Hi folks,
There have been a few threads on related topics, but I wanted to just make note of some really annoying behaviour by sales reps in a number of mobile phone stores in the past 6 months.
When I wanted to buy a BB10 phone last October, I settled on Vodafone as a service provider, as they were offering the best call & data package for my business here in Ireland, but I did a lot of shopping around before settling. When I went into any Vodafone store, they tried very hard to dissuade me from choosing any BlackBerry device - two stores told me that the Q10 had been pulled due to serious faults and poor sales, and three told me that the Z10 "never worked" and was also pulled. I knew better and would politely suggest they look at crackberry.com to learn a bit more about the phones. The fact that several stores told me the same crapola suggests that there was more to it than just a few ignorant reps - more like misinformation during training on new phone models, or a deliberate attempt to push other brands. Anyway, I found a store that said it could get me a Z10 and I went with them.
So I have a Z10 which I adore, but I still frequently visit mobile stores to see what's new and to play with devices. When I have been on the high street in various towns in Ireland and UK (where my partner lives), I have occasionally popped into other stores to look for the Q5, Q10, and Z30 (I'm trying to encourage my better half to switch from her iPhone which she doesn't really like). Last week in Southampton, when I asked a rep in a Carphone Warehouse if they had any Z30s I could look at, they told me that BlackBerry were about to be split up and sold off, and anyone who has a BlackBerry will have to change to Apple or Android because their phones "will stop working by the end of May", so I should look at something else. I simply said "that's a load of pants, go check out crackberry.com and get your facts straight". But I got a similar message from a nearby EE store - BlackBerry had a buyer and was going to be gone within a few months. So I decided to try a couple of other places to see what they said. T-Mobile (Southampton) said they could get me any BlackBerry on the market, but it wasn't worth it because the future of the company was so uncertain, I should go for Apple or Android now in case I had to changeover anyway in a few months time. O2 (Winchester) said the same. (At that point my girl threatened to dump me if we spent any more of our time in a mobile phone shop....).
I asked in a Meteor store in Dublin yesterday if they would be doing the Z30, and I was told it was a massive failure everywhere and would probably never be sold in Ireland. Wow.
What the hell is going on with mobile sellers in these places that they are knowingly or unknowingly spouting bullplop to prospective customers? At best, it shows widespread ignorance of the brand amongst sales reps, probably based on snippets of rumours reported in the media over the past year. At worst, service providers are unwilling to support or promote BackBerry and have encouraged sales reps to push other products. I'm sure its not every store that's doing this, but it has been the majority I have visited.
Anyway, I just wanted to vent my frustration. I hope BlackBerry can do something more to get some facts out to sellers and buyers alike.
- Monkey
03-25-14 09:29 AM