O2

How lovely are the staff here?! We were greeted by Batman and Batgirl (they are raising money for the NSPCC). Everyone was really friendly and helpful and we certainly weren’t waiting long for assistance. Mr. Snarky was out for a new phone since his has been heading down the pooper. He thought he could check out some new contracts and see if he could get a deal. The guy who helped us asked him some questions to figure out his usage, but also mentioned that depending on where he works, he might be able to get a discount. There was slight miscommunication in whether Mr. Snarky wanted the iPhone 6 or 6s. The guy calculated the cost for both and was honest about the difference between the two, rather than try to oversell one. The only reason I took a star off was because of how loud the music was in the store. Mr. Snarky usually has a bit of trouble because of his Tinnitus, but I have to admit I was struggling a bit.

O2 — The chemical symbol for Oxygen when they’re 2 oxygen atoms in a molocule, previously owned by BT (who now own EE), they were renamed as O2 in 2002, previously being called BT Cellnet, in 2005 they were bought out and taken over for £18 billion and are now owned by major European company — Telefonica. O2 have had a lot of owners throughout the years, and are even set to be bought out again with regulatory approval, so it is a good time to write a review, as if O2 are bought out by 3 it will be interesting to see how this deal effects this store, for the better or for the worse, and with no reviews for this place in 6 years, a shiny, new one is definitely needed!
This O2 store is slightly hidden away on the top floor on the Manchester Arndale, and now is probably their «Number 2 store» in Manchester, with a larger, better, newer store recently opening up on Market Street in the old Nike outlet.
Now, enough about history, back to the present and this store in particular. This store has been here for a good few years now, to the point it has been refurbished a few years ago now, to look nicer and fit into the branding and store model of most O2 stores in the UK.
They is a «Guru» bar, set out like a small, quieter Apple Genius bar, to help you out with tech support, which is an idea I like. The staff here don’t stand out, they’re seemly okay, average.
Despite being smaller than the Market Street store, this store is still relatively nice and a decent size.
This store is pretty much your average O2 store, albeit in a slightly hidden location, which can be a bit of a trek to get to, while in Manchester unless you plan to spend some time shopping around the Arndale, and with the new Market Street store opening this store has become less relevant, the contract prices here are very expensive, especially compared to the likes of GiffGaff, who are a subsidry of O2 and run on the O2 network, and «value» networks who «piggy-​back» on another network, such as Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile, who «piggy-​back» on O2 and EE respectvly.
I’m not saying this store is terrible, but it is below average that’s for sure, and only warrants a «high» 2 star rating, but still has not impressed me enough to deserve 3.

The O2 store in Arndale. Metallic and chic and looks very high tech, unlike the other phone stores.
It obviously has the latest phones and the information for your contracts, pay as you go and if you are wanting to change your existing deal.
Their customer friendly to the right amount. But if you ask me, I like the O2 shop on Market Street to be much more friendly and useful! Agreed its smaller, but there’s a warmer feel to it than this.
Oh well, this ones no bad, Its your phone store!

I can’t help but feel we’ve been here before.
It’s a phone shop, it sells phones.
As per usual the décor is some cheap variation of the creaky laminate, advertising board overkill standard, the colour scheme is largely ‘soothing’ blue, the battery-​less phones are wire clipped to the walls because we all know that the British public is a mass of dirty, thieving, phone obsessed low lives, the staff are suited up in their best Burton-​wear and have a vampire-​esque thirst for giving customer demos and spouting meaningless numbers and figures at people– everything is as it should be really, if you want a phone great, if you don’t it’s probably no good to you.