Best Buy policy change--Three phone companies per store

[MikeBinOK]

On Monday afternoon I realized that I had the hairline crack extending from the USB port that others have mentioned here. I'd seen it before and thought it was a small nick, but when it got to the right edge of the screen, I realized what it actually was. I took a shot at returning it to Best Buy even though I've had the phone a couple of months, and to my surprise they accepted the return and gave me a new phone!

But the interesting thing is that I could no longer deal with my Sprint/Pre issue at the Best Buy where I'd purchased my Pre. They no longer dealt in Sprint, and there was only one store in town that could help me. I was told that each Best Buy is now limited to carrying phones from three service providers. This will make Best Buy's life easier logistically, I'm sure, but it doesn't look good that there will be fewer places selling the Pre. I realize this doesn't affect my Pre directly, but I am eager to get a large audience of users out there so that there will be incentive for more apps to be developed, and so that Palm will have the money to continue developing WebOS!

This isn't the end of the world, but I was sad to see it, especially since Palm's alliance with BB for their release of the Pre evidently didn't make enough difference in sales and attention for Sprint to be one of the "hot" choices (I noticed both stores I visited still sold ATT, for instance).

[Luin]

wow, thats weird.... im glad I got my 2nd pre from BB a week ago.

[Zorn]

How bizarre, what is the carrier that store is going with over Sprint? Every single Best Buy I've ever seen carries Verizon, Sprint & AT&T. I've never seen any store carry T-Mobile aside from the prepaid phones.

[Stroven Taulrok]

Originally Posted by Zorn

How bizarre, what is the carrier that store is going with over Sprint? Every single Best Buy I've ever seen carries Verizon, Sprint & AT&T. I've never seen any store carry T-Mobile aside from the prepaid phones.

Same here, the two Best Buys near me carry all but T-Mobile, which is left to walmart around here.

[mykole]

not good to hear, Costco dropped Sprint a few years back. I returned a flip phone that was in 3 pieces and a Centro after I got my Pre. Their rerurn policy was second to none and I got cash with back with no questions asked.

[pogeypre]

This could vary state to state. For example, in Utah, Walmart does not carry Sprint in any of its stores, but elsewhere it does.

Best Buy might be implementing something similar.

[lamboh]

tmobile was with circuit city right???..

[Disgustoid]

I think this policy's been in place unofficially since at least the time when the Pre launched. That would explain why one Best Buy I went to said they weren't carrying the Pre at all. I know it's not a statewide thing since another Best Buy 8 miles away was carrying them, but didn't have them in stock.

[pullbangdead]

This has been a Best Buy thing from before the Pre was launched. A brand new Best Buy opened near my house the month before the Pre launched, and I went in to find that they had Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. I asked about it, and a manager said that the policy was that a Best Buy would always have Verizon and AT&T, but that any given store would only have T-Mobile OR Sprint, but not both. He said it depended on the city, and which of the 2 was more popular in that location. Apparently there are more T-Mobile subscribers in my city, so they went with T-Mobile instead of Sprint.

[jstew10]

The Pre is still the first image you see when you go to the Best Buy website (mobile phones section) and my local BB in Traverse City, MI still crries both Sprint and the Pre.

[dragbug]

The only BB close to me that sells Sprint phones is located in Idaho (I am in central Utah). The reason I was told is that in my area, Sprint isn't as popular. Fair enough. BB online still sells all of the carriers and I seriously doubt this will change even if some local BB stores do not. Its a matter of demographics. Hard to sell snow in Alaska.

[aliatgb]

Our local Fry's electronics store went from pimping out Sprint to Verizon a few months back.

[sd7318]

I've heard about Government regulations saying we can not sell more than 3 carriers in one location (according to the info passed to from our district manager). So not sure exactly why or for what, but that's all I've heard on the issue. I can ask around again but yes, the stores do have a choice on the third carrier, we chose Sprint over T-Mobile.

I've heard someone also mention a deal with Verizon to only offer two other carriers to get them to commit to Best Buy Mobile but from only one source, my rep or manager couldn't confirm that so not sure on that one.

But those would be the only two reasons why we don't sell all four major networks.

(And this is not a policy change but has been in place since the beginning of Best Buy Mobile)

[gage006]

Store in my city only carries AT&T, Tmobile and Verizon. I have to drive 15-30 minutes to get to the Best Buy that does carry Sprint. This is nothing new for me.

[xchpstang]

Nearest 2 BB stores stopped selling Sprint about 2 years back. At the same time a 3rd BB opened near me and they carried Sprint so ended up about the same. As others have pointed it's just demographics. VZW and ATT control about 80 percent of the market so it's a no brainer on offering products that people want.

[MikeBinOK]

Originally Posted by sd7318

(And this is not a policy change but has been in place since the beginning of Best Buy Mobile)

Interesting. The guys at our stores implied it was new, and I know they were selling more than three networks till recently. Maybe it is only now being implemented in Oklahoma.

[sd7318]

Originally Posted by MikeBinOK

Interesting. The guys at our stores implied it was new, and I know they were selling more than three networks till recently. Maybe it is only now being implemented in Oklahoma.

It's possible, I'm not really sure but it should be across the board by now if all stores have a true Best Buy Mobile branded department.