Verizon's Juke, Pearl, Venus and Voyager get outed

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Highest Ranked

paul34 @ Sep 29th 2007 2:41PM

sweet! so more phones all with the same exact, eye-bleedingly bad UI. Go Verizon!

Neutral

The D Train @ Sep 29th 2007 2:54PM

People complain when we dont release new phones, and when we do release new phones you come out of the woodwork with the same TIRED and drawn out arguements that do not hold ground any longer. Anyone who has used a 9900 knows that they offer themes now to alter the user interface so that you are not using the "VZW UI". And for the love of christ dont start witht he "crippled" bluetooth, half of you people dont even use that feature you just complain about it because you want to fit in.

Highly Ranked

jonathan @ Sep 29th 2007 3:07PM

re:The D Train

You're right. I don't use my bluetooth, I just complain about it. Oh wait, that's because I can't. Mmm crippled features for the win.

Highest Ranked

akijikan @ Sep 29th 2007 3:13PM

Yo, D Train

Get a clue. The look of the UI isn't the problem. It's BREW...enough said, but for your sake I'll spell it out: No third-party J2ME apps or content.

And I WILL start with the crippled bluetooth, because as a matter of fact, it is.

By your use of the word we to describe Verizon, I gather you're employed by them. How much are they paying you to use illogical arguments against their short comings in a poor attempt to make them look better? Not enough I imagine...

Highly Ranked

Brad @ Sep 29th 2007 3:13PM

D Train:

I think the gist of these arguments is that Verizon is a greedy company. The crippling of Bluetooth (and I think you're wrong, this is the sort of thing people - in my experience - use often) forces you to use Verizon's network to send pictures, to buy ringtones, to move files, and buy Verizon's proprietary packages to use tethering (not in all instances, but in some, for sure). Of course, all of these things cost more, either as a per use fee or a premium package. Let's not even get into the issue of Verizon crippling GPS on the 8830 or the fact that the VZW UI isn't now and has never been the prettiest and/or functional UI out there.

The real problem, demonstrated, I think, by your comments here (I'm assuming that you're a VZW employee since you used the pronoun "we"), is the feeling that Verizon seems to think that it knows what's best for its customers. We obviously don't use Bluetooth, so why not cripple it to make money off everyone. Never mind that you've implicitly admitted that the crippling of Bluetooth is a common complaint, and therefore, something you would think VZW would address. Nope, it's still, "We know what's best, so shut up and take it."

Thanks for your insight, but...

Lowest Ranked

The D Train @ Sep 29th 2007 3:21PM

And I'd be willing to go out on a limb here and assume you dont have vzw service, since you are so concerned about being able to take songs, games and data and transfer them around to other phones for free, or use a gps reciever when we already provide a much better priced feature in vznavigator.
Bluetooth headsets are the only thing that will be supported by vzw for some time, and that is all that should be supported in my opinon,transfering ringtones and games eliminates a revenue source from the company, if you want to use freeringers.net or whatever thats fine but when you purchase items from us and then transfer them around to other users, it is considered a type of piracy, much in the same that bittorrent users pirate cd's movies etc.

Regardless of all that, the fact of the matter remains, vzw is changing the UI on the higher end phones, but the Bluetooth, it aint gonna change, so you may as well adapt to it and gab on your BT headset like all these other losers around that have them and dont need them.

Highly Ranked

Jeremy @ Sep 29th 2007 3:23PM

Listen I'm sort of going to defend D-Train. I had Verizon for five years, and all that time there phone's sucked and they continually acted like big brother, by installing there own shitty UI, and crippling any ability to transfer files via any method other then shitty BREW. But now that I am an At&T customer (iPhone user of course), I can honestly say that Verizon had far superior cell coverage. Verizon is the only company where you can travel literally any where in the U.S. and get some form of cell service. With At&T I get at least 3 dropped calls a day, on top of another 20 people saying that I cut out during some part of a conversation. It is so frustrating at times that I really do miss Verizon. BTW I live in an urban area in South Eastern Michigan, where cell service is plentiful, yet the cell coverage between At&t to Verizon, is startling.

Highest Ranked

Fafnir_Lux @ Sep 29th 2007 3:57PM

D Train...

If you can cripple the BT, than you can control which files are transferable with your own UI. It really isn't difficult.

Highest Ranked

ShortFuse @ Sep 29th 2007 3:59PM

All AT&T and T-Mobile ringtones that you purchase are protected and won't play on other phones when you copy them. It's called DRM. You don't have to disable OBEX to implement it.
Verizon also restricts copying YOUR OWN pictures to another device. Motorola Phone Tools, software Motorola wrote that allows you to copy pictures, audio and video files to and from you computer and phone, is blocked on Verizon phones. A developer from Motorola on howardforums.com confirmed Verizon asked them to disable the feature. I have plenty of friends with Verizon who can't copy their pictures and video captures to their computer through bluetooth or the miniUSB cable. They have to PAY for their OWN pictures and videos by emailing it to themselves. So what good is a 2 megapixel camera when you can't even view on a screen bigger then 320x240. The only "free" way is to copy it to a microSD card and using a microSD reader, but if your phone doesn't have microSD, you have to pay to email it to yourself, just to view your pictures.

Neutral

JohnQPoster @ Sep 29th 2007 5:25PM

Jeremy if you are not receiving the service you are paying for, I am sure you have grounds to terminate the contract. It seems unwise to me to continue paying for something that you are not receiving.

The only other reason you would make this post is that you have neither an iPhone or use ATT and are just making it up. Is the iPhone that good. Please explain why you would continue to use a product that only some times works. You must be a Windows user;-)

Neutral

mosxs @ Sep 29th 2007 6:17PM

D Train is an example of one of the many reasons it felt good to call Verizon and say the magic words...

"I'd like to cancel my service"

Best $175 I ever spent.

Why did I cancel? The awful UI, crippled bluetooth, bad coverage (I live in SoCal and get tons of dropped calls!?), terrible customer support (show a Verizon tech in the store that your phone is malfunctioning and they'll do everything they can to argue that its perfectly fine).. and finally, I wanted an iPhone.

It's amazing how many things Verizon will charge you for. Mobile web? Thats airtime. vzwnavigator (unless you sign up for their laughably overpriced unlimited plans)? Thats airtime too. Checking your voicemail during peak hours? More airtime gone. You can easily use all your airtime on Verizon without even making a single call. Unless you want to pay an extra $40 a month for "unlimited use". Bu who knows how "unlimited" that is, with Verizon's artifical limits.

The funniest thing was when the CSR asked me why I wanted to cancel. I told him all the reasons, then mentioned I had already ordered my iPhone. He tried to sell me an LG Chocolate as an alternative to the iPhone.

Neutral

The D Train @ Sep 29th 2007 6:41PM

Lawl I'm the type of red that made you cancel? Hah on the phone I am totally different, cosntantly get perfect scores in customer surveys and quality scores. All that aside, unfortunately the only phone they've given us as a save attempt is the chocolate when it comes to the iphone, I dont agree with that but its a company decision.

***It's amazing how many things Verizon will charge you for. Mobile web? Thats airtime. vzwnavigator (unless you sign up for their laughably overpriced unlimited plans)? Thats airtime too. Checking your voicemail during peak hours? More airtime gone. You can easily use all your airtime on Verizon without even making a single call. Unless you want to pay an extra $40 a month for "unlimited use". Bu who knows how "unlimited" that is, with Verizon's artifical limits****

Media net on AT&T charges you kilobytes,much more expensive than minutes.Voicemail during peakhours on AT&T, minutes of use. AT&T also charges 40$ a month for unlimited data, so where is the difference here? Your iphone has a required 20$ extra for data and visual voicemail, in additon to the 400$ price tag.

Now dont get me wrong eventually I may get an Iphone myself, but your arguements above arent just vzw issues, look around you'll see a lot of similar billing practices across the industry.

Highest Ranked

C@rL0$ @ Sep 29th 2007 8:24PM

Wow look at all the Verizon haters. They seem to creep out when ever Verizon news is introduced. I keep seeing people hate on Verizon's choice of UI lack of unpopular phones or restrictions on features,but that is changing over time. Verizon might not have the best phones but I'm sure that is something they are not aiming for. But as a customer I know that they are making large improvements. They have introduced better quality phones then before at reasonable prices, introduced better plans then in the past,introduced the 30 day test drive, they have made a National Rev. A roll out, and are already looking into the future and heading into the direction of LTE.

What are the other carriers doing for the customers? At&t already trying to upgrade their 3g network with out providing a current 3g coverage to all of their customers, having numerous dropped calls, selling out to Apple so now customers are losing more money since they have to deal with Apple with their concerns about their overly hyped iphones.

Neutral

JimD @ Sep 29th 2007 10:08PM

D Train

You aren't saying that right about the $20 for data and visual voicemail. Yes, you pay $399 for the phone and have a 2 year contract.

Now, the $20 is for unlimited data and 200 text messages along with the visual voicemail. This is on top of my "old" family talk plan. I didn't have to change that when I got the iPhone.

Now, I was paying $30 for my blackberry plan with unlimited data and that's it. It didn't include any text messages.

So, with getting the iPhone, it's actually saving me $10/month.

So, it seems you are being a bit deceptive in your statement.

And yes...I dislike Verizon completely. I will never return to them. This is after being with them for many years (originally Airtouch in So. CA). All the previous posters are correct. Verizon love to nickel and dime their customers. The coverage is very bad in So. CA. Customer support completely sucks (this was a few years ago). It gave me great pleasure to cancel when my contract was up and to tell the rep that the service sucked. It gave me even more pleasure when I called to cancel my mother's service and tell that rep the same thing. They cannot argue with you when you keep telling them the truth of their service.

Highest Ranked

Mehool @ Sep 29th 2007 11:11PM

I for one have had excellent customer service experiences with Verizon. When something goes wrong they have worked with me to get me satisfied. Sure there have been times where I've had to wrangle a bit but once I get the right person they have made things right.

I can't say the same about my experience with Cingular for over 2 years, and certainly not with Sprint - Sprint's CS reps didn't know anything and were rude to boot.

One of verizon's greatest assets is it's exceptional Technical Support crew. For us techies, there is no one better at VZW I've been able to talk to who get to the bottom of issues like those guys.

Just wanted to share my positive experience in the face of much "verizon hating" to D Train's post.

Highly Ranked

Brad @ Sep 30th 2007 12:21AM

Wow. D Train, I seriously hope you're not a member of the customer service department, and you're almost certainly not a member of the marketing department. I like how, in the process of rebutting my statements, you essentially prove that all of my arguments are correct.

Your assumption that everyone who has all Bluetooth profiles enabled is essentially using everything beyond the Handsfree profile to commit felonies and make (what you seem to deem) the tragic mistake of using anything other than Verizon's provided packages to do things like navigate underscores my statement that Verizon and its employees often seem to insist that they know what is best. My statement about the crippling of GPS was a direct shot at the BlackBerry 8830. Sure, I could use your VZNavigator service (for a monthly fee), or, if your company hadn't crippled the GPS receiver, I could have used a number of other solutions, such as the brilliant Google Maps, FOR FREE. And that's what Verizon is scared of. It's the FOR FREE part.

So my statements stand. Don't insult my intelligence by suggesting that the crippling of Bluetooth is in the interest of protecting the rights of content holders. It's the desire to lock down a revenue stream that drives these actions. And we all know it. In addition to what other posters have mentioned (trouble transferring photos taken on the phone, etc.), it's, AGAIN, VZW's insistence that they know what is best for their customers that floats to the surface, and not any of these other ridiculous arguments.

THANKFULLY, there remains some semblance of choice, and as such, I actually switched from using VZW for years to T-Mobile (I have a BB 8320). Sure, Verizon had an amazing network with excellent service, and I thought the customer service was top notch. But the carriers, in subsidizing and locking down their phones, are insisting that consumers view the handset and services as a package. And as such, the sum of Verizon's package sucks. Do some people just want a phone that works, with no bells and whistles? Sure; and maybe Verizon is good for them. It was for me for a number of years. But now I want more, and the perceived arrogance of your company annoys the living **** out of me. So I've spoken as loudly as one man can, and taken my business and money elsewhere.

Normally I don't respond to these sorts of things, but I felt the need to point out the fallacy of your statements.

Neutral

barry egan @ Sep 30th 2007 1:08PM

Nice one Brad!

Highest Ranked

pryam44 @ Sep 30th 2007 1:16PM

i think all carriers suck, not just verizon, its just that pretty much all people complaining chose verizon at one point because it was the best choice out there. iv had verizon for a few years, and iv had my problems with them, but ultimately iv had great service, and what can u do with a phone without service, its better to get those gizmos seperate from ur phone. i have met very few people satisfied with theyr phone carrier, so it doesnt surprise me the amount of dissent with verizon

Highest Ranked

Brien Mizell @ Sep 30th 2007 4:44PM

Hey iPhone users... send me a picture message of what you find so hideous about the Verizon UI... oh... wait....

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