Verizon BlackBerry Storm Return Rate
Here’s the skinny on this situation… We had heard various return rates on the Verizon BlackBerry Storm from three (actually four, but we’ll discount the last one) extremely credible sources of ours. These ranged from 35-50% in some markets/regions. That is an absurdly high figure, folks. While we trust our sources, we wanted to continue to dig until we wrote up a post on it here. We let a publication quote us on that, because that is what we had heard. No harm, no foul. But we weren’t going to post on it here until we had 100% confirmed it.
Verizon Wireless hit us up and here’s what a Verizon Wireless official had to say: “The Storm has the lowest return rate of any of our PDAs and at this point in its life cycle, it has the lowest return rate of any PDA we currently sell.”
We’ll let you guys do all the talking. Own a Storm? Happy with it? Returned it? Know friends that are happy/returned theirs? Hit us up so we can get some good feedback and your thoughts on this.
@ bluehorseshoe:
OH I realize a lot of things. I most of all realize how bad a rollout of this device was when the largest biggest fanboys are humbled.
Maybe now you JUST might feel a bit embarrassed when you spent so many waking hours calling the poor suckers that bought the Storm all your favorite names like moron, stupid, low IQ, asses, etc. when they were simply complaining about the neutered, crippled and buggy Storm! But somehow I doubt it. Seems it just took you longer to realize what many of them already had.
Sure the Storm may well become a more solid device, IN TIME. Question is how long? When? So in your opinion all the users should do what, spend the money on an expensive phone and plan and wait until RIM gets around to making the phone better with software whenever it comes? That would help how? Would it make RIM work faster to fix a device they rushed? You know those union guys may work slow! HAHA
What you never listened to, was I DID try the Storm before it was released as I work in the industry and again after release in a VZW store. Both times I saw a buggy device not at all ready for release. Let’s remember I am the one that owns multiple devices on multiple carriers.
Soon enough we will see the real numbers of what was sold and what the marketplace decided. In only 16 months the iPhone changed the game and has an App Store with 12,835 iPhone apps. For RIM to catch them it will be like climbing Mt Everest in sandals! They are mostly stuck with a phone with decent email and not much more.
Mostly I see BB fanboys that are still making excuses and claiming features that do not matter like the guy above that claims he can run IM in the background, loading music tracks without iTunes, and voice dialing inferring of course that it can’t be done on an iPhone. ALL OF THIS CAN BE DONE ON AN IPHONE EASILY with “choices” BB Storm can not match right now. BeeJive (runs on iPhone NOW, not Storm yet), there must be 10 or 12 ways to do voice dialing on an iPhone (most ALL free with vlingo my favorite right now), and loading music tracks without iTunes is easy if you want! The Storm can not even use voice and the data at the same time!
I call it as I SEE IT. I DID IN FACT and I don’t brutally attack others how pointed out the obvious! AGAIN you have been shown you don’t know it all. Maybe now you can find it in yourself to be nicer to others. Be humble.
You can get email while on a call only on the AT&T Network.
I had an 8703e blackberry which i loved. I was very excited about the Storm. I got it on opening day had it for two weeks and waited for the first software upgrade. If somone is dying for a touch phone, I think that the Storm is the best choice on verizon. But unfortunatly I couldn’t get use to the lack in productivity the Storm brought. It is a very slow phone. I returned it and I bought a curve which I love. I think the curve even takes better photos as far as color is concerned. My friends dad bought a Storm the same day and returned his and got an LG Dare. The curve seems like a great buy becuase you can do mostly all the same stuff on it and faster. I admit its not as sex as the Storm but, a blackberry is primarily about productivity and the Storm in that category falls short.
I ordered 10 Blackberry 9530’s from Verizon Wireless that arrived on launch day (I’m a BES Admin with about 400 BB’s in our fleet).
9 of the 10 were functional out of the box. The 10th phone was missing the bottom piece of plastic that sits over the microphone and the small hex nuts holding the phone together. The piece wasn’t in the box, and wasn’t anywhere to be found. I’m not sure who to attribute that to. Probably a manufacturing error so that goes to RIM.
Of the 10 phones (the 9th was eventually replaced), I have sent 5 back. I found that pretty ironic since the approx. reports show about 50% of them returned.
The phone to me and my users is primarily used for business. I feel this phone has NO place in business. And that is saying a lot since it’s a Blackberry, and really up until recently they were really the business workhorse as opposed to the multimedia beast that something like the iPhone is.
I carried the phone for about 24 hours on the initial .65 software release. I then carried it for another 24 hours on the .75 firmware. In both cases, I switched back to my Blackberry Curve.
The phone is slow. The browser is AWFUL. The camera is almost unusable. Things that take mere moments to do on a Blackberry Curve/Bold/88xx/etc. take 2-20 seconds longer on the Storm. I personally am not a touch screen fan to begin with. Just a personal preference there, so I’m not as receptive to them, either. However, the inaccuracy and weird lag-double-click stuff you have to do on the Storm is unacceptable.
I love Verizon Wireless. They have great customer support, and the coverage in my area (NE Indiana) is second to none. Again, this is just personal preference.
All in all, I feel like the Storm is a very lacking phone. Great features, great ideas and concepts with very poor execution. Give me a phone with the processor (speed) of the Bold, buttons of the Curve, and the features of the Storm minus the God Awful touchscreen, and lag issues (which I think the Bold processor would fix) and I’m sold.
I’m telling my users to hold off until the Niagra is released. Hopefully it will be a worldphone.
While I will admit it took a little getting used to (came from a treo), I’m to the point now that I’m luvin it!
i got the phone at launch and wasn’t happy with it. it was sluggish and had a pretty decent learning curve with the keyboard (was coming from a regular phone).
3 weeks and 2 software updates later, i love it. the sluggishness is gone (though it could still stand a faster accelerometer – i won’t be happy until there’s 0 wait!) and the keyboard is great.
it’s brand new technology. you have to expect a couple of hiccups and snags.
@ Christina:
What is an amateur phone user? Are there pro users? Maybe the ones that get paid by Verizon or RIM?
I think many people over 40 do understand what a software update is. Many probably know a DOG when we see one. FANGIRL?
I received mine a few days before Thanksgiving and wanted to return it the same day. I decided it would be wise to wait, use the device over the long weekend and then decide what to do. I returned it the Monday after.
Switching to AT&T for the Bold
@ CJ
Ok, my boyfriend works at Verizon Wireless and he comes home complaining everyday about the annoying customers that buy things they know they aren’t capable of figuring out and then return them. Meanwhile they lose money every time someone returns something that they have already opened and put their dirty hands on. Instead of trying it out for a little while and then seeing if they like it. I am a BIG TIME apple fan and would have loved to have had the opportunity to own an iphone so I have an ipod touch and to be honest I can not get used to typing on that thing. I type extremely fast (and text for that matter) and found that on my storm that I received as an early xmas gift if I keep my fingers on the screen and slide then to type I can type at a much faster rate then if I lift my fingers. So I am not a “fangirl” I just get annoyed when the reasons people complain about things are things that are so irrelevant. I have had many worse problems on other phones that make this one look like gold. I’m not saying that it’s better than the bold but i have always wanted a touch screen and I would much rather have a good phone on an excellent network than an excellent phone on a shit network (AT&T/T-Mobile ect.) I have a friend with an iphone and he gets my texts like 5 days after I sent them….. wtf is that? I also get annoyed with the people that go to Verizon and say my friends have that new blueberry storm thing. and do not have a clue what to do with it and instead of trying it and figuring it out they go back to Verizon and say this phone is a piece of shit.
My point is if you don’t know how to drive a stick would you buy a manual?????
Had for about 3 days and could not get over the fact half the features would not work correctly. Tried watching movies and it would take 2 min to load then i would have to battery pull to exit the media player. Tried several different videos and all the same. numerous lockups, terrible phone. was a verizon customer for 5 years dropped it went with the iphone 3g. Love it even though it has its drawbacksa to it works perfect for me. Pearl was a much better phone than the storm even though the email and internet was no where near as good.
In my area 731 storms sold 51 returned. Have people on the fence about it but most seem happy after the update.
@ Amber:
Or when you have WiFi!!! How can you claim you have a smartphone when you can not check email, look up something on the net or not be able to use any app that requires data (about ALL of them) while ON A CALL! You made my point, thank you!
@ Christina:
If a phone pointed at the masses, that claims to be an iPhone killer is so hard to use because of its UI that is a FAILURE. When it is a buggy, have cooked device it is far worse. That is the Storm!
Returns on the iPhone, a device that is some ways is more advanced as it has WiFi, many installed apps, etc seem to have little in the way of returns. I have owned both an the iPhone is far easier to use, but not why I returned the Storm. I returned the Storm as it was a buggy device that lacked WiFi and any decent apps. The keyboard sucks, PERIOD.
If you think that a smartphone should be pointed at ONLY what you claim are advanced users, I think that market is small to non-existent.
Maybe your boyfriend needs a new job. Apple Store maybe?
Got mine Thanksgiving week. Returned the Curve. The Storm is the best BB phone to date IMHO. I am ready used to it and I’m sure it’ll get even better as they release firmware updates along the way. Good job RIM!
HAHA Some people are happy with anything. I tried it in a store and spent a good 25 minutes with it. I am staying with my Windows phone. No thanks.
RIM is in a tough position–not because comparisons are being made between the Storm and the iPhone–more so because of comparisons between the Storm and other blackberries.
I have been a Blackberry user for quite some time, starting with the 957, through the 8830, 8130, 8330 and now the Storm.
My initial impressions were not strong, but mainly because I was used to the physical keyboard of the Curve. I can only imagine that Curve/Pearl/8800 user who switch to the Storm have very high return rates–mainly because they did not give it enough time, or it is simply wrong FOR THEM.
Compared to the iPhone, the Storm is LIGHT YEARS better. I have not returned it and will not return it.
I read this on a news site and I thought they were talking about the new BB — Storm bringing wintry misery to Midwest -Now I realize it was about a snow storm, but it could have been the BB Storm.
HOW can the Storm be “LIGHT YEARS better” than an iPhone? HAHAHA The ultimate fanbois! The Storm is more like iPhone LITE!
No WiFi, No apps, lousy keyboard, no voice and data at the same time, locked GPS, crappy speakers, plasticy toy, no ipod, and the buggiest device ever released by a major phone maker with loads of unhappy users and returns in huge numbers! I thought Windows phones sucked, boy I ran back to mine!
What is THIS guy smoking? Give it enough time? HAHAHA I think it is WRONG for MOST users except BB NUTS that can’t seem to realize the world of mobile devices does not rotate around RIM!!!!
Maybe the BB Storm goes to ELEVEN! OR was built by Buzz Lightyear, nah that would be Pixar! HAHAHA
Hmmm, Bob gives a strong response, and while I can assure you I am not smoking anything, he might have had a bit too much to drink…
Seriously, here you go:
1. Iphone has not removable battery–requires that you send the whole thing back to Apple. NOT GOOD
2. Iphone Apps–yeah—if you are in the market for apps that make the sound of a beer opening and pouring when you move the device, then I guess they are an advantage.
3. Iphone does not permit Bluetooth Stereo Headsets
4. Iphone has no removable memory
5. Iphone relies only on Touch, not touch and click, increasing errors and slowing down data entry
6. Blackberry email integration–(enough said)
7. Blackberry 3.2 MP Camera with autofocus
On top of this, I don’t know where this guy gets his info, but I have been using Google Maps interchangably with VZ navigator–what more GPS do you need.
This guy is also clearly drinking the “no WiFi coolaid”…I guess that is understandable since he is clearly and iPhone user, which means he is on AT&T. So with that lousy service and coverage, your only option to browse the web is to drain your battery on a Wifi session. Wifi & AT&T vs. EVDO & Verizon??? It is no contest—VERIZON WINS.
Try again, Bob….
@ CJ
“If a phone pointed at the masses, that claims to be an iPhone killer….”
Good god I am so tired of people saying that the Blackberry Storm is an iPhone killer. Please show me ANYTHING in writing from Verizon or RIM that vaguely hints at them going after the iPhone. It is simply RIM’s take on how THEY think a touchscreen phone should work. The same with Samsung and the Omnia/Instinct and LG with their various touchscreen devices.
As far as being able to use the phone, check email, download a song, etc etc all at the same time being an issue….how big a percentage of buyers out there does this make a difference to??? Such a low number that makes me wonder why it is even argued? If you want that feature then go get yourself an iPhone or Window’s mobile phone for that matter.
Everything is and has always been about tradeoffs when deciding about a cell phone. The Storm is not any different. And how a person uses their phone is as varied as the different models of phones available. If you find a phone that works perfect for you then stick with it and quit trying to force your lopsided biased views on others. Even thinking that there will ever be a phone that appeals to 100% of people out there is like thinking there will be a vehicle made that everyone will like. IT WONT HAPPEN!
The most that can be asked for is a knowledgeable sales person to help guide a consumer to the best possible product that meets that consumers needs! Just like Christina said, “If you don’t know how to drive a stick would you buy a manual?” Just because a new product comes out and a consumer comes in to buy it doesn’t mean they should.
And last but not least, the return rate. I remember very well when the iPhone originally launched. They had a return rate of well over 40% and was the most returned handset for AT&T that year. This was chalked up to it being new technology that had “glitches” and that some of the customers buying it had no business with a media device that advanced. How is this any different than whats happening with the Storm? And I only use the iPhone as an example since this is what everyone else has compared the return rates to.
In closing. My opinion is, yes, Verizon & RIM rushed this phone to market too soon but not because of the glitches per se. I believe the sales staff was not trained properly to know the right customers to sell this product to that would result in a good customer experience.
Happy Holidays to all!
@ David Bernard:
OH you are smoking something. YOU SAID LIGHT YEARS and this is all you have! HAHAHA Let me tell you a secret Touch and CLICK SUCKS, just read the reviews and this POST and all the returns, if you don’t like my opinion! LOL!
Winning means sales, not bullshit. The Storm has not proven this, it has RETURNS! LOTS OF THEM!
iPhone has no need for removable battery or memory as the ones INCLUDED are fine. The camera in the BB Storm is a peice of junk, again read the reviews and these comments if you do not agree with me.
Where is the LIGHT YEARS. I can give you a list with the iPhone having WiFi, voice and data at the same time, THOUSANDS os APPS, an much better multimedia phone with an iPod and an unlocked GPS. BUT, you see I have a Windows Mobile Phone, not an iPod as it is company supplied. No wife has an iPhone. SPEC SHEETS NO NOT MAKE GOOD PRODUCTS! OR KIA would be better than BMWs!
I am not a lover of any device, but laughed when you claimed LIGHT YEARS! The iPhone was LIGHT YEARS ahead of the BB for usability and that is simply the truth why R.I.M. is copying the touch screen concept, without much success as they simply tried to “screw it on” their already old OS! LIGHT YEARS, I could not laugh harder, sorry.
Bob:
Spec sheets certainly do not make good products, but certainly reviews are no replacement for actual experience. You seem to be referencing reviews as proof of your position. Did you actually buy a Storm? Have you used one?
Here we go again:
1. “Winning means sales” Well we are only a month into the Storm launch. Are you seriously comparing a month of Storm sales with the overall sales of the iPhone? Do you remember all of the issues with the iPhone and especially the 3G rollout? Not a very strong argument on your part.
2. “Included battery is fine”. Lith-ion batteries fail–it is a fact of life. The lack of a removable battery is a problem–you may as well pull your head up out of the sand now and realize it.
3. “Camera in the BB Storm is a piece of junk”. Have you USED it? It takes sharp and clear pictures that completely decimate the iPhone’s camera.
4. “Read the reviews and these comments if you do not agree with me”. I do not need to SINCE I OWN THE STORM AND HAVE FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE WITH IT. Give me a break!
5. “iPhone having Wifi”. Did you read my post? You have nothing.
6. “I have a windows mobile phone” “My wife has an iPhone” I feel very sorry for you. Windows Mobile is a bear and all you can do is watch your iPhone used from afar.
We can go at this over and over again, but please THINK before you spew your conclusions based on reviews that lack hands on experience.
Seriously, with all due respect to Bob, I think he is missing the point of my original post.
The posts here confirm my theory that a lot of the dis-satisfaction with the Storm is from users who were on other Blackberries and upgraded. The typing experience on the Storm is slower than a physical keyboard and is a paradigm shift for these users. If you do not realize and welcome this, you will reject it.
However, if you are a touch screen phone user, or if you are coming from another Blackberry and are willing to take the time to make the paradigm shift, the Storm has many great features.
It seems as though all of the people returning them fall into one of 2 categories
1) wannabe early-adopters. The people who wanted it to say they had it but then weren’t patient enough to learn it. (There was a pretty HUGE learning curve with the original BB’s if you guys can remember)
2) wannabe testers. The people who were just curious and knew they could try it out and return it if they didn’t like it… Kind of like the girls who buy a dress for prom, wear it one night then return it the next day.
Like any other new technology, there will be bugs, there will be lovers, there will be haters and there will be blood.
The device is great! It’s not a Bold and it’s not an iPhone. If you love the iPhone and Bold, then don’t switch, is it that hard?
@ David Bernard:
THEN WHY DID YOU SAY THIS? “Compared to the iPhone, the Storm is LIGHT YEARS better.” What does this have to do with BB or where users came from? NOTHING! I would say that is a “strong response.” NOT EVEN FACTUAL.
The Storm has “many great features” on a spec sheet. BUT, as you can see by the horrible reception for this buggy product that in real use, the thing does not cut it for many many users. IT IS LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF NOTHING! NOT EVEN OTHER BBs! R.I.M. just did a lame job of copying Apple without an OS that works well with a touch screen. I think they used two monkeys in a cage to test this before release, really!
They did not even allow reviews by major gadget experts until after release, a real sign of trouble. NOW WE ALL KNOW WHY.
Stupid statements like THE ONE YOU MADE make me laugh, sorry. BUT you sounded like a fan of a broken device. IT had nothing to do with the post either. You mentioned the iPhone, where in the story is that? Guess you are feeling a bit of iPhone envy subconsciously.