[BigAl_BB9900]

A better experience with a salesman (Car Phone Warehouse - Leeds, UK), but not all good news

Having some time to kill between meetings (in Leeds UK), and being in the main shopping centre district, I decided to pop into a few Phone Shops to see what BlackBerry's they had on display

EE shop:
No BlackBerry's on display, and they stated that the majority of people nowadays who wanted BlackBerry's were big organisations who bought direct. The salesman was pretty positive about BlackBerry (especially the Q10, eg "everybody I know who has one, loves it") and offered me details re: how to contact the EE Business dept to buy online or over the phone - but said that the vast majority of their customers (eg retail) who mentioned BlackBerry were "surprised to see that BlackBerry was still in business"

Phones4U:
Had a couple of 9720's on display and said that they did sell a few, but usually only to older people who had retired, and had previously had work BlackBerry's (and still wanted a familiar phone with a QWERTY keyboard)

Car Phone Warehouse:
Also had a couple of 9720's on display, but said that they did supply Q10's and Z30's when the phones were specially ordered by customers (who had usually researched them on the web).
Shop had 3 x Q10's and 1 x Z30 in the back, but I couldn't play with them, as all were already reserved for customers (all these customers were apparently people with small businesses).
Salesman said that sales of BlackBerry to non-business users was virtually zero (some purchases by parents who wanted the same brand of phone for their children).
Salesman was effusive about BlackBerry OS 10 interface and browser, but said.... "most historic BlackBerry sales were driven by BBM because it was free and you didn't have to pay for Text Messages (SMS) - nowadays you can get BBM on Android, or WhatsApp on any platform, so buyers prefer cheaper phone with lots of apps...."
Salesman also said "BlackBerry's consumer marketing is basically non-existent - there are new marketing campaigns for Android phones every month"

Conclusion:
No rampant negativity about BlackBerry, but no marketing for OS10 either

[will92]

I went out to buy Z10.
out of stock, everywhere.
Nobody wants to keep it, also. pathetic customer service. Also, i get to hear 'BB goin' out of business'.
Came home with MotoG and saved some money as well