[CLS42]

Was in the mall and stopped at the T Mobile kiosk to ask about the new Z10 and when it would be available. The rep working there at the time said later in March, but that long term he didn't think of BlackBerry as a good investment because he didn't think the company would last much longer due to their single digit market share. He was very polite and we had a good conversation about phone in general, with encouragement to consider newer android offerings. I then walked into the BestBuy phone store and spoke with the rep there, who said latest she had heard was March 22, and to check back. I found the contrast interesting because the T Mobile guy described himself as a phone geek, said he had been selling phone for eight years, but didn't seem aware of the positive reception of the Z10 in the market, or the company name change.

Things that let you know this rep was an *****. He works at a kiosk in the mall, he's been selling phones for eight years and doesn't know a great phone and transformation of a company when he sees it and as a salesperson he should never say anything to discourage a buyer

[ragdeiii03]

This rep sounds like he really wanted to push an Android phone, which is probably the platform he prefers. This is why reps should leave their personal opinions at home and just give what the customer wants.

The sales reps push the phones that are selling the most. That's their job....



Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[Emu the Foo]

The reps don't really know much if anything. Tmo is the one going away obviously. Technically rim is dead tho so he is right but we knew that rim was no more over a month ago

[svelt]

Frankly on the flip side, if I found myself in a sales position for phones I'd push whatever I personally like too. Not to denigrate anyone who is in this field, but I wouldn't be riding my entire career on the line of my sales job. I'd push the **** out of the Z10 for my own interest unless the commission structure was stacked against selling it (I can't imagine the managers telling the employees... sell more iPhones, bash the Z10). I don't blame him for voicing his own (uneducated and uninformed albeit) opinion.

[pandapurple]

Long live BlackBerry. I hope all the BlackBerry developers are aware how much we all appreciate the Z10. It's been a long road for these guys with the highest risk that the market would react their creation.

Thank you for all your hard work.

Posted via CB10

[tre5tackz]

Everyone has opinions, he's entitled to his.

[SK122387]

Honestly, who CARES what a T-Mobile rep thinks?

Many of them don't know sh1t, and I think it's totally fair to say that they are privy to absolutely no better information regarding BlackBerry's plans as a company, than the average consumer.

Literally anyone with interest can go to a phone store and pickup an application (or do it online), and probably get hired or at least an interview. I had two interviews with at&t and the reason they wouldn't hire me was because my school schedule conflicted with the hours I'd have to work. See? It's that easy.

So why do people let retail sales people in phone shops sway their opinion? Honestly, the most recent phones from BlackBerry on T-Mobile have been low-end devices, and the last high-end one to launch was the Torch 9810 in November 2011, and I think it went EOL after a month, because T-Mobile, being the confused company that it is, did not do any marketing for it (they didn't do much for the Bold 9900 either) and was probably shocked, SHOCKED that an unadvertised new phone did not sell well.

It would be easy for a not-so-bright, impressionable sales rep to think "RIM" wouldn't be around much longer, if they're looking at BlackBerry's current latest offering, a Curve 9315, next to a Samsung Galaxy S III.

T-Mobile has been so far up Android's A$S since the launch of the G1 that I'm surprised they're even still magenta, and not covered in lime green or whatever the insides of that Android robot are.


Anyone who is a serious BlackBerry user, or any smartphone user for that matter, knows what they want and probably keeps up on the latest news and rumors about their favorite manufacturer (or operating system..I don't have the mind of an Android user, so I don't know if they're loyal to Android or a particular manufacturer). So if someone has informed themselves of what's going on, there's absolutely no need to even listen to a sales rep in the store. I know I don't.

My dealings with them usually go like this: I walk into the T-Mobile store the day a new BlackBerry launches, I buy it, humor them by letting them put my sim card into the new device, and then leave.

They're there to make money, commission, so it would be 100% in their best interest to suppress a potential BlackBerry10 buyer's interest in a platform that isn't out on their network yet, so they could sell them a shiny new Android sitting right there.

I should probably calm down about the way people listen to these sales reps, before I have to see one of these reps again, hopefully on March 27th or sooner, when I buy my Z10 in a T-Mobile store

[DPanacci]

He's right Rim is gone! It's BlackBerry now

Posted via CB10

[EvanRitch]

PERFECT SITUATION!!! Exactly what was going on in Canada. Reps and workers didn't really know much about the new Blackberry and even talking about Blackberry would bring up so much negativity. But once they got their hands on one and the demo's came out. Then they started to learn how great it was and their attitude changed. America will be the exact same way. I think all they know is Blackberry has pretty much been crap for 2 years so that's whats in their mind. Once this phone hits it will turn people over. They just don't see it yet!!! I can't wait!!!!! It really needs to be seen in action and then it will spread like it has here!

[pantlesspenguin]

The ones who say T-Mobile is going away are honestly just as misinformed as the rep saying BB is going away. T-Mo is making some pretty bold moves that may shake up the mobile industry. They're rolling out their LTE network (luckily for me, Kansas City is slated to be the 2nd market to get it!) and going contractless. $70 for unlimited everything, no caps, no overage fees. Add another $20 on top of that and you get 4 gigs of mobile hotspot access. When I was on VZW last year $90 got me 500 minutes, unlimited text, 2gigs of data. If I went over even a little bit it was an extra $10 on my bill. Eff that. My Z10 on T-Mo's new plan is going to be a great combination for me.

[SK122387]

The ones who say T-Mobile is going away are honestly just as misinformed as the rep saying BB is going away. T-Mo is making some pretty bold moves that may shake up the mobile industry. They're rolling out their LTE network (luckily for me, Kansas City is slated to be the 2nd market to get it!) and going contractless. $70 for unlimited everything, no caps, no overage fees. Add another $20 on top of that and you get 4 gigs of mobile hotspot access. When I was on VZW last year $90 got me 500 minutes, unlimited text, 2gigs of data. If I went over even a little bit it was an extra $10 on my bill. Eff that. My Z10 on T-Mo's new plan is going to be a great combination for me.

Overall, I really like T-Mobile. I started on T-Mobile when I had a Sidekick2 (hahaha) for text/IM/web/email, and a Motorola RAZR on at&t for talking only. It was because I did not want to pay an ETF to at&t, and really wanted a Sidekick. So I had 2 devices for a while (in high school, so in hindsight, I probably looked like a huge jacka$s, but I paid my own bills so whatever).

I upgraded to a Sidekick3 and at&t swapped my RAZR for a SLVR, then T-Mobile came out with the Pearl. At first I was like, "who would use this weird little keyboard?" and then I remember every few days I'd go to a T-Mobile store to play with it. I ended up buying it, using it as data only for $19.99 a month. Pretty awesome. Then when the 8800 came out, I HAD to have it. I left at&t and my 8800 was my first all-in-one device. Been with BlackBerry on T-Mobile ever since, and I'm dying to get the Z10 and Q10 too!

[raino]

I had a very similar experience today at a mall. Granted it was a third-party exclusive retailer, but it was still pretty funny. The spec monkey of a rep started off with not knowing the name of the Z10 (understandable, I suppose.) Then he proceeded to tell me that the this was the "last shebang" for BlackBerry because of their huuuge market loss due to...wait for it...a massive breach/lock-out in their "email system, affecting big customers like the state department. It just went down, man. It was crazy." He then duly proceeded to sell me on the upcoming HTC One (which I pointed out looks a lot like the Z10,) and the upcoming "octa-core, no wait...quad-core" S4 (which I pointed out looks a lot like my S3,) while bashing, in no particular order: iPhone 5, Verizon, "iPhone S4" (he misspoke, but it was funny...like everything else he said,) AT&T, and Sprint. Of course he still plans to sell the iPhone when it's released on TMO.

The only new things I learned that were remotely of interest to me:

1) Their retail stores will be closed for a full day for training (I'm guessing for the iPhone.) I'm not sure if "they" is this third-party chain only, or all TMO stores.
2) There is a guy (T-Mobile customer) in the mall who uses 28GB of data

Oh and phonearena.com is the ish

[calicocat2010]

Maybe he meant he didn't think t mobile would be around much longer.

That is Exactly what I thought when I Thought I had read the title this way.

[ursacava]

He's not even in a store. After 8 years, he's still in the kiosk, next to the We Buy Gold stand and the lady that plucks eyebrows with dental floss...

Actually, he was next to the stand where the guy sells remote controlled helicopters, and flys them over the people in the Food Court.

[Xopher]

It definitely sounds like he was pushing for what he can sell today. He probably hasn't even been trained on the Z10 yet.

[m1a1mg]

Just like other types of sales, if you don't sell on the first contact, the chances of making a sale to that person go way down.

[soapydarren]

Well, some argue that the executives know that RIM will not survive and will be bought out in the end, hence they scrapped the name and left just the product name as both product and company name. Eventually, when it dies as expected by that school of thought, BB10 and the devices will be some of the products of the new buyer. And the brand names will do some work in selling to the BlackBerry fans.......hmmn. I for one pray it succeeds, and well enough to battle the major two.

[SF71]

Was in the mall and stopped at the T Mobile kiosk to ask about the new Z10 and when it would be available. The rep working there at the time said later in March, but that long term he didn't think of BlackBerry as a good investment because he didn't think the company would last much longer due to their single digit market share. He was very polite and we had a good conversation about phone in general, with encouragement to consider newer android offerings. I then walked into the BestBuy phone store and spoke with the rep there, who said latest she had heard was March 22, and to check back. I found the contrast interesting because the T Mobile guy described himself as a phone geek, said he had been selling phone for eight years, but didn't seem aware of the positive reception of the Z10 in the market, or the company name change.

Ya, I've experienced this in the past and as we can all see, Blackberry is still here. It amazes me how (dare I say it) prejudice comes in a variety of ways.

[ErinnM]

He's not even in a store. After 8 years, he's still in the kiosk, next to the We Buy Gold stand and the lady that plucks eyebrows with dental floss...

LMAO... had to laugh at the dental floss. I've always wanted to try that though instead of waxing... meh. I'll pass.

Anyway, that T-Mo guy is just talking from what he thinks/assumes. Not by any facts at all. This is what annoys me about some of these reps. Even if I am leaving Sprint, I never had a rep talk down about the Blackberry when I got them. The one last year was awesome when I got my 9930. He was all into it showing me everything while we waited to get the phone activated and such. He was saying how he switch to the iPhone from the 9930, but regretted it and missed it. I was surprised actually. Never heard anyone say that. LOL but they also work on commiss so he probably just wanted you to guy a new phone right then and there instead of waiting.

And EvanRitch is right. These people haven't even touched the phone yet. They don't even have the right to talk about the phone right now. They probably think it's going to be like Blackberry's other horrid touch screens. Just wait until they actually use it.

[jlarkins08]

I am a T-Mobile sales rep for a corporate store in New Orleans . And the truth is "WE" have spiffs and incentives for different phones to sell at certain times.. It normally happens around launch time! But I don't pay attention to the spiffs and things because we still get commission regardless. That commission is based on what I can you to sign up for! Example: data packages, unlimited minutes, 2 year contracts and insurance for your phone.. So personally, I don't push a certain phone to everyone all the time. I actually do my job and see what works for the customer! I have never had a customer complain about me and I have been doing this for 6 six years.. 3 years with AT&T and 3 with T-Mobile! I sell every phone we have even windows 8.. Like I said before it depends on the customer and what they are looking for. Unfortunately, my coworkers don't do this! They sell android to everybody and they always have customers coming back complaining.. I hope they learn eventually!


Sent from my iPad Mini 32GB using Tapatalk

[STV0726]

I am a T-Mobile sales rep for a corporate store in New Orleans . And the truth is "WE" have spiffs and incentives for different phones to sell at certain times.. It normally happens around launch time! But I don't pay attention to the spiffs and things because we still get commission regardless. That commission is based on what I can you to sign up for! Example: data packages, unlimited minutes, 2 year contracts and insurance for your phone.. So personally, I don't push a certain phone to everyone all the time. I actually do my job and see what works for the customer! I have never had a customer complain about me and I have been doing this for 6 six years.. 3 years with AT&T and 3 with T-Mobile! I sell every phone we have even windows 8.. Like I said before it depends on the customer and what they are looking for. Unfortunately, my coworkers don't do this! They sell android to everybody and they always have customers coming back complaining.. I hope they learn eventually!


Sent from my iPad Mini 32GB using Tapatalk

Sorry, I know it's an old thread...

...But I just have to say...(and being agnostic I don't say this much...)

God bless your heart, and thank you dearly.

~STV on Z10STL100-3/10.1.0.2025 TMO US

[RubberChicken76]

People get really worked up about what a $9/hour sales rep at TMo thinks.

[fearmantis]

T- mobile wont last long . Their sales rep are not doing s good job at sales.

BB Z10 Rocks!

[Troy Tiscareno]

T- mobile wont last long . Their sales rep are not doing s good job at sales.

I guess you haven't been paying attention.

T-Mobile is widely regarded as the most pro-BlackBerry carrier. Overall, there have been far more positive stories about T-Mo and their attitude towards BB than any other carrier. They also pushed the OS updates faster than any other carrier.

Also, T-Mo just had a monster quarter, with a large amount of growth, and just turned on a ton of LTE, backed up in most markets with very fast HSPA+ (21 and 42). And their "Uncarrier" contract-free programs are being extremely well-received. Did I mention they just bought MetroPCS and are not only adding all those customers, but also picked up a ton of LTE spectrum as part of the deal? T-Mo will be ahead of Sprint soon and will be gaining ground on the two big boys. They took their AT&T merger dollars and have made fantastic investments for their future. 2 years ago, they were in big trouble. Today? They are doing much better than anyone imagined was possible.

[STV0726]

T- mobile wont last long . Their sales rep are not doing s good job at sales.

BB Z10 Rocks!

Yes, and very rightfully so.

Point of sale is where the issue is.

~STV on Z10STL100-3/10.1.0.2025 TMO US