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Smartphones the most returned holiday gift – how did this happen?

Categories: Announcements, Research
By: , IntoMobile
Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 10:00 PM

Smartphone is most returned gadget gift of holidaysWho wouldn’t be ecstatic to receive a brand-spankin’-new smartphone as a holiday gift? We know we’d love to find an HTC Kaiser waiting for us in the living room, wrapped up all nice and pretty.

Turns out, there are a lot of you out there that didn’t exactly jump for joy when they unwrapped their new smartphone this past holiday season. Well, not you, those other people – you’re obviously into mobile (see what we just did there?).

Anyway, Opinion Research Corporation conducted an online survey (that didn’t include the iPhone or any RIM BlackBerries (or is it BlackBerrys), for some damn reason) that seems to indicate that smartphones were the most returned holiday gadget-gifts. About 1/5 (21%) of those that received a smartphone from a loved one decided to turn in their device for a quick buck.

The chief complaint as to why they returned their smartphone? Apparently, an “inability to understand the product setup” prompted the gift-return. While most smartphones’ setup steps aren’t as straightforward as the  iPhone’s iTunes-based activation/setup process, we wouldn’t say they are difficult to set up by any means. Are we just that much more technically inclined than the average Joe-not-so-smartphone-Schmoe? Probably. But that doesn’t explain how that many people people could lack the facilities to setup a smartphone.

We think a solid “WTF” is in order.

[Via: textually]

About The Author

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

  • Kevin

    iTunes setup for iPhone is harder than any other phone, since the rest are done by the carrier just by calling them.

  • JonnyBruha

    I can see that, but maybe not for the reason provided. I tried to upgrade my Dad’s aging T-Mobile branded Samsung with one of his upgrades for Christmas, but the process was so unbelievable elaborate that I ended up just buying him an E51 and told him to put the SIM card in. Even after I got to the point where I told them I could get him on the phone to verify that he was allowing me to use his upgrade for him, they said he had to be in the store. On top of that, they said something about how he wouldn’t be eligible for the full discount since I was paying for it.

    How do non-mobile geeks give cell phones as surprises for the holidays?

  • hardmanb

    My Daughter got a new Mini Cooper S and wanted to upgrade to a bluetooth cellphone for the car at Christmas. She, her boyfriend and I visited about six stores and spent many hours online and on the phone in the most frustrating consumer experience we have ever had.

    The store phones, website phones, mail-coupons, upgrade-offers were subject to different prices, activation fees, rebates, hidden fees and conflicting advice. When you could reach a human being, they didn’t know what they were talking about, lied or were unknowledgeable about their own products and services… everyone told us something different. We finally quit in disgust.

    She intends to try again in about six months, maybe this time just getting an iphone.