Did you get your Verizon BlackBerry Storm?
We’ve done a quick check at around 10 Verizon corporate stores in the NY/NJ area with most of them reporting lines longer than they have stock for. That means there’s going to be 1.) A ton of pissed off people, and 2.) More pissed off people who won’t get their unit until tomorrow mid-day or possibly Tuesday. We want to know your experience, and if you did manage to snag a Storm (you lucky dog, you), we want to hear your first impressions! We also have reports that some stores are only selling to brand new Verizon customers and not doing any upgrades, which if true, is pretty disgusting. Hit us up in the comments and help out your fellow BlackBerry addicts, ok? If you just got one but there’s no line at your local store and they have some stock left, share the weath! Plus, if you’ve got a major issue you want to report, you can always hit me on the hip!
Honolulu Verizon Wireless only had 4 available at most locations. The main location only had 9-10 units. The first customer in line bought 3. Just about everyone in line left because they were so pissed off. I waited. I’m glad I did because they gave me lots of free stuff because I have to wait til Wednesday to get the Storm.
anyone know of a store in chicago area that still has them available.
I ordered mine yesterday at the Verizon store in Aurora, CO. at about 12:15PM. They told me I would have it today by noon. I just got a shipping confirmation that the phone is being shipped today for a Monday delivery. I called the Verizon store and they said any order place after noon MST wouldn’t be shipped until today. Any order placed after 5PM won’t be shipped until 12/5. There is a new OS posted on Verizon’s website with yesterday’s date. It doesn’t say what version it is.
I just got back from a Verizon store where they had a demo Storm. I played around with it for like 15 mins and the SurePress typing didn’t really bother me – I actually could type rather quickly with it, albeit with some errors that I wouldn’t have had on a physical QWERTY. The thing that really annoyed me was how slow it was. Going from portrait mode to landscape is unbelievable slow and in the 15 mins I had it pissed me off beyond belief. I’m hoping that will be fixed with an update but I guess we’ll see. After saying that, I still think I will be picking this up in the next couple of weeks.
Smaller store in east Tennessee only had 5 (I got one!) opened an hour early. Confirmed you MUST open new account to get one, I added to my 19 lines to get the phone. (corporate account)
Phone VERY VERY quirky!!!!!! Buggy!!!! Accer. twist is SLLLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWW. All programs everything – slllloooooooooooooowwwwww!
Love the phone,worth the wait, praying for a firmware update!
Overall, it’s no IPhone, it is worth the wait, it REALLY NEEDS SOME WORK, the camera stinks (sorry, my curve’s pics are much better), keyboard is good and responsive, works much better with the software help (spelling and typing actually easier in portrait mode ala Pearl) if they work out the bugs, this will hands down be the best Blackberry EVER!
ENTER THE BPhone!
I ordered the storm in store on Friday, they gave free overnight shipping and promised it to be here today before 3. After waiting for hours and hours, I called vzw, and they said it won’t ship out until tuesday. Bullshit!
Dallas, Texas..
Showed up at 7:30, store opened at 8. This was a new store so they were allowing upgrades for some reason.
I was number 8. The store only had 5 available due to “a problem with shipping” and they were able to get one unit from each store around them. I walked out at 9ish with an ordered phone to be shipped to the store.
Went in Saturday at noon to see the status and was told that if I ordered before 1pm on Friday I would get it around the 25th. People that ordered after would get it around 12/5.
Am I mad? Somewhat but what can you do. Complaining wont do anything and its a big deal to introduce this to the market. So I understand. It would have been better to just come out and have a week of pre-orders and then shipment.
Went to the Verizon store in Des Moines, IA early in the A.M. Waited in line, only to be the first one in line not to get a phone. The rep at the door was handing each person that entered the store a pink voucher. I did not get one. I decided to wait in the store and order one for direct ship. While waiting I see 3 people with vouchers leave without a phone. When I get to the counter and talk to the rep I tell him “I saw 3 people that had vouchers leave without getting phones. Shouldn’t you have 3 extra to sell now?” The rep told me that the people with the vouchers could come back later and pick them up. WTF????? I waited in line with cash in hand for this stupid phone and these people can come back later? I started getting mad and decided to just leave the store. I then drove to another local VZW store where I know the people that work there are not totally retarded. I go in and talk to a rep tell her that I would like to order a storm and tell her about my previous adventure. She gets my order taken and tells me that she is going to have it shipped next day with SAT delivery should by at my house by 1 pm. AWESOME Right?? WRONG!!!! I wait at home for the shipment to show up. At 2:00pm I call the VZW store and try to talk to someone. 1st call I was place on hold for 30 min and 4 sec and then hung up on. 2nd call I get a guy who is willing to figure out what is going on. He gets a call back number and tells me he is going to call his district manager and find out what is going on. About 45 min later I get a call back from the guy. He tells me that he has no idea what has happened but the phone did not ship. He also states that he does not know when it is going to ship. (how could he) The guy was very nice on the phone and agreed with me that if he was in my shoes he would be pissed. I don’ even know what to say at this point I guess I will just have to wait and see when I get it. If I don’t have it by the middle of next week I am canceling my account and going to another provider. I can’t believe 2 companies with the amount of customers and the huge market share that VZW and RIM have could screw up a huge event like this SO BAD!!!!
I went to the VZW stores on 5th Avenue, Union Square, Best Buy Mobile Union Square and in Circuit City Union Square South this morning in NYC. They were sold out and had “no idea” when they would be getting any. However, I put my name on the list at Best Buy Mobile and they called me a couple hours later when they had a new shipment. I rushed down there an grabbed one. Very cool! I love it.
I went to the VZW store in Philadelphia off of City Line Ave. There was at least 60 people there at 8am. They only had 15 in stock and they would have had 5 but the mgr got 10 extra from there Market St. location (which had 100). I was told that I could order it there and I would get it by Monday or Tuesday. They also informed me that I could call 611 and see if they would bump me up to free Saturday shipping.
I called and got free Saturday shipping through fedex.
Saturday came and I waited………only for NO BLACKBERRY.
I called Cust Serv only to be told that there was a mistake in my order and they had the wrong exp. date on my CC. I gave them the correct info and they then processed my order. All good until she told me I would get it around Dec. 15-16th. I was pissed. I don’t understand why I got screwed because VZW screwed the pooch.
I never thought RIMM and VZW could screw this up. This phone could have killed the iPhone but no one has it and the hype will be gone by the time I get mine.
VZW did give me and instant 150 rebate on the phone and a 50 service credit. (the most the lady could do without getting a Sr. Manager involved which I think would have added to the headache)
So to all the people who got one. I HATE YOU!
Well I was lucky, got to the store when they normally open at 10 am just to find out they opened at 8:00 just because the storm launched. Luckily they still had a few and I picked one up. Nice phone but does take some getting use to and is a little slower then I wish it would be(accerlorometer,functions,typing). I also need to get use to the browser, it is pretty confusing. I guess with every feature packed in it does have to do some thinking. All that being true I still love it. Definatly a nice phone.
I was number 27 out of 50 people right outside of Philadelphia PA at a corporate verizon store. The store only received 20. If this is what verizon considers a launch of what is supposed to be the iphone killer thats sad. I actually need a Blackberry for work and most of the people in front of me just wanted it for texting etc. They were verizon customers and could not get the iphone. Verizon hyped the release and really fell short on delivery. And they have the balls to say when you call “exclusive home of the Blackberry Storm” exclusive maybe? but not home definitely! Sorry for my Rant I will take my soap box now and go…
Waited a few days for things to calm down so I could play with a Storm demo, and went into a Tampa area Verizon store. No demo. I was told they only were given 5 units. Went to the local Best Buy. No Demo. I was told they got only 8 units and were waiting on more today. A BlackBerry rep was on hand at Best Buy. When I asked her why there wasn’t a demo for customers, she said phones were on the way in. I repeated, where’s your floor demo? She kind of walked away from me.
I won’t be back. Verizon to me seems out of touch, and that BlackBerry Rep needs to be replaced-she didn’t give a hoot when I left.
Waitin’ on the Javelin from At&t for sure now.
Went to local Verizon store in Greenville, SC at 11:30 am on Friday. They were long sold out. Played with demo unit for 10 minutes and decided I liked the interface. They sold me one for $99 and waived the need to file the rebate so I only paid $99 + tax. Service in the store was very good. Delivery promised for Monday at my office. We’ll see.
I went to the closest Verizon dealer near my office (San Bruno, CA) Friday morning, was told they only had five and those were already spoken for, even though there was only other person there besides me. After playing with the demo model for a little bit, I ordered and paid for one, and was promised that it would be delivered to my office Monday morning via FedEx. I guess we’ll see.
Went down to check it out @ local Circuit City in Boston (Somerville). Played with the demo unit for about 20 minutes and did not like it at all. I’m using a Bold right now so I have 4.6 and know all the features, I didn’t find how they implemented the touch interface to be very intuitive, I was puzzled often as to when to use the menu key vs touching or gestures. I assume once you figure this out it’s not an issue but I don’t think you should have to. I was pretty inaccurate typing (I felt that the pressing slowed me down) and saw the accelerometer issues. I figured maybe it was me and gave it to the wife who just switched off VZ for the Bold and she didn’t last 5 minutes. I dunno, maybe we’re just dumb, and maybe this all gets fixed with a software update (the unit did pop a dialog about updating, so it was apparently running the older code) but in no way would I put up with this as my everyday phone in it’s current state. The two good things I will say about it is that the hardware fit and finish is very nice (nicer than the Bold) and the VZ 3G network felt even snappier than the Bold on ATT for simple web browsing (I loaded up ESPN.com and Boston.com which I check multiple times daily on my own BB).
I got mine yesterday and I LOVE it. You will too. It takes alittle getting used to typing on the svreen, but I’m sure it will get easier with time.
Getting one was difficult. I was #16 on the waiting list at my local VZW store. I was told on Thursday that they were only getting 5, so I didnt even try at the store. I showed up at Circuit City late morning to see them handing their “last one” to a guy who just signed up for new service. Another CC employee at another store told me they had 5, but they were instructed to only give them out to people signing new contracts. Every VZW store I called was eagerly trying to sell me one through their Direct Fulfillment center, but I was way too impatient for that.
I eventually ended up finding a Car Toys store that had two phones. It was 1:30 in the afternoon and they still hadn’t sold either one. I walked out of the store almost two hours later. It was painful to get the upgrade done at a non-VZW store, but the clerk at Car Toys made it happen.
I doubt that the Storm will be an iPhone killer, but it will certainly slow the iPhone’s growth. To me, the biggest advantage of the iPhone is it’s integration with iTunes. I’ve loaded plenty of songs on my Storm, but it required burning CDs from iTunes, then reloading the songs in Rhapsody as mp3s.
All in all, if youre a crackberry addict, you’re gonna love this new addition to the lineup.
Went to VZW store on Long Island NY one week ago. I was number 13 on their list for the Storm. I was assuured that they would have enough supply for the pre-order list.
Called first thing Friday and they were already sold out. Went to VZW store downtown NYC and there was a 30 strong line but was told after 20 mins that they were sold out. Called the VZW store back on Long Island and they told me that computer system was down and that they would ship phone overnight for $199 (waiving the rebate). I called this morning for an update and was told my order was never placed and that I would not likely receive a Storm until about December 15th if I ordered today. Any ideas on how I can get one before the 15th ?
I showed up at the Verizon corporate store in Hiram, GA at 6 AM on launch day and I was the only one there until 7 when employees and a few other people started to show up. They had 6 Storms for the 6 of us that were there when they opened early and I was # 2. Activation went smoothly and the employees were very courteous to me as they had dealt with me before and knew I was not one of the average annoying customers. I love my new device.
I just REALLY wish people would stop comparing this to the iPhone. First off, THE IPHONE IS NOT A SMARTPHONE!!! I don’t care what anyone says, it just isn’t. The Storm is a touchscreen Blackberry. Call it what it is and stop comparing it the iPhone. Personally, I can’t wait until Steve Jobs kicks from cancer, or AIDS, or whatever the hell he has wrong with him and his company dies with him. We all know Jobs is the idea man and once he’s gone Apple will die.
I love my Storm. Bottom line.
no calculator or ez tip calculator hard type
I went to one store in Connecticut on Thursday evening asking what time they would open and if I would have any problems getting the phone on Friday. This store had the nerve to tell me that they took orders from customers and those customers would be getting the phone first and that there would be very few left after that so I had a slim chance of getting one. Needless to say I wasn’t too thrilled about that after having called around asking about this phone and having been told that nobody was taking orders. I then went home and call the store in the mall (across the street from the one I went into) and found out there that it was first come first serve with the store opening an hour early at 9:00a.m. After asking if I should come early he stated that the mall opens at 7 for mall walkers if I wanted to get there early. I got there about 7 and found only 1 person waiting. Eventually there about 4 of us waiting really early and the salespeople that got there before the store opened gave us numbered passes (I got pass #1) and told us we could leave and come back when the store opens. I think this was the best way to do it. I came back when the store opened and after 5 hours of waiting for my order to process because of systems crashes I walked out with my phone. I really like the phone but I’m not in love with it — yet. My only gripes about the situation are the fact that the Verizon should have upgraded their ordering system so it would crash at high volumes and have people standing in line for hours. Also, the fact that each store was doing it’s own thing as far as how they sold what little inventory they had. Had I accepted what the first store told me I would still been waiting to get my hands on a phone.
I got one day of from Best Buy on 86th and Lex in NYC. They were only selling them to people who pre-ordered them.
I WENT TO STORE AT 0400 A/M AND I WAS THE SECOND PERSON ON LINE FOR THIS PHONE…
AT 0730 VERIZON OPEN AND ABOUT 8 PEOPLE JUST
WEATING ON LINE TO GET THIS PHONE…
I went to the local Verizon store on Rt. 4 in Paramus, NJ. It was 6:45am and I was 17th in line. They put our names on a list and let us leave. I came back at 8am when the doors opened and they started calling our names from the list, taking 8 people at a time. They had 40 units, I was able to upgrade very easily. I love the phone and it’s features. It took me about a day to get used to typing on it but I am getting faster and think it’s great.
I didn’t need to burn any cd’s to get the mp3’s to work on my Storm. Songs that I downloaded directly from itunes, I dropped them into a folder on my Storm and they worked perfectly.