1. shaleem's Avatar
    After the launch and Q&A sessions (and the subsequent loss of money through my shares dropping like weights), I angrily called AT&T to see what the hold-up was.

    Initially I called their corporate headquarters (210-821-4105) and when the switchboard lady asked me who to be transferred to, I said, "Whoever the **** is in charge of product acquisition." After a brief delay and two rings, I get the general "we're not answering our phones" message- "Thank you for calling the office of the president. All of our agents are currently busy, please press 1 to leave a voicemail... blah blah blah".

    (1)... Beep

    "Hello, my name is Mathew [Lastnamerson] and I am a shareholder and stakeholder both in AT&T and RIM. Today, Blackberry 10 was launched around the world, with many countries bringing the new phone to market within the week. It was revealed that Blackberry 10 devices will not come to market until sometime in March. This is unacceptable, my stock is tanking, and you're missing out on a huge sales opportunity. Please call me back at [my number]."

    About 20 minutes later, I receive a call from a number I didn't recognize, and let it go to voicemail (verbatim)-

    "Hello, sir- Justin here with AT&T's office of the president returning a message you had left with our offices regarding the launch date of Blackberry 10. It sounds like your issue would be best served by the wireless division of our office of the president- we usually handle land-line out of my office. So, their direct telephone number when you're able to give them a call, is (866)751-5784. Thank you."

    I called that number and got a response this time. A helpful lady told me she had heard nothing about any new Blackberry devices but could check their inventory for me. Nothing- no training materials, no phones, no accessories, nothing. I asked her if she could forward a message however high-up she could go that touched on 1) Superbowl commercial, 2) Potential loss of enterprise customers, 3) Guaranteed loss of private customers, 4) Their contribution towards me losing money, and 5) Why they needed 60 more days than the rest of the world to bring one phone to market. I thanked the lady for her help and hoped for a call-back.

    About 30 minutes ago, I received a call from the "executive comment response division". I reiterated to the rep my concerns and questions regarding BB10. Their answer- "Check the Blackberry website and you can sign up to be informed as soon as anything develops, or you can go to [the AT&T Z10 mailing list URL]." I asked again why it was taking so long to release one phone- "[Blackberry] hasn't released any information to us yet."

    Absolutely ridiculous.
    The most ridiculous thing I've heard : [B]"BlackBerry hasn't released any information to us yet." Does AT&T think we're all idiots?
    01-30-13 08:05 PM
  2. IFCArea51's Avatar
    True, and I may actually go this route, but this is disheartening for those that don't have the extra cheddar laying around to buy the phone off-contract. Perhaps the countdown clock got my hopes up too high.

    Anyone else hoping at least a few of the major US carriers drop a "just kidding" after the Super Bowl commercial airs? Hahaha...
    That's what I was thinking, lol.

    Sent from my Blackberry Playbook using Tapatalk 2.
    01-30-13 08:26 PM
  3. jagrlover's Avatar
    The only thing i could think of is:
    It takes a LARGE commitment to do a Super Bowl Add. Heck i'd imagine that there's months of planning, shooting, some weeks in editing, heck who knows. I bet this has been in the works for some time.
    Now Blackberry went into carrier testing when? Let's say both individual items started at the same time (carrier testing / and super bowl add shooting). The Add had a specific deadline. Carriers around the country knew of a deadline too. Who's to say that the carriers in the States, a: gave it a worth while push or b: had more in-depth testing to do.
    This could be the very reason why the timing of the Add doesn't line up with the launch.
    Again just my thoughts.
    This is exactly what happened. I'm told the decision to buy a Super Bowl add was made 6-9 months ago. The US carriers have been picky and difficult, sending BB10 back to RIM for changes and modifications more frequently than other carriers. So it's mostly their fault. RIM should shoulder some blame imho, for not bending over backwards, sideways and upside down and getting whatever the US carriers wanted done. Oh well, off to Telus I go. Sorry Yanks....
    01-30-13 08:36 PM
  4. geoffsdad's Avatar
    I think when they crunch the numbers and look at the BB user database, they just don't care. All of the carriers, it's acceptable loses.
    01-30-13 08:41 PM
  5. jordandrews90's Avatar
    Are you really surprised? What did you expect? Oh sorry sir I'll send one right out to you, and here's some money for the stock going down, since we promised you it would only ever go up.
    01-30-13 08:49 PM
  6. netwerx1's Avatar
    Maybe they need more time to develop all their bloatware that they'll be cramming into the phone...
    01-30-13 08:49 PM
  7. jesse_h's Avatar
    Damn, that's the most official response from a company that I've ever read.
    01-30-13 08:50 PM
  8. theegoldenone's Avatar
    Coming late March, from what I heard.
    01-30-13 08:53 PM
  9. Blacklatino's Avatar
    I think when they crunch the numbers and look at the BB user database, they just don't care. All of the carriers, it's acceptable loses.
    Then obviously some of them have forgotten Business 101: It's about the money.......and more/returning customers mean more money. Yeah, the hype will wear off in two months, Superbowl ad or not. LOL. So, we wait or move on.
    Mecca EL likes this.
    01-30-13 08:55 PM
  10. FSeverino's Avatar
    As a teacher o e method of classroom management that you learn is as follows:

    Kids q and w are playing with eachother, there is a problem. You seperate the two kids. Now q is playing with z (see what i did there) and w is playing with r. There is a problem with w and r. You can then explain to W that the only two problems in the class were in the pairing that he was involved in, so he must be doing something wrong. (there is more to it, but thats the fast version)

    In this case, BB played nice with dozens of kids and there is a problem with one kid, who has been know to cause problems. Yes, we cant make assumptions.. but we can make educated guesses.
    Dapper37 likes this.
    01-30-13 10:03 PM
  11. cjcampbell's Avatar
    In summary, I'm a bit skeptical if every U.S. carrier is launching in March or every U.S. carrier should launch BY late-March. If March was supposed to be common knowledge, why would carrier reps (who had previously known nothing before today, by the way) know that the phones are definitely coming but simply don't know when?
    To answer your question, they now know about it because, probably anyway, they've had to field so many calls, especially today, to enquire about the product.
    01-30-13 10:09 PM
  12. CanAm89's Avatar
    I think everyone should call the office of the President of AT&T daily asking when it is going to come out. If we swamp their switchboards maybe they will get off their tails and start moving toward making this phone available before our stock reaches $6 a share again. I plan on making a call tomorrow
    Good call. I've provided the numbers in the original post, as well.

    Hardly an "Official Response"... It's a response you got from somebody NOT in marketing or 'device aquisition'.
    If you're responding to a call made to the president's office, you can be sure it's an official response.

    Are you really surprised? What did you expect? Oh sorry sir I'll send one right out to you, and here's some money for the stock going down, since we promised you it would only ever go up.
    No need to be snarky. I'm asking for companies to be accountable to their shareholders and stakeholders.

    Damn, that's the most official response from a company that I've ever read.
    From the president's office = official.
    00stryder likes this.
    01-30-13 11:55 PM
  13. Dapper37's Avatar
    I wonder what the fu@k happened?! This is a huge mistake like they used to make when Mike and Jim were in charge. This is absolutely unacceptable. It's not just 1 month behind, its 2 months. Late March?? That's 8 ******* weeks!!

    Either way BlackBerry is to blame. Even if it was the just carriers being douches.. Then either BlackBerry should have given them a device earlier or announced BB10 4 weeks later, so that the wait wasn't so long after their announcement. You can't announce a new product and then launch it in the US 8 weeks/2months later... WTF is Thor thinking???
    Last time I checked Wall Street was in the U.S. and that is where BlackBerry is getting pounded financially. Why would they fu@k up the U.S. market so badly??

    I am simply stunned by this.. This is going to cost BlackBerry A LOT of business.
    I hear you. This was as expected though. 6weeks at most I say. Maybe one carrier breaks from the pack and makes it sooner.
    CanAm89 likes this.
    01-31-13 12:14 AM
  14. kevinnugent's Avatar
    Where's our wonderful @BlackberryLeaks friend now???
    01-31-13 12:43 AM
  15. bambinoitaliano's Avatar
    If the phone is available at some market in the world, it's not the manufacturer issue. Like some one said it could be marketing strategy by the carriers in the United States. BlackBerry market has shrunk significantly, perhaps the carriers do not have the confidence on the device. They rather let the rest of the world market to test it out before launching. Maybe they do not expect to sell significant amount of Z10. So no skin off their nose. BlackBerry bear the worst of the brunt when it comes to financial and reputation loss.
    01-31-13 01:00 AM
  16. bambinoitaliano's Avatar
    The success of the company like blackberry cannot solely depending on a few market. Despite the decline of blackberry customers, US is still an important market. Otherwise, the main launch will be held in Toronto not New York. Or the ambassador will not be Alicia Keys. Or the Superbowl ad will not be such a huge deal. It's still symbolically important to be US centric even if financially it's no longer a huge deal to BlackBerry and that is a big if.
    01-31-13 01:08 AM
  17. CanAm89's Avatar
    The success of the company like blackberry cannot solely depending on a few market. Despite the decline of blackberry customers, US is still an important market. Otherwise, the main launch will be held in Toronto not New York. Or the ambassador will not be Alicia Keys. Or the Superbowl ad will not be such a huge deal. It's still symbolically important to be US centric even if financially it's no longer a huge deal to BlackBerry and that is a big if.
    Like I've been saying, US perceptions of consumer products tend to dictate how well a company does, even if the US is only a small portion of that company's market share. The business world revolves around the US and especially Wall Street, whether others like it or not. If BB10 is a total flop in the US, no amount of global market share (save, surpassing Apple) can save BB.
    01-31-13 01:30 AM
  18. jakie55's Avatar
    If Jagrlover is correct, and the carriers have been exceedingly picky, I would question whether the initial lab testing was done correctly, or the carriers have an axe to grind. As the rest of the world seems to feel that the Z10 antennas etc are fine, I must logically focus on the grinding sounds emanating from the carrier offices.
    01-31-13 03:20 AM
  19. omniusovermind's Avatar
    you got given typical stock answers.
    If blackberry had deliberately withheld the devices you can be sure the carrier would let you know.

    this sounds like the carrier deflecting because they know they are at fault
    BINGO!

    One thing that you CAN rely on wireless carrier reps to do is lie, obfuscate, deflect, prevaricate. Honestly until I started buying smartphones, I never met people this snakey other than those stereotypical old school sly car salesmen. You can talk to 10 reps from the exact same company and get - you guessed it - 10 different answers, with about a 1 in 10 chance of one of them being true.
    01-31-13 04:13 AM
  20. omniusovermind's Avatar
    The business world revolves around the US and especially Wall Street, whether others like it or not..
    Meh... my guess is on China supplanting you in that respect in the not too distant future. No empire lasts forever, and by the looks of things these days, China's going to be the next one to take a turn at the top.
    Mecca EL likes this.
    01-31-13 04:17 AM
  21. br3wnor's Avatar
    Meh... my guess is on China supplanting you in that respect in the not too distant future. No empire lasts forever, and by the looks of things these days, China's going to be the next one to take a turn at the top.
    There's still that whole Communist government thing, nothing is sure in China's future until that issue is dealt with, the bigger the middle class the less tolerance for an undemocratic regime running things.
    01-31-13 02:33 PM
  22. donmateo's Avatar
    I just want them to give me a definite date and a pre-order already for goodness sake.
    dee. likes this.
    01-31-13 04:10 PM
  23. bmantz65's Avatar
    I hope there is a huge marketing campaign in the USA in February and March. You have to keep the Z10 fresh in consumer's minds. Maybe BB did this on purpose to get word of mouth reviews from the UK and Canada and give them 4-8 weeks of additional USA marketing to help their cause?
    dee. likes this.
    01-31-13 04:28 PM
  24. sleepngbear's Avatar
    Personally, I can deal with the March release. I figured it would be a few weeks to a month after the launch event that the Z10 would actually be available, and I frankly would have been surprised if it were coming in early February -- that is, until I heard that the rest of the world was getting it in early February. So all I'd like to know is, exactly as the OP put it, why is it taking ALL the US carriers so much longer than everyone else to certify this thing.
    01-31-13 04:34 PM
  25. BB_Bmore's Avatar
    I'm still trying to figure out why Thor made NYC the centerpiece of the launch. Why not somewhere that you can actually buy the phone without waiting two more months?

    Maybe Alicia Keys didn't want to travel? She is a native New Yorker.
    I blame RIM honestly but at the same time I think its all part of Franks strategy...I'm just not sure he made the right move. The SuperBowl ad is just a waste of $$ now.

    I'm still kind of sick over the whole thing. I keep telling myself that the Q10 won't be ready until the U.S launch anyway so I would have had to wait anyway. Then again knowing me I would not have lasted long had a Z-10 been available.

    Sent from my BlackBerry by Choice using Tapatalk
    01-31-13 04:44 PM
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