sprint_coffee.jpgMy Treo 600 had an unfortunate accident again and this time it didn’t survive the fall. The screen was cracked and the microphone no longer functioned. Being a smart user, I have insurance on the phone and I run a backup routine every nice with BackupMan. So all I had to do is go down to the local Sprint store and swap out the device. As anyone who has gone into a mobile phone store knows, the wait is never short, so I came prepared.

For starters, I brought my “jump bag” with all the mobile tech I needed to get a little work done while I waited. Additionally, I had stopped by Caffeine earlier to get a little coffee too. When I arrived at the Sprint Store, I stood in line for a few minutes to put my name into the queue and while I waited, I scanned the store to find a good spot to plant myself. As luck would have it, a couple of their computer kiosks were down.

Sprint now has four terminals with touch screen LCDs where you can interactively shop for products and services. They have stools in front of them so that you can sit semi-comfortably while you learn how to spend more money with Sprint. With two terminals down, I had an instant desk and stool from which to work, so I sat down with my Dana Wireless and began to type away.

After about 15 minutes of working, my name was called and I got to meet with a technician. Explaining the malady of my phone, he entered my information in and logged the issue. I wiped out the data on my phone, removed the SD card and turned it over to the technician. He explained that it would be about 45 minutes before my new phone would be ready. 45 minutes? Good thing I had come prepared!

I went back out to the car to retrieve my coffee and sat back down at the kiosk to go back to work. As long e-mails were written, weblog articles penned (such as this one) and proposals drafted, soothing semi-techno and pop music wafted from the overhead speakers. Taking a sip of my delicious coffee, I realized that I the experience I was having was much like that of a coffee shop, not a retail business. Here I was enjoying coffee, mellow-ish music from “Sprint Radio” and typing away at a keyboard. Isn’t this exactly what I do at Caffeine? The only thing missing was wi-fi, but I can be disconnected for an hour or two without having withdrawals. 😛

Two hours later, I was handed a newly refurbished Treo 600 and I quickly packed up and headed to my next appointment. It was a long wait, but thankfully I was able to get plenty of work done and enjoy the process as a whole.

A Little Side Note
As nice as the experience was, the highlight of my visit to the Sprint store was a small child. There was a little boy was climbing around the front display, playing as boys of his age do. His mother’s name was called and she asked her son by name to “come here.” Having fun on the display, the child didn’t want to stop playing and replied, “Never!” I burst out laughing at his response. I’ve heard of kids saying “No” to their parents before, but saying “Never!” takes some serious commitment and I’m laughing now as I type this because I know that I’m going to hang onto this one for awhile as I reuse it in every situation I can shoe horn it in. LOL