[pantlesspenguin]

If the customers didn't provide with a good reason why they NEEDED a BlackBerry like "I rely on BBM for my communication" or "I rely on the best security" or "I really can't get used to a touch keyboard" then why SHOULDN'T the reps have steered them away from purchasing a year and a half old device that hasn't sold in 6 months? Most likely they would have returned the phone anyway once they realized that their favorite apps weren't available. Why not sell them something more current and has a high satisfaction level?

[Mallet21]

Sounds like the sales person was flat out lying....How do you qualify for an Android upgrade but not an iPhone upgrade????

Its a fact that carriers make more on Android with their on-contract customers. I'd compare cell phone sales people to car salesman but that would be an insult to car salesman.

[eddy_berry]

Salespeople that do not push BlackBerry phones right now are doing what's best for the consumer. People looking for a phone right now are not going to wait for BB10. They want a phone now. There will always be people wanting a new phone and there will always be people wanting the latest one. If these same salespeople do the same thing to BB10 and claim not to buy a BB because they haven't sold one in months, then we should worry.

[zolt11]

not random happen in all carrier stores eveyday. i was at vw store before Xmas. mom friend asked for a bold told they dont have it in stock. guy asked why she wanted it. she said email pics and social media. he said that she would like a droid better. told him she wanted bold to make a call to check which store has it in stock... he magically all of a sudden remembered he had them i stock and was ready to renew the contract!!! so f up. do they gets commission from other phones and none from berry?

R.S.B

[metale]

Vodafone Portugal (BIG carrier here) has pulled out all BBs from their website some weeks ago, and when asked on their forum when they will start stocking BB10s they wrote that if they get BBs again, they will appear on the site. Things don't seem bright for RIM carrier-wise around here.

On the other side Vodafone UK has 10 models on their website, so maybe it's a Portugal thing.

[Saiga]

Who here would actually recommend a OS 7 BlackBerry to their friends or family right now?

You would have to be a real doody head to be mean and cruel enough to tell someone to buy a RIM product today.

[Bobert_123]

Being a BlackBerry die-hard fan, even I wouldn't recommened anyone buying the current BlackBerry's on market. With what BB10 unveiling in a month, why would I convince them to spend their hard earned money only to find out a better phone is released a month later?

So as a "die-hard bb fan" would you push a person towards an iphone now, or a bb in a few weeks? Anyway you spin it that rep was still a ******...

[metale]

Saiga, I would. Most of the people I know would buy a Curve, not a Bold, and Curve-priced BB10s are months away at best. Phones here sell at full price, and a Z10 does not fit on everyone's wallet.

Plus, taking BBs alltogether out of the sites and shelves just adds to the "RIM is going out of business" talk.

[ADGrant]

So as a "die-hard bb fan" would you push a person towards an iphone now, or a bb in a few weeks? Anyway you spin it that rep was still a ******...

Nonsense. Just because he wasn't pushing a BB, doesn't make him a ******.

[416to604]

Who here would actually recommend a OS 7 BlackBerry to their friends or family right now?

You would have to be a real doody head to be mean and cruel enough to tell someone to buy a RIM product today.

i would. not everybody is a tech-junkie that needs today's hottest phone to get through the day. for some people (my mother included) it is about the keyboard and only the keyboard. skype doesn't matter, netflix doesn't matter, jetpack joyride, draw something and the top 10 on Google Play and Itunes app store don't matter. LTE, 4" screens and quad-core don't matter. the bells and whistles, the "cool"/"wow" factor don't matter. some people want a device that they feel comfortable using and for some that isn't what is selling like hotcakes right now (the trend). it's naive to think all store reps have happy customers in mind.

[Tkarps]

All I have heard is posters that are for or against RIM in this thread. Not one person has considered what the customer actually needs.

I would start by asking the customer the few most important questions of all; do you prefer a touch screen and do you use a lot of apps? if the answer is "No" to both then any of the BlackBerrry's would be a perfect match for this customer.

Seems that everyone from the carriers to the posters in this thread are only concerned about their own point of view. BlackBerry is the best choice and the worst choice; it just depends on who is looking.

Tim

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900

[RubberChicken76]

Agreed. Between 2011 and 2012 Research In Motion has failed to offer any compelling reason for non-BlackBerry users to consider their smartphones. A significant number of forum members are lauding Thorsten Heins' performance in regards to BlackBerry 10 yet fail to acknowledge he is the same person whom under the L&B Reign of Indifference (2007-2011) apparently thought all was well.

To be very fair, he is now "the boss" whereas before, he had two bosses who are now gone.

One would think that by this point, Thorsten has proven he's willing to make big changes when given the power to do so.

See ...

new COO
new CLO
new CMO
new CTO
Soon ... new CIO

and down the org ...

[RubberChicken76]

Who here would actually recommend a OS 7 BlackBerry to their friends or family right now?

You would have to be a real doody head to be mean and cruel enough to tell someone to buy a RIM product today.

I wouldn't quite go that far. I could see a specific 'edge' case for someone that needs to do a lot of emails on a mobile device cheaply and doesn't have a need for apps. But my usual recommendation is ... "try what you like, see what works for you".

[BB_Bmore]

Rim has already said that 0s7 phones will come down significantly in price for 2013 and Im assuming bb10 will call for close to or same as the competitions price...maybe more i guess it depends what Rim has to show on the 30th. If they have the "zomfg!!! I need that phone!!!!" factor then the can ask whatever they want for it.

[pantlesspenguin]

i would. not everybody is a tech-junkie that needs today's hottest phone to get through the day. for some people (my mother included) it is about the keyboard and only the keyboard. skype doesn't matter, netflix doesn't matter, jetpack joyride, draw something and the top 10 on Google Play and Itunes app store don't matter. LTE, 4" screens and quad-core don't matter. the bells and whistles, the "cool"/"wow" factor don't matter. some people want a device that they feel comfortable using and for some that isn't what is selling like hotcakes right now (the trend). it's naive to think all store reps have happy customers in mind.

And likewise it's naive to think that everyone is like your mom who needs a keyboard when the sales reps know that every nth sale is a device with a touch screen with a large screen and access to the hottest apps. They're going by what sells, what most are after. The one mistake in all of this was because the rep didn't say "Hey if you like BlackBerry, hold on to your upgrade because they're about to release a great new OS..." Unfortunately, most reps don't get paid to think. They put forth enough effort at work to get their measly pay in most cases and call it a day. They see dozens of people every day and don't really give thought to any individual.

[13david77]

All I have heard is posters that are for or against RIM in this thread. Not one person has considered what the customer actually needs.

I would start by asking the customer the few most important questions of all; do you prefer a touch screen and do you use a lot of apps? if the answer is "No" to both then any of the BlackBerrry's would be a perfect match for this customer.

Seems that everyone from the carriers to the posters in this thread are only concerned about their own point of view. BlackBerry is the best choice and the worst choice; it just depends on who is looking.

Tim

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900

Agree 100%

[TGR1]

Spiffs.

How much data is used and customer needs and esoterica like that have little to do with it. Sales staff get a payout for Android and Windows Phone phones they sell (not a secret) and Google also makes it worthwhile for the carriers to push Android phones. It's the nature of the game. There have been a number of stories about customers being rather aggressively steered away from BBs and iPhones.

[416to604]

And likewise it's naive to think that everyone is like your mom who needs a keyboard when the sales reps know that every nth sale is a device with a touch screen with a large screen and access to the hottest apps. They're going by what sells, what most are after. The one mistake in all of this was because the rep didn't say "Hey if you like BlackBerry, hold on to your upgrade because they're about to release a great new OS..." Unfortunately, most reps don't get paid to think. They put forth enough effort at work to get their measly pay in most cases and call it a day. They see dozens of people every day and don't really give thought to any individual.

I wasn't saying that every customer is like my mother, but the person who I was replying to was acting like under no circumstances should people buy or recommend a blackberry device or RIM product to friends or family. That's garbage. And I agree with you, the only mistake here was that the rep didn't ask a few simple questions to see what type of uses this person would have for their smartphone. If they said they needed a cheap(er) durable phone mainly for communication and light social media use, how is an OS7 Blackberry not an option?

[kill_9]

But, if I worked at a GM dealership and someone was browsing the showroom looking to buy a car,....and I told the customer to not buy GM,..but got to Hyundai instead,...my days would be short lived at the GM dealer.

Apparently you have never watched "Miracle on 34th Street."

"The storyline centers around a last minute Santa Claus replacement for Macy's ... steer parents to the toys and other goods that Macy's wants to sell. Instead, Kris tells shoppers to go to Macy's competitors to get better deals..." [ WashingtonTechnology.com - What can a 65-year-old Christmas movie teach about 'purpose?' - Plenty if you want to focus on serving your customer ]

[Joebaby Chavez]

[QUOTERRY;7814962]I was just in the A T & T Store yesterday - 12-30-12,...and I overheard something that I find to be disturbing! First, two nice young ladies come into the AT&T Store to purchase a new phone. The lady buying the phone currently had an iPhone in hand and evidently, she didn't rate an upgrade,...I'm guessing. Anyway, she and here friend were browsing the available phones and made a pit-stop at the Blackberry phone display. Upon stopping there...and also appearing to be very interested in a Blackberry phone, the AT&T employee rushed over and immediately stated to the ladies,..."You Don't Want A Blackberry,....we haven't sold one of those in 6-months or so!" Now, as a Blackberry user and defender of the Crackberry Nation,...I wanted to wack his dumb-arse over the head with my 9810! If I were RIM, I would be peeeee'd off to the max. I mean, how can you survive in the smartphone world if one of your main carriers is against folks buying your devices? This is literally nuts. A short time later, the carrier nudges the girls towards,...you guessed it....Android devices! They came to the same display area I was browsing,...as I was wasting time toying with the Lumia 920 and HTC One X+. One of the young ladies ask me what did I think,...so, not really wanting to make the AT&T rep look like a total arse-sa-nine-aaa-hole,...I informed the young lady to simply find the OS she would like and she would easily find a phone. She immediately posed the question,..."What's an OS"! I stated,...just find the OS,...the Operating System you like,..for instant, you iPhone is iOS, etc. Again, she has an iphone 4,...or 4s in hand, and I'm guessing again she couldn't get the iPhone 5 subsidized. That said, I find it to be dirty business when your carrier knocks down your device!!!!

The moral of this story,...even your carrier will stab you in the back with eyes wide opened!!

JMD[/QUOTE]

[Joebaby Chavez]

i will get full price save my data

[MADBRADNYC]

But, if I worked at a GM dealership and someone was browsing the showroom looking to buy a car,....and I told the customer to not buy GM,..but got to Hyundai instead,...my days would be short lived at the GM dealer.

I agree, this sound plausible if a GM salesman in a GM dealership told customers not to purchase GM vehicles...
However, this type of scenario does not apply since this was not a RIM employee in a RIM retail store telling customers not to purchase RIM products...
This is an AT&T retail store... A totally different set of circumstances...

[MADBRADNYC]

All I have heard is posters that are for or against RIM in this thread. Not one person has considered what the customer actually needs....
Seems that everyone from the carriers to the posters in this thread are only concerned about their own point of view...

Although I disagree with his analogy, I did not overlook his obvious concern for the end user.

The only thing I'm saying is,...the AT&T rep shouldn't be in the practice of telling customers "NOT to buy a phone,..not to buy a Blackberry,...they should find out the needs of the customer,...then offer/suggest devices that meet the customer's needs best",...and not because they hadn't sold any (Blackberry devices) in months.

[biggulpseh]

I wasn't saying that every customer is like my mother, but the person who I was replying to was acting like under no circumstances should people buy or recommend a blackberry device or RIM product to friends or family. That's garbage. And I agree with you, the only mistake here was that the rep didn't ask a few simple questions to see what type of uses this person would have for their smartphone. If they said they needed a cheap(er) durable phone mainly for communication and light social media use, how is an OS7 Blackberry not an option?

...because a next-generation platform which is inarguably more intuitive, future-proof, and reliable is on the way and will be released in under a month. BlackBerry 10 devices will offer a wider range of vastly more capable applications, faster connectivity, better cameras, you name it... the list of improvements is literally endless. The keyboard argument is irrelevant because the X10 is being released as well. Not to mention BlackBerry's today aren't even that cheap. A 9360 at AT&T is $30, and the 9900 is $199. Yet you can get a brand new iPhone 4 for a dollar, or an iPhone 5 for $199. For anyone to buy a BlackBerry at that price today, when the new platform is coming in a month, and when clearly superior options are available from other manufacturers, would have to be insane. If they were that desperate to have a BlackBerry and couldn't wait a month, I'd tell them to buy a second-hand one online... not lock them into a multi-year contract or make them pay $500.

[jakie55]

One thing I know, is the salesperson wants to make a sale. That is what he/she is there for. Unfortunately, not all salespeople sell to the customer's needs. At the end of the day, if the person walks out of the store, not buying a phone, it may mean that customer will buy down the block... So what good did it do telling the person to not buy. I know I have told people to hold on if they can, until they see the new BlackBerry lineup. But I am not a mobility salesperson, counting on the spifs. I am a tech geek, who is a Crackberry addict. Of course I would wait.