[Jack Donovan1]

An older friend of mine after running out of time on his pay as you go plan during a driving mishap, decided to go on a contract and discontinue with his land line too.
He had asked me for a little demonstration and showed him what I was able to do on my Z10 and my wife give him a brief look at her LG G3.

He said he preferred the BlackBerry and decided that's the one he wanted because he had been told that they are safer meaning more secure I suppose and off he went the next day by him self to get one.
The phone he ended up with was a Galaxy but he was told it was a BlackBerry Galaxy!!

He did mention that the sales representative told him that the Z10 was no longer available and the Galaxy was the new model and was cheaper than what I would have paid for mine when it was new which it probably was.
Anyway, I think due to his pride he's not going to make a fuss and his grandkids think he's pretty cool because they know what it is but I know he is pretty upset to be taken by the sales Rep the way he was even if the phone works out for him.

But I do wonder why BlackBerry puts up with this as this is a very common type of practice and a very much discussed problem people are having when just trying to explore the available choices among the different brands.

Why does BlackBerry not address these issues? This is the fourth person I know that went to get a BlackBerry and ended up with something else. It's almost like sending somebody for a BlackBerry is a sure sale for another brand.

And by the way, my older buddy is still calling his New Galaxy his BlackBerry

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[miketko]

WTF thats just shady. What country are you in?

An older friend of mine after running out of time on his pay as you go plan during a driving mishap, decided to go on a contract and discontinue with his land line too.
He had asked me for a little demonstration and showed him what I was able to do on my Z10 and my wife give him a brief look at her LG G3.
He said he preferred the BlackBerry and decided that's the one he wanted because he had been told that they are safer meaning more secure I suppose and off he went the next day by him self to get one.
The phone he ended up with was a Galaxy but he was told it was a BlackBerry Galaxy!!
He did mention that the sales representative told him that the Z10 was no longer available and the Galaxy was the new model and was cheaper than what I would have paid for mine when it was new which it probably was.
Anyway, I think due to his pride he's not going to make a fuss and his grandkids think he's pretty cool because they know what it is but I know he is pretty upset to be taken by the sales Rep the way he was even if the phone works out for him.
But I do wonder why BlackBerry puts up with this as this is a very common type of practice and a very much discussed problem people are having when just trying to explore the available choices among the different brands.
Why does BlackBerry not address these issues? This is the fourth person I know that went to get a BlackBerry and ended up with something else. It's almost like sending somebody for a BlackBerry is a sure sale for another brand.
And by the way, my older buddy is still calling his New Galaxy his BlackBerry

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[web99]

I find that very hard to believe. Your friend probably preferred a Samsung Galaxy.

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[early2bed]

I'm sure if he was that upset he would return it. That's what the return policy is for.

[donnation]

If any of that is true:

A. Did you let him know that the Z10 isn't available and that none of the carrier stores had them?
B. Did you let him know that AT&T doesn't carry any existing BB phones?
C. Why wouldn't he take it back if he really wanted a BB?

[RoseBud68]

Blackberry is to blame for putting them self in this position and as for your friend if he can't tell the Difference between a Blackberry and a Galaxy then shame on him.

[Jack Donovan1]

This happened in Canada. My buddy is 74 years old and has been happy as I was with just a pay as you go phone.
Just like me, he will never use any smartphones full potential but since we travel quite a bit together he has seen some of the things I have been doing with this phone, things I've learned from my kids. I chose a BlackBerry because I am Canadian to be honest and he kind of knows this phone now because when we need to use a phone we use this because I am on a contract.
I think because he has some familiarity with this one it was a little easier for him to sort of ask for a little demonstration. I'm sure if I had a Samsung there would have been no difference to him whatsoever. I really can't see him using it for anything other than a phone and I know he will use the camera but that's about it.
As far as a Z10 goes, I'm not up on what's available or what's not really and I doubt that I will be looking for another phone if this one is working.
On the upside, I had mentioned that some of his grandkids are really excited Grand dad has a Galaxy and he's pretty happy about that so far. Actually I'm thinking now after having talked to him outside a few minutes ago, had he been able to really ask somebody else comfortably about any phone he probably would went with what they had.
I did not recommend anything, I had just shown him what a smartphone can do in a generic way.
I am a little curious as to why it seems every where I go, almost all sales reps can get away with diverting people from a BlackBerry inquiry to another brand without BlackBerry really making much about it.
As I had mentioned, I know several people that have decided to for go their land lines and use cellular because of travel now that they are retired and the contract rates seem to fit better with their new lifestyle. It really is having your home phone with you all the time when you can port the home number. I know of several more people that are considering this option in the near future too and some might ask me about this phone and some I know will be using whatever their kids might have.

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[donnation]

Your story makes more sense now and I feel really bad for him.

As to your other question most stores divert away from Blackberry because they either don't carry them or have an incentive to sell another brand for more commission on the sale.

I hope it works out alright for your friend, I hate it when people are taken advantage of like that. My mom actually went into a carrier store wanting another non smart phone and was talked into buying a Galaxy Note 4. She was completely lost and I went back into the store and tore the manager and the rep who sold it to her a new one and exchanged it. This is a 70 year old woman who has never used a smartphone in her life and doesn't need one and walked out with a Galaxy Note 4 because the rep told her how easy it was to use and how much better it would be for her. She was too intimidated to tell him no. That type of behavior can't and shouldn't be tolerated.

Again I feel for your friend and I hope it all works out for him.

[AnimalPak200]

Totally agree with the sentiment in this thread regarding sales reps pushing overly-glitzy bloatware preloaded (and consequently too complex) Samsung devices.

Did the same to my 66 yo dad who was getting is first smartphone. Literally took him months to figure out how to set an alarm, and to this day he still has a heck of a time finding apps within his phone because Samsung filled up with (feels like) hundreds of colorful little apps that are useless to him.

I have tried to get him on a BlackBerry, because it truly is much more uncluttered and necessitates less apps to do its basic functions properly,.. but he brushes it off,.. either doesn't want to admit he got sold on something that he wasn't very knowledgeable on,.. or doesn't want to admit that he's having a hard time figuring something out.

Either way, he barely uses it and has been turned off from smartphones in general.

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[crackberry_geek]

Blackberry is to blame for putting them self in this position and as for your friend if he can't tell the Difference between a Blackberry and a Galaxy then shame on him.

Exactly!

The title to this thread nails it...

BlackBerry = Anti-marketing!

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[Jack Donovan1]

Your story makes more sense now and I feel really bad for him.

As to your other question most stores divert away from Blackberry because they either don't carry them or have an incentive to sell another brand for more commission on the sale.

I hope it works out alright for your friend, I hate it when people are taken advantage of like that. My mom actually went into a carrier store wanting another non smart phone and was talked into buying a Galaxy Note 4. She was completely lost and I went back into the store and tore the manager and the rep who sold it to her a new one and exchanged it. This is a 70 year old woman who has never used a smartphone in her life and doesn't need one and walked out with a Galaxy Note 4 because the rep told her how easy it was to use and how much better it would be for her. She was too intimidated to tell him no. That type of behavior can't and shouldn't be tolerated.

Again I feel for your friend and I hope it all works out for him.

What he really needed was a voice only contract for his trusty old flip phone which is in perfect condition.
What I think he wanted was a smartphone just so he could have one. I know he would never get rid of his original phone either.
I do know that at least 2 major carriers here in Canada offer BlackBerry devices. That would be Rogers and Bell.
Until someone noticed I had a BlackBerry and explained about Crackberry, I had no idea about these cell phone rivalries and really see it's no different with the users of the other brands. The brand loyalty is just as intense as it is with automobiles.
As with what happened with me, I'm sure my buddy who is also my neighbor will be learning about all the things his new phone can do and will be showing it off and honestly the now cool factor he gets from a couple of his Grandkids will be worth more than any phone.
How ever the real point is I suppose, is that more and more people are moving from land lines for the convenience etc and some will be more informed than other, or may want or want to learn the full smartphone experience so I don't understand why, especially with the sales trouble BlackBerry seems to have is why they allow the tactics tactics used by the different sales reps. And as you probably know, the security of BlackBerry if it truly exists, means more to most older folks than any Netflix app or twitter. Can't capitalize on that if a sales rep won't cooperate.

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[miketko]

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[miketko]

My 60 yo dad works at a store where there is a cell kiosk. The rep keeps pushing my pops to buy a samsung. Luckily my dad asks my opinion before ditching his legacy BlackBerry for an samsung where he will potentially go over his current 500gb data plan.

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[rohetaku]

Blackberry is to blame for putting them self in this position and as for your friend if he can't tell the Difference between a Blackberry and a Galaxy then shame on him.

Shame on him??! He's 74 dude

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[RoseBud68]

Shame on him??! He's 74 dude

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Go back and read the first post...Age is never mentioned.

[MRTatCB]

Same thing happened to me. Last year, I was asking every store if they have received the Passport. And, almost all were looking with eyes as if I was asking something very weird, and were then recommending other phones. I have even argued with one of them, asking if he is Canadian (and, I am not!), and when he said "yes", I asked him why is he against a product coming from his own country (may be that was a little too much from me))... Recommending phones to someone asking for help is one thing, trying to change a customer's mind by ignoring his question is another thing.

[Glenn Biddle]

Go back and read the first post...Age is never mentioned.

Read his second post he says that his "buddy ", friend is 74.

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