[KermEd]

I've seen a lot of scary threads on user experiences with BlackBerry 10. Fortunately, my experience was very different. But thought it might be fun to share.

Sorry for the long read. 4 summarized experiences (Short version, all positive, nothing amazing here though)

Long version:

Store: Bell Kiosk, Bow Valley Center in Calgary

When the Z10 was first released in day one - it was impossible to find in the US. But as a developer, I had played with my Dev A a lot and being Canadian I was excited to see the Z10 on release day. So myself and two coworkers stopped at the local Bell kiosk.

The girls were super friendly, and the phone was showcased - they actually had 3. 2 on display with the wire holder, and one on the desk the girls were playing with. One of the girls was playing on her own Z10 - and they couldn't hold back their enthusiasm. They told us they received 10 for selling that day and only had 1 left. They also said the Z10 sample unit was being used all day by different people and how excited people were to see the phone. And how lots of passerby folks were surprised it was a blackberry.

They showed us their favorite features. And they asked a lot of questions (mostly about features - confirming what they were told is true). Place in part because myself and another coworker do some app development and had plenty of experience to show them things. To this day, the girl still uses a Z10.

Store: Wind Mobile, Northland in Calgary

When I managed to trade up my Dev A for an LE, I stopped on at a wind mobile store to get the new smaller SIM card for the LE. Wind is lower on the totem pole here but more mellow. The store was quiet, Z10 was at the front. The phone didn't work - but none of them did (bbry or otberwise). There was one guy manning the desk - very cool guy.

He was very excited when he saw the red LE I could tell he is definitely a techno junky. He was definitely excited to see it! He asked to look at it, and said he never really has had a chance to use BB10 but has heard great things about it. He told me he uses an android phone. We joked a lot, he really liked the peek and hide effect and how he has been debating switching to a Z10 - that his friend got one and loves it. He told me they were sold out of Z10's for weeks now, and even the smaller Sims are sold out and suggested it was from blackberry (but was likely pulling my leg on that one - Wind was pushing customers to get a newer sim card that week. Some functionality campaign). So he sent me down the block to a kiosk.

Store: Wind mobile kiosk, Deer foot mall

This Kiosk was hella-busy - but Wind is cheap and Deerfoot is discount central - a breeding ground for being busy. I went up and waited patiently (you have to understand, wind mobile has 30/m unlimited talk / text / data. And half price roaming in the US. Their support is brutal and getting help impossible. But the savings are worth it - a similar plan on rogers was 120/m for 3GB at the time).

Eventually, the two gentlemen beside me were sidetracked and started chatting away and the clerk got bored of helping and switched to me. I brought out the LE and asked for a sim card. The guy at the counter was surprised - he didn't believe it was a BB10 device at first.

What was cool though is the two guys beside me saw the phone. They asked a couple of questions. And when I was leaving they were debating between a Curve and a Z10 - and for the reason to follow, I couldn't in good conscience talk them into the Z10. It turns out the younger guy was buying his older dad a new cell phone. And they liked the curve because it was easier for him to type (his hands were very shaky - he was much older). He seemed so excited though. It breaks your heart a bit - but you know that guy is going to love a keyboard model. Kiosk was too small and crowded for me to see where the devices were.

Store: Koodo, North Calgary

At this point, many months later, I now have a Q10 for testing. The model I got doesn't support AWS, so off I went to Koodo to get setup - pricier than Wind but less than the big 3 (even if it is Telus based). I wanted to start using the Q for work because the battery life is nice.

The girl was very happy to set me up with a SIM card and we had a long chat. She was very jealous of my Q, and told me that Telus (and then she corrected herself and said Koodo) is really good at letting them play with the new phones. And sometimes they can even keep them. She said she got play time with the Q10 and started listing the things she liked about BB10. She seemed novice, liking little things. But did know about the hub and mentioned she wished she could get that on her phone (I believe it was android). She said she was very jealous that I had a Q10.

Anyway, the phone was setup in no time, and I headed out.

--- So, so far 4 good experiences. I've been very lucky. Blackberry still seems strong in Calgary (I am surrounded by BB10 phones at work - both personal and business) and seems to be well liked. We get news about Bbry frequently in our elevator tvs. And I see adverts on occasion in downtown, on TV, Canadian websites and print.

If I was to give a suggestion to blackberry - bypass carriers and give out phones to staff for vendors on your own and find a way to engage them with them. The reps I met just wanted more experience with the phone to be confident with it.

Sorry so ridiculously long.

Ed.

Posted via CB from my LE

[anon(3732391)]

Nice story but just abit long.
Keep in mind that the average posters interest level is about two sentences
But.as luck would have it, I like to read. ( and look for those color words that don't belong) and also find the encoded messages within the story.
For instance: "So far 4 good experiences." (wow, what an experience. I actually made it this far) Don't know what the 4 is about. Probably a typo.

Anyway, not to give away the ending or anything but they all lived happily ever after.

[goodayeh]

Nice to see some positive stuff.

For a while , " BlackBerry is Satan " type threads where the only thing available !