[Kstoudt]

For what is worth... just got off the phone with Verizon CS and tied to upgrade to the 7130E from my curret 7250, When he went to place the final order, he got a message that all units were sold out and there was not a date showing in the system as to when they would be restocked. He said if I really wanted it now, his best suggestion would be go to a store and see if they have one.

Kurt

[whsbuss]

If true (what the rep said), that's quite remarkable. I heard rumors that some stores had 50-100 each. Maybe that's the reason internet sales may be out of stock.

[chrisek]

That's weird. Here in the bay area (CA) the stores were telling me that the release was pushed back two weeks due to "bugs". So I called Verizon and ordered it and got it Wednesday.

[kb9liq]

Picked mine up at the local circuit city. It was the first one they sold. They had plenty of them left.

[Kstoudt]

Well did as was suggested, went to two stores on my way home from work tonight (7:45 CST) and both stores were out of stock, Both stores said they only had been allocated 20 units each. When I went in first store the rep knew exactly what I was looking for, in fact she had converted over the weekend, but had sold the last unit on Sunday. She called another store and was told they had them in stock. So went there and was told while they have a couple in the store they were "spoken for" so rep proceeded to tell me that I really shouldn't go with the 7130E since there have been lots of problems, he said I would be better off with the Trio.. The minute I showed him the 7250, he quickly changed his tune and told me that the 7250 is the better of the two units. Long story short, I called the first store on my way home since I have done business with them before, got the same girl and she said she was really sorry for the wild goose chase and was going to see if she can find me one and will give me a call in.. So we will see..

Thanks everybody for the feedback

[muskiemania]

i went in to a store in Cupertino (near san jose, ca) and the first person i spoke to said that they were not able to sell the 7130 (what a load of crap). The manager later jumped in and said that they WERE able to sell them and that they have a ton of them, but they don't have any available to demo and play around with in the store. I started calling around to verizon stores and one in Santa Clara told me the same - that they didnt have any demos in the store, but they offered to pull one out of the box and throw a battery in it so I could play around with it. Twas a pretty cool device.

I don't think there is any shortage of them, just no huge promotions putting them in plain sight...

[LCB]

I couldn't find one in a store, but they ordered one for me and it was sent straight to my door. Two day shipping is free, but I paid $14 extra for next day air. It was at my doorstop the next day. Most stores don't keep a lot of blackberries in stock.

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by muskiemania

i went in to a store in Cupertino (near san jose, ca) and the first person i spoke to said that they were not able to sell the 7130 (what a load of crap). The manager later jumped in and said that they WERE able to sell them and that they have a ton of them, but they don't have any available to demo and play around with in the store. I started calling around to verizon stores and one in Santa Clara told me the same - that they didnt have any demos in the store, but they offered to pull one out of the box and throw a battery in it so I could play around with it. Twas a pretty cool device.

I don't think there is any shortage of them, just no huge promotions putting them in plain sight...

Every store I've visited in the Phila area had them on display next to the 7250.

[fcorey]

must be a west coast problem, I went to several stores in the San Jose area while there on a business trip. Most of them said that they didnt have it at all and didnt know when they were going to get it. The store on Montague had a non-working demo and that was all.

[Kstoudt]

Updated to the orginal post. As promised the rep from my local store, ordered me the unit and it was delieverd to her store, so by the time I was able to get to the store, on Wednesy 12/14 she had it all configured, all I had to do was the ESN transfer from my 7250 to the 7130. While I was at the store, the district manager happended to be in the store and i asked him about the shortage and he said that the some stores got more units based on some market analaysis and other stuff, and the online store had several thousand allocated to them. He said they didn't expect the demand that they got. He said when the 7250 was first introducded it took several weeks for it to be sold out. so they based their first orders on that. He admited they were caught off guard. I felt a litte better when he told me he was still waiting on his, He said that most of his peer group were told to they had to give up their allocated units to meet the customers.

Also while I was there, he said the Verizon Technical staff was working on a EVDO upgrade to the 7250 for the consumer market, he thought it was expected in mid to late january.

[speedbagger]

detroit market is pretty much sold out.....in fact when it first launched, i was told by quite a few verizon stores that they were only getting 2-3 units.

anyway, i'm waiting for the next shipment as mine was one of the first and is exhibiting mediocre build quality.....ie. entire keypad shifts up/down/left/right when typing, the battery cover is loose (from having to remove and reset so often), and the top/bottom halves of the unit itself are loose with respect to each other--quite noticable when making calls.

i hope they are addressing theses issues because as much as i like the 7130 if the next one is like this i'm signing off......with the price of the unit/data plan i expect quality to be better than a dollar store kids toy.

[TimW]

I'd love to stick with Verizon over my T-Mo 7100 (I still have my verizon line open...), but I refuse to pay $50 a month more for the same package I get with Tmo ($109 in Phoenix for 1300 voice and unlimited data...)

[pnd4pnd]

Originally Posted by TimW

I'd love to stick with Verizon over my T-Mo 7100 (I still have my verizon line open...), but I refuse to pay $50 a month more for the same package I get with Tmo ($109 in Phoenix for 1300 voice and unlimited data...)

Tim,

You get what you pay for - out here in the bay area T-Mob has aweful coverage to the point being unusable. Since i use my phone for business it really doesnt matter what the cost is as long as a customer can get a hold of me. I realize your situation may be different but verizon has built their model on a solid network. If someone else gets there, they will be in trouble, but so far no one is even close.

Eric

[TimW]

Eric,

Well, I am getting what I need....

there are a few dead spots for TMO here in Phoenix, but so far it's not been an issue for me. I use my phone for my business, so if I am not reachable, I lose money.

I certainly did like Verizon's coverage better...for instance when I went hunting in SE Arizona, my TMO phone lost signal once I got a good ways from the main I-10 freeway corridor. My friend's VZW phone was still going strong. Since I was hunting and didn't care if I received those calls, it wasn't an issue.

In Phoenix, works fine for me.

Interesting that VZW wouldn't have regional pricing differences to take such things into account.

[mcspeed]

I bought a 7130 at my local metro Atlanta Verizon store on 12/3 and was the first one they sold. Was in Detroit (actually Novi) a week earlier and they were oblivious to a new model arriving. The help was so poor there I almost switched carriers. I stumbled on the 7130 and jumped on it right away as it was the first form factor that met all my needs....still a little bulky but I'll live with it.