Do you think Verizon is dropping the ball?

[I am Fake Jesus]

You should be able to do what you've described and combine the account. I'm not sure if there are Droid 2 CPO's online. The inventory on the CPO's is pretty random. You may want to check and see if she has a NE2 credit on her account before combining. If so use the credit, then combine the accts so you can save a little $$.

sadly she is still on her parents family plan lol but def not under a contract, so i might go this week an ask a verizon rep what her options are. but yea there was a droid 2 on ther for $99. an i think i saw a droid og as well, she just wants the internet an physical querty as she has lg env 1 lol

 

[ssplumb]

sadly she is still on her parents family plan lol but def not under a contract, so i might go this week an ask a verizon rep what her options are. but yea there was a droid 2 on ther for $99. an i think i saw a droid og as well, she just wants the internet an physical querty as she has lg env 1 lol

I think that is hilarious my wife would still have a Star Tek if it was not for me being a phone junkie

 

[vzwuser76]

Getting off topic a bit, but yeah it is really comical when people insist on monster cables. Most I have paid for a hdmi is $7 which I felt was high. I find that if you watch the deal sites you can get them for $1 or $2.

Also, I was under the impression that best buy sales didn't get commission. Maybe I heard wrong about that.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

Yeah, I could have done better online, but this was in my local store (think Kmart, but about 1/4 the size) so in this case convenience won out.

 

[goater1220]

Down with iphone and apple, ANDROID 4 LIFE!!! I had a iphone when it first came out and I will admit that I liked it a lot. After having the Dinc I will never go back to an apple product. I will be a Thunderbolt owner by June!!!!

 

[ssplumb]

I also had a iPhone for 28 days. It was a great phone but Android based phones are exceptional phones. I love the fact that they are open sourse. I want to be able to change it anyway I want.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[dchawk81]

I actually fell for that HDMI business. Except the girl told me the cheapest Monster ($70) would be plenty. I bought it because I was already there and didn't know any better. I never felt like chasing a cheaper cable down or waiting on one in the mail so I kept it.

The TV itself was $250 off that day though so I still came out ahead.

 

[thedeceiver]

A few things that go through my mind when I read all this "Verizon is dropping the ball" and "Best Buy Exclusive" nonsense.

2) The article I read about the Best Buy exclusive also included the small line "Among Third Party Retailers", meaning to me that it would be at BB before say, Walmart, Costco, Radio Shack, or whatever. To think Verizon is going to have their first LTE baby available at Best Buy and not their corporate stores is pretty asinine.
.

Why do people think it's impossible that Best Buy would have it before VZW stores? Tell me what the detriment is to VZW's business if Best Buy had it in their stores two weeks before VZW? They are still getting their kickback on the phone purchase. They're still getting their contracts... and they're still getting their kick backs from Best Buy.

The rumours that the release is delayed because of iPhone returns/business would further support the fact that using the logistics of a Best Buy store allows them to roll out the iPhone and the Thunderbolt nearly simultaneously.

Regardless of the hypotheticals, I think the confusion over this shows Verizon's inability to execute two high profile phone releases at a time. For a company of Verizon's size to be unable to do that, it's truly frightening.

 

[ssplumb]

I just called Verizon and the Customer Service Rep had no clue when and if Verizon would have a pre-order and did not know anything about Best Buy offering it tomorrow that is no big shocker. I just read that it will go for $199.99 on another post that would be great.

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[Guntherm]

Don't think Verizon is dropping the ball. When they are ready to annouce it they will. Just becuase all of us OCD phons users want it announced, doesn't mean they are going to. Of course I want them to, but they will when it's ready and when they are ready. Remember CES, it was said March...

 

[bkorver]

Why do people think it's impossible that Best Buy would have it before VZW stores?

Because it has NEVER happened in the history of third party retailers for starters. The only "Exclusives" I have ever seen is a phone (that is very available at the corporate stores) in a different color.

I find it very funny that no one has brought up the power struggle that Verizon and Best Buy have been in since last year when Best Buy claimed Verizon pulled the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global from their shelves due to "pricing issues". Am I the only one who remembers that? Let me refresh your memory... So let me get this straight, Verizon won't let them sell the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global, but will let them have the spotlight with the first LTE phone? It doesn't really matter which side you believe, and it's not important. What is important is that it will not be available at Best Buy and not Verizon...

Just because Verizon hasn't announced and Best Buy has doesn't mean anything. Timing is everything and maybe Verizon is waiting for the Super Bowl?

I don't find it too far fetched at all that Best Buy would be trying to yank Verizon's chain a bit...

Edit: Don't forget to read through the comments for some extra insight into the dispute...

 

[upz3]

@bkorver

That is why I'm wait to preorder anything until Monday. I feel strong that there will be a Super Bowl commercial that will lead to some confirmation on Monday.

 

[thedeceiver]

Because it has NEVER happened in the history of third party retailers for starters. The only "Exclusives" I have ever seen is a phone (that is very available at the corporate stores) in a different color.

Oh... well.... in that case.... So what? There is a first time for everything. At some point there NEVER EVER in the history of third party retailers a specific "color" exclusive... but that happened.

So let me get this straight, Verizon won't let them sell the Droid Pro and Droid 2 Global, but will let them have the spotlight with the first LTE phone?

The "spotlight"? What spot light? Every phone is Verizon branded. Every phone will run only on the Verizon network. The contract is signed with Verizon. Doesn't sound like they're going to be missing some of the spotlight. The only thing would be lesser foot traffic into VZW stores (which frankly care more about the iPhone than anything else). I don't see a huge downside.

These guys aren't competitors... one is a distribution arm (essentially) for the other. S

Just because Verizon hasn't announced and Best Buy has doesn't mean anything. Timing is everything and maybe Verizon is waiting for the Super Bowl?

Verizon missed the boat on this. CES had everyone in the technical press all fired up... but they ran with the iPhone first (which could have launched at any time). They lost the natural marketing that came out of CES. It's now almost a joke.

 

[TBolt2011]

Verizon missed the boat on this. CES had everyone in the technical press all fired up... but they ran with the iPhone first (which could have launched at any time). They lost the natural marketing that came out of CES. It's now almost a joke.

I agree completely. In the middle of January, EVERYONE who knew anything about smartphones was on top of this. Now it's garbage to them, because Verizon has literally said NOTHING (Not ONE thing, not one word, not one mention) about this phone since January, what, 6th?

It's extremely ridiculous. I don't know how they expect to market this phone successfully in an 8 day window. Super Bowl or not... They took the cash cow route over the, ya know, good phone route. Pretty unrespectable to say the least.

 

[bkorver]

Oh... well.... in that case.... So what?

Hard to argue that logic bomb...

Verizon missed the boat on this. CES had everyone in the technical press all fired up... but they ran with the iPhone first (which could have launched at any time). They lost the natural marketing that came out of CES. It's now almost a joke.

That I agree with 100%


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[Chris Kerrigan]

I agree that the route Verizon has taken with the Thunderbolt has been odd to say the least. Considering this is going to be their first LTE phone, I'm surprised at the complete lack of build-up advertising for it.

I think the biggest problem is the timing of the launch. For whatever reason, Verizon has chose to launch the phone within (more than likely) just days of the iPhone launch. I think that's why we haven't seen anything on this from Verizon. They don't want to pull the attention away from the iPhone, which boggles my mind. The reason being? The iPhone doesn't need the "extra" attention. Millions of people have been waiting for the day the iPhone is available on Verizon, and I can guarantee you every single one of them has been keeping a close eye on the news and rumors regarding it.

 

[corn4ahead]

Ohhh, Apple, messing up everything once again. It so frustrating that one little phone is causing so much controversy for a much better phone. I just hate that people want it just cause its an iPhone.UGH!

The most annoying thing is that Big Red is completly ignoring what has made them successful the last 1.5 years, and thats Android........FAIL

 

[Effington]

This couldn't be more obvious...

Imagine yourself as an old fart Verizon Wireless executive. You're rich. Your company's rich. You've established yourself as the biggest, most-reliable network based mainly on AT&T fallibility in the original launch of the most successful phone ever...

<Angels sing>

The iPhone

Now you've secured that phone, the holy grail of handheld devices. The bestselling phone, the phone everyone must have, the phone that teens, soccer moms, techies, and college professors all want... Apple marketing has convinced everyone, even multi-national corporations, that it's time to dump the BlackBerry and the whatever... they want and iPhone whether it's useful or not. The iPhone is THE phone, and it's the phone everyone wants. Maybe not you and me, we want Android, and so do a lot of people. But the iPhone - that's Verizon's ticket to the masses. The Android is just a dessert, an afterthought. Verizon's success with Android has brought them what they've always wanted: The iPhone. I'd be surprised if they much effort into Android-anything now that they have the iPhone.

And now they're rolling out 4G. Actual 4G, not WiMax or HSPA+. We're talking LTE, the good stuff. And you're surprised they're not pimping it on their first big 4G phone, the Thunderbolt? Please. Those of us - us here, right now - are the ones who buy phones like the Thunderbolt BECAUSE they're great phones. Because they support new technology. Verizon could care less about marketing to us. Sure, they'll throw us bone at the Super Bowl, but their moneymaker it the iPhone. That's the potential, that's their growth, that's where they steal customers from AT&T (not to mention Sprint and T-Mobile) with this promise of a better network.

They would never lay that all at the feet of a device like the Thunderbolt - which may, as we know, be superior in every way to the iPhone 4 - when they finally have a piece of the pie they needed after letting AT&T play test host while they perfected their network to win over as may new customers as they can.

No, folks, the only thing that matters to Verizon is this:

The iPhone 4G.

And when that comes out, when that is the next phone to have, Verizon is positioning itself right now to be THE carrier of the next best phone. Because if the iPhone 4G comes out this summer, Verizon will have a huge jump over AT&T in their LTE network and have the potential to win over as many new customers as possible. They will be saving all - and I mean all - of their advertising power of LTE for the iPhone 4G. Can you imagine when it becomes painfully obvious that the Verizon iPhone 4G is the considerably faster than the AT&T iPhone "4G"? It'll hurt AT&T bad, and they know it - they're scared. Very scared.

From the mind of a Verizon executive, this makes all the sense in the world. Your feelings don't matter... the iPhone is the ticket to massive sales. Android devices were nothing but a stepping stone.

 

[vzwuser76]

The spotlight he was referring to is that this is the first 4G phone on Verizon. You say there is no difference because Verizon still gets the money and it has their branding. So here's another scenario.

When Chevy (Verizon) introduced the new Camaro (Thunderbolt), would it seem logical for them to ONLY make it available at a Carmax chain (Best Buy) that sells any manufacturer (carrier) including Fords (AT&T) and Dodges (Sprint)? People would go to a Chevy dealership to get a Camaro & the employees would tell them "We don't carry that Chevy model, you need to go to Carmax." I personally would think, "If this thing is so great, why wouldn't they carry it at their own dealerships?"

Now I say that makes no sense, but going by what Best Buy is saying and what Verizon isn't saying, it seems this is the direction they are going in. The only other explanation is Best Buy is selling pre orders for it tommorow and Verizon either won't at all or will do so at a later date, but they will both have them available to pick up on the same day. So even though you'll be able to reserve one tomorrow, you won't actually get it until day X, which is the same day Verizon has it ready for immediate sale in their stores & on the web & telephone. The advantages would be assurance that you will get one & not having to fight any crowds on launch day.

As far as marketing, yes it is baffling, but it's very similar to how they handled the Incredible launch. The only ads prior to release was banner ads on web pages and a review on G4's Attack of the Show a few nights before release day. Even after release day it was about 2 weeks before an actual tv ad appeared and then they were sporadic at best.

Now, instead of pushing the most advanced device they currently have to offer, they push the hell out of a 3G phone that was essentially released 7 months ago. Verizon needs to steal some of Apple's marketing people.

The thing that'll make this worthwhile is when another Verizon customer shows me their iscrew, and I can show them the Tbolt.

 

[Comineeyeaha]

Respectfully, here's the thing that I don't get about this "no way it's going to Best Buy first" thing. We're talking about a matter of days here, if not a couple weeks. It's not like anybody is suggesting that Verizon will never carry it in store and that BB is the only place that will. 1 month down the road, nobody will even remember that BB had it first. If they do, however, it gives Verizon the opportunity to sell a butt load of iPhones really fast, but still release this phone to those who are excited for it (this guy).

Just a thought. Respectfully.

 

[varucell]

Who else thinks Verizon is in the business of making money? The iPhone sells what do you expect