Subscribers fume over what has become yet another bungled Sprint launch
Why can’t Sprint launch a handset? That’s the question countless subscribers are asking themselves as the release of the BlackBerry Tour 9630 continues to look more and more like a paper launch. A fair number of people who ordered the handset have received it by now and many were able to snag a unit at retail locations, but it seems that for every happy new Tour owner there are three enraged subscribers looking for answers. At this point, you can’t find a Sprint or BlackBerry forum without reading post after post from people fuming over the bungled Tour launch. Since July 12th, the official launch date, we’ve also received countless emails from Sprint subscribers venting their frustrations and recounting various horror stories. The consensus among them: Sprint can’t launch a handset to save its life — or business, as it were.
Beyond a few emails we have from people who got their Tours at retail locations and couldn’t activate them, the biggest problem being reported is a seeming lack of candor with regard to inventory. We have tons of emails from people who ordered the Tour within the first hour of online availability — within the first 15-30 minutes even. Despite the website showing the handset as being in stock and ready to roll, they received a backorder notice immediately after ordering. Here is an example of an email received by a Sprint customer shortly after submitting his order online about a half hour after the Tour went live on Sprint’s site:
Product ID: SP9630RIM Description: Blackberry Tour 9630 Qty: 1 Order Date: 2009-07-12
Status: Your order or a portion of your order is in backorder status. If you would like to select an alternate product or cancel your backordered item, please call 866-789-8292 between 8:00 a.m. EST to 11:00 p.m. EST Monday to Friday or 9:00 a.m. EST to 9:00 p.m. EST on Saturdays and Sundays.Please note that cancellation requests may not always process successfully due the speed of warehouse processing. If you cancelled your backordered item but still received a shipment, please refuse the shipment or call us to process a return within 30 days of receipt.
Why is it that Sprint just can’t seem to stock a handset — and perhaps more importantly, why was the handset listed as being available if in fact it was not? It has gotten to the point where the carrier even confirmed to us ahead time that the Palm Pre launch would be a mess. Fast forward to the Tour, Sprint’s next flagship handset, and we’re seeing the exact same mistakes all over again. We understand it was a big deal for Sprint to finally get a hot new BlackBerry out to market at the same time as Verizon. Great. Golf claps. If doing so simply means the carrier is going to have to snub half of the people who want to buy the handset however, we have to think waiting for shipments would have been the wiser move. In fact, we’ve received several comments from people who decided to switch to Verizon for the Tour because of this mess. If you’ve looked at Sprint’s numbers over the past couple of years, you know the last thing the struggling carrier needs to be doing right now is giving subscribers another reason to jump ship.
Of course Sprint isn’t the only carrier plagued with launch issues, it just happens to be more in need of smooth sailing than any other at this point. Trust us — we want nothing more than to witness and report on a great and successful launch at Sprint. The company has made plenty of good moves of late in an effort to strengthen its network and focus on better customer service training. It shows, it really does, but it’s all for naught if Sprint continues to stumble where top-level strategy and execution are concerned.
I was amongst the first ones to order Blackberry tour (9:30 pm PT, July 11th i.e. 12:30 am July 12th).
Still was put on backorder
Here is the latest update online:
We have experienced strong demand for the Blackberry Tour which has placed your order, or a portion of your order, in backorder status. While every attempt is made to fulfill orders first in and first out, a system issue earlier in the week resulted in some orders being shipped out of sequence. Our shipping commitment for the Tour remains 5 to 8 business days based on date of order. If you would like to select an alternate product or cancel your backordered item, please call 866-789-8292 between 8:00 a.m. EST to 11:00 p.m. EST Monday to Friday or 9:00 a.m. EST to 9:00 p.m. EST on Saturdays and Sundays.Please note that cancellation requests may not always process successfully due the speed of warehouse processing. If you cancelled your backordered item but still received a shipment, please refuse the shipment or call us to process a return within 30 days of receipt.
Guys, what is it with all of you? so you can’t get the phone the same day, BFD. What’s so urgent about getting yourself into a two year contract? Are you 5 years old that you can’t wait a week for a new toy?
The Little China man EGGROLL Boy Genius is a fuckin idiot. I dont know why you stupid fuckers take anything serious from the fags that post these lies for self gain. This site talks alot of shit about Sprint. I think these fags are in bed with the other homos at Verizon AT&T. They pay these fags no attention. You stupid fucks.
Yeah, Sprint botched this launch hard, and yes they should have been honest about it…
But in reality, what difference does it make if the company is priming itself for a buyout. As long as its not Verizon buying them out, Id likely stay…
Craigslist is your friend if you got the hook up on a person in a distribution center to get phones like I do.
Sounds like the Sprint of old. I left them years ago and havent looked back. I do wish they would get their shit together and actually become a respectable competitor to VZW and AT&T, it would benefit us all.
i second that, read the article earlier today, and you dont have to pay that much for the most dependable network anyway SPRINT!!!!
Its BS.. I ordered the phone on July 12 at 12:10 am .. And I still haven’t received my phone.. but get this its worst my friend orders his phone July 12 @ 9 am and he received his phone on Tuesday. Now when I call sprint they saying 5-8 business days delays and how they had a shipment issues people who was to receive their phones first didn’t.. Get it together SPRINT!!!
so how is it T-MOBILE has the best coverage in los angeles ?? bcuz that was the survey almost 2 years ago ??? so why is it JD Power & associates rates sprint tied #1 in the west region and # 2 nationwiide in coverage ?? or you cant explain that ??? it sounds like your another sprint hater bent on there past experience…get a life
haha you ppl that bash sprint obviously have no life at all..but to post your frustration on the net…get a life…oh wait guess what….sprint ranks# 2 nationwide in coverage just behind VZW….and is tied with VZW in the west region…..every sprint hater keep your biased comments to yourself…or your past previous experiences to yourself….guess what i had a nightmare experience with verizon back in 2001….every carrier has issues…no one is perfect….get a life ppl and grow up
Bought the Tour and unlocked it. Within an hour of buying and unlocking it I had it registered on AT&T’s network and on my Blackberry internet site. The thing works like a charm. Although, I have edge only, works faster than my friend who is using it on Verizon. Go figure…….
I don’t particularly care for AT&T, but based on my experience, GSM phones are so much easier to work with.
I see a lot of ppl jumping on the “sprint bashing bandwagon”, many of whom never had sprint service. In any case, no carrier can offer coverage in every single area. If you live in an area that has 1x coverage then thats what you’ll get… obviously if you live in an area that has evdo then you will have faster downloads. So don’t complain about the network if you have a crappy phone and expect fast download speeds. The type of phone plays a huge factor when it comes to data speeds Additionally,if you have high speed internet, in an area with little or no coverage they offer the airwave for cdma (not iden)users.
Seems odd. I ordered my tour from sprint.com with the ugrade option sunday afternoon around 4. It was shipped overnight monday and received by tuesday, with activation only taking ten minutes over the phone. The whole deal seemed pretty simple my only concerns thus far is the loading time. After rebooting the phone after updates/apps, it took a whole 6-7 minutes for the phone to load. I updated from the 8330 whose seen its wear and tear and it would never take more than a minute to minute and half at max. A whole 7 minutes is tortureous. I also noticed the phone seems to get warm when charging. Nothing to be alarmed, but the temperature difference is noticeable. Maybe the long load times is an os problem. Anyone else have these issues? But other then that I love the phone. Had the curve since its launch and waited over a year for something finally updated, since sprint afterall is always the last ones to see light on new phones.
Still patiently waiting on the Tungsten…for Tmo…Had Sprint many years ago…Im so thanful I left..had a terrible experience, but then I now other folks that been with them for years and not a problem…Sprint is a carrier either you love or hate..
Nice pic of the TOUR BGR
Sent via BlackBerry.
OK…botched launch…check….other facts about Sprint-sketchy. Sprint outsourced network support to Ericsson. Didn’t sell anything but 6000 network employees…Network-depends on where you are-Sprint has a decent sized one, it is not all VZW-not even 50% of it. Doesn’t excuse the poor launches, which is what this is supposed to be about.
Still, the simple fact is that Sprint almost always gets shafted by the vendors who give the best deals to the VZ and ATT guys who pony up the most $$$ to launch a handset and make it profitable for those companies who MAKE the phones so they can make the most MONEY.
That is why they don’t launch as well, they need more cash and cred to get the best phones in supply first…plain and simple. Palm is one of the few that gives Sprint love I think….
Maybe this deal with Erricson will free them to do this….maybe it’s too late..as for all the other whiners…
Man, if you don’t work in the industry-be quiet if you don’t know facts….wow….thanks BGR for being fair overall!
the pre launch went well, who cares about the tour?
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090709/iphone-3gs-and-palm-pre-methadone-for-the-crackberry-addict/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker
lol rimm looks like it will be introuble by next year if they dont replace this outdated os!
ordered my Sprint Tour 9 am sunday, had it 10 am tuesday and had it activated in 10 minutes. i have had sprint on and off for 10 years now, tried unicel, cingular and the original (tdma) at&t, and came right back to sprint, so cram that in your pie hole haters
It seems to me that RIM is becoming complacent with their OS style and smartphone design. At least the Curve and Pearl had some color deferences. Now Apple, Palm & HTC have some innovations that seems pass RIM by. Repackaging a Curve, calling it a TOUR is not something radical. Getting the Storm2 to be phenomenal is a starting point. Now a BB with a 3.7 inch screen with a slide out tilting keyboard is keeping up with the trend.
They need new designers. I hate to say this in this economy but if those desingers are not cutting it, let them go and hire new ones.
It seems to me that RIM is becoming complacent with their OS style and smartphone design. At least the Curve and Pearl had some color deferences. Now Apple, Palm & HTC have some innovations that seems to pass RIM by. Repackaging a Curve, calling it a TOUR is not something radical. Getting the Storm2 to be phenomenal is a starting point. Now a BB with a 3.7 inch screen with a slide out tilting keyboard is keeping up with the trend.
They need new designers. I hate to say this in this economy but if those desingers are not cutting it, let them go and hire new ones.
I ordered the Tour through the phone on release day. I was told it would definitely ship this week and arrive by today. Yesterday, I called Sprint and they confirmed that my order will not ship for *several more weeks*.
I would be OK with the backorder if they had been proactive. First, they should not have given false promises when I ordered. Second, once back ordered, they may have wanted to contact customers directly.
I chose to cancel my order and revert my contract expiration date to several weeks from now. As a free agent I may shop around if Sprint does not have the Tour in stores by then. I will never deal with telesales again.
Ordered the tour 12:02 sunday morning, got it Tuesday afternoon, took about 10 mins to activiate it over the phone. Have had no problems with so far, guess I was one of the lucky ones!! been with sprint since ‘03. only billing issues that were resolved with 1 call in the past.
Ordered mine from Sprint on Monday afternoon, got it on Tuesday….
I ordered my tour Sunday afternoon, had it up and running by Wed night. The only disappointment? Its advertised as SIM Unlocked on Sprint’s home page for usuage with third party SIMs overseas. After 2 hours on the phone with Adv tech support and intl roaming, they conceded its unlocked, and they don’t know how to get unlock codes.
-Shaown
I agree with John. Depending on your location can at times decid who the better carrier is. I’ve had sprint in the past and had dropped calls all the time which was frustrating so I jumped to Verizon. They aren’t perfect either and are more expensive in some of their plans and add on services. I get a nice company discount so I save quite a bit to make it satisfactory. I am always willing to pay a little more if the service is better. Verizon is so big finding someone to help you can be challenging especially if you are on the one bill. I’m not crazy about their customer service at time but their network in my needed areas are very good and zero dropped calls versus the same area with Sprint.
I’ve had Sprint for approximately 4 years and they have improved their customer service greatly. When I call now I actually have the phone answered by an American who speaks English as a first language.. fantastic. Also, I am an AT&T employee and as such receive a 50% discount on AT&T Wireless service. With the 50% discount I would still pay more than I do for my wife and I on Sprint. You AT&T and Verizon users can crow all you want about the company you’re affiliated with but they are over charging you for a slight, if any, improvement in service. I’ll keep Sprint as they are a MUCH better value. That said, where in the hell is my Tour?? I ordered Sunday morning for God’s sake…