Child Item

Site Totals

61432 Questions Answered 270 Categories

Verizon's baffling, messy strategy for the Droid Incredible

The shortage of Droid Incredible phones is no news to everyone, and neither is, by all accounts, Verizon's confusing strategy of dealing with it.

Customer sales representatives throwing out random shipping dates, CEOs blaming each other for lack of parts - it is one big, messy PR disaster.

Now, one argument in its defence is that Verizon could not have predicted such demand and they are simply working around the clock to meet it. Whatever. I don't buy it.

What baffles me is this: The Incredible is arguably the most advanced smartphone on the mainstream market currently available. This in itself is a huge boost to Verizon. And that is precisely the problem.

The official shipping date now appears to be 6/7 (according to the website), when both the iPhone HD will be announced and the Sprint EVO will be out. Isn't this shooting itself in the foot? By the time most people get the phone, the Incredible will be old news - and, frankly, if Sprint/AT&t are options, why get the Incredible when you can have the EVO? Or, heck, even the new iPhone.

This isn't an issue for most people, but for early adopters getting a 2nd best device defeats the purpose, doesn't it?!

Does anyone else feel the same about this fiasco or am I the only one?

Comments

shipwrestler125

What do you want Verizon to do? They cannot make the phones magically appear in their warehouses it is not their fault HTC cannot keep up with demand I dont know how that is shooting themselves in the foot? I mean if they made the devices then it would be a different story but there will be people who want one of the other 2 phones mentioned no matter what and those who will complain its just how things are.

dimanchi

What do I want Verizon to do?

Have a fair communication strategy. I am not asking them to push HTC to make the phones faster, all I am asking is, from a corporate perspective, to communicate effective, reliable information to customers who have paid for the phone.

That means not promise one thing, post another thing on their website and do something else entirely.

And no - it's not "just how things are". Not in the rest of the world, at least.

steveanderson13

dimanchi wrote
Customer sales representatives throwing out random shipping dates, CEOs blaming each other for lack of parts - it is one big, messy PR disaster.

Now, one argument in its defence is that Verizon could not have predicted such demand and they are simply working around the clock to meet it. Whatever. I don't buy it.

The official shipping date now appears to be 6/7 (according to the website), when both the iPhone HD will be announced and the Sprint EVO will be out. Isn't this shooting itself in the foot? By the time most people get the phone, the Incredible will be old news - and, frankly, if Sprint/AT&t are options, why get the Incredible when you can have the EVO? Or, heck, even the new iPhone.

This isn't an issue for most people, but for early adopters getting a 2nd best device defeats the purpose, doesn't it?!

Does anyone else feel the same about this fiasco or am I the only one?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not me. I got my Motorola. You didn't supply any evidence for your arguments. A shipping date has always been posted on the web site. This is tthe fastest way to access information. As an early adopter, you should know this.

And you don't "buy" that they are trying to sell a phone, as many as possible. Hmm...

As for as the current ship date, many people ordered and received early. This is what early adopters do; unless they are out of the country or convalescing. From what I see, the ship date is overstated, in order for Verizon to protect themselves. That has been users experience from what I've read. CEO's blaming each other and fair communication strategy? I read the CEO McAdams said Samsung couldn't supply the screens fast enough. I don't think this was a put-down. Haven't read any others, but here's a story:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/05/component_short.html

The Nexus One is supposed to be the phone for early adopters. Supply is plentiful.

steveanderson13

dimanchi wrote:
What do I want Verizon to do?

Have a fair communication strategy. I am not asking them to push HTC to make the phones faster, all I am asking is, from a corporate perspective, to communicate effective, reliable information to customers who have paid for the phone.
.

Fair communication strategy? The web site gives a date every day. Lowell McAdams, CEO, and the phone are in the news everyday. It's on Google; that's the search engine on a compute and now on your phoner. You can subscribe to RSS feeds. You will receive updates everyday. There are plentiful podcasts. There is not a shortage of info out there.

steveanderson13

dimanchi wrote:
The shortage of Droid Incredible phones is no news to everyone, and neither is, by all accounts, Verizon's confusing strategy of dealing with it.

This isn't an issue for most people, but for early adopters getting a 2nd best device defeats the purpose, doesn't it?!

Does anyone else feel the same about this fiasco or am I the only one?

Since you are an early adopter, you wouldn't want the Incredible anyway. It's already two weeks old and upcoming phones are sure to surpass it. So here's an early heads up so you'll be prepared for the next wave. 5 LTE phones a year from now:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64E01P20100517?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtechnologyNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Technology%29

dimanchi

"There is no shortage of info out there"

Yes but Info is all over the place!!

The point is NOT that the ship date is June 1, or June 7, or even December 31 for that matter. I don't care. Let them take their time.

The point is that, customer sales reps say one thing, the website says another and if I go to the store I get some other nebulous information.

And this has been consistent.

Yeah people get it early - so what? My problem is not the wait, it is the fact no one has a clue what is going on.

dimanchi

Steve -

thanks for the link. That's the way to approach things.

steveanderson13

dimanchi wrote:
Steve -

thanks for the link. That's the way to approach things.

You're quite welcome. Let's not make this a chat room. And good luck with your next phone; whatever it may be. I love the Motorola in most ways, but it's shortcomings (bluetooth, true for all current Androids except Devour because Motorola installed special software) are still aggravating. No current phone is anywhere near complete IMO.

gainesville

"An inadequate supply of parts is partly to blame for widespread shortages of Droid Incredible, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said on Friday"....... Pssssst, Lowell, do ya think you can pass that little tidbit down to YOUR OWN PEOPLE?? Perhaps then then they can stop insulting us with their made up speculations.

Floods in TN?? That's an insult to the good people in TN who have lost everything to the floods.

dshanks

Verizon is a large corporation. I would expect major communication issues. I have to admit the company I work for has major communication issues.

kiminma

I agree that the customer service on this phone has been troubling, at best. I ordered my incredible through a local Verizon store on May 6 and was told it would be shipped by Friday, May 14. It was shipped on Wednesday the 12th, but was DOA. I was told to ship it back and a new one would be shipped out that day. Later I got a text message from a rep saying the new phone would not be shipped until they received the old phone. I called to double check and was given the same message again. When they did receive the phone, I was told that shipping was delayed again and I would have to wait until the end of the month. I was also told there was no reason they should not have shipped the phone immediately and the two reps made a mistake. The left hand simply does not know what the right hand is doing on this one. Verizon delivered a broken phone and I have to wait more than two weeks for a replacement. This is poor customer service on any level.

jasee

This isn't the first time I've heard an impatient customer post up all the forums and try to point out how Verizon (or Motorolla, or HTC, or Samsung, or ....) has gone about their business strategy on a product all wrong.

Maybe I'm biased because I experienced a 2.1 rom on my Moto Droid before many others. Maybe because I got my Incredible weeks back, while others are still waiting. Either way, I'm noticing this year with all the breakthrough in great mobile Android technology that the expectations have risen really high and it's no longer about getting a new Flip Phone because your other flip has worn out. It's about getting the next cool mini-computer gadget ... and it won't stop there. Wait until the Super Incredible is marketed-- only get worse!

PS- I'm not a fan boy, but it does have a nice ring to it.

Child Item