Can’t Find a Nexus S? You Aren’t Alone.

Last night while I was out doing some Christmas shopping, I decided to stop by a local Best Buy to play with the Nexus S. According to information obtained by Android and Me, each Best Buy location, at the minimum, should have at least 4 units for sale. They might be sold out, but there should still be a demo unit to test.

Once I got to the store, I headed straight for the mobile phone department. I saw all the usual suspects, plus Ideos, Velocity Micro,  and Archos tablets along with spaces for a Galaxy Tab and Dell Streak. No Nexus S to be found. My heart sank, but I was still hopeful. Maybe they haven’t found a spot for it yet, or there was a delay of some kind. A stretch, I know, but I was hopeful.

It was a busy night to sell mobile phones, but I managed to snag an employee.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for the Nexus S.”
(blank stare)
“I’m not familiar with that phone. What carrier is it on?”
“T-Mobile.”
“Oh, well. We don’t carry T-Mobile at this location.”
(stay calm, press on)
“It’s being sold exclusively at Best Buy.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about it.”

This is where I almost lost it. I can understand a location not having T-Mobile service available, but to be totally ignorant about a product your business has sole rights to carry? It sounds like Best Buy needs to spend some more effort educating their employees. At the very least, they should know what stores in the area do carry the Nexus S.

A little bit later I found myself near a T-Mobile store, so I decided to stop in and see what they knew. Luckily the associate was a fellow Android enthusiast. It was related to me that another local Best Buy had a whopping two units in stock, and they were only selling to new or upgrade activations; those wanting an unlocked device would have to purchase one online.

That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before?

All of this contradicts the information given at Best Buy’s site, where is says unlocked phones are sold at all locations, and T-Mobile contracts can be bought only at select locations; in the state of New York, all of those are located in the greater New York City area only.

So, what does this all mean?  Aside from a major annoyance to those wanting the enjoy the convenience of purchasing a device locally, it’s not clear so early in the game. Hopefully, these stock and…education issues will be short-lived, and will smooth out over time, and the Nexus S will have a happy and successful product life.

On the other hand, the worst-case scenario I can picture is that the stock issues do not get resolved, leading to poor sales, poor reviews, and an increasing swell of negative attitudes toward the Nexus line of devices. Let’s hope not.

Has anyone else encountered issues at Best Buy?