Three different things getting in the way of customers buying at the local Vodafone store.
The first is the wall of unusable phones. The mock phones let you check the look of the case, but they don’t let you experience the most important thing of all – the software.
Next is the sign up form, a usability and excessive information disaster.
Finally is the buying process. Even with an existing account Vodafone conducts a credit check before adding another account. That’s 5 minutes, and in this case (@nikz) despite spending $120+ each month the credit was referred for more checks. Suffice to say he moved on.
Lance Wiggs 
Far be it from me to be nice to vodafone, but the *real* vodafone stores do have live-working phones. It’s the resellers which have shitty plastic shells. Of course the rationale of having shitty resellers is a whole other question.
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It might help to think of a mobile phone as jewellery. Jewellery doesn’t have to be functional, just pretty.
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Even with the phones, the casual use you can give them doesnt show the true sloth that S60 becomes when it has a card full of music, few 100 contacts, few 100 sms, few email accounts configured etc. They are mighty snappy in the “oh look at me I have just bought it” configuration in the stores.
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The S60 becoming a sloth is more about your phone selection than the Vodafone retail experience.
Perhaps if Vodafone only promoted phones that they like and would recommend? But not everyone wants to pay for a Nexus One or an iPhone.
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