Ruh-roh. Sprint’s BlackBerry Tour return rates “have been climbing toward 50%” due to trackball difficulties, according to an analyst note from TownHall Investment Research. As CDMA carriers’ flagship BlackBerry device, this is bad news. Mounting anecdotal evidence supports the seriousness of the problem, although I personally didn’t have any issues during my two weeks with the device. The Tour will be getting a fix to the problem in the upcoming Essex by way of a new trackpad, but could the damage caused by the original malfunctions have been prevented? Sprint said that quality control totalling an extra 2%-3% in manufacturing costs would have made sure only working trackballs made it out, and even that cost would be offset by preventing returns. Has anyone here had to return their Tour because of trackball issues?