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Why is my flagship WINDOWS PHONE being ignored by Verizon?

I bought the NOKIA LUMIA ICON after being told I would receive the WP 8.1 OS update. It has been too many months to count since this has been released to every other phone on any other carrier BUT Verizon!!!

I want my WINDOWS PHONE 8.1 and Cyan UPDATE for the ICON!!!!!

Comments

unknown

Every other carrier no! Just AT&T.

Always good to know facts before making such statements.

Good Luck

g2ricotta

No matter if ATT is the only US proider to release the update ... We are approaching 3 months since it was released and still no update from Verizon (the largest wireless provider with nearly endless resources). They can't even muster a statement indicating when the update might be released. It is pathetic. Anyone who thinks otherwise is the same ...

unknown

No statement needed from Verizon Wireless. They don't even have to update your device outside of when you purchased it.

This issue has been beat to death on other forum threads.

Bottom line, if Verizon wants to release it they will. If they don't "No customer has any rights to complain/receive about it" It would be a business decision on the cellular carriers part.

Sorry but true.

bsites1968

As stated in another thread, Verizon's silence on Cyan seems to be fueling animosity. A good business practice is to respond with urgency and stay in communication with their customers. Ignoring them or responding with incorrect information or pacification will create dissatisfaction. It's always best to protect the company name with great communication.

fkmalone

The problem is that marketing is the one testing this update. I heard this directly from Bridget in the Verizon Execute Office. As long as they let marketing do the testing they are not going to release updates in a timely manner. Marketing job is to get you to buy new devices. Bridget even indicated that she knows that Verizon is usually behind every other carrier in releasing updates. Oh well. -1000 for Verizon.

fkmalone

If only there were enough of us to overwhelm marketing's mailboxes.

primortal

We can

Ken Dixon, Leadership | Verizon Wireless

unknown

Yep another place to send complaints that will do absolutely no good.

They simply change the email address to go to a null server. I use to do that with our government email that was sent to employees who changed their addresses, left the agency, had too much spam sent to them.

email bombardment etc etc. etc.

And the obvious thing is they don't read any of their own email.

Unless you know the person at the company personally the email sent to that address either disappears in to the black hole of emaildom, or is monitored by a secretary or office clerk. In either case totally useless.

primortal

Well here some education for you on what happens when you contact an executive. First it's not a direct email to the executive but a form you fill out. Then his executive representative gets it and decides what to do with it. If they proceed with the request you get what happened to fkmalone and get call back from someone from the Executive Office to discuss.

sethen

I've been looking around these forums and I've noticed something. You seem to show up on EVERY SINGLE THREAD related to this topic. For someone so disinterested you sure seem to be putting a lot of effort into telling people how wrong they are. Why is that?

Jsphrow

Yeah this is absolutely ridiculous. I'm about to take one of those other carriers up on their buy me out of my contract offer. More should do the same.

unknown

Best of luck at your new provider.

Please remember only AT&T pushed out the updates first. (This time) who knows what the future holds?

Clark_A

Per suggestion here, I emailed one of the Verizon executives (Mead) the following:

"I would really appreciate some candor from Verizon as to the status of the the Windows phone 8.1/Cyan update for the Nokia Icon. I purchased the phone in May, understanding that 8.0 wasn't all there (I nearly returned it), but that the problems would be fixed with the update, which was expected during the summer. Other carriers have long ago updated their phones (the update was released in July), but not only has the update been long delayed from Verizon, but worse yet Verizon has not provided any official word on the testing status. What I would really like to see is something like a candid blog from the head of the testing group, updated weekly. Of course, an even better solution would be to release the update.

There are many rumors on the Verizon Community forums, saying that the update is delayed to enhance sales of the latest HTC Windows phone, or that the delay is because the plan is to skip Cyan and go straight to Denim (maybe December) or Windows 9 (next year?), that Verizon has decided not to provide any updates (ever), or simply that Verizon hates its customers. There are a lot of unhappy Icon owners out there -- a bit of candor could lower a lot of people's blood pressure."

Yesterday I was contacted on Mead's behalf by "Mark B" with "executive relations". He gave the usual "we understand your concerns" line, adding that his brother has a Windows phone and likewise asks him about the update. He explained that the delay was due to testing compatibility with their network. I didn't think it worth the bother of arguing about how much testing was needed, but did mention that other carriers had released the update long ago. He said that there was not a fixed date for the release, but suggested that it would happen in the next 30 days. I also reminded him of my suggestion that the testers post regular progress reports so that we can see that something was happening, and he promised to pass the suggestion on to the appropriate group.

Personally, I got fed-up waiting for the update and went ahead and registered as a developer and installed the developer preview shortly after sending the above email. This took some time, several lengthy updates, but now I have it. 8.1 is running with zero problems, other than an apparent slight slowdown (I have not done a hard reset), which may be due to the lack of the Cyan portion of the update. All my services and apps work great, the new interface is nicer, and I really appreciate the more nuanced control of the device, things like volume control and quiet time during meetings. The new file browser is a distinct step up from what was possible before, but it still shows all my music files in one folder, and won't let me browse the folder structure I have in place (irritating). I'd previously had a lot of problems with skipping audio (via car's bluetooth) with the DI.fm app, and this problem has completely cleared-up. I have not yet tried using GPS audio navigation, but I'm really hoping that the prior difficulties have gone away (it would only play GPS audio if music was playing -- if I paused music, I lost GPS audio directions though my car's bluetooth). Overall, the 8.1 developer preview is running smoothly for me, with a distinct improvement in performance. I'm really glad I upgraded, absolutely no regrets or missing capabilities that I've noticed.

MrGecko

Electra, you are nothing but a bucket of sunshine aren't ya! You're the kind of person who would rip the wings off a fly & tell him "flying is overrated." The remaining two days of his life will be well grounded. We are getting tired of your Eeyore explanations telling us how great your rotary dial cell phone is at modem connections. You're "shut up & eat your cake" attitude is growing old. Get off your <ctrl-v> button for every post on this subject.

In your infinite wisdom tell me why AT&T has released the updates & not VZW. Don't ignore the fact that AT&T has a smaller market than Big Red & is willing to keep their customer's happy with updates & open communication. Then tell me if none of us complained on this forum, that the updates would come any faster. (According to you we don't deserve updates.)

I don't think it to be unreasonable to ask about updates I was promised when I bought the Icon. No communication leads to speculation & buyer's remorse. Nothing but bad press.

Don't say too much, you may reveal your Verizon Employee number. (or are you an agent of AT&T? Hmmm.)

primortal

Clark_A wrote:

I also reminded him of my suggestion that the testers post regular progress reports so that we can see that something was happening, and he promised to pass the suggestion on to the appropriate group.

Thanks for getting some traction but the line above equates to In other words, nothing will be done. This type of response from the executive liaison is what I always get from them and nothing is done. I've been even promised call backs and I get none and to boot calling them and leaving a message results in no call back.

Clark_A

Playing Devil's Advocate, I wonder whether the larger size and complexity of Verizon's network genuinely adds a great deal of time required for testing of the update -- meaning that the delay is not unexpected (no sarcasm intended). This would be complicated by the smaller user base of the Windows phones with comparison to other OSs, meaning that the resources devoted to testing are proportionally smaller. Of course, if Verizon were to take advantage of customer volunteers to beta-test the updates, this could all go a lot faster.

Tidbits

Also there are beta programs from Motorola and HTC without Verizon. People expect Verizon to do it yet these two companies have been doing it for years without Verizon or any carrier for that matter.

I just don't think Nokia is putting a lot of resources into updating as they put for AT&T, or they just prioritize them first because they took in most of their devices.

donblv

Like everyone else owning a Nokia Icon, I am upset over this matter. I too believe that Verizon is purposely dragging their feet with Windows Phone update. First off, their money (and support) is in iPhone and Android. Second, as someone else said, they want to sell new phones. If we get frustrated enough, a percentage of us will opt to get a new phone with 8.1 installed. If they wait long enough a good percentage of our contracts will expire and we'll be eligible for a new phone at "incredible" savings. Personally, I've been a long time customer of Verizon, am tired of paying their prices and am looking seriously at AT&T. All of Verizon competitors offer far more data time with their contracts and typically at lower prices. AT&T is pushing hard to catch up to AT&T. I'm surprised that it's taken them so long to wake up. They were in the comm business long before Verizon. They just had a much older network to update. Anyway, if enough people start dropping Verizon, for their competitors, they might wakeup. Unfortunately, the Icon is the flagship WP product and only Verizon has it and it appears to be the only phone with lots of memory. So ... what to do? I know I'm not the only one with a bad taste in my mouth for Verizon. A change is in the wind, but probably not until our contract runs out or someone offers something better.

donblv

I might also add that YES Verizon did tell me that the 8.1 update would be pushed out to the Icon in MID 2014 and I would receive it. I asked about the update before I even committed to the phone and contract extension. So I don't want to hear any Verizon support person telling me that Verizon hasn't committed to any updates or that I shouldn't expect one. Everyone knew about Windows 8.1 and the great improvement that it was over 8.0 on their PCs. The expectation was already there when we committed to the WP8 devices. Don't even go there Verizon. We expect the update.

unknown

Customer Agreement | Verizon Wireless

This agreement and the documents it incorporates form the entire agreement between us. You can't rely on any other documents, or on what's said by any Sales or Customer Service Representatives, and you have no other rights regarding Service or this agreement.

Case closed.

LumiaIconUser

The Icon is less than a year old. I seriously doubt that VZW thinks customers owning a phone for only 6-9 months are going to run out and buy a new one (from VZW) because an OS revision (8.0 -> 8.1) is not available. I mean if that really was their strategy, then they are dumber than we think. No, I think they simply don't care that much. They sold us the phone and they know 99.9% of us will just stick it out for 2 years, updated or not.

It's the same thing they did to us with the Bionic ICS debacle, which dragged on for a full year. Hopefully that will not be the case here, but there's definitely a precedent for it.

LumiaIconUser

I will say that on the Android side, at least it was plausible that figuring out ICS would take some time because a) VZW seemed to have their fingers in the OS a little more than on WP (with all their required bloatware and pointless UI customizations) and b) they were carrying many more android phones, and you could almost believe it was tough to support an updated OS across all of them.

Here we're talking about 2 phones, the 928 and the Icon. Seriously VZW, what is your problem?

fkmalone

The size of the network shouldn't matter though. I do like the idea of beta

testers. The Icon was exclusive wasn't it? I would have thought that it was

in Nokia's best interest to make any firmware updates compatible. They know

what it takes so wouldn't they do that testing before hand?

Tidbits

For Android

HTC, Sony, and Motorola admitted that carriers don't touch their code. The "bloatware" is already given to them in advance and they five options to carrier.

So Verizon fingers are involved but not like how the internet spews out. HTC and Motorola seem to do a great job updating their devices since they went transparent even with the carrier options they give.

Tidbits

Also for the Bionic Motorola took ownership. It didn't sell well and Motorola said they didn't put enough resources as they should have. Motorola abandoned a lot of their devices and paid for it in Europe and the reason why they were sold off. HTC was on the same boat and for sale.

Being transparent seems to he key on giving updates past carriers. Motorola and HTC seems to be showing the path.

njwebfoot

Thanks for that info, makes me re-think renewing my contract with Verizon in a few months!

Radioage

Check this out and you'll see why!

Is Verizon 'retiring' its flagship Lumia Icon Windows Phone? | ZDNet

Tidbits

For the longest time...

EOL(retiring) does not mean done with support... It's up to the manufacturer to end support or not...

doublev4

In this global economy every company struggles to sustain growth. I haven't seen any company willing to give even a one percent market share to their competitors. Because in the financial world when this happens your seen as playing catch up. I figure this is the reason even the almighty Apple is willing to set aside its own brands in order to run Microsoft products on it's devices. so I'm betting the people running Verizon will come to their senses and push the updates out

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