As a staples employee I can only confirm the amount of playbooks I have personally returned for customers and that was 3, out initial shipment at our store was about 15 and then we got more and I have seen a few more come back.
The three I did returns on were all different customers but all of them "didn't like it" and it "didnt do what they wanted" but all three were still in the box half way setup and all accessories not even touched, which may say something about the setup process lol
I personally can't wait to get my free developer playbook but until then I'll keep playing with the one we have on display at my store, I love this thing!
Also just to clarify staples does not have any discounts on open box items if anyone was wondering.
actually i find the information interesting, iwas "guesstimating" that there would be about a 20 percent return rate with about half of those being exchanges for various reasons. although these various posts are a small sample, that estimate looks to be accurate. If the actual refund returns stay at 10 percent or less, I believe RIM would be very happy with a 90 percent retention rate considering the bad press, percieved lack of functionality, buyers remorse, etc. Pretty good news if accurate on a larger scale.
I returned mine last Sunday so I could do so within the 14 day window. 16 GB just wasn't enough storage for as much as I will be using the playbook. Waiting on a 64 GB version I ordered.
Thats assumeing you work in a USA staples store, as i work for Staples Canada and we very well have a Open box policy of 5% discount .
Same goes for our Demos of Electronics , 5% is all we can give.
It's funny...people just assume because something is open box or previously returned, it should be like 25-50% off. I used to work for a fairly "high end" electronics retailer that happened to be located in an outlet mall, and people thought we would heavily discount our merchandise just because it had been returned or exchanged (or simply because the shoe store across the way sold merchandise "50% off" from the marked up MSRP). That's just not how it works when you're selling a high demand, high value product.
5% off a Playbook that works and looks just like new is pretty decent.
Picked up mine from Staples in Whitby on Tuesday. Just before my return flight back to the UK. I had arrived in Canada on the 19th and was going to go home empty handed but in the end temptation go the better of me. So looks like this one for sure wont be getting returned.
How are you liking the Journal case? I got one and didn't like how the power button was harder to press so I returned it but the more I have been using my playbook and adjusting the settings I don't hit the power button that often anymore.
The cases are great. Yes the buttons are hard but a minor setback considering the benifits of the cases. And the butons do losen up after using it and like you said, you have less and less need to even use the power button after a while
I think that the 14 day return day policy for the playbook shows RIM's commitment to satisfy their customers. A dead pixel, the wrong storage size or the tablet doesn't meet your expectations. People keeping the playbook longer and complaining about it is just plain your fault. I had know illusions about how slow RIM moves, with sofware updates and I don't expect the playbook to be running a mature silky smooth OS until Christmas. When the native email and spell check come, that will be a bonus.
The people who are keeping the playbook and integrating them into their lives, speaks louder than the people who are returning them. So OP, what is your point, other than to try to spread some negativity? How many ipad2's, xoom's or other tablets were returned? Do other tablet companies let the user test drive for two weeks? If you are going to start a new thread, at least make some kind of point, or esle you just, ah, look a like a fool.
next year
. I agree, let them fade into the sunset!