Is there a shortage of phones at Bell boutiques in Québec?

[Old Faithful]

Hello folks,

After a relatively uneventful 2011 (I have had to speak to customer service only twice or so for billing errors, and have noticed customer support has improved in the past few years), my contract ending and after having negotiated a new one, I've become eligible for a new phone, and was told to go to a store and get one. A no-brainer, right?

Wrong!!!

After looking around online to make my preliminary choice, I have been unable to find ANY real phones to try at any of the 4 Bell boutiques I went to in the Laurentians or in Montreal, I mean, NONE of the stores had any REAL real phones for me to try my hands on, only useless cheap plastic fakes with stickered-on screens and the only store who actually one of the phones in stock only has it for people to purchase, no opening of boxes to even look at them!!!

What's going on?

I've been on this new plan for more than a week now and haven't been able to use some of its features for lack of a phone to use them on !

The phones I'm interested in from my internet search are the Galaxy S2 and the HTC Sensation. My original first choice, the phone that I could get for free, the HTC Desire Z, is apparently discontinued, although on the list of the phones that are available to me at customer service. Heck, what does it matter if even the new phones aren't available!!!

The Bell stores I went to that only had fakes on display are:
- Bell in Sainte-Agathe
- Bell boutique in Carrefour du Nord (Saint-Jerome)
- Bell Corporate (!) in Place Rosemere (Rosemere)
- Bell at Place Versailles (Montreal)

Is there some sort of shortage of phones at Bell? Why are there no real phones on display anywhere? What have I been missing over the past few years? Can I get my phone with my HUG at some other place than Bell?

It's really depressing, the stores look like those in Cuba or the USSR during the Soviet era!

[jonnypage]

have you asked a human being in one of these bell stores to see a real phone, or are you just looking at the demo units on display?

[Old Faithful]

Thanks for your reply, but no, I specifically entered each store and went straight to the clerks. In the one store that had one of the two phones in stock I was told "we can't show you the phone, if we did we'd have to break the seal and wouldn't be able to sell it after that"

Another problem is, besides having to buy it outright simply for the purpose of seeing it for myself (no kidding!), if I didn't like it I would have to drive back to that very store the next day to return it (80 km one way in this case), as my local store (20 km away) would not be able to take it back.

And forget about any side by side comparison!

If you can tell me of a store that ACTUALLY has REAL phones that I can try (and have in stock) preferably north of Montreal, I'd be grateful because I've had it driving around wasting my time (only one of the stores I went to even answered the phone when I called).

[Old Faithful]

I've been on the phone with Customer Service, Sales, back to Emily, then back to Sales, back to Emily, back to Sales, to eventually find out, 1 hour an a half later, that the ONLY store in Québec who actually has actual phones that one can try is at the 'Flagship' store at 892 Sainte-Catherine W in Montreal!!!

I can't believe the cheapness of Bell and what's even more surprising to me, is how would anyone buy a phone without actually SEEING one for himself!!! Would you buy a TV or a computer monitor without seeing it for yourself? NOT ME!

[jonnypage]

that's pretty ridiculous. I've always been able to play with any of the phones I bought before I bought them

[Old Faithful]

I know it sounds ridiculous and probably impossible to outsiders, but apparently it is policy here in Québec to not have any real phones in stores, presumably because of theft and/or that we are considered too small a market for manufacturers to send demos to.

So far I have been to:
- Bell in Sainte-Agathe
- Bell at Carrefour du Nord
- Bell at Place Rosemere
- Bell at Place Versailles

Furthermore, I have called, besides the aforementioned:
- Bell Plaza Alexis Nihon
- Bell Saint-Sauveur

Not ONE of these places had an actual phone on demo that I could see and try! The ONLY place that would let me have a look at a real phone from a new box without requiring me to purchase it first is the small boutique in Saint- Sauveur! And they announced proudly that they had just 'received one Galaxy S2', but not the HTC Sensation, the phone I prefer, as they 'probably won't receive new ones' because they're 'getting obsolete'!

There you have it, as unbelievable as it may seem to outsiders. If you don't believe be, just call around and check it out for yourself. Believe me, I sure wish I was wrong.

I got so fed up spending so much energy in the past few days on this, I've decided to pass for now.

I see no other choice but to get one phone for a day, returning it, waiting for another phone and get that one for another day and so on until I get a phone I like.

If Bell or cell phone companies want to make it difficult for me, let them see how difficult it will be for them to deal with one, two or more refurbished phones for lack of having a proper number of demos in store.