199 2009-05-20 22:32:25 UTC 9 4 If I was buying a phone I would want to play around with the phone before I buy it. Demo phones are good to see how they feel but what makes Best Buy different from vendors in the mall. 8 Kyle Pierce 2009-05-09 01:55:15 UTC 1 false 52 mobile 137 199 2009-05-31 22:52:46 UTC 6 It's helpful. You get to try nearly everything else in the store (laptops, tvs, video game consoles, etc.) before you decide to buy it. 201 fireko 2009-05-29 23:53:27 UTC 30 false 162 199 2009-06-12 14:17:56 UTC 9 The user interface is THE primary differentiator of phones. You might as well shrink wrap the phones if customers can't use them. 55 Paul 2009-05-12 14:04:42 UTC 2 false 186 199 2009-06-19 22:26:42 UTC 5 This would be a huge step! My local Bestbuy is only minutes from a local Verizon store. Why would I read about a phone at Bestbuy when I can actually use it at Verizon. Sure the mobile specialist when knowledgeable and friendly, but having her unpack a phone just to try it felt awkward and slow. Great idea! 265 JP 2009-06-19 22:05:47 UTC 1 false 596 199 2009-08-06 22:55:20 UTC 0 I agree. Who wants to buy a $200 smartphone without trying it first? That doesn't make sense. Best Buy's prices are great though. And no mail in rebates :) 806 AbleAdam 2009-08-06 22:48:16 UTC 1 false 1060 199 2009-09-18 14:49:17 UTC 3 The only problem with that is Best Buy cannot pay to have all those phones activated and working. The carrier stores can do it because they carry their own phones, but Best Buy Mobile carries multiple carriers and the cost would be too much. Plus theft would rise a lot. We demo phones for customers if they are truly interested in buying it whenever, we just won't let people look so they can see how 'cool' it is. 425 khammo18 2009-07-10 12:10:46 UTC 0 false 1184 199 2009-09-30 01:20:52 UTC 15 Thats the only way to make a sale though 1219 .Chris 2009-09-29 23:04:43 UTC 231 false 1484 199 2009-10-16 16:21:58 UTC 12 If you want a phone demoed, go to your local [carrier] store and check it out. Besides, it would give me a reason to take a road trip. 1299 mjr2k 2009-10-16 14:28:37 UTC 24 false 2642 199 2010-01-22 08:09:41 UTC 2 Per BBY policy, the employee is supposed to open a phone up for you to demo if you ask. This idea may be good for customers, but it's bad for BBY. Back before BBYM existed, and it was called Wireless, all the phones were real. Theft was definitely a problem, but the biggest problem was the phones breaking. Parents come into the store and let their kids run wild. There was an average of one broken phone per week. 1860 BBYM424 2010-01-22 08:09:36 UTC 8 false 2775 199 2010-02-11 18:19:24 UTC 0 It would be great if Best Buy could get "live functional" demos of all the phones even if it was just an interactive flash demo website of the interface. Even in the carrier stores you still do not get to see how the phone works live. right now the best experience I've seen demoing a phone is the http://www.Google.com/phone site with the flash demo. 595 scr3wlo0se 2009-07-17 12:26:22 UTC 78 false