TreoVida (The Beginning)

Well, I started at the Verizon Store in Round Rock this morning soon after they opened. I looked at the Treo 650 (which was powered) and a Treo 600 (which was dead). The salesman came over when he was finished with the customer he was waiting on. I asked him if they had a AC adapter for the Treo 600, because it appeared to be dead. He said he didn't.

He immediately started pushing me towards the 650. He pointed out that it has Bluetooth and the 600 doesn't. I explained that I would be using it to listen to MP3's and just answering when a call came in. Bluetooth only sends phone conversations to the headset (not Palm audio), so that wouldn't be helpful. He then mentioned that the store doesn't stock Treos. He said that the 650's had been on backorder since a week after they came out. He also mentioned that I could order one and have it sent to my home on Tuesday (Lie1 - It's either on backorder or it's available, not both).

Since he had a nice display with the 600 and the 650, I asked if he could order a Treo 600 and he said they had been discontinued when the 650 launched (Lie2 - I could order it from Verizon's website until a week or two ago). So, he has two display models of a phone that he is unwilling or unable to sell which is very similar to another which is twice the price (Lie3 - Bait & Switch).

I was upset and went home to call Verizon and see what it would cost me to get out of my contract. Before I made that call, I called a Verizon Store in Austin and asked if they had a Treo 600 in stock. He said they did have one. I told him I would be by in a little while. I was able to compare the 600 and 650. While the screen is much better on the 650, the screen on the 600 was far better than any other phone I've ever seen. I purchased it and changed my contract to a slightly newer one for the same price. I also added the unlimited data plan. They helped me fill out the paperwork to get a 25% discount because of where I work. The woman was kind enough to fax that in, so that discount should take care of some of the increased cost.

Bottom Line: The Verizon Store in Round Rock was the problem, not Verizon Wireless.

Cost (before tax): $199.99 ($50 Rebate is available and will be mailed in)
span style="font-size:85%;">Note: This article was originally posted to the TreoVida blog on date listed. It was moved to Does the fun ever start ? on Sunday, October 23, 2005.