[benbraun322]

I don't know you say that they never weakly stocked it anywhere and it's sold out online so I went to AT&T.com and out in my zip code and it says that ALL FIVE of the closest retailers to my location have the Passport in stock.

It also says they have it available online and I can ship one to my home.

I don't know what to say...

 BlackBerry Z30 Chenpion 

[rooberry99]

On the day of release, I stopped in one AT&T store that's a few blocks from my office; they had the Passport and the Classic on display at the very back of the store. Both were working so I was able to handle them and swipe/scroll, etc. I didn't have any time to purchase one, just want to hold/see and was going to order online anyway. The salesperson who was standing just a foot away from me was engrossed in selling someone an iPhone 6, so he never even noticed me come in, browse, or leave. I ordered my PP online and got it a few days later. I can't say whether this store was a "corporate" store, or not. I should stop back in there and see if the phones are still on display.

[fishlove73]

That's good to hear. Thank for the reports
Btw I hope that BB release the critical bug fixes ASAP as it don't help neither sells or image of the brand.

Posted via CB10

I understand that. 1)My population estimate was off the top of my head. You should guess yours without consulting a computer and see how close You get. 2) you did not refute poor marketing, you just cherry picked the parts you wanted to argue. I took the liberty of giving you a picture of what the us user base looks like as far as smartphones...
Attachment 340028

~Better with Blackberry~

[Tim-ANC]

Ok. So what would be a reasonable number of reviews for the Passport that would signify strong demand, if for the other phones they number in the hundreds after 4 or 5 months on offer (versus a few weeks for the Passport)?

I just posted a 5 star review at att.com

I think all those worried about BlackBerry's rep in the sates should do the same.

[thymaster]

Good for you. Those that laughed at you will shoot themselves in the foot because they lose out on their commission cheques anyways.

I did the same - called a store, asked for a passport, got laughed at, then ordered online.

Posted via CB10

[guruhabibi]

Why would AT&T or ANY retailer stock something that won't move?
Order the device online and move on.
Why is this so hard to remember?

First, this is a chicken or the egg debate.
Second, it's LA, and as confirmed by the AT&T stores I was by far not the first asking.

I'm also a bit tired of BB being a corporate or business phone. By that logic the iPhone is a toy / style accoutrement.

BB is the better communicator. Business or whatever floats your boat.

It shouldn't be reduced and degraded to a corporate phone. There really isn't anything less sexy than "corporate".


Q10/CB10

[fishlove73]

First, this is a chicken or the egg debate.
Second, it's LA, and as confirmed by the AT&T stores I was by far not the first asking.

I'm also a bit tired of BB being a corporate or business phone. By that logic the iPhone is a toy / style accoutrement.

BB is the better communicator. Business or whatever floats your boat.

It shouldn't be reduced and degraded to a corporate phone. There really isn't anything less sexy than "corporate".


Q10/CB10

I like your thinking!

~Better with Blackberry~

[Troy Tiscareno]

I'm also a bit tired of BB being a corporate or business phone. By that logic the iPhone is a toy / style accoutrement.

BB is the better communicator. Business or whatever floats your boat.

It shouldn't be reduced and degraded to a corporate phone. There really isn't anything less sexy than "corporate".

Then your complaint should be directed to John Chen and BlackBerry, rather than AT&T (or any other carrier), as it is BB that is insisting that their products are being designed for and marketed to enterprise as their primary focus. That's not something your carrier invented.

[guruhabibi]

Then your complaint should be directed to John Chen and BlackBerry, rather than AT&T (or any other carrier), as it is BB that is insisting that their products are being designed for and marketed to enterprise as their primary focus. That's not something your carrier invented.

When Vitamin Water came on the market, nobody in their right mind believed that stuff is "healthy" just because it contained "Vitamin" in it's name.
Point: It's irrelevant what Chen sells to the board and potential investors.
BB is an all around great device for ADULTS.

It should be marketed as such.

Adult phone.

Quite frankly, I also enjoy it's "exclusivity" a bit. It's "cool" to not have the same phone as everybody else.

Q10/CB10

[TerribleTim68]

I'm gonna add my $1.98 ($0.02 after inflation and Washington state's continued raising of minimum wage) to this discussion, for what it's worth.

I called 5 stores around my area last week, 1 of those was a corporate store. Not a one of them had the Passport in stock. I also checked the AT&T website and found that NO stores in my state had the Passport in stock. I blasted AT&T via Twitter (because what else is it for?). The following day I took another look at the website and wouldn't you know it, a store not too far from me stated they had them in stock. I drove over to check it out, because while I'm fully aware that you can get one online and have it shipped in a matter of minutes (or whatever), I really needed to hold it and fondle it before I could really decide if I want this phone or not.

When I got to the store in question I was greeted by a younger gent, very sharply dressed. My immediate reaction was that he was a misplaced Apple Store employee. But low and behold, this was the perfect person to help me! Not only was he eager to show me the Passport, he was even willing to go in the back and get one because they (according to him) had sold out the week before and had just received a new shipment that morning and hadn't got them out front yet. Once he returned with the phone, he even knew how to work it and had a lot of good things to say about it!

Once my monetary situation improves next payday I will most likely be returning to him to buy the phone. If he doesn't have one, I'll have him call me when he does. My point is, AT&T gets a lot of crap about customer service. I've been with them for well over a decade. I was with them before it became Cingular, and I'm still with them after it is no longer Cingular. For all the bad rap they get, I never find myself in a location where I don't have service that I either think I should, or someone else in my group on another carrier does. Say what you want, they really aren't all that bad. I've even watched several people I know who were on other carriers leave theirs to come to AT&T.

[Whispering]

I kept waiting for my store to get the PP in. Only got Classic. FInally found 2 stores in the entire TWIN CITIES area had the PP went & got one the next morning, the guy said i think we have one.. then finally got one, he couldnt transfer anything because they didnt have the right machine so I had to do it all myself. Why is ATT so messed up when it comes to BB? I stopped at mine the other day & sure enough the guy who helped me was like ohh thats awesome & my regular salesman was like.. ugg. even though he knows I will not quit using BB. I hoard my old ones in case of a apocalypse or something.. LOL

[nbaliga]

My few cents:

If BBRY did any kind of meaningful marketing, people would be coming in the stores and asking about their devices and the reps would have to brush up.

If I asked this forum what the latest Microsoft devices are, I'm sure most people wouldn't know anything about them either.

Bottom line is that BBRY does not really care much about devices anymore. They're OK with low sales volume in hardware. Hard to swallow for me, but it is a reality. Look at all the neutrality directions they are taking.

Neutrality = Device agnostic!


Posted via CB10

[fatclue_98]

It shouldn't be reduced and degraded to a corporate phone. There really isn't anything less sexy than "corporate".

There isn't anything MORE sexy than a strong, confident woman in a power suit. If she has a BlackBerry in her hand, even more so.

[Roger Wat]

Had to drive one hour to an ATT store to find a store with a Passport in stock. Did not have it on display, had to get it from the back room. Sales rep knew nothing about it and said he had not been trained on either the Classic or Passport. Wish Verizon was the USA carrier for Passport. I am in the Daytona Beach, Florida area.

[detgm]

I'm used to the AT&T stores in my area not knowing...caring enough about BlackBerry. Both the corporate stores and the retail outlets, all they have or care about is iPhone or an Android. I'm used to the bias! Hell, I'm from Mississippi!! The entire world is biased about any and everything that comes from this state! All I can say is I ordered two of them and absolutely love the device!!!!

[ChibiBlackSheep]

None of the stores in my area had it in stock, I ordered it online last night from ATT, and they overnighted it and should deliver tomorrow

[KKTien]

I don't know if it is 'official' or 'unofficial but sanctioned' - but I can tell you that when I asked AT&T Sales (online and phone) about getting a Passport, I was steered away from getting one - saying BB is a dying company, why would you want one of those?

When I spoke with Verizon about BB's - they said very much the same thing, officially and unofficially.

Now, I know some AT&T call center folks and they hate BB support with a vengeance. I have been repeatedly mocked when I said I wanted a Passport, and they refuse to acknowledge that the Passport is well reviewed, nor that BB has a significant market share in Canada, etc.

Somehow, here is the US, Blackberry had gained a very bad rap with the very folks that would be taking the call to sell to or help us, and that is absolutely impacting Blackberry's market penetration in the US.

BTW - My Passport came via UPS today from an AT&T on-line order - the SIM card was inserted incorrectly (between the metal wall for the SIM card and the outside case), and I'm having a bear of a time getting my company to do the Enterprise Activation correctly (my mail and contacts aren't syncing). In the process - tons of playing around with it - and I love it already.

[KKTien]

You must have gone to the Silverdale Mall - that's where I got to, as you said, see and fondle mine before I ordered it. I'm from the other side of the state - where they are "out of stock", so saw one when I was visiting family.

That storefront is fantastic. Anyone in this area should go there.

[vvildstar]

I don't know if it is 'official' or 'unofficial but sanctioned' - but I can tell you that when I asked AT&T Sales (online and phone) about getting a Passport, I was steered away from getting one - saying BB is a dying company, why would you want one of those?

When I spoke with Verizon about BB's - they said very much the same thing, officially and unofficially.

Now, I know some AT&T call center folks and they hate BB support with a vengeance. I have been repeatedly mocked when I said I wanted a Passport, and they refuse to acknowledge that the Passport is well reviewed, nor that BB has a significant market share in Canada, etc.

Somehow, here is the US, Blackberry had gained a very bad rap with the very folks that would be taking the call to sell to or help us, and that is absolutely impacting Blackberry's market penetration in the US.

BTW - My Passport came via UPS today from an AT&T on-line order - the SIM card was inserted incorrectly (between the metal wall for the SIM card and the outside case), and I'm having a bear of a time getting my company to do the Enterprise Activation correctly (my mail and contacts aren't syncing). In the process - tons of playing around with it - and I love it already.

Oddly enough, my passport did not come with a sim in it... Sealed box straight from ATT.

[vecharo]

Strange that so many have had poor AT&T experiences. On launch day I called my local store. They didn't have it. Cool. I went online and chatted with a couple of reps. They tried to steer me....to a Classic. Lol

The second rep told me she loved BlackBerry and couldn't wait to get the Classic. I just wanted to let those reading that not every ATT experience was horrible. Hell they were more psyched than me and it was 7am when I hopped online!

I wasn't deterred by the lack of in store stock since frankly BlackBerry has always done a poor job of marketing in America. I was thrilled that ATT had the case and holster so I added that to my order. It shipped same day (I received notification at 10pm on Friday). I didn't choose expedited shipping and it still arrived Tuesday the 24th. The SIM card was in, I found the email that had the link to activate the phone on the network and I was in business in under 5mins from when I picked up the box outside in the garage.

I'm lovin' this phone and it's ca-razy battery life!

Posted via CB10

[Pellicaen]

Perhaps BlackBerry should offer a higher commission to carriers and then they will push them out more instead of bad mouthing them everywhere

Blackberry Passport running 10.3.1.2480

The problem here is that the iphone probably costs about $20 to produce and so they have a lot of profit to use for marketing.
Where the Passport is from really good quality (dropped it on day 2, not proud of it)

[BlackberryCodeSource]

Yup, a friends been looking for one in LA as well and can't find any at any of the AT&T stores close by either.
Hopefully they'll start stocking soon as there is a decent demand for the passport and classic compared to previous BB10 models

[Tim-ANC]

I don't harbor any malice toward AT&T. Of the choices I have, they are best carrier for me. I don't care if they display BlackBerry's in stores. I like having something different from the rest of the herd. I think this release was well thought out. They supplied enough Passports for those of us who want it (albeit mostly by online order) and for their corporate customers (Boeing for example) to meet demand without burdening themselves with overstock. They should make a small but successful profit thereby justifying continued support of BlackBerry products in the future.

[ripperj]

There is logic to the above post, Att call quality in the northeast is very good, I never drop a call and usually have 4 bars of 4 G or lte, but I am not far from the I 95 corridor.
As I long as I can get my hands on a phone I am good, I rely on forums like this to make my choices,not some zit faced car salesman wannabe in a store, so I don't care if I know more about the product than he does


Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk 2

[KKTien]

Same here - I have no malice towards AT&T - the people I have dealt with have all been fabulous... just that one shipping issue. I probably should have gotten it from the in-person sales rep in Silverdale, but that's not my home city and I wanted to get it closer to home. Small city that it is (and BB is < 2% market share) - I'm not terribly surprised they weren't in stock. A little annoyed, but not surprised.