Big news. I now own a Nokia N95.
Ok, I know this isn’t very exciting to most of you, but here in Canada, where the mobile industry hasn’t quite caught up, it’s unchartered territory. Ewan often says ‘deary me†when I mention something that’s going on in the mobile world here, yes it’s that bad.
I’ve wanted an N95 ever since I first saw them, hating my RAZR for the simple fact that it wasn’t one. Since you can’t easily buy an N95 over here, nokia.ca doesn’t even list them, I could all but dream.
Until a couple months ago I noticed that a store here, TigerDirect had one advertised in their weekly flyer. You know, all grey market like.
‘oooh!†I thought ‘an N95! A real live N95!†but due to the $799 price tag, and the shaking head of my husband Matt, I was a little apprehensive.
Fast forward to last Friday, I was scanning the TigerDirect website and happened to see a big box on their front page ‘NOKIA N95 $499â€Â
Oh boy.
That was it.
I managed to convince Matt with a ‘but then you can have my E62!†(Poor guy, he always gets my hand me down phones, he’s currently using my old RAZR) and off we went to TigerDirect.
When I got there I went straight for the cell phone counter and scanned the display case. Aha. There it is. And then I saw
‘Nokia N95 – $549â€Â
Ok I don’t think so.
We called over one of the sales guys and proceeded to explain that the N95 was advertised on the website for $499.
‘No, this phone is $549â€Â
Ok I don’t think so.
He wrote down the product number and went over to their computer to punch it in.
‘See, $549 says so right here.â€Â
Ok I don’t think so.
‘No it’s advertised as $499, I just looked yesterday.â€Â
He looked puzzled.
‘You must have been on the American site!†All proud of himself with the conclusion.
‘No Tigerdirect.ca, go to the main page I’ll show youâ€Â
‘This is Tigerdirect.ca missâ€Â
‘No just go to the main page†I’m getting annoyed now.
So he clicks, and low and behold, there it is right there. $499
‘See! Right there!†I thrust my finger at the screen.
He looks puzzled again and reads over the info.
‘Oh. That’s a different model. That is the N95-3â€Â
And he just stands there like that’s going to be the end of the conversation.
‘Well do you have that one?â€Â
‘I don’t think we do, but I can go check in the back for youâ€Â
Now there’s an idea.
So we wait around while the man scurries off into the back and he reemerges 5 minutes later with a box.
‘I found one! This is the one that’s $499â€Â
Ok I’ll take that one thank you.
I pay at the counter (words of wisdom to you all, if you buy a phone at TigerDirect, you can’t return it) and head home with my N95. (Trying not to drool) and go back onto their website to try and find out what the other one was that was on for $549.
Oh I see, that’s the classic N95. I got the N95-3.
So TigerDirect is selling off the old model for $50 more while hiding the newer model in the back that’s cheaper.
Sneaky. Verrrrrry sneaky.
It seems electronics/phone stores are the same all over the world! I’ve personally been through a few similar instances to this one but in the UK.
Krystal, If you have that much money to spare gladly send some this way lol! How about using it on the Canadian networks? are you data plans good there? In fact I do not know much about the Canadian networks? Rogers rings a bell to me!
Krystal, sorry about your experience in the store, and let me just explain so you can understand this is nothing ‘sneaky.’
Our phones are purchased primarily directly from the manufacturer of the phones or through various channels for phones released in Europe or other areas not available in the US. They are not ‘grey market’ phones by any means.
The price differential you experienced was not intended, however as the N95 classic is an aging sku, the inventory may have been acquired at a higher price and thereby a higher selling price. The N95-3 is a new and fast moving item (as most people were waiting for the -3 model) and through higher sales volume we can buy more and more often – thereby getting a lower cost on the newer model and passing that savings along to the customer.
Many stores sell these phones for hundreds more – check out the stores in New York City next time you take a trip – I paid nearly four times the cost of a phone at one NYC shop, but my phone broke and I needed one ASAP and got taken in.
Tiger believes on passing those savings along rather than hide them in the cost – as you know the price dropped considerably and another $50 would still probably be paid by those who thought even $200 was a good drop in price – but instead we offered the best offer possible.
As to your exchange with the sales rep, inventory changes so often in the stores, they seem to always have stuff left to ‘get off the truck.’ There’s not need for us to hide what people want – we hope they make a purchase . At least he did check after realizing from the website it was a different sku than that in the display case. I’ve been in many stores where they just stand there and say, ‘nope, that’s all we got’.
Hope you love the phone.