 3-4 mos (its what TMO does best)... 

O2 England are pretty good at displaying the devices and the 925 even has its own swivel thingy to show off here maps and city lens, the staff however know a lot less than me/id like them to, but im an absolute fanboy with time on my hands...... Nokia time that is :)

As a previous 810 owner, I was already wary of T-Mobile and windows phone, but I did consider the 925 since I love my 920 but T-Mobile prices are good. However, this just shows me stick with a carrier that actually supports and knows about windows phone...at&t.

...launched the same day "AS" the....

We don't have  T Mobile stores anymore. Walmart, Staples, Office Depot, Microsoft, orr Best Buy. One official store in each of the 5 largest mall. Othersise retail proxies

U all relax, it will be better

If you say so.

..... this makes me wanna jump boat to AT&T (as much as I would hate to do so)... think its safe to say that TMo's an Anti-WP.

I'd sooner buy an unlocked phone and go with Straight Talk or Simple Mobile if I were you. The last thing I'd do is jump ship to AT&T. They may get the best phones, but they're ripoff artists.

good idea...! that's exactly what i had in mind.. but what about my current device being on installment plan.. might as well pay it off together with the migration fee?.. plus i wanna keep my number which i've had for the longest time.

This makes me want to go to AT&T and get the 1020. But their plans are ridiculous!

Ree-Fuggin-diculous! 

I was in tiny Killeen, TX to visit a friend this Saturday and the girl knew exactly what I was talking about and when it would be available. She even offered to have them hold one for me for when it was available. But I agree that tmo sucks at WP.

I applied at a T-Mobile and the hiring manager asked me what kind of phone I had and started flame war with me after asking me about how to sell him on one. He told me that windows phone doesn't sell well and that customers don't like them. Needless to say, I didn't get the job.

Lol.

Dang I'm sorry dude. That's a shame they said that because it goes to show how little they know about WP. I wonder if their reaction would of been the same if you pulled out a Blackberry?

I think a more aggressive article need to be put in place.... "Hey TMobile... You suck at WP."

It's the responsibility of the provider to educate their employees. Fairly lax on T-Mobile's part.

My Atlanta, GA location knew about it, so we do have some that know. :)

I was at the 1020 launch last week, and in passing complained to the Nokia rep about TMO not getting the 1020. To which he said 'yes but you're getting the 925' and pulled out his personal 925. So I have got to hold and sort of play with it (couldn't do much as it was his personal device and so didn't want to violate his privacy) but quite frankly it's beautiful. I would like a 1020, but the 925 is really really nice.... It is light yet feels really solid. The screen is bright and sharp. So TMo is missing a great opportunity here...

I will be upgrading to the 925 from the Lumia 710 and my wife from the Exhibit 4g. We hope it is available at our local store in Altamonte, Fl. I may have to order online if I get the blank look from a T-Mobil rep.

here we go again .... wow T-Mobile i mean how can you have the support page up and yet not have your own workers know about this. it just goes to show how bad T-Mobile is agaisnt windows phones >.>

I just don't know how to take the situation. Last Wednesday when TMo officially announced phone availablility just one week later, I thought they had finally learned their lesson on how to do a product launch. And then this. smh.

The 3 stores nearest me haven't a clue about the 925.  One had the display case up with the poster for the 521 and 925 but no display models.  I asked the person at the store when the 925 was going to be avaible and she said sometime in the next 2 weeks.  I then pinged T-Mobile on twitter about not being able to find anything on their web site.  And they responsed with be patient information will be coming soon.

Mine had the date, but said more details will be known on Wednesday.

T-Mobile is like sprint when it comes to WP. T-Mobile is bigger supporter of Android and now iPhone Don't expect more or less.

The 521 has 92% user rating on T-Mobile's website. You would think that they would be jumping at the chance to sell a high-end lumia such as the 925.

so did the Mozart on Verizon and the Arrive on Sprint...carriers don't listen to their customers and those are all fine examples.

This is going to be another bastard child like the 810 was, just watch.

As a former t-mobile customer I'm actually not surprised. This is why I left and why I'm happy with my 920 on the regrettable ATT. 

WP gets no respect!

Will it be $49 down?

Yes!

Sweet!

My dilemma is the 925 on TMO or the 8XT on Sprint? I really need the unlimited data and so AT&T and Verizon are out. I have an Arrive on Sprint but they left us hang with that device. Yet TMO 810ed the 810 owners, so what to do? I like Nokia overall, but boomsound on HTC is AWESOME! The 8XT also has memory card support for my audio library and I know the 16 gigs on the 925 will limit my music (had returned my original 8X on TMO because of that). Neither carrier has 4G in my area yet although both should get it later this year. Unfortunately neither carrier inspires much confidence. The 8XT is supposed to be released on Sprint this Friday the 19th and last I checked they don't have much info either. Any thoughts?

I prefer Nokia. Nokia may never return to sprint.

Don't get me wrong... I love T-Mobile, but launching a device on their network is a death knell. The don't use devices to drive revenue, they use their plans. And increasingly, that's what all the carriers have started doing. So unless the manufacturers want to pony up the case for a marketing blitz, the consumers are usually the ones who suffer. 

Don't be such cynics, guys. Yes, it is true that by law, Microsoft Retail can only carry three networks at a store.

I've called a few stores last week leading up to today and the end results have been nothing short of horrible...i had a few tell me the phone has no release date...some said Aug 7(WTH)...no one has a demo phone not even a dummy unit...i find it pathetic T-Mobiles reps have no knowledge of this device...i want Windows Phone to succeed just as much as the next person but it'll never sell unless the carrier's reps market it the right way...smh

I'm slowly getting to the point where I want to walk up to any T-Mobile rep, give them finger and tell em a good F*** You! And don't let me see the T-Mobile CEO on the street, he'll get more F-Bombs Japan in WWII

LMAO!... that John Legere or whoever the hell the TMO Ceo is better watch his back son... got my 810 aimed at him if i DO see him on the street... including the protective cover for additional weight = SHOULD hurt like a bitch.

In the immortal words of Riley Freeman from Boondocks, "...and if I see you in the streets imma smack the s*** out you"

Is this why we have carrier exclusives? Because carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile can't get their shit together?

I believe you are correct.

T-Mobile and it's store sales reps are going to push what they think the majority of their customers want and that's the latest Android Device and now the iPhone. Sad but true. Nokia & Microsoft can't entirely depend on T-Mo to push it, they have to be the ones to really take the wheel and market blitz it But either way, if I'm going to drop 5 bills on a cell phone, I figure it's ultimately up to me, the consumer to do my homework and walk out with the device that I really, really want and not what a salesperson wants to stick me with.

I went to the mall of America Microsoft store and all they could say was that they would have one on display soon.

Planning ahead in case I "need" to travel to MOA, my closest Microsoft Store location, so I called them. A very nice MS rep answered, and she said they will have the phone available on Wednesday morning, but she didn't know if they would be doing any kind of promotional deal that day/morning. I also stopped at my local TMo store. Anyway, they had a shiny new 925 on display, along with a few accessories like screen protectors. I didn't see any wireless charging backs though. I chatted up the reps, and this is what they had to say:
TMobile only gets the white 925. They might eventually get other colors *IF* they see enough interest in the phone. But for the time being, TMo will only be ordering (from Nokia) and selling the white one. He said TMo has always taken a wait and see approach to Windows Phone, because they don't know how much interest there will be in any given phone. I mentioned TMobile is shooting themselves in the foot by how they treat Windows Phone, and that if they expect more people to show interest they can't announce a phone and then do zero advertising. The rep sheepishly agreed to that. That said, that store has 11 in stock, ready to go on sale Wednesday morning. High-fives for the store rep having his Surface Pro in the store! OK, OK, calm down... He said he used to work at a Microsoft Store, and he was their phone guy, because no one else had figured out the insane carrier rules. BTW, the first rep I talked to said the 521 has been a good seller for them (at that store), and that they had sold four that day. For comparison, the store has about 750 sq ft of retail space, and is not located in what I would consider the best of locations.

I just wanna know if the GDR2 update will allow us to save game data to the cloud so if we want to take huge 1gb games off our limited 14gb available storage we can pick up later where we left off. And also if we will be able to finally view rented/purchased content from Xbox Music/Videos. That will determine if I get this phone or wait till next year.

Had more luck while I was at the Build event in San Fran in June!
Spoke to a Nokia exec there and he told me the date back then but no one in T-Mobile knows.

I went into T-Mobile and asked about the 925 and the guy said, "The what?" I said, "The Nokia Lumia 925 Windows Phone. It's launching next week." He sadi, "Uh, I don't think T-Mobile is getting that. Sorry." I said, "It's exclusive to T-Mobile. You're getting it next week." He said, "Oh, I've never heard about it. I'll talk to my manager." Yikes...

In general Store reps are clueless. I was in Best Buy helping a Mom and her Son because I got sick of hearing the rep say he has no idea why one Xbox 360 cost more than another. Same with my local T-Mobile store, had no clue when the Lumia 521 was coming out also corrected them after telling customer that her new SGS4 has 8 cores. Most customer service rep seem to pride themselves in not knowing.

On a tangent, can any phone (including this 925) be used on the Walmart $30 prepay plan? Is it just buy the phone, buy the plan online and activate on t-mobile's site?

I do not sympathize with this, I'm with Sprint..............

I was originally going to get an andriod phone but my local TMO sales guys suggested i try the HTC HD7. For the most part I have to say i liked my phone. Except for the discrimination i get from work and everyone else about windows phone. When the 920 came out i was crushed that it didn't come to TMO. I almost considered going back to ATT. Luckaly the 810 came out to hold me over until a better phone came out. Not that my 810 was bad i like it but design and camera wise it laced a bit from the 920. Finally the 925 is coming out but its hard to find any information other than on WPC or the nokia website. I tried asking any TMO store I have passed but its like the don't care about windows phone. The only phone on the TMO site is the 510. It sad that windows phone get discriminated not only by people in the street but also by the poeple that are suppose to be selling them.
 
:(

The thing that is most baffling to me is that this approach doesn't benefit anyone. I mean, what are the upsides to shrouding your own products in such secrecy (I'm seriously asking, if anyone has a guess)?
 
I have not recently been to the T-Mobile store near my house, but I did sign up on the info page over two months ago and have yet to receive a peep from T-Mobile. Keeping everyone from your customers to your employees in the dark with the phone only 2 days away makes little sense. It hurts:
 
T-Mobile Corporate: If the phone fails, you've wasted your investment on support and infrastructure for a phone by crippling it out of the gate. If you're going to bother carrying the thing, why not go the last step to acknowledge its existence? It would seem to benefit you to provide as much info as possible about your product.
 
Nokia and Microsoft: As one of the largest markets for phones, the US is as important for Nokia's resurgence as it is for Windows Phone. As the sole retailer of the 925, T-Mobile controls the success or failure of Nokia's endeavor into aluminum phones here. By keeping us in the dark, Nokia's chances and investment in this new phone are squandered. Even worse, with only a few phones on the market, even one misstep could fatally injure a hatchling Windows Phone 8.
 
T-Mobile Retail: By failing to have info at the local level, not only are employees giving out incorrect information, they are also being made to look incompetent. This decreases customer satisfaction and confidence, ultimately hurting sales.
 
Ready-to-Buy Customers: Those of us who are awaiting the coming phone would surely be happy to know what to expect from their purchase, and when to expect it. For those on the fence, our numbers would be made greater as some would choose to delay purchase of a competing phone through accurate comparison. As it stands, T-Mobile is losing customers by behaving as if there is no product.
 
New Customers: This is where the real losses come in. It's no secret-to-success that both the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy have been marketed to death in order to get the word out to the masses. Even non-tech-enthusiasts are very passionate about these products. Windows Phone cannot afford to miss any of its marks if it stands a chance at competing with the big boys. Yet even those in the know don't know about this phone. How long do you think it will take for the masses to become aware of its existence with this kind of rollout? Demand will not just happen, all parties will have to make a concerted effort, no matter how good the phone, but especially in the case of an underdog OS like Windows Phone.
 
When we have to wait two months from the phone's official unveiling, just to find out if/when it is coming to the US, and for how much, something is wrong. Would it have hurt T-Mobile to announce the release date and price back in May, along with the rest of the unveiling? As this is T-Mobile's first flagship Windows Phone, some of us have been waiting since the debut of the 920 back in October 2012 for this thing. That's nine months of missed opportunities, T-Mobile, to reach out to your customers and potential customers and say, "Yes we hear you."

Got to get the phone in the reps' hands and teach them how WP works. None of them can recommend an OS they've never held or used. Even the rep I had who pretended to own a 920 knew very little about the OS. And Microsoft/Nokia MUST purchase shelf space at Best Buy as Samsung has been doing. If plugged in flagship devices aren't on display and reps have no concept how they work, what do you expect? I have NEVER seen a 920 plugged in at any Best Buy. I think many more smartphone users would love WP if they had exposure. People love things to work simply. They love taking nice photos. The phones will sell themselves once the ball is rolling, but you have to start by educating the reps. They are the only contact point for users who don't spend hours reading tech blogs.

T-mobile employees have no idea about windows phone or Nokia, I have been told mobile does not carry Nokia while Lumia 521 is on display in store. I'm tired of them trying to sale me other devices (android). Its like going to buy BMW and salesman try to convince me to buy a bicycle. When it comes to 925 well.....nine twenty what.....oh the new android or no one has a clue. Its sad that such a great OS but no support from carries. Don't get me wrong android is not bad, its just not my cup of tea.... To each his on. But if I want WP I want window phone information not the other OS and also have some idea before giving customers advice.

Went to TMobile store and asked them if they had one. Rep said he did and he'd been playing with it all day. Was gonna be his new phone. Got to try it for about 20 minutes. AMAZING. Sleek, light, solid, and FAST. Blew my Radar away. Of the 5 TMobile stores in a 5 mile radius, only 1 is corporate and it was that one that had it. The other 2 I visited late last week were sadly clueless like most people had mentioned. Make sure you ask if you're not sure!

If you go to the US windows phone site, you'll notice that the 928 is there, the yet to be released 1020 is there, and the older 920 is also there on the first page. I wonder why Microsoft doesn't care to show off the new 925...
In other old news: A few weeks ago, I called T-Mobile customer service about the low volume issues on the lumia 810 that my father has. We talked a bit and I found out that apparently T-Mobile reps were given the chance to have free Lumia 810s and most of them returned the the devices within the return period. (I suppose they were free on contract?) I think Nokia did try, but the push from T-Mobile is just not enough. I also noticed how T-Mobile took away the "Windows Phones" link on their site and replaced it with "$0 Down Phones". While this might have been due to them abruptly discontinuing their then only two Windows phones, it's still odd that the Apple Iphone up that has only three phones with different variants for each, as it's own link. (Yes, I know it's an Iphone, blah blah. I'm just making a statement.) It's funny how Carrier's like Sprint and T-mobile cry about a device not selling well, after they don't put it on the front page on release week, nor train reps well to know about at least having the phones during release time... Btw, I also didn't recieve a single notice from that Lumia 925 page on T-Mobile. What was the purpose of that? Wouldn't it make sense to atleast inform people of the release date if they signed up to get updates about the phone?
I called my local Microsoft store and was informed that Microsoft will no longer be keeping T-Mobile phones. A few might have the Lumia 925, but not for long. Apparently, they are switching to Sprint as their third carrier. I assume this is because of T-Mobile's non-contract setup... How can they not even keep the phones? Even Best Buy allowed people to buy phones from the fourth carrier, but just didn't allow activation. Shouldn't at least the Microsoft Store keep all the latest phones for their own mobile OS?

I was hot about it when it first was announced; then it only had 16GB and then it was not available till the middle of July!  I saw the 521 and compare it against my iPhone5 and 920 and now I have the 521.  
It not state of the art; but it a very nice smartphone for the money and I can boost it to over 64GB of storage too!  
I like not having to worry about it being lost, stolen or destroy anymore.  It just like a nice used car!  Don't have to watch over it.   I even leave it on the table at Starbucks and go to the restroom and comeback and it still there!  LOL!
 
Best deal and decision I made in a long time!

Here in charlotte, NC...it's a mixed bag.
I have been debating between going to Verizon with the 928...then talked myselft into staying TMO (upgrading from HD7).  Its been a long wait, but its finally happening this Wed....only, it doesnt feel like it at all.  Well, I wanted to make sure there was going to be something to buy when I get there. 
I called my closest store and no one picked up so I left them a message about wanting the new 925 phone, to be launched on Wed.  No call was returned. 
The second place I called is not that far either, and close to my work place.  I talked to guy, dont remember his name, but he said that they have already received some in stock...I should have asked how many, but I didnt.  He knew about the phone and said that he would have one for me and took my name.  I asked him if I needed to reserve it officially for fear of not getting mine come launch day....he laughed and said I need not worry about that.  I'll be visiting that place on Wed.
 
Now, my backup plan was a 3rd Tmobile that was also not far....they didnt know how many or if they would receive anything. 
 
So, I have no hard feelings...if I get my phone on Wed that is.  If they dont have it....Im going Verizon with the 928. 

I'm not really surprised.  It's been on its way for a while, but only officially announced less than a week ago, and full pricing info went public today (search; this post engine apparently hates links).  Even if TMo is trying to train its staff, that doesn't mean the staff is paying attention, or that every store's manager arranges the training, etc. 
I send important info to people; not life and death info, but more important IMO that a new phone, to people who are better educated, more dedicated, and better paid than phone store employees.  You would think publishing things that say, effectively, You Must Read This To Do Your Job would get the word out.  Maybe backing it with teleconference calls?  Web-based training?  How about in-person presentations?  Nope.  Local managers filter messages, a small fraction tunes into training, and behavioral inertia prevails (aka "but this is how we've always done it.")  The result is that *months* later, smart, dedicated, educated people are still doing things in wrong ways. 
So ... don't expect a local store staffed with people who own Androids and iPhones to be lapping up the latest WP news just because TMo HQ made the 925 a big deal at their speech last week.
However, reviews and word of mouth spreads.  The 521 gets snapped up in less than 24 hours every time WallyWorld has any in stock.  Reviews universally say it's the deal of the year in that price range.

For what your saying to be true then literally only tmobile has people who dont pay attention to the training and then your also implying that pretty much every tmobile store is like that. But thats kind of hard to believe if verizon and at&t people know what they are talking about. If there is an article and then several forum posts on this, it cant just be "workers who don't listen" cuz then T-mobile is either super unlucky or goes out and looks for the worst dumbest people. Keep in mind most people who work at the other stores also own androids and iphones so its not like they all own windows phone.
At the end of the day it comes down to T-Mobile (and microsoft) not doing the necessary efforts it takes to market windows phone correctly. If three days before launch you can call a T-Mobile store or Microsoft store and recieve little to no info, that can't be worker problems. They are TRAINED whether they pay attention completely will only determine how well they know about the phone and what it can do but it does not explain the lack of ANY knowledge. Remember there are store managers and if the regurlar reps don't know it they call the manager and managers do special training before they train there reps so clearly its no 'lazy, uneducated works, not dedicated' workers it the system (T-Mobile and Microsoft) not giving and a damn and just brushing it to the side. If anything this starts to show animosty that T-Mobile and Microsoft/Windows Phone have to each other although I do not know how they would have snagged this phone then perhaps its because it was straight from Nokia

No such issues in the UK. O2 have 925s on display, I was able to pick one up a few days after release. Superb phone, the best Lumia yet for me.

Australian here, but I sense they also give WP the cold shoulder most of the time too.
WP's (flagships) are absurdly priced on plans, and when people ask about WPs they iinstantly try to sway buyers to Android or Ios, 

T-mobile sucks. No surprise here.

This must be a symptom of the platform not being as successful in the US as it is in other teritories. 
 
Here in the UK, Windows Phone is doing slightly better, nearing the magical 10% market share mark and it really shows. I've been in Vodafone, Three and Phones4U stores in the last few weeks and everyone I spoke to knew the phones, release dates, specs and about the OS.

I love the service and the plans can't be beat, but TMO stores don't push Windows Phone at all. When I walked in to get my 710 they couldn't understand why I wanted that phone and tried talking me out of it. I tried educating the sales woman but I could tell the info was being lost and her only knowledge about phones was just learned from what the company feeds her and not from hands on knowledge. When I go for my 925 I'm not expecting anything different, but I'll suffer poor in store customer service for their great plan prices. On a high note their phone customer service is great.

Just called T-Mobile's sales rep. spent 10 minutes on the phone with her and she could not give a single bit of information on the device. She had no clue if they have the device, the funny thing is that she was trying to find it on T-Mobile's website.

NOT COMING JULY 17?
I just called up T-Mobile customer support and asked for confirmation on availability of the Nokia Lumia 925 and was told that it was not scheduled to arrive on July 17.  Now I am really pissed at all the media that perpetrated this mis-information coming into the release.  
 
I even watched the T-Mobile news conference live-stream on July 10, and there was absolutely no mention of the Nokia Lumia 925.  but various tech RSS feeds kept telling me that there was.  Where is the source of this information?

I swung by 2 tmobile stores yesterday. Both said they'll have it ready for sale on Wednesday. One of them also confirmed they already have it in stock.
Also asked a guy at a Microsoft store, who didn't/couldn't tell me straight but strongly hinted that they'd also have them ready to sell on Wednesday

I signed up on that page they had where you gave your email so they could send info about it. Haven't heard anything. Pathetic.
Of course, it's to be expected, when they have a total of ONE Windows Phone (Lumia 521) on their website, and it's currently out of stock.

@MikeSo Same here. I heard nothing after signing up. When I went to sleep after 12am est there still was nothing, but this morning they finally have something up on their page. I got burnt with the Lumia 810, so I'm not sure I want to buy this phone anymore. I mean it seems awesome, but T-Mo and their support of the Windows Phone platform sucks.

I just went to the local TMo store where I got my 810.  The sales rep did not know that the phone comes out tomorrow but he did know it comes out on the 17th.  I do believe him when he says he forgot what day today is because when I asked if they had the display model in yet he ran to check and seemed truely eager to look at it himself. Unfortunately I believe the only reason he knows about this phone is because he too is a WP fan (rare in a cell phone salesman). I don't believe he learned anything from corporate about the phone.  He was even surprised when I told him that there is still next to no information on the TMo website, which he promptly when to check.  He even checked the internal website and there was no information there either other then it was set for release tomorrow.  To confirm the rates he had to pull the press announcement from last week.   This sales rep even pointed out that if I wante to waite a few months, the 1020 it would be about $100 more expensive but has twice the memory, ram, and 41 mp camera, I would just have to buy it from AT&T.  And why waite a few months, chances are AT&T will not start offering to sell it unlocked for 4 to 6 months.
On the positive side, the reason that the 521 is sold out is bececause they sell out within a couple days of receiving a new shipment.  He said it is one of their most popular phones because it is 4g capable at $150. And he actually pointed out that the Nokia Music player makes selling that phone much easier, "4g and unlimited streamed music with no advertisements. "  

I just called the local Tmobile located in the mall. The rep says they have 3 925's in to sell. I asked if they would have any left when I came in after work tomorrow. The rep said nobody asks for Windows Phones they only ask for the S4. I said gee thanks.

Live chatting with a T-Mobile customer service rep. They have no knowledge of the phone, despite the fact that it is supposed to be coming out TOMORROW. Here is what they just told me:  Jennifer: Thank you for being a T-Mobile customer. Regarding on the Nokia Lumia 925, we do not have the control of that information about when it will be available for purchase. However, we have the new Sony Xperia Z online. Are they serious? What's the point of offering a new phone if you're not even going to promote it

I had same experience as many others. No-one in the T-Mobile store in Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, knew much: no idea on pricing, colors, availability, half a day before launch. After much prompting, one rep. did go out back and found a store demo model. Within 5 minutes, two other customers joined me in asking questions (and one cancelled a purchase of another phone he was about to make, saying he preferred to wait a day).
so, cock up? Poor organization? Or conspiracy? T-Mobile secretly doesn't want to honour its agreement with Nokia?
I also heard the common refrain "but nobody is asking us about Windows Phones..." only to be countered by one angry customer saying "Well we are, so who are we? Just dummies?"

I've had the same number and been with T-Mobile since I've had a cellphone and they've always been late to the party with phones and I finally thought things were getting better and now this. The last to get a FLAGSHIP Lumia device(Sprint doesn't count when it comes to Windows Phone IMO) and when they finally get it boom...NO REAL PROMOTION. I blame Nokia as well for this and I'm not sure if I want to get the Lumia 925 at all now after being BURNT with the 810(Only a couple months ago) I mean if you're going to do it then do it right or don't do it at all. All these events, Nokia event, T-Mobile event and no real promotion of the 925. I mean it looks like a great phone, but if I'm going to get the shaft again after I buy then I'm not sure I want it anymore. Windows Phone is in the #3 spot, so they need to do everything right as a platform to gain ground. I mean to I have to switch carriers or do I give up on Windows Phone altogether. :-( They phone is suppose to be out today. Where is the noise making?

I'm not sure if this accounts for the lack of promotion or awareness by the reps but I noticed that the splash page for the phone is under the business section of the site for some reason.

now that T-mo has the iPhone, they could give a shit about wp now. which is such a shame since they carried the brand in the beginning so well...
 
Its the launch day...and T-mo still has nothing on their website...such a shame. very disappointing in T-mo

Well I got one guys and I am very dissapointed... There is no signal in my office and I have signal with other phones on the same carrier... no one can help me with it... in the store it is in the very back corner dimly lit very sad... 

https://twitter.com/louie_tartaglia/status/357535372001021953/photo/1

After calling the T-Mobile Store again today, I went and got my 925.  I had to ask where it was because there is no signage, no display at all.  It was on the Blackberry display.  Not even an honorable mention anywhere in the store.  Heaven forbid you want any accessories, there are none.  Not even on the T-mo site, no charge covers, nuttin'.  The young man was reasonably familiar with the phone but I was his virgin opportunity with it hands on.  Nokia, is this how you invisioned the launch of this phone in the US?  Really?

Yesterday, I went into two relatively large & flashy Tmobile stores near where I live on the north side of Chicago.  Neither store has any Nokia Lumia 925s displayed, and am told that they "have a few in the back."  REALLY?  The local supermarket can put together a display for gluten free wafers, but T-mobile can't be bothered to push the newest, and arguably best Windows Phone currently available?!
This is just sad, and goes to show how Tmobile never seems to be able to see the glaring weaknesses that the rest of us see.  They are so close to breaking through as a great mobile phone alternative, but they release two top phones, have a big show a week prior...and then don't push them AT ALL at the local level.
This is supposed to be a flagship phone, and with the lack of support they showed for the 810, I wonder if they will just dump this a few months down the line and move on again.  Man, this one hurts, as I really wanted to get a 925, but I felt like I was buying a phone that had been discontinued...as I had to request them to "check in the back" for the phone.  Sad...truly sad.

The issue with the 925 is that it doesn't wirelessly charge, and there is no micro SD card slot.  I don't use any type of case on my phones.  And I store music and pictures on it as well.  My Lumia 810, for being an ok phone, has a 64gb Micro SD card living in it, and I've never had to plug it in to charge it (once I got the Qi shell).  Never again will I purchase a phone that I have to plug in.  And expandable storgae is a must.  (I work on ships and listen to music constantly without any type of signal)