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.
Good phone; Like the touch screen; Got a bunch of dead pixels; Internet is pathetic; Good email; Phone has locked up about twice per week requiring battery removal. Sluggish overall.
i can do more on my storm than my older brother can do on his iphone.
and it pisses him off. so yea im keeping it.
@ David Bernard:
I was comparing sales of ALL BBs together which the iPhone beat all of RIM in the last quarter and the Storm with all its returns will do little to help. Maybe it is your head in the sand. Maybe you might TRY an iPhone as you admit you are a BB fan. I have owned a BB before and was not at all impressed. I hated the Storm.
Not here to try in any way to thwart your obsession. I really could care less. But you did say LIGHT YEARS. HAHAHA
There is NO issue with the iPhone 3G battery, we have had one for since it came out. My wife also had the original one from 18 months ago that is now being used by our son in college which still works perfectly and has NO battery problems. We even have an iPod touch even longer. We go days without charging the iPhone 3G sometimes. It connects to WiFi automatically in the house and allows for file sharing and multiplayer games. Battery extenders are available and they are cheap, we have never needed one. My the time the battery would ever need changing we would have upgraded already. So if you want to invent a problem, you have do better than this. I don’t see iPhones being returned, I SAW LONG LINES FOR A MONTH!
The little kid above claims he can do more with a BB Storm, really with no WiFi, locked GPS, no voice or data at the same time, no movie rentals, no iPod,little in the way of games, no multiplayer games, No YouTube app, lousy media player and no decent apps he is totally crazy. So guess what have fun with your plastic toy. I was not trying to convert you, I use a Windows Mobile phone daily, nothing special about that either really.
Forget it you are so right, really I do not care. BB fan guys will believe anything. Sure whatever. Dave Pogue NY TIMES called them NUTS, he was right.
I think it is great that the Storm has a removable battery, unlike the iPhone as it seems to be needed to be removed JUST TO REBOOT IT WHEN IT FREEZES!
@ David Bernard
You’re going up against a schizophrenic persona. Bob is also; Paul, Evilhomer, and a host of other ‘names’ on this site, but yet the same person. Bob (or Paul for that matter) makes the same stupid reference to Dave Pogue (see above). He won’t however address the fact of David Pogue being the top rated critic by Apple. Gee, what a shock. Bob (today’s name) uses an iPhone, Windows Mobile, and a BB. Best part…he works for Verizon!
Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up.
WTF are you talking about? Are you nuts?
Here is the real info:
The return rate is based on phones “sold” versus returned or exchanged. This even includes same phone exchanges. Just as was the case with the iPhone, this is skewed by the high volume of “sales” of these devices. Yes there are plenty being returned, but this is a per store ration of about 1.5 to 10 “sold” daily or 15%. Plus, there is a special inventory of new Storms marked for replacement in the chance of 30 day failure that conveniently does not hit the return rate (different SKU).
Additionally, Verizon employees are on spin control. There is simply a learning curve with this phone (and every touchscreen phone: Omnia, iPhone, Touch series, etc). So those people who come in 2 to 3 days after receiving their phone are talked into keeping it for just a little longer. This keeps the return rate down. Same thing was done with the original iPhone. Spin the problems, over come the frustrations, reduce returns at all cost.
Lastly, I have the phone… Love it… Hate it… But mostly love it. I want more from it. I think RIM needs to simplify the OS. Blackberry is not the easiest OS (never has been), but now they need to make it more “accessible” to the masses. The iPhone is simple. Very simple. Hard to mess things up, but there are plenty of ways to mess up the BB OS. That’s why if your Storm is acting up, it is probably a user error. Anyway: the Storm has so much potential with the applications coming, developers building themes. Could be an exciting year and I can text much faster on the Storm than on the iPhone. The Suretype and click work for me.
The Storm rained on my parade. Returned it. No comparison to fluid iPhone interface!
I was in the cellular business starting in 1988. We were in a secondary market to say the least.
The business has changed so much since then.
It’s the only business that screws people everyday and they come back for more and more and more.
Fantastic. They prey on teens and very young adults. The contractural obligations are absurd and the payback from you to them if you break the rules are no less than being robbed at gunpoint.
Never sign a cellular contract, you will be sorry. Think first, you’ll be glad you did.
I have a Bold, and I tested the Storm for a week. The Storm is probably the biggest letdown I have ever seen from VZW & RIMM. The OS suxz, and the Keyboard is terrible. iPhone has a much better user experience.
Anyways – if you want to go with a solid BB – go with the BB Bold.
The lag time will always be there. Even the best cellular company can’t defy the laws of physics.
The signal travels at the speed of light. I don’t think there will be an improvement on that baby for quite some time.
The lag time is converting your voice from analog to digital and back again, then add the same time from the other end, arrrggghh.
The lag time is so bad watching foreign correspondents waiting for the audio to get to them via satellite half way around the world, looking stupid for 5 seconds is unwatchable.
It seems to be happening on the relatively short links,from NY to LA because of the immense amount of traffic.
Try this, call your answering machine, let it ring through and notice how long it takes your voice to get there.
It would be like a musician using midi with a lag time of 10-12 milliseconds, it just would be absurd to hear notes you played coming back noticeably late. Some musicians claim they can hear the lag at 2-4 milliseconds, I start to notice it at 8-10.
All the cellular companies might just as well start handing out walkie-talkies that ham radio operators used in the ’40’s.
The lag time is so bad with digital as opposed to analog cellular phones, digital is unusable. There were problems, brain frying, short battery life, and size but the call sounded just like a land line.
It’s almost impossible to carry on a conversation when someone talks and the other person interrupts you, the conversion algorithm has to start from scratch and the person on the other end doesn’t know what is going on.
I read today that the armed forces were thoroughly impressed with using binoculars equipped with infrared transmitters and receivers so no one could eavesdrop on the battlefield, however they forget, communication is limited to line of sight, no trees, mountains, tanks, people can be in the way of the beam and finally texting, what an incredible waste of everything.
Man, I apologize, everything for me today has been a rant on everything. Yikes!
One last thing, I promise. I was really impressed with the Blackberry Storm. As a matter of fact, I liked it enough to even make a most foolhardy decision of signing a two year contract but when I accidentally fell from a third story window, sanity came back to me.
I went to ebay looking for an unlocked BB but the prices were so high it was even more ridiculous. Then I Googled for a while and found a company, *********.
If you signed a two year contract, the phone was $149., you had to buy messaging starting at $5. a month, and the lowest plan $39.95 per month, plus taxes and the taxes on 450 minutes a month will kill you alone, even if you don’t use them. You also had to add data at an extra $29.95.
So, roughly $2472. plus or minus for two years total plus $149. for the phone, plus tax, 149.92., do you think they are going to lose on this one, plus when the next model comes out in a few months you will give anything to get it, get it, get it.
can we hear some more from the true blackberry users…those who have been using them day in day out for several models. im tired of hearing about this “learning curve” theyre not supposed to have a learning curve. the touch screen should enhance the experience not challenge or convolute the experience. for those using the storm for real emails, real business, not just “poking” people on facebook, can you get past the annoying CLICK CLICK CLICK of the screen while you have to continuously push the screen fairly hard for each letter or is does it drive you nuts? so many people on here seem to hating on it completely or if theyve kept it, sound like theyve resigned themselves to their fate and have “settled” with it. very few people seem to really “love” and can provide specifics why. these two sentence replys of joy make me suspicious. those who dislike it seem to be able to give specific reasons why…lag, buggy software, slow typing speed, slow response in general. i wondered what all the fuss about “haptic” meant, but now i see its a nice way to say you have squeeze the crap out of the screen to make it type a letter. why cant you just tap and go? so many devices can do that, why cant this? whats the benefit of having to struggle so hard to clickity clack the hell out of this screen to make it react? the sound the screen makes sounds so cheap like a playing card in the spoke of a 10 year olds bike. i have never been so excited about a new phone to come out and then so bummed at the final product and its overhype. i knows it not just the software…its the interface.
This goes to show that AT&T is the best carrier no questions asked. I own the Bold and i love this phone. The Bold is fast, sexy and decent blackberry. To me the best looking blackberry out. I actually went to a Verizon Wireless and tested the Storm. The screen is a press on touch which was horrible. I pressed the sms button and it went to VWZ Navigator, WOW lol… Screw a Storm make a Bold choice guys and get the Bold.
This goes to show that AT&T Mobility is once again the best carrier. I own a Blackberry Bold and man i got to tell you this device is impressive. I love this blackberry. Its fast, its 3G, and the looks its so Bold looking. I went to a Verizon Wireless store and tested the Storm. The screen is a push down touch. The whole screen goes down when you touch it. That is horrible. When i pressed the SMS button it went to VWZ Navigator, WOW lol…If its like that I rather get the Iphone 3G which is way better than the Storm. Besides the Storm is what Verizon only has compared to mammoth AT&T and its exclusive phones. I rather have the fastest 3G network rather than the Largest 3G network… Make a Bold Choice, Get the Bold…
LOL WOW…This goes to show that AT&T Mobility is once again the best carrier. I own a Blackberry Bold and man i got to tell you this device is impressive. I love this blackberry. Its fast, its 3G, and the looks its so Bold looking. I went to a Verizon Wireless store and tested the Storm. The screen is a push down touch. The whole screen goes down when you touch it. That is horrible. When i pressed the SMS button it went to VWZ Navigator, WOW lol…If its like that I rather get the Iphone 3G which is way better than the Storm. Besides the Storm is what Verizon only has compared to mammoth AT&T and its exclusive phones. I rather have the fastest 3G network rather than the Largest 3G network… Make a Bold Choice, Get the Bold…
@ bluehorseshoe:
I guess there is no end to your delusions. HAHAHA OK whatever Sherlock, I am the guy who wrote ALL of the 200+ negative comments about your favorite broken plastic TOY! All the reviewers are being controlled by Apple, especially the NY Times. Pogue works for Apple and gets the “top reviewer award” and I work for VZW and get the worst employee award, I guess! HAHAHAHA
You have to be the stupidest human I ever saw on a website! HAHAHA
You actually believe all negative comments about a device you, yourself finally admits is a buggy mess, are all written by one person. You even want pick and choose which review and reviewer you like.
Problem is the facts keep getting in the way of your delusions. NONE of the reviews at any of the major publications were positive. AS a Storm owner with problems with this buggy device, EVEN YOU, can see the reviews were mostly ALL correct! If the NY Times is on Apple’s payroll or in the tank for the iPhone, why did they give a bad review to the Apple TV? By the way they were correct on this one too. I guess Apple pays all the reviews worldwide and it is a big conspiracy all against your favorite toy company? HAHAHA Are you Oliver Stone’s little retarded kid or something?
You must have a very low IQ. You have a buggy iStorm that is full of problems and still think the reviewers and the comments are somehow wrong!!!!! HAHAHA I am now even more entertained than ever, I do not have to comment anymore on here as YOU believe ANY negative review of the iStorm is me anyways! HAHAHA Sorry to tell you, people that hate the the iStorm, have returned it, and has had problems with it are many.
@ Bob:
You have just met the “Mayor of the Blog” who spends all his waking hours on this website insulting people and helping RIM and VZW try to drown out anyone that reports their negative experiences. See you own a smartphone and have read the NY Times, so you are all part of the blue morons conspiracy theory. HAHAHA If this nutjob does not work for RIM and VZW he should as all he does is defend them no matter what they do or what crap they release.
@ David Bernard:
bluehorseshoe also believes VZW is a Union company and has a HQ in Manhattan. He believes in santa claus, the tooth fairy, and OJ being innocent of all crimes! Oh yeah, I think he belives he is smarter than Mr Monk also. HAHAHA
@ Evilhomer:
I told you there are crazy people on here. HAHAHA
Great I got my laugh for today.
BGR, you’re way off on your figures. In fact you are so far off that if I was you I’d be worried I was being used in an attempt to manipulate a certain companies stock lower. There seems to be a pattern emerging on this blog of posts being released which cast RIM in a negative light and as such could have a negative impact on their stock price. There would be nothing wrong with that if your information was factual. Unfortunately most of your information in regards to Rim has been wrong; release dates, return rates, sales, etc. You might want to verify with your sources that they don’t have ’short’ positions in the companies you are talking down; checking your own portfolio would be wise.
As I said, there certainly seems to be a pattern emerging.
I have been using BB for a while. I have had the curve, pearl, 8703e, 8830 and the 7100g from back in the day. Storm has its quirks but I love it. I think already being used to both suretype and a full qwerty help with the typing. I used to work for verizon and now I actually sell the competition. All of them. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and a perk of the job is demo phones. I get to carry an instinct, g-1, iphone is a personal line but discounted rate. With any of these devices the need to be restarted every so often. The auto on/off feature works great for that I havent had to do a battery pull since I got the leaked software for it. VZ NAV has to go though. OS is a little different but not hard to get used to. Navigates the same way. I honestly had a harder time with not having a trackball when I mess up texting. I sometimes go to fast and don’t notice a mistake for 2-3 words. I have done it on all of my phones. My buddy works for AT&T and won a bold from his boss. I give him crap all of the time when I see him. All he wants to do is play with my phone.
As far as what type of user I am, I would say moderate to light user. Use a lot of voice, text and internet. Probably go through 25-30 emails a day.
Bold is better.
I have had two frends return their storms, and I used it and hate it myself, I was going to end my service with ATT and go and get the storm but thankfuly they were sold out the day I went to get it, so I just bought a bold and love it
I have a Curve and wanted the iphone but since we have a family plan and lots of contracts, ATT was not an option so I couldn’t wait to receive my Storm. HOWEVER, I am so DISAPOINTED!!!!
I have a password to open my unit and to get the characters to accurately accept on the “touch” (ha) screen, was ridiculous. I can’t believe that Blackberry could not simply make it a touch screen! Also, It freezes up and at times, won’t change from portrait to landscape.
I returned it and went back to my curve. Hopefully, some day, Verizon will offer the Iphone?
I have seen two of my friends return their Storms and get something else.
We ordered two Storms at our company and they were both rejected by the users and returned. Even after the first software update.
My frame of comparative reference is the Treo 700w with WinMo5. It died two weeks ago, so I had to get a new phone. Got Storm with the .75 update factory-installed. I’ve been using the Storm for one week as my only device. I sync with Outlook 2007 for calendar/tasks/contacts, and use Goggle Apps for three email accounts and Pair Networks for a fourth email account. I am (was) a WinMo5 power user. Never used a BB before.
My thumbs up/down list for the Storm:
1. Browser’s javascript deficient. Worse than IE4 on WinMo5, if you can believe it.
2. IMAP handling is…nil. Push-only mail through BIS. Deleting messages on Outlook or webmail doesn’t delete them on Storm, requiring manual delete on BB.
3. Keyboard gets some getting used to. Works adequately after changing default sensitivity settings. However…
4. …moving the cursor with finger gestures in text boxes is awful. Reminds me of the first Macs: had no cursor-control keys because Jobs said that only the mouse was acceptable. Soon enough, Mac keyboards had cursor-control keys.
5. Media player sounds good but has terrible controls and doesn’t automatically or manually bookmark for later restart without going back to the beginning of the track, podcast, book, etc. Even Media Player on WinMo has these basics. Audible doesn’t have a Storm-compatible books-on-tape app — and probably never will.
6. Sync with Outlook is a primitive batch process unlike ActiveSync’s continuous syncing.
7. No WiFi is an issue where VZW’s network is anemic, such as at my house, or in airplanes that provide WiFi access.
8. It’s slick, attractive, and better dimensions and form factor than any WinMo phone in Verizon’s lineup.
9. It multitasks! You can simultaneously run Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Facebook, multiple email accounts and browser.
10. Phone sound quality and controls are very good.
11. Hasn’t crashed once in one week, unlike WinMo 5 which crashed constantly.
I’m almost convinced that I’m going back to a WinMo device. I switched to Storm primarily to get a functional browser. I was prepared to live with the Storm’s shortcomings hitting my productivity, but this makes no sense if the browser isn’t good despite the Storm’s nice UI and panning. Opera on WinMo6.1 seems so totally superior to Storm’s browser. I’ll have a less slick and slightly larger device, but it’ll be productive.