Once I got to the store, I headed straight for the mobile phone department. I saw all the usual suspects, plus Ideos, Velocity Micro, and Archos tablets along with spaces for a Galaxy Tab and Dell Streak. No Nexus S to be found. My heart sank, but I was still hopeful. Maybe they haven’t found a spot for it yet, or there was a delay of some kind. A stretch, I know, but I was hopeful.
It was a busy night to sell mobile phones, but I managed to snag an employee.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for the Nexus S.”
(blank stare)
“I’m not familiar with that phone. What carrier is it on?”
“T-Mobile.”
“Oh, well. We don’t carry T-Mobile at this location.”
(stay calm, press on)
“It’s being sold exclusively at Best Buy.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about it.”
This is where I almost lost it. I can understand a location not having T-Mobile service available, but to be totally ignorant about a product your business has sole rights to carry? It sounds like Best Buy needs to spend some more effort educating their employees. At the very least, they should know what stores in the area do carry the Nexus S.
A little bit later I found myself near a T-Mobile store, so I decided to stop in and see what they knew. Luckily the associate was a fellow Android enthusiast. It was related to me that another local Best Buy had a whopping two units in stock, and they were only selling to new or upgrade activations; those wanting an unlocked device would have to purchase one online.
That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before?
All of this contradicts the information given at Best Buy’s site, where is says unlocked phones are sold at all locations, and T-Mobile contracts can be bought only at select locations; in the state of New York, all of those are located in the greater New York City area only.
So, what does this all mean? Aside from a major annoyance to those wanting the enjoy the convenience of purchasing a device locally, it’s not clear so early in the game. Hopefully, these stock and…education issues will be short-lived, and will smooth out over time, and the Nexus S will have a happy and successful product life.
On the other hand, the worst-case scenario I can picture is that the stock issues do not get resolved, leading to poor sales, poor reviews, and an increasing swell of negative attitudes toward the Nexus line of devices. Let’s hope not.
Has anyone else encountered issues at Best Buy?
About the Author
It can only be found at best buy mobile well that’s what I was told from a employee at the best buy mobile in my town.
I work at a Best Buy Mobile and that is a shock to hear about a fellow employee not knowing about a product that we sell, well one that awesome… At my store we do not sell T-Mobile (well pre-paid), but we have a live Nexus S that customers and others can play-on.
I am shock to know that an actual Best Buy employee who claims to know what he’s talking about period! I’m been to the store here in NYC many times all to hear the mis-information or lack of knowledge of anything.
I was looking at a notebook one time and an employee ask if he can help me. After a couple questions and blank stares he referred me to the ‘geek squad’ if I need more ‘technical’ questions….uh I asked him if the memory was ddr2 or a ddr 3 ram…..
While I was looking at the Ideos tablet, some lady came up and asked what it was, so I started explaining what a tablet was as well as the benefits of Android.
The whole time I was there I did not witness a BB employee near them.
This drives me crazy when you know more about there products then they do and allot of the times they are a smart a#ss and I have to prove them wrong on everything they say!
Yup, went to two Best Buys, lol so funny. Google makes these awsomes phone, well, sort of, and you can’t even get your hands on them. Who the F*** is dropping the ball?
Its not uncommon for a customer who is an early adopter to know more about a product than a sales rep. A BBuy rep has to be more of a generalist knowing something about dozens of devices and several carriers.
If I relied on all the blog posts detailing the pre-release info on the Nexus S, I probably would have had the same experience of the OP.
Instead, I did my homework and went to a BBuy mobile Thursday and picked up a S on a line that was due for an upgrade. The store had 54 in stock and a demo you could play with.
Just went to best buy with a ‘best buy mobile’ to upgrade my g1. They only had one nexus s and it could not be bought on contract with Tmobile. They instructed me to go to another ‘tmobile’ best buy and get it there… I am def not getting this device now. wtf
Bright and early Thursday morning, I got in line (5th) and purchased my allotment of 2 devices sans contract. There were about 15 others in line behind me. Based on how many were standing there, I know some folks walked away empty handed.