[jhanks64]

About 3 weeks ago, I was in a mall and stopped by the Verizon kiosk. I had my Z10 with me, but I wanted to feel a Z30 and see if it was something I would like. I also have clients that are interested in a Z30.

I asked a sales girl if they had the Z30 so I could take a look at it. She told me that it was End-Of-Life and not very good. My blood boiled and I just told her it was the best phone and walked away. They were very busy and I didn't have time to wait around just to set her straight.

I'm tired of the sales people at the carriers spreading lies about BlackBerry. The Z30 is one of the highest rated phones on verizonwireless.com and Amazon.com also. I understand if maybe the stores don't carry a big inventory of them, but at least have a display model so people can look at one and order it if desired.

In the meantime, I used the last upgrade I had available and got the Z30. Since then I've had 2 people buy it from Verizon and have a couple others on the edge.

I complained to @VZWSupport and also lodged a complaint on the FCC web site.
Soon after, I got an email from the Verizon Wireless Executive Relations. A few days ago I got a phone call from Amanda asking me for more information on my complaint.

I explained to her what happened and how I have read many similar stories here on CrackBerry and online about sales people lying to customers.

I said, it's okay if sales staff doesn't push it or says they don't prefer it, but to lie and say the company is out of business or something similar is wrong. Does it make any sense that one of the highest rated phones on verizonwireless.com isn't available in stores? Your own customers rate it the best, but people can't buy one.

I explained that I had to buy one and show it to her customers because they couldn't see one in a local store.

She actually called around and found one 30 miles from me in another mall and wrote me back. She also said that she would see what could be done to educate the non-verizon vendors.

[realtrevor]

You did a good thing.

[Resilience]

Good man you are!

[o4liberty]

Nice to see someone like you take a stance on this great job! But something is still wrong, the Z30 has the highest rating on VZW's Web site yet very few if any stores carry the phone. There is more to this then we know and Verizon isn't going to say either. There are other devices on their site with similar ratings and they also get little attention from the stores, personally I believe they profit margins are higher or some manufacturers are paying them off IMO.

Posted via CB10

[dyeagley]

I was researching for a new phone and found out about the Z30. Went to the Verizon store to check it out. They did have a model that
I could check out. When I asked questions about the phone, not one salesperson knew anything about it. I went ahead
got the Z30. Absolutely love the phone, thought about going back to the store and shouting to them "this is a great phone". Had to buy
accessories online because they didn't have anything in the store. WHY????? The phone is great and I have had them all. They
wanted me to get the Samsung Note 3, so are they getting more in commissions from other brands? Makes you wonder.......
Diane

[MikeLip]

I'm going to take the unpopular stance here. It's what I do. While lying from a saleperson is ethically wrong, there are many possible reasons for her to have done what she did;

1) Kim Kardassian or Oprah said Blackberry was dying, and like so many fans of those people she just took them at their word.
2) She doesn't know. Sales people never, ever like to say "I don't know" to a customer. They want you to think they know everything. So she said what came to mind to avoid appreaing ignorant, which is a very human thing to do.
3) She is on commission. The Z30 is not the sexy phone of the moment. Yes, I have one and no you cannot pry it out of my hands even though I also own a Note 3 and Lumia Icon (which is an awesome phone). Both of those phones are far flashier than the Z30. Plus the iPhone is still extremely popular, to say the least. She is going to want to sell those since half the battle is already won for her by the companies making them and their ad campaigns. Why should she spend two hours educating buyers about BB when she could spend that time making commission? She's not an evangelist. I'm blaming BB for that one - they should be pushing their phone to the public. I'm not a particular fan of any platform, but the Z30 has advantages to people like me - professionals who need to communicate. No other phone does it better and there are a lot of us out there who maybe don't know how badly iOS and Android compare to BB10 for that. WP8 is better but not as good as BB10.

So while you may feel better for having called out that poor girl, you are doing what my old boss called "Pissing up a rope." There are some fundamental problems with how BB is approaching the market, the biggest of which is they are doing so in a very halfhearted way, if at all.

[rizdragon]

that is the right way to do things...

[A895]

I am going to take the unpopular stance too. I understand sales people regurgitate BlackBerry premature demise, but to complaining about her can have her end up with her on her *** because you felt mad. Now she's jobless because you got mad she said your favorite company is out of business. You have to be aware that BlackBerry is severely unpopular with average consumers. For them to say they are going out if business isn't too far fetched from their point of view. T-Mobile stop selling BlackBerry devices for a while, Verizon was the only carrier to get the Z30 and even then its hard to find one in store, and add on the stigma that blackberry's don't have the latest apps (which they don't natively) and you get a lot of people saying they are going out of business.

Sent from my XT1060 using Mobile Nations mobile app

[yorkshireman2]

I had just the same experience over here in the UK at Carphone Warehouse. I spent half an hour arguing with the salesman, but he basically didn't care. As far as he was concerned it was Apple or Samsung all the way, and that Blackberry were DOA.

I went ahead and ordered a brand new unlocked Z30 from eBay and have to say it is - by a long way - the best phone I have ever had.

[muellerto]

BTW: It becomes hardened - since March 1st the official Swisscom [1] online shop sells neither the Z10 nor the Z30 nor the Q5 anymore, only Q10 (black and white), guess remaining stock items. They gave no further informations about this.

In the shops out there you find almost no BB anymore, even if you ask. - I hate these shops. You always come out more stupid than when you came in. Next weeks we must buy a new phone for my wife but I struggle to go into such a shop.

[1] the biggest carrier here in Switzerland, former state-owned enterprise

[AnimalPak200]

So while you may feel better for having called out that poor girl, you are doing what my old boss called "Pissing up a rope." There are some fundamental problems with how BB is approaching the market, the biggest of which is they are doing so in a very halfhearted way, if at all.

You might be surprised at the effectiveness of pissing up a rope. For several years I used to get turned back (or get hassled) at the Canadian (Ontario) border for having studded tires (on my US-registered car), because they were "banned in Ontario". One trip I printed the latest Ontario Highway Traffic Act where it states clearly that the restrictions do not apply to vehicles registered outside of Ontario. Sure enough the border agent didn't want to let me through, so I pulled out the copy of the law, read it to him and left him a copy. That was about 6 years ago, and I have never been bothered or questioned about my studded tires ever since.

Maybe the agent asked his supervisor, who then asked his director, who then asked whoever above him/her and ... "woops" I guess we need to push down some updated training to the border agent core.

Speaking up (cordially and respectfully) helps. Good going OP.

[A895]

The simple answer is to ask for the manager. Explain to the manager the employee refused to get you the product you asked for, even though it is sold by their company, and instead made a derogatory comment about your choice. If the manger regurgitates the same nonsense about BlackBerry, take the manager's name and inform him or her you will be filing a complaint with the company (and government if you wish). If you are angered, shop elsewhere. I prefer insisting they get me what I want so they are forced to act against their will.

Derogatory? We understand this is phone we are talking about right?

Sent from my XT1060 using Mobile Nations mobile app

[zed_10]

One more thing to think about when talking about Verizon stores (and I would presume others) is that not all of them are official Verizon owned stores. Some, at least around the Northern Virginia, are independently owned outlets. The official store in my area has a working Z30 and Q10 on display, while the outlet about a mile up the road has never carried more than the IPhone and a couple of the best selling Androids, but certainly not all of the Androids that are available. No BlackBerrys. I would guess that many of the kiosks are the same.

I'm wondering if some of issues that people are experiencing with the stores providing incorrect information and not carrying the phones may be due to this.

Posted via CB10

[nabil114]

About 3 weeks ago, I was in a mall and stopped by the Verizon kiosk. I had my Z10 with me, but I wanted to feel a Z30 and see if it was something I would like. I also have clients that are interested in a Z30.

I asked a sales girl if they had the Z30 so I could take a look at it. She told me that it was End-Of-Life and not very good. My blood boiled and I just told her it was the best phone and walked away. They were very busy and I didn't have time to wait around just to set her straight.

I'm tired of the sales people at the carriers spreading lies about BlackBerry. The Z30 is one of the highest rated phones on verizonwireless.com and Amazon.com also. I understand if maybe the stores don't carry a big inventory of them, but at least have a display model so people can look at one and order it if desired.

In the meantime, I used the last upgrade I had available and got the Z30. Since then I've had 2 people buy it from Verizon and have a couple others on the edge.

I complained to @VZWSupport and also lodged a complaint on the FCC web site.
Soon after, I got an email from the Verizon Wireless Executive Relations. A few days ago I got a phone call from Amanda asking me for more information on my complaint.

I explained to her what happened and how I have read many similar stories here on CrackBerry and online about sales people lying to customers.

I said, it's okay if sales staff doesn't push it or says they don't prefer it, but to lie and say the company is out of business or something similar is wrong. Does it make any sense that one of the highest rated phones on verizonwireless.com isn't available in stores? Your own customers rate it the best, but people can't buy one.

I explained that I had to buy one and show it to her customers because they couldn't see one in a local store.

She actually called around and found one 30 miles from me in another mall and wrote me back. She also said that she would see what could be done to educate the non-verizon vendors.

Finally! ..................

[Francis Pavolko]

A scary thought came to mind as I was reading these posts. It came at the pissing up the rope moment. Could it be that BlackBerry has actually thrown in the towel with respect to this market and we are still searching for answers in all the wrong places. You know that old saying, "I know I am right, it's the world that's confused." Just can't help but wonder at times if we might be the ones missing the bigger picture here. What else can explain their lackluster roll out of a product as good as the Z30?

Posted via CB 10 with Z30 on AT&T

[afl777]

A scary thought came to mind as I was reading these posts. It came at the pissing up the rope moment. Could it be that BlackBerry has actually thrown in the towel with respect to this market and we are still searching for answers in all the wrong places. You know that old saying, "I know I am right, it's the world that's confused." Just can't help but wonder at times if we might be the ones missing the bigger picture here. What else can explain their lackluster roll out of a product as good as the Z30?

Posted via CB 10 with Z30 on AT&T

Concentrating on Enterprise? There seems no other reason to let the public side fall so much...

[A895]

Concentrating on Enterprise? There seems no other reason to let the public side fall so much...

With BYOD in full effect, even that is getting harder on them. With reports like the government moving to android and iOS devices and Obama getting a android device it speaks volumes.

Sent from my XT1060 using Mobile Nations mobile app

[Rasheed White]

you guys have to understand that most likely to the people in the U.S. are what you would call Highly suggestable. They grew up watching 6 to 7 hours of television a day. Studies show that if you do watch that much television, you don't have the ability to really think for yourself. So, lighten up on them, they are brain damaged.

[A895]

you guys have to understand that most likely to the people in the U.S. are what you would call Highly suggestable. They grew up watching 6 to 7 hours of television a day. Studies show that if you do watch that much television, you don't have the ability to really think for yourself. So, lighten up on them, they are brain damaged.

Yeah, I don't agree with any of this. I hope I'm not alone in that.

Sent from my XT1060 using Mobile Nations mobile app

[TrueKulcha]

Well done OP. Hopefully many more of us can take a similar stance and stop stifling our consciences and defend wrong. Now to keep it as short as possible, why are others so compelled to air their ignorance in support of such misinformed sales people?
Now a good comparison/ reference point will be McDonald's, very popular and well known by almost everyone. If I should walk up to the counter and ask for a fish filet sandwich do you think someone there will have the nerve to try and talk me into getting a chicken or beef burger, or lie that there are no more fishes in the sea? That's not their job!! Maybe most of these phone kiosk sales people or customer service agents needs to be retrained or get a more suitable job.

Posted via CB10

[MikeLip]

you guys have to understand that most likely to the people in the U.S. are what you would call Highly suggestable. They grew up watching 6 to 7 hours of television a day. Studies show that if you do watch that much television, you don't have the ability to really think for yourself. So, lighten up on them, they are brain damaged.

Nice. Real nice. I'm surprised I have time to get my work done, since I'm spending so much time in front of the tube!

[Rasheed White]

Not my opinion, I am just reading what the scientific studies show

[allisos]

This is more likely a BBB issue.

I don't see what the FCC has to do with your encounter. Possibly the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) because the lies being told it the stores could constitute a restraint of trade against BlackBerry. More so if it can be shown the retail company is spreading those rumors for the express purpose of damaging BlackBerry sales. That would be very hard to prove but, there does seem to be a coordinated effort to spread a rumor of BlackBerry's demise. Otherwise one would not expect almost every encounter of this type to sound identical.

[playbook_swiper1]

I am going to take the unpopular stance too. I understand sales people regurgitate BlackBerry premature demise, but to complaining about her can have her end up with her on her *** because you felt mad. Now she's jobless because you got mad she said your favorite company is out of business. You have to be aware that BlackBerry is severely unpopular with average consumers. For them to say they are going out if business isn't too far fetched from their point of view. T-Mobile stop selling BlackBerry devices for a while, Verizon was the only carrier to get the Z30 and even then its hard to find one in store, and add on the stigma that blackberry's don't have the latest apps (which they don't natively) and you get a lot of people saying they are going out of business.

Sent from my XT1060 using Mobile Nations mobile app

If she ends up on her *** becasue she lied, then she failed to fulfill the duties required of her job and deserves to be out on her ***. You cannot defend an out and out lie as the customers fault. Defending the indefensible. Ridiculous.

[TrueKulcha]

If she ends up on her *** becasue she lied, then she failed to fulfill the duties required of her job and deserves to be out on her ***. You cannot defend an out and out lie as the customers fault. Defending the indefensible. Ridiculous.

Only logic I'm can come up with is that maybe A895 is the girl that lost her job.

Posted via CB10