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hydrashok · 7th February 2008, 17:24

I'd visited one of the Mobile Stores here in Kochi (the one in Pallimukku) to pick up a phone for a friend of mine. He was considering the HTC Touch and the MotoQ8.

Salesperson there was pretty much conversant with the features of the HTC Touch, but could not give a lot of info about the Q8. (I really think we will have to accept that salespeople cannot know everything about every mobile in the store - we should do some basic homework on our own before we go to any such place). Anyway, my friend was considering the Q8 only so he could convince himself he was being responsible/mature about the purchase, by considering alternatives (I know very well that he wanted the HTC Touch anyway, and even if the Q8 was given to him at 50% discount he'd have got the Touch, heh, heh).

The salesperson could not confirm whether the Touch they carried was the Enhanced version (more RAM/ROM) or not. But he was happy to open up the packaging and setup the phone and let us find out. We did, and found it was indeed the enhanced version.

Another matter we need some clarification on, was service. HTC does not have a service center in Kochi, and Bangalore is the nearest alternative. The salesperson checked and informed us that for any issue that came up, my friend could give the phone at the MobileStore, and that they would handle getting the phone serviced/replaced under warranty through their network (they'd ship it to Bangalore, get the job done and ship it back). It seems HTC is expected to have some official presence in Kochi within a month or so, and after that they would manage this directly.

Once the "decision" was made, the purchase happened pretty fast. My friend threw in his 19 month-old Nokia 6630 and got 3500/- for it (a bit lesser than what he'd have got in other places I know of). They had a scratchcard contest scheme going, and my friend scratched himself a 3 days + 2 nights holiday

Overall, a pretty good experience.

However my regular mobile dealer gives me as good an experience, a better discount, better resale for the old mobile and some freebie or the other (usually memory). So while the Mobile Store experience is without any bad taste, I'd stick to my guy for my purchases. My friend wanted a better buying experience (= better ambience, and better dressed salespeople, I guess) while buying his mobile, and so he chose the MobileStore. But he did get a free holiday courtesy the Mobile Store

7th February 2008, 17:24	#35 (permalink)
hydrashok Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: In my Office Posts: 2,066	I'd visited one of the Mobile Stores here in Kochi (the one in Pallimukku) to pick up a phone for a friend of mine. He was considering the HTC Touch and the MotoQ8. Salesperson there was pretty much conversant with the features of the HTC Touch, but could not give a lot of info about the Q8. (I really think we will have to accept that salespeople cannot know everything about every mobile in the store - we should do some basic homework on our own before we go to any such place). Anyway, my friend was considering the Q8 only so he could convince himself he was being responsible/mature about the purchase, by considering alternatives (I know very well that he wanted the HTC Touch anyway, and even if the Q8 was given to him at 50% discount he'd have got the Touch, heh, heh). The salesperson could not confirm whether the Touch they carried was the Enhanced version (more RAM/ROM) or not. But he was happy to open up the packaging and setup the phone and let us find out. We did, and found it was indeed the enhanced version. Another matter we need some clarification on, was service. HTC does not have a service center in Kochi, and Bangalore is the nearest alternative. The salesperson checked and informed us that for any issue that came up, my friend could give the phone at the MobileStore, and that they would handle getting the phone serviced/replaced under warranty through their network (they'd ship it to Bangalore, get the job done and ship it back). It seems HTC is expected to have some official presence in Kochi within a month or so, and after that they would manage this directly. Once the "decision" was made, the purchase happened pretty fast. My friend threw in his 19 month-old Nokia 6630 and got 3500/- for it (a bit lesser than what he'd have got in other places I know of). They had a scratchcard contest scheme going, and my friend scratched himself a 3 days + 2 nights holiday Overall, a pretty good experience. However my regular mobile dealer gives me as good an experience, a better discount, better resale for the old mobile and some freebie or the other (usually memory). So while the Mobile Store experience is without any bad taste, I'd stick to my guy for my purchases. My friend wanted a better buying experience (= better ambience, and better dressed salespeople, I guess) while buying his mobile, and so he chose the MobileStore. But he did get a free holiday courtesy the Mobile Store __________________ Coming soon: *Balls of STEEL!*