When New really means “New”

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Today I learned that it’s always important to listen to your gut…on the weekend while at a restaurant I had the opportunity to creep on this guy working his @BlackBerry #Passport.. I did my best to be discreet about it ;)… these few minutes of creeping got me in the ‘I must have one’ state of mind…normally what I do when I want something is wait a few days to see if the urge goes away. After a few days I still had the urge so I sat in front of my laptop and proceeded to order the #Passport off of shop BlackBerry… and of course it’s ‘out of stock’.. Go figure. Ain’t it always the case.
Today, I decided to check if anyone is selling a Silver Edition #Passport here locally.. I found what I thought was a reputable ‘store’. Their site looked legit and all. They were advertising ‘a brand new, factory unlocked’ phone. They also warned that there are a lot of ‘black market’ phones that are sold ‘out there’ and to be careful with that. I got myself in the car and drove 40mins to pick it up. Once there, my gut started to churn and churn hard. Store it was not (Yoda I am).. it is a location inside a building..ok. Hey I was there so might as well not judge a book by its cover, right? I proceeded to ask for the #Passport and that’s when the warning signals that I should not purchase the phone continued:
1) box is alot tattered
2) box is OPEN
He had an explanation for both.
I asked repeatedly if it was new. Yes, he reassured me that it was with a one year warranty with his establishment. In good faith, I purchased the Silver edition #Passport. Part of it was truly because I want to be trusting of people but the other was the excitement of holding a silver edition passport… it felt so good!!
I drove 40mins back home and started to work the phone. I tried to power it on and couldn’t ; dead battery. Another alarm. Charged it and fired it up. I expected the initial set up screen.. nope. It booted to the home screen and it was in French. Hmm. Sound alarm #2… or I should say #4. I then proceeded to go to the settings and selected ‘BlackBerry ID’… and I see credentials for Yanis “something” from France. Fine. Let’s factory reset this phone. I proceeded to wipe the phone, started to go through the set up when I get to a screen that required the BlackBerry ID that is linked to the phone because BlackBerry Protected anti theft is enabled. I was dead in the water stuck and couldn’t proceed. Of course now I am pissed so I pack up everything, call the guy, gave him some lip and drove once again 40mins to return the phone and get my $$$ back. Very deceiving to advertise something as ‘new’ when in fact this phone was clearly used. Shady, shady, shady. All in all with the back and forth 4 hours of my life wasted!!
Anyway to say I am disappointed is an understatement.. I did get a chance to work the #passport a little and indeed having only 3 physical rows is different and I was a little slower with the typing but I can tell I will get used to it quickly enough. I also really love the feel and I honestly don’t find the phone to be big at all. I can easily work it with one hand too.
Now I will patiently wait for it to be available on shop BlackBerry again. I am truly looking forward to rocking the @BlackBerry #Passport !!!

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