[kevets]

I popped into the Verizon Wireless store in my area yesterday that I did my pre-order from. Aside from the wall poster with a Z10 on it (no text saying Z10 or Blackberry anywhere but on the phone itself though... looks like a generic cell phone ad), and the one Z10 in demo mode with a white dummy phone like hidden behind it and a pile of pamphlets underneath, there's no evidence that Blackberry has any new device.

I asked one of the salespeople if they had any accessories or cases for the Z10 and he didn't really know and though they had some "in the back" and that he would check. Meanwhile I am walking around browsing and there are 3+ racks in the center of the store filled with iPhone only accessories. The other racks had stuff for other phones mixed in, but if Verizon was a family with kids, Blackberry wouldn't even be the redheaded stepchild. It's the child that they lock in a closet and never feed.

I sincerely hope that this isn't the norm, and that it improves when the Q10 comes out. I went in to the store to try and see in person some of the cases I was considering. OEM CASES at that. Not some random case company. I wanted to see the ones that BlackBerry themselves release. These should be stocked and displayed to let people know that there's actually a phone they sell that's worth protecting! Very frustrating.


edit: Oh, and the salesperson who said he was going to check in the back for cases? Never heard from him again, and I was in there browsing for a good 15 minutes. He was checked out as soon as I said Z10.

[ekinnee]

The demo thing the Z10 at my AT&T store clearly had a button that said "Explore Device" or something like that. It let you play with the phone directly.

[kevets]

Yeah it's pretty easy to break out of. I don't think that's the real issue. It's a bunch of salespeople that don't give a crap about selling the phone and presenting it to customers. The thing I'm having a hard time with is understanding the motivation to sell one phone over another. A sale is a sale, right? Do they get more commission on selling certain devices maybe? Something needs to be done to expose whatever is going on here, cause it just doesn't seem right.

I got my hair cut this weekend and two of the girls working at the salon or whatever were real interested in the Z10. They used to have BlackBerry phones back in the day and have an iPhone, and really don't want another iPhone. They really like the look, they like the fact it's a BlackBerry, but have concerns about having their fave apps being available.

[Bbnivende]

Demo mode is usually on all phones in stores. I know for the iPhone demo mode can be interrupted but is still what it will divert to after a period of time. This is to show the features of the phone and is an industry standard...not just Blackberry. Our demo mode phones help tremendously when trying to quickly highlight phone features.

Totally disagree. People want to work the phone in a meaningful way right away. They need to have a static display that demonstrates the four gestures. At the Apple shop I can pick up one of the many working models and get it going right away. I just recently learned how to get past the demo mode. Most will not be able to and the sales person are no help. In fact I don't want to talk with the salesperson. The other brands other than Apple are no better than BB in this regard.

[shemaree09]

similar issue for me too. Went to a Best Buy mobile store in the mall and every phone had a sticker on it......

also, went to a Verizon reseller in the (same) mall and asked about the Z10. Nothing was on display and the guy had to get one from the back.

I asked if they had one I could play with and he said No.

Then I asked him if they were ever going to have a Z10 on display to use, and he said No.

I asked why, and he didn't have an answer........

[Bbnivende]

similar issue for me to. Went to a Verizon seller in the mall and every phone had a sticker on it......

What was on the sticker ?

[shemaree09]

What was on the sticker ?

they were all dummy units with stickers of the operating system/ home screen. all of the phones were like that.

[Eric Shapiro]

last week my friend went to an mobile expo, tried z10. he wanted to try appworld so he signed in with his bbid. causes more problems on his bbm than u can imagine. i asked him to go back and find that phone to wipe it. there are these kind of ppl that will screw up if the demo mode is not enabled.

Geeze... Doesnt your friend know that his BBID is kinda like his electronic social security number? you shouldnt put it into anything that you arent in complete control of.

[reeneebob]

Demo mode is usually on all phones in stores. I know for the iPhone demo mode can be interrupted but is still what it will divert to after a period of time. This is to show the features of the phone and is an industry standard...not just Blackberry. Our demo mode phones help tremendously when trying to quickly highlight phone features.

The only devices we had ship with a demo mode were BlackBerry devices. All others haven't had one.

But then according to another previous 'respected poster' we are mindless zombie idiots apparently. What do we know?

The verbal abuse heaped onto people doing our jobs, providing excellent customer service, is getting old. I get some have had a bad experience. Stop treating all like something you stepped in on a sidewalk. Respect goes both ways.

Also not all stores in a company are rated for live devices. It depends on size of store. Different ratings mean different t permissions to sell some products.

Posted via CB10

[technology-buzz]

I found it annoying that the phone demo seemed at the time so pointless, people are not going to stand and wait, they will just walk away. I will try out the middle button tip when I pick up my Z10 tonight.

[ksanfeliz]

A sale is a sale and for what i know they still get commision on what they sold not what brand they sold. However companies push the iphone because of the amount they pay to get the iphone. I went to a tmobile store and the rep show me the z10, and he went over the phone features and benefits. He didnt even mention android or iphone at all. He knew i want to know about z10and he was focus on show me why i should choose a z10 compared to old bb etc.

[pmf73]

The thing that makes me sick is that there seems to be a complete lack of marketing in my area. I'm completely biased here, but the official release of BB10 should have been huge.. After talking to my buddies in Canukistan and hearing about the large amount of "fanfare" that happened prior to and during the release at pretty much every carrier's store, I'm left completely dissapointed.

I purchased my Z10 from AT&T over the phone the day after the release, but more on that in a sec. The day of AT&T's official store release, I went to the local store to put hands on and see it in the wild for the first time. My first impression walking up to the store was that if I didn't already know that BB had just released the Z10, you would never have known. There were absolutely no billboards or displays in the windows or even inside the store. No posters, no promotional material, nothing!

The Z10 was sitting in the back of the store in the usual BB spot (which is typically occupied by 2 BB devices). It was sitting between a 9900 which was still priced at $199.99 and a cheap Samsung flip-phone ( Rugby II, I believe)

I sat and played with the phone for about 10 minutes before a rep even so much as looked at me, let alone approach me. When she did, her attitude towards the BB was immediately obvious.. I was not there to purchase a Droid or eyefone, so I must not be worthy of a sales pitch. She simply told me that just call her if I had any questions and walked away...

When I did pose a question (to which I already knew the answer), she had a deer in the headlights looked and said that I might want to ask a manager. The manager was just about as clueless.. as a matter of fact he didn't even know how to operate the phone. This was evident as he fumbled around with it for a few minutes.

As far as available accessories, yeah right. No cases, no screen protectors, nothing.

Now on to AT&T customer support via 611; Two words: Spot on. The rep that I spoke to was incredibly knowledgeable and even a bit excited about the phone. She talked about how she planned on waiting for the Q10 so she could dump her droid. She even went so far as to sell me the Z10 6 months ahead of my upgrade for the upgrade price due to the amount of time that I have been an AT&T customer. (10+years)

Sorry for the novel, but it really bothers me about the lack of marketing support that BB has gotten here in my area. But kudo's to the phone rep.