Jose and I have been tied to our BlackBerry Curves from RIM for many months. Being the only true email device at the time, there really was no choice. A few days ago, I made the move to the new iPhone. And, while I have since been amazed by the device, I really wanted to share my experience – local and not-so-local – with “people, places, and things” in getting the phone and getting back to business.
Store #1: business as usual. It started with a trip to a local Rogers “Plus” store. The “Plus” certainly didn’t stand for the size of their inventory as they were completely sold out (understandable, as most places are). But, after interacting with a few of their employees, it became clear that it stood for “sold-out ‘Plus’ bad service”. No surprise to most Canadians, Jose and I have had some very bad experiences with Rogers in the past (I’m sure Jose will have more to say in future posts). But, when they tell you that they can’t give you phone numbers of their nearby locations because they “don’t have paper” – in one of their bigger stores – then… well, you get the point.
Store #2: nice surprise. We finally found a Rogers authorized dealer called Uptown Communication House at a nearby mall and it was like night and day. The Sales Rep, Armin Karimi held a couple units for us and then got us set-up in no time. As an aside, turns out the only monthly difference for us will be an extra $5 to go from the 7MB BlackBerry plan, to a 6GB iPhone plan. Hmmm… what a great deal the BlackBerry plan was! In any case, props to Armin for great service and for someone finally being a good face for Rogers. Let us know of others!
Setting it up: now that's service. Setting up the iPhone was a breeze and the new Microsoft Exchange support worked like a charm! After getting distracted with the “cool stuff”, it was already after 1 in the morning when I started to setup the wikiDOMO email. I called our provider ASP-One at almost 2 in the morning and immediately got connected to Ameya Aher from their Customer Support Services. Not only did he get me all the info immediately (server address), but he kept saying “Dragan, I just want to check something else to make sure it works once we hang up” (no, I didn’t actually write it down – I’m paraphrasing). Yes, at 2am – that’s service!
Long story short, I walked away with the following:
1 – People matter! It is not just about the companies and their products/services, but about people that provide them. But, where can you find this information? Stay tuned… we’re working on it.
2 – iPhone rocks. Jose, what are you waiting for?
Anyone else recently get an iPhone? Stories to share?
By: Dragan Stojanovic
One, I'm waiting for the first bill from Rogers - I'm sure they'll find a way to make us pay ;o)
If not, I'll be giving Armin a call soon.
Posted by: Jose Leal | July 18, 2008 at 02:08 PM
the iPhone is truly amazing, especially after the 2.1 update.
i don't even have the 3G one, but it's plenty fast enough already, and all the apps including App Store work great. Mine is not legit from Canada (aka. eBay), so I don't have to pay for the expensive monthly plans from Rogers (which is basically a monopoly, IMO). The only complaint I have would be the relatively low-res camera compared to other phones, but Apple clearly doesn't care too much about that.
Apple > Berries, unless the Storm is a breakthrough device...
I'm still amazed at how Apple blew away the competition with its 1st attempt. But then again, it's Apple.
Posted by: Your Nth student. | October 07, 2008 at 12:54 AM