1. cmknight's Avatar
    ok, first off I do not know whether or not this would be an appropriate place to pour my anger.

    I am a BB loyalist, if there is such terminology. Being from Vietnam, it feels great that RIM has finally started to show some attention to the market in my country.

    ---------

    Here's the story

    On Friday 11/11/2011, RIM, in corporation with Brightstar (sole distributor of BBs in Vietnam) held a launching event for the Bold 9900.

    The majority of invitees were potential dealers. Our group BISVN were also present, we were the first to have a 9900 model on hands back in June 2011 (you can search my username and see my post on the "leaked photos of 9900" from way way back)

    At the event, there were 2 BB 9900s to give away as raffle gifts.

    However, it was set up so obviously that made everyone there at the event frustrated.

    The first 9900 went to Huy Phong (a mobile dealer), however, when the organizer called them up to the stage and asked for the phone number they provided in their registration to verify their ID, they could not provided the correct phone number.

    Everyone booed them off the stage, however, a Brightstar rep came up and explained tha the Director of Huy Phong (who was supposedly the winner) was absent and sent a representative to the stage (which explained why he did not know the correct phone number)

    The second 9900 went to Nhat Cuong (another mobile dealer). However, this is where it got interesting. Everyone at the event could clearly saw that the PG pulled out a blank piece of paper with no name on it. The Brightstar rep mentioned above whispered into the girl's ears to tell her to announce Nhat Cuong as the winner.

    That was when all **** broke loose. Almost everyone left the room with a lot of boo and frustration.

    Everything was set-up from the beginning so that the two mobile dealers could win the two 9900s.
    11-11-11 10:44 AM
  2. cmknight's Avatar
    Here's my thought(s)

    It's not a BIG deal, but as customers/supporters/fans, we felt betrayed and set-up. It was supposed to be an open raffle with transparent results.

    However, everything was set-up from the get-go and the thing that frustrated me the most was that they (Brightstar, sole distributor of RIM) pulled such a move like that in front of the majority of potential BB dealers in Hanoi, Vietnam; and it was so obvious to see.

    the prize of 2 9900s were nothing. There were 8 people from my group (BisVN), all of us has been using the 9900 since it was not even officially available in Vietnam.

    I was just very disappointed with the way the event was organized.

    With the stock prices declining, current demand for BBs is so low, I thought RIM would need to pay careful attention to potential market like Vietnam. However, they continue to fail as how tonight's event turned out.

    I am considering to escalate this matter to upper management. I think RIM need a new, better distributor in Vietnam, who has a more transparent, fair, open approach in terms of marketing and business development strategies.

    Your thoughts?
    11-11-11 10:51 AM
  3. guerllamo7's Avatar
    I experienced a similar thing with a bike raffle ones. It was rigged. I did not blame the gym though I blamed the girl that wanted her boyfriend to win. The manager walked over a few minutes later asking "what you already had it? I wanted to make a big deal of it".

    I don't think RIM was driving that boat. RIM gives stuff away and for two Bolds they would not screw anyone.

    Cheating ticks me off too but I don't know that I would blame RIM for it.
    littlestone likes this.
    11-11-11 10:56 AM
  4. johnenglish's Avatar
    Get mad at the people who organized the event and raffle; this isn't RIM's fault.
    littlestone likes this.
    11-11-11 10:58 AM
  5. zgods1's Avatar
    Event organisers not RIM that simple. RIM aren't gonna toss and turn over two phones....

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    littlestone likes this.
    11-11-11 11:04 AM
  6. howarmat's Avatar
    I doubt this was any of RIMs doing at all. Like mentioned this is on the people running that local event
    sam_b77 and littlestone like this.
    11-11-11 11:04 AM
  7. Moonbase0ne's Avatar
    I read the story. How exactly is this RIM's fault? RIM probably had no ideal there was even a raffle to begin with. Why would they?

    If it was a car dealership that had a supposedly rigged raffle event, would you blame GM or Ford or Audi?

    Seems a little silly to blame RIM


    "War Is All We Know"
    littlestone and sam_b77 like this.
    11-11-11 11:17 AM
  8. cmknight's Avatar
    my point is: at the moment, they have only 1 /sole distributor called Brightstar

    Brightstar organized the launching event. and it was crap

    I suggest that RIM would seriously consider another distributor to take care of their marketing strategy
    11-11-11 11:30 AM
  9. BaconMunch's Avatar
    It's unfortunate to hear about your story and I hope that this event doesn't phase your enthusiasm for BB. I really enjoyed your story back in June 2011!

    It is however unfortunate that Brightstar, the one running the event, obviously has "other" intentions or pressures to please certain dealers and they don't realize that YOU GUYS (aka all the participants) as enthusiasts in the industry have the best voice to bring the device to the general public (that can afford the technology).

    Keep up the good work and hope to see BlackBerry go big in Vietnam. I would LOVE it if more of my Vietnam contacts had BBM so that I could keep in touch with friends I meet there. It is a much more powerful tool to communicate rather than Yahoo imo.
    Last edited by BaconMunch; 11-11-11 at 11:40 AM.
    11-11-11 11:37 AM
  10. cmknight's Avatar
    It's unfortunate to hear about your story and I hope that this event doesn't phase your enthusiasm for BB. I really enjoyed your story back in June 2011!

    It is however unfortunate that Brightstar, the one running the event, obviously has "other" intentions or pressures to please certain dealers and they don't realize that YOU GUYS as enthusiasts in the industry have the best voice to bring the device to the general public (that can afford the technology).

    Keep up the good work and hope to see BlackBerry go big in Vietnam. I would LOVE it if more of my Vietnam contacts had BBM so that I could keep in touch with friends I meet there. It is a much more powerful tool to communicate rather than Yahoo imo.
    thank you very much BaconMunch,

    yeah, it was very unfortunate the way the event turned out.

    just like you, I personally DO hope that they go big in Vietnam. I agree it is so much more practical and convenient to use BBM than Yahoo. I hope that Vietnam will be like the regional countries like Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia where more than 50% of smartphone users are BlackBerry users. Hopefully by then, it would be easier for you to keep in touch with your contacts.
    11-11-11 11:43 AM
  11. sam_b77's Avatar
    OP,
    Howarmat called it correctly. This was a local event with the local distributor (Brightstar) in charge. Nothing to do with RIM.
    This is the unfortunate part of living in third world countries (oops Emerging Economies).
    India too has a country Distributor for RIM, they are named Redington, and I can see this sort of a thing happen in India as well. Not to say that Redington has ever done this, but distributors like these tend to have a lack of transparency and these things happen. They want to oblige their biggest retailers. Its a pity though. It will change as the country and its economy matures.
    These things can also happen in USA, Europe etc.but they are not as blatant as places like Vietnam, India etc....
    Don't hold this against RIM, rather bring it to their attention via RIM's website.
    11-11-11 12:44 PM
  12. stonecold3's Avatar
    Frustratation is the correct word to describe our feeling at yesterday's event.

    Yes I am another person who felt betrayed by a bad all set up event by the organizers. After a bad night sleep, I now want to give more details of the story.

    The night started well with all the posters, candles, PGs, organizers' members welcoming guests to the biggest event of the year in Vietnam - introduction of 9900 and 93..

    We enjoyed the speech by the marketing rep from RIM, Mr. Calvin Wee and were walked through the history of first BB models back in 1994 till now. The interpreter *** MC of the night did a so-so job as sometime she mis-understood the lines from Mr. Wee and instead just said some "other things". No problem, its not a big deal.

    We were then served some drinks and light food and continued our talks about BB among us - table just in front of the central stage. The two guitarists and a beautiful violonist add more romance to the night. We were really pleased we were invited to be there to witness coming success of 9900s in Vietnam.

    Just then, the situation changed when the MC announced the time came for selecting the lucky winners of 2 9900s for the night. We all turned and looked to the central stage.

    The MC asked a PG to bring the pot containing all the supposed tickets (actually the cuts from the registration sheets which we were asked to provide name and mobile phones during registration)

    The MC herself picked the first ticket, looked at it and read out the name "Huy Phong agent", the room clapped hands, and a small guy appeared. The MC asked to verfiy if he was really the lucky one by asking for his mobile phone number which he supposedly knew if he was the one having registrated.

    Unluckily, he said another the phone number and the MC, smiling and regretably announced he did not say the correct phone number and therefore could not get the new phone. The room booed and burst out laughing. Strangely, the guy's cheeks just turned pink but he stayed sill in front of the central stage; he did not come back to his seat. Just like he was waiting for a saviour (who then came and appeared to come from the table of RIM rep, Brightstar rep, organizers rep; the table was next to ours so we did not miss any details of this becoming-to-turn-to-a-funny story)

    The saviour rose up from his chair and got the MC to handle the micro to him and announced the winner was still from Huy Phong, but unluckily the boss (whose mobile number was picked as of the lucky winner) was ill and did not come to the event, therefore the pink-cheek guy did not remember the phone number.

    More boos and woos from the room as everybody knew the organiers said only the one who was present at the event was supposed to qualify for the lucky draw. Some liars being told, and sadly to the face of us participants who love BB and want to best to come for BBs future in our market.

    The story continued when the MC annouced the lucky draw went on and she would ask a participant to pick the ticket for her. She came to OUR table and asked Mr. Dao Toan, an agent in Trieu Viet Vuong street to pick it.

    She then looked at the ticket and a perplexed look on her face. Just 30 seconds before that, a young man wearing pink shirt appeared from nowhere, rose up and came and stood in the middle of the central stage, just next to the MC. No one invited him there but strangely he stood there, ready for something (we have his photo and would post soon)

    What was he going to do? He leaned his head to the MC's ears and whispered something. OMG, I personally could exchange my own 9900 just to be able to sit next to the beautiful MC and do the same thing as the MC did not seem to be surprised. No surprised as she did not invite him and surely did not say anything as to "invite somebody to the stage" to us all participants can hear.

    But then, she like a robot announced word by word the name of Nhat Cuong agent to be the next winner. The agent rep came to stage, looking shy and red cheeks, again, as if he knew from the looks of other participants "he is doing somthing wrong"

    They - the organizers - treat us like real IDIOTS who sat there for them to do this funny play, in front of our eyes. We then all stood and stared to leave the room, showing signs of anger to them.

    Repeat: we are all owners of 9900s and did not come for any prizes, but we voice the strong voice of BB fans in Vietnam. From BisVn.vn community and we did not know loyalists like us were being treated like real CLOWNS in an important event like that for RIM to enter BIG in Vietnam.

    We love BB so we must voice this story. There has already been some comments "relating to us a Emergin Economy" and things like that in this post. So we even wanted to make it clearer that we are the same people like you who live in Canada, US, elsewhere that when we see things like this, we never hesitate to stand up and fight.

    For a better and more transparent world.

    Thank you for your attention and reading this long and not well written post. Sorry again.

    WE LOVE BLACKBERRY.
    BISVN.VN
    buithucdong and littlestone like this.
    11-11-11 05:44 PM
  13. daotoan3ihut's Avatar
    Up to top. I'm Dao Toan, a person who read the temp of mr Phong Huy, but he not remember his telephone number, i can't understand!
    littlestone likes this.
    11-12-11 04:02 AM
  14. Dapper37's Avatar
    I experienced a similar thing with a bike raffle ones. It was rigged. I did not blame the gym though I blamed the girl that wanted her boyfriend to win. The manager walked over a few minutes later asking "what you already had it? I wanted to make a big deal of it".

    I don't think RIM was driving that boat. RIM gives stuff away and for two Bolds they would not screw anyone.

    Cheating ticks me off too but I don't know that I would blame RIM for it.
    Well said, I live in South East Asia. Sorry i'm not going to lie, theres a lot of corruption here. The locals will be the first to tell you as they are as frustrated as anyone. This sounds as though someone was scratching someones back, locally. RIM = No, Brightstar, why? I thought they were a large international player. Some punk with a job at the event. Most likely. I understand the frustration. That totally sucks!
    littlestone likes this.
    11-12-11 04:20 AM
  15. T�nis's Avatar
    This is shameful, but it has nothing to do with RIM. It sounds like the typical Nomenklatura turned crony capitalism bs. It's a problem that needs to be addressed internally at the country level.
    littlestone likes this.
    11-12-11 05:46 AM
  16. ichat's Avatar
    That carrier in Vietnam distributes the phone and once with them is outta RIMs control. Chill. RIMs not to blame. Remember that is the event managers problem. God, corruption these days

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    littlestone likes this.
    11-12-11 08:13 AM
  17. CommanderElvis's Avatar
    While it isn't RIM's fault, it was a RIM labelled event. RIM have a responsibility in order to protect their image for anyone using that image to ensure that there is a level playing field.

    /Or at least a better appearance of one.
    11-12-11 09:24 AM
  18. daotoan3ihut's Avatar
    While it isn't RIM's fault, it was a RIM labelled event. RIM have a responsibility in order to protect their image for anyone using that image to ensure that there is a level playing field.

    /Or at least a better appearance of one.
    I think that, too. Because, Brightstar had been using image of RIM, so, RIM need have a respnsibility with this problem!
    littlestone likes this.
    11-13-11 03:28 AM
  19. kevinnugent's Avatar
    Wasn't there also a RIM marketing rep involved??
    littlestone likes this.
    11-13-11 05:37 AM
  20. stonecold3's Avatar
    Wasn't there also a RIM marketing rep involved??

    Yes there was a guy named Calvin Wee who was there. :-(

    Sent from my BlackBerry 9780 using Tapatalk
    11-13-11 10:22 AM
  21. dynot's Avatar
    Those who cry out "this is not RIM's fault" know nothing about PR and maintaining a company's image. Yes, it may not have been organized by RIM but their brand name is all over it.

    And if you say they probably didn't even know about it doesn't that tell you something about RIM? Sure, Jim and Mike probably don't have to but shouldn't someone somewhere in middle management or marketing know.

    I guess this type of neglect and/or complacency is one of the things that separates well-run companies from those on the fast path to bankruptcy.
    littlestone likes this.
    11-14-11 07:10 AM
  22. hoangnhuu's Avatar
    Bright Star is blackberry killer in Vietnam

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    littlestone likes this.
    11-14-11 07:26 AM
  23. BlackBerryFPT's Avatar
    i was a person who also took part in event,i think that everyone was thinking over the story. if organizers needed to cheat u so how they could wispered with the MC in front of everybody (!!!) they could totally arrange so the event might run smoothly as well. abt this matter, maybe everything had its reason,dont make a big firm's image bad bcoz of a small thing. Just a lucky thing, let ur cmmt be reasonable, members of bisvn.
    littlestone likes this.
    11-14-11 08:12 AM
  24. houshinto#IM's Avatar
    Really crummy way to run what's suppose to be an open raffle. I don't know if RIM can or will take note of this.

    The organizers are just shooting themselves in the foot. Only time will tell if such selfish short term gain will come to hurt these guys long term.
    littlestone likes this.
    11-14-11 09:42 AM
  25. cmknight's Avatar
    i was a person who also took part in event,i think that everyone was thinking over the story. if organizers needed to cheat u so how they could wispered with the MC in front of everybody (!!!) they could totally arrange so the event might run smoothly as well. abt this matter, maybe everything had its reason,dont make a big firm's image bad bcoz of a small thing. Just a lucky thing, let ur cmmt be reasonable, members of bisvn.
    either you are from Brightstar or you were not even there at the event to know all the details to comment.

    everyone at the event saw what happened. sure, they could have arranged it so that the event went smoothly, but they chose not to because they thought they could out-smart everyone.

    This kind of attitude and mentality no longer works. With technologies so well developed these days, people are informed QUICKLY of what happened.

    And like I said, we were not even there for the prizes. We all have been using the 9900's even before Brightstar reps could get their hands on one since beginning of June (check my profile, i had a topic of leaked photos that was all over the front page of CrackBerry back then). We were there to support, but the way that we were treated was so disrespectful that we thought someone else in upper management so be aware of.
    littlestone likes this.
    11-14-11 09:59 AM
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