Are you actually debating the fact that KitKat is a poor battery performer? Its been thoroughly accepted across samsungs, Moto X and droids by various professional sources AND VERIZON THEMSELVES. just google it and read. Im glad some Maxx handsets have remained usable for their owners, but to justify a product sold by a company that completely changes its performance after six months is ridiculous. And If Verizon Sells the product BY TELLING ME THE BATTERY STATS IT WILL DELIVER they bear responsibility as much as google. That is how commerce works. And if google would allow people to stay on Jelly Bean none of this would be a problem but their miserable forced updates don't make that a possibility. I very much understand their desire to get as many people on the newest OS as quickly as possible, but is that a legit excuse to greatly harm the usability of my phone? I don't think so, I think it's an unethical practice unless you want to send me the next Maxx for free. Bottom line is that if this happened in the sphere of another product type (car, television, pacemaker) it would be unacceptable. For some reason cell phones and carriers have become pushers of "disposable electronics" and anything goes is the order of the day.
You talk about this like there was a harmful intent, which I highly doubt. You could argue some kind of negligence in testing, but I doubt they sat in a room, rubbed their hands together, and say "you know what would be great? If we screwed up battery life with our next update!"
As for the Verizon thing, I still hold that they are doing what their customers for the most part want by getting the latest versions on the phones. They've been given a TON of crap about that in the past, and now they've improved in that area. Part of doing that means they aren't going to have the chance to do a ton of testing on what is mostly Google & Motorola's software before sending out updates.
I do think it's their responsibility in some ways. If I go buy a Chevy from a dealership, and there are issues with the car, I can recognize that the dealership did not design or manufacture the car, and as such they aren't at fault for some things, but they're still my main touchpoint in getting issues addressed. But I'm not going to moan and whine that Springfield Chevrolet allowed a car to be sold with a bad ignition switch. They did not manufacture the product. They do need to handle being the customer service touchpoint, however. But I'm not going to sue Springfield Chevrolet if I have an issue with the car, I'm going to sue General Motors, who were responsible for design, manufacture, and testing.