[Zee10berry]

+1
OP This isn't a new issue. I purchased my Zee from an outlet store during launch week because the Verizon "Corporate" store rep and manager told me the phone was unavailable. No launch advertising no long customer lines. Shameful

[rzanger]

And I agree. Someone should make a website with a form on it for people to enter these experiences into, and have that data forwarded to Blackberry.

Maybe I'll do it myself.

There isn't even a need to forward it to Blackberry. Just some place where Blackberry users can go if they want to buy a Blackberry. It sure has to beat posting on this forum and all the craziness that ensues. It is impossible for some people to believe that if someone wants to own a Blackberry they must be a Blackberry fanatic. I could care less what people think about my phone. One of the reasons I stick with BB is because they are a Canadian company and as the latest tax refund showed they were an important part of our economy. That doesn't matter much to people today but there was a time when that mattered. At least we can still kick *** on the ice. Maybe we can all get jobs playing hockey. Now that's a rant

[Omnitech]

What does their device of choice have to do with it?

Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.

Nothing to see here, move along...

[afl777]

I find it very sad that someone has to turn the Elite Program...something that Blackberry and the Elites are very proud of....into some kind of "pulling the girls" joke....veering off through sexism before finally losing interest. And of course, not being willing to join in on sending any sort of message to this network in support of Blackberry.

As usual, with this sort of posting, not only has the subject been shunted sideways, but pointless posting and arguing is rife. Same old, same old.

The OP is a truthful person, not taken with ridiculous fantasies, and if he says this happened I believe him.

He is an Elite who spends a lot of his own free time on help pages helping dozens of Blackberry users each day, and supporting Blackberry on various social media. If that is to be made the **** of jokes, then maybe the joke making 'Blackberry supporters' are on the wrong forum.

A section on here where posts or experiences of networks and shops so that Blackberry could monitor it would be good....or indeed the link to the community which was in a previous post is a good place for feedback.

I will be going to the community and will watch for any section on here.

[TgeekB]

Have you ever known a mobile sales rep?
I knew I guy used to sell furniture and white goods and then moved to a mobile store. Subsequently he moved to selling sofas and beds.
He knew little about tech or the mobile business, he was a salesman, not paid too well, but a very decent guy.
I'm not excusing giving false information but I personally doubt the majority is malicious.
The problem is BlackBerry have disappeared without trace. If you want a place in the consumer space you have to market your own brand and get your message out there. If you don't bother why should anyone else?

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

Stop making sense. Its not allowed around here.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

[avt123]

Are you going to do nothing about it Birdman....or are you going to do the same as me and go visit your local 3 shop.....ot even plague them on social media to explain themselves ?

I would have recorded it and posted it here and on YouTube. It would have caught attention, especially with the fans here, and the carrier would have made note. Then I would email the video to BlackBerry with a short letter explaining my experience.

This is not hard to do. Complaining here gets nothing done. Providing video evidence catching them red handed and distributing it to the right people does.

[ray689]

Of course, its always the other persons fault.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

Kind of like the people in here who won't admit that this is actually a problem and rather blame the customer for these experiences.
It's pretty clear that this is a widespread problem that you and the same few who go into every thread about seem to think is a non issue with these clueless sales reps.

Edit: anyways, I'm done with garbage thread. Can only read the same people idiotic responses so many times. Bunch of flamers.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Kind of like the people in here who won't admit that this is actually a problem and rather blame the customer for these experiences.
It's pretty clear that this is a widespread problem that you and the same few who go into every thread about seem to think is a non issue with these clueless sales reps.

Edit: anyways, I'm done with garbage thread. Can only read the same people idiotic responses so many times. Bunch of flamers.

Posted via CB10

Blackberry destroyed their brand name. It will take a long time, if ever, to rebuild it. Blaming me or a sales rep ignores the real issue.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

[Lawrie Sherratt]

Not sure if it's true but like many departmental stores such as Marks and Spencer, the store manager has the option to order stock that he / she thinks will be popular and sell. Maybe same in the mobile phone shops.

[ray689]

Blackberry destroyed their brand name. It will take a long time, if ever, to rebuild it. Blaming me or a sales rep ignores the real issue.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

I never once said BlackBerry doesn't have to rebuild it reputation. Refer to the other threads for confirmation. But what these reps are doing has nothing to do with what BlackBerry should do or not. They are telling blatant misinformed lies and they are ABSOLUTELY to blame every time a customer is pushed away from BlackBerry. I'm not sure how that part does not make sense the the few of you in here.

Posted via CB10

[Omnitech]

Not sure if it's true but like many departmental stores such as Marks and Spencer, the store manager has the option to order stock that he / she thinks will be popular and sell. Maybe same in the mobile phone shops.

Which is perfectly fine.

It is not fine to tell customers that any products that you don't sell are from dead companies whose products catch on fire and blow up.

[belfastdispatcher]

Are you serious?

What the OP describes are blatant, malicious lies.

This is not like granny saying to you "Sonny, I heard that that Blackberry company went out of business", these are people in the industry who are supposed to be knowledgeable who are telling customers blatant lies about a company in an apparent attempt to steer them away from their products, and apparently being spurred-on to do this by their company management.

In most civilized societies, companies are subject to major sanctions for pulling that kind of marketing fraud.

Yeah, sales people telling lies to get a bigger commission, that's a new one to you? Lol

I think the OP is taking the Elite thing a bit too far. I mean I had to put up with the same crap when my wife upgraded to the 9790 but going into a shop just for the sake of it without the intention to buy is taking it a bit far, last time I checked BB Elites weren't shop inspectors.

Imagine somebody walking into your work place and start telling you how to do your job.


Sent from my iPhone using CB Forums

[TgeekB]

I never once said BlackBerry doesn't have to rebuild it reputation. Refer to the other threads for confirmation. But what these reps are doing has nothing to do with what BlackBerry should do or not. They are telling blatant misinformed lies and they are ABSOLUTELY to blame every time a customer is pushed away from BlackBerry. I'm not sure how that part does not make sense the the few of you in here.

Posted via CB10

Can't we just have an intelligent, adult, conversation? Stop with the comments about " the few in here". Blaming others does not help the problem.

Of course sales people should not lie or push people away from something they want. They will steer people towards the most popular items though, that only makes sense. The majority is consumers and sales people have been turned off by Blackberry. Don't get mad at them. If you want to stick with them you have to be patient for them to rebuild. Expect to hear stories like this until they prove to these people they are back in the game. You are letting your feelings get in the way of logic.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

[Omnitech]

I would have recorded it and posted it here and on YouTube. It would have caught attention, especially with the fans here, and the carrier would have made note. Then I would email the video to BlackBerry with a short letter explaining my experience.

This is not hard to do. Complaining here gets nothing done. Providing video evidence catching them red handed and distributing it to the right people does.

Please explain this.

Do you walk into every store you ever plan on conducting business with a videocam on your shoulder rolling, pointed at the person who greets you?

How do you accomplish this?

Or when a person starts spewing a bunch of crap, do you stop them and say "Oh, excuse me, hold on a second..." while you rustle in your bag for your video camera, and then point it at them, start rolling with the red-light blinking on the front and say "OK, could you please repeat that part where you lied to me about BlackBerry, please?"

[Omnitech]

Yeah, sales people telling lies to get a bigger commission, that's a new one to you? Lol

I think the OP is taking the Elite thing a bit too far. I mean I had to put up with the same crap when my wife upgraded to the 9790 but going into a shop just for the sake of it without the intention to buy is taking it a bit far, last time I checked BB Elites weren't shop inspectors.

Imagine somebody walking into your work place and start telling you how to do your job.

Yeah because yanno, "doing your job" means it's OK to do anything you want, lying, stealing, fraud, malice, abuse, manipulation... all in the course of a day's work, right?

People are such whiners.

[Gnomesane]

Blackberry destroyed their brand name. It will take a long time, if ever, to rebuild it. Blaming me or a sales rep ignores the real issue.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

Well, they played their part but they did have help I think: once the media smells blood they tend to contribute to the bloodshed (negative stories sell, that's a given). And BlackBerry isn't the first to feel their wrath. (Apple in the 90's, Palm, IBM, etc). I think it's disingenuous to attribute it all to BlackBerry. Where did the sales associate get the idea that "BlackBerry is finished" if she didn't actually use the phone after all? It's a hurdle to be sure, but not insurmountable. If BlackBerry can get some positive traction in the media, then they could just as easily jump on the 'comeback' bandwagon just like they did with Apple.

Having said that, I think BlackBerry can rehabilitate the brand much like Apple did. BlackBerry is more than a cellular company as we're all witnessing recently: they're heavily invested not just in Mobile but also Automotive, Server / Enterprise and Messaging. If Chen can continue to reduce operating costs for the company and get a hit in one of those four areas, it gives a lifeline to the company to survive (and possibly thrive).

At the core of all four divisions is QNX and the new BlackBerry OS. Software. Given that the mobile market is heavily saturated and profit margins are largely slim it makes more sense for BlackBerry to invest more in the other three areas while keeping mobile on a lifeline. Which means not wasting resources at the moment on marketing. It seems obvious that's why BlackBerry farmed off low end mobile to Foxconn while retaining creative control over high end enterprise offerings. The phone is a crucial component to their long term enterprise strategy: to offer a secure end to end solution. Which is why they haven't exited the mobile hardware market yet, imo.

Also, bearing in mind 'wearable computing', I think that's why Chen named one division 'Devices', not 'Mobile'. Based on his plays so far as CEO, it seems to me he has a pretty good grasp on the situation so far.

[rhon3g]

Know what I would've done? I would have recorded the whole thing on video, then I would've called customer service or demanded to speak to a manager, let them speak to the person, then if they denied it, I would then show them the video and then... Watch the drama unfold. That's what I'd do. Would you?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk (I'll use my Q10 by monday)

Agree. I like this one.

Posted via CB10

[Omnitech]

Can't we just have an intelligent, adult, conversation?

ROFL. I see a pot, and a kettle...

Stop with the comments about " the few in here". Blaming others does not help the problem.

From what I can tell he was referring to people who chose to come into an online discussion and make their strong opinions known. And you're trying to say that anyone who disagrees with those voluntarily-offered opinions is "blaming others"?

Of course sales people should not lie or push people away from something they want.

You could just leave it at that and we can stop this bickering. Easy peasy.

[eggman1987]

Lol what a stupid *****.

Posted via CB10

[Craigash]

Obviously the OP doesn't have the balls to do that. He just calls himself a "BlackBerry Elite" (whatever that is) and walks away. Then logs on to CrackBerry to complain about it.

Very effective.

If don't know what a BlackBerry Elite member is. Then I suggest you all look it up.

BlackBerry Elites program was set up by BlackBerry. Entry into this unique Elites program, is by way of invite only from BlackBerry.



Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Well, they played their part but they did have help I think: once the media smells blood they tend to contribute to the bloodshed (negative stories sell, that's a given). And BlackBerry isn't the first to feel their wrath. (Apple in the 90's, Palm, IBM, etc). I think it's disingenuous to attribute it all to BlackBerry. Where did the sales associate get the idea that "BlackBerry is finished" if she didn't actually use the phone after all? It's a hurdle to be sure, but not insurmountable. If BlackBerry can get some positive traction in the media, then they could just as easily jump on the 'comeback' bandwagon just like they did with Apple.

Having said that, I think BlackBerry can rehabilitate the brand much like Apple did. BlackBerry is more than a cellular company as we're all witnessing recently: they're heavily invested not just in Mobile but also Automotive, Server / Enterprise and Messaging. If Chen can continue to reduce operating costs for the company and get a hit in one of those four areas, it gives a lifeline to the company to survive (and possibly thrive).

At the core of all four divisions is QNX and the new BlackBerry OS. Software. Given that the mobile market is heavily saturated and profit margins are largely slim it makes more sense for BlackBerry to invest more in the other three areas while keeping mobile on a lifeline. Which means not wasting resources at the moment on marketing. It seems obvious that's why BlackBerry farmed off low end mobile to Foxconn while retaining creative control over high end enterprise offerings. The phone is a crucial component to their long term enterprise strategy: to offer a secure end to end solution. Which is why they haven't exited the mobile hardware market yet, imo.

Also, bearing in mind 'wearable computing', I think that's why Chen named one division 'Devices', not 'Mobile'. Based on his plays so far as CEO, it seems to me he has a pretty good grasp on the situation so far.

Agree with most of what you said. They have to look at the big picture and plot a course. Most people are only looking at the mobile aspect. I am interested to see how they put it all together. Of course, Android and Apple have the same ideas.

Posted via my Nexus 10.

[bbq10l]

Why be outraged, which is counter-productive. The idea is to get the salesperson on your side - getting angry won't do that. It'll just alienate them from BB even more.

I have responded to this sort of thread before:

Nothing like what is described in the OP has ever happened to me, but if it did, depending on the demeanor of the salesperson I would respond in a couple of different ways.

If they seemed sincere in their claim I would use a deprogramming tactic where you seek to implant cognitive dissonance in the hope that this will drive them to Google for resolutions to their newly planted anxiety. This is done by asking questions. But not with a chip on your shoulder. You must come across as genuine in your inquiries. You must let the targeted person think that they are the expert and you are just a naive customer (not an "Elite" for gawd's sake!) searching for answers. The idea is to plant seeds of cognitive dissonance that may eventually blossom into a real search for the facts. Here are a couple of questions:

"Funny you say that, I just read that BlackBerry stock is up almost 100% in the last couple of months. Are you sure that the source of your information is accurate?"

"I've also read that the BB Z30 gets higher user-satisfaction ratings than any other phone at many of the large carriers. How can that be if what you have been told is true?"

Don't attack the salesperson - question their information. You're planting the seeds. Next, water them: You then casually suggest that they might wish to do a Google search or two at bedtime tonight.

This is using the power of suggestion. They go away thinking that they are still the expert. But at bedtime it will pop into their head like clockwork and they will learn something that they can think of as their own. Next day they will want to show off their new unique information by telling their coworkers, "I checked out BlackBerry stock last night - seems they're making a big turnaround." They may even look for a Z30 to check out.

However, if they come across as an a-hole about it, nothing makes a point better than a wager. You can just go for the jugular with another tactic: "So BlackBerry is bankrupt, huh? Care to put a hundred bucks on it right now? Then we'll Google the stock price."

You have just slam-dunked them. They'll waffle and look for a caveat for their claim, or maybe they'll make the bet and you get a hundred bucks out the deal - sweet! Either way, Google the BB stock price and show them. Losing the argument in a graphical way will sear it into their brain.

Either way, you have planted and watered the seed. These deprogramming tactics work on basic human nature, so the likelihood of success is quite high in getting the salesperson to think more positively about BB in the first scenario, and at least less negatively in the second scenario.

You are kidding right? Do you really think they care enough about BlackBerry to experience anxiety over cognitive dissonance? They are going to roll their eyes and keep selling what is in their best interest. They don't care about BlackBerry; consumers don't care about BlackBerry - nobody but fans are giving BlackBerry any thought- certainly not enough to do their own personal research. People only experience cognitive dissonance when they care about something.

Posted via CB10

[Craigash]

What's a "blackberry elite"? She must have rolled her eyes at this point surely?

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

Obviously the OP doesn't have the balls to do that. He just calls himself a "BlackBerry Elite" (whatever that is) and walks away. Then logs on to CrackBerry to complain about it.

Very effective.

If don't know what a BlackBerry Elite member is. Then I suggest you all look it up.

BlackBerry Elites program was set up by BlackBerry. Entry into this unique Elites program, is by way of invite only from BlackBerry.



Posted via CB10

[Omnitech]

You are kidding right? Do you really think they care enough about BlackBerry to experience anxiety over cognitive dissonance? They are going to roll their eyes and keep selling what is in their best interest. They don't care about BlackBerry; consumers don't care about BlackBerry - nobody but fans are giving BlackBerry any thought- certainly not enough to do their own personal research. People only experience cognitive dissonance when they care about something.

Not to mention, sending people to Google to look things up is just going to result in them sucking in a bunch of the usual garbage from entities in the industry or securities field with an axe to grind about BBRY. Not exactly a good idea, if you are trying to help people find out the truth about the company.

[Craigash]

I guess that makes the rest of us blackberry peasants?

Obviously the OP doesn't have the balls to do that. He just calls himself a "BlackBerry Elite" (whatever that is) and walks away. Then logs on to CrackBerry to complain about it.

Very effective.

If don't know what a BlackBerry Elite member is. Then I suggest you all look it up.

BlackBerry Elites program was set up by BlackBerry. Entry into this unique Elites program, is by way of invite only from BlackBerry.



Posted via CB10