First, the good news: I got a Blackberry 8800 yesterday – slick design, GPS-enabled…very cool, although it is odd that the 8800 doesn’t come with a camera, while the Curve doesn’t come with GPS.
Getting the Blackberry, however, was a painful experience. Perhaps the first mistake was actually going to a Rogers store, which seemed like a good idea given you will get, in theory, good customer service. And the salesman was very helpful and diligent; going over our corporate plan, explaining the different service options, etc. All in all, it was top-notch customer service that you would expect when shelling out several hundred dollars.
Unfortunately, the process took about 45 minutes as the sales guy gathered a bunch of information, punched it into the computer, etc. All this while, we had to stand at the sales counter because there’s no chairs or tables in the store. Maybe not having tables and chairs lets the store maximize its expensive downtown real estate, or maybe it stops people from just hanging out (although why anyone would want to hang out at a Rogers store is beyond me!).
When everything was completed, I’m not sure whether I was happier about getting the Blackberry or finally being able to get back to the office so I could sit down. 
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How does that Rogers commercial go? You know the one where the guy is shocked that the woman “just got it today” and was set up “in minutes”? Yeah…
Who believes advertising anyway?
In hindsight, I probably would have bought the Blackberry online, although I’m not sure what the process involves and much time it takes.
In an ideal world, you’d be able to provide all of your details online, and then have the Blackberry mailed to you, or you could pick it at a store.
“very cool, although it is odd that the 8800 doesn’t come with a camera, while the Curve doesn’t come with GPS.”
There is indeed a BlackBerry Curve with GPS – BlackBerry Curve 8310. But it only appears to be carried by Vodafone UK at the moment.
If you bought it online, at least you could’ve been sitting down!
And re:”In an ideal world…” – I’m sure someone will make an iPhone comment in response any minute now…
anon: you have to love how Blackberrys in different countries have different features. In the U.S., AT&T neutered the Blackberry 8800’s GPS technology because it didn’t want it to compete against the iPhone.
Mark, word of advice for future Rogers upgrades: call it in! There is only ONE Rogers store in the entire city that is actually Rogers. The rest are “authorized dealers” and don’t have the same privileges as the CSR’s you speak to over the phone. On more than one occasion I’ve ordered a phone and had it the next day. Not to mention I got a better plan and features over the phone than I could ever get in a store. So next time you can get better service AND still be able to sit down throughout the whole process