Internal Verizon Wireless document: iPhone 3G is a scam and we’re better
Leave it up to our wireless carriers to use Afghan tactics to try and con convince current and potential customers to stay or sign up for service, right? We just got our hands on an internal VZW doc that was distributed to agents which breaks down the iPhone 3G data plan and price. It’s actually pretty comical with Verizon telling agents the iPhone 3G doesn’t support turn-by-turn GPS navigation (which it doesn’t at the moment) but all Verizon data devices do. Why is that funny? Well, we’d pay to not use Verizon’s craptastic GPS software. Another one? Verizon inaccurately stating that “There is an assumption that the new iPhone’s data package will include all data – IT DOES NOT!!” Oh, VZW… maybe if you didn’t pass on the phone you wouldn’t be spreading this madness. At least you have Thunder soon, no?
Thanks, Harris!
Tags: data packages, exclusive, GPS, internal document, iphone 3g, Navigation, Verizon
Gotta love VZW.
Can’t wait to switch to AT&T when the Bold comes out.
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Bring on the bias. Did Verizon sleep with your girlfriend or what? Verizon GPS is “craptastic”? What exactly? The UI, the accuracy, or the price. We still can’t get past Verizon charging for this service? It is a service, just like messaging which also isn’t free from either provider. I think the GPS is nice and also use a Garmin GPS in my wife’s car so I have some perspective. Although, I didn’t know that the “premium” plans include GPS T-B-T. I don’t think that is accurate.
I would consider MMS to be data, and the iPhone package does not offer this, so I would say that the Verizon claim is accurate.
Also, according to you, this is an INTERNAL document. They are not spreading this information to the general public. They are using it to help their employees point out the shortcomings of the competition’s offering. The media has done a great job of pointing out the high points, nothing wrong with Verizon pointing out the gotchas to prospective customers.
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verizon made a big mistake passing on iphone. Unscientific but yesterday in a Chicago suburb at a sports bar, 4 of 7 people around me had iPhones.
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I have to agree with poster Michael, this is an educational document for staffers to use to compare to their phones. They may want to add that MobileMe(ss) costs extra, and compare that to their Verizon Blackberry data plans with GPS, TXT and PIX.
If anyone is spreading hate, its BGR hating on Verizon.
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if (you like iphone)
buy(iphone);
else
buy(something else);
endif
do you have enough memory to compile that? or r u just running short of mips? or perhaps you never installed gcc?
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They both suck… go sprint!!
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nothing untrue there, they do not list their prices for the services though.
they are far from cheaper.
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Well said, Michael.
I’m assuming Boy Genius carries an iPhone. He’s awful bitter about this INTERNAL document.
I am a Verizon employee and have never seen this document. Apparently it was never distributed on a national level. I don’t doubt its authenticity though. From time to time they do provide documents similar to this one to compare competitor offerings to our devices and services {as do all the other wireless carriers}. I have worked for both AT&T and T-Mobile previously.
Allow me to also add that while I sincerely believe the iPhone is a fabulous device, it is still only as good as the network it runs on. iPhone sales haven’t really affected VZW in our area as the closest AT&T 3G market is over 2 hours away.
…Oh, and VZW Premium plans do include VZ Navigator.
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OMG!! they passed on it?!?!?!?!?! BASTARRRDS!!! …omg i take it back…i could never hurt my verizon wireless…
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Hey Salena, or anybody else for that matter, any word on when the Palm 800w will be showing up to VZW? I know that there has been discussion about a Sept release date but I haven’t seen anything on here for a while.
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sssssso I’ve decided Boy Genius is actually and Boy Idiot…. pardon the cheesy line. But “craptastic”?…. I can understand why having AUDIBLE turn by turn directions, local search for any business you can imagine, maps, movie times, live traffic updates and the ability to pretty much use it anywhere you want would and could be “craptastic”…. oh, and couple that with the most RELIABLE and LARGEST 3G Network in the U.S. of A…. I can TOTALLY see why he would say that. Ummmm, NOT. Retard here wants to dog VZW and say it was a con (with a slash through it) and talk some BS. But I can tell you this much… VZW passed on the iPhone because Apple simply wanted too much control. VZW, unfortunately, likes to HELP customers and make life easy. I can see how that’s a problem. ATT was just SO desperate enough that they’re LITERALLY getting raped by Apple (or were) and they were cool with it. Has it really helped their numbers? no, not really. Same growth, same crappy service. And as for Boy ‘Tard who wrote this article? Get your head out of your ass and stop being so bias.
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Hmmm. . .so this is an internal document which isn’t shared with the general public, as a document, but if all the info makes it out during “sales,” what you’ve described is what we refer to in the legal world as a distinction without a difference. As far as the affect the iPhone has on sales, the mere presence of this document shows that VZW is concerned about the iPhone’s impact. I think VZW “protests too much,” to borrow an old saying.
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I’m bitter because Verizon didn’t grab the iPhone when they had a chance. I was a continuous Verizon (started as Bell Atlantic Mobile) customer since 1994 (when it cost $16/mo with no free minutes, 36/16 per minute for peak/off-peak plus a 12 cents landline connection charge per call to landlines, very small local calling area and 99 cents plus LD charges for roaming and no easy call following when roaming).
I switched to AT&T last year due to the iPhone. ie, I wasn’t someone churning every two years.
Screw them now, I say.
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The TBT is craptastic because you have to pay for it. Verizon disables the GPS in blackberries-and all phones so that yo have to pay for it; you can’t use Google Maps GPS which is free. Its something you shouldnt have to pay for that comes free with the phone.
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But wait… AT&T has more bars in more places!!!!!
Based on global coverage.
*Yawn*… is this even news? OMG! Someone is stepping on Apples toes. Arrest them immediately!
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Wow… I guess I should have used quotes around my sarcasm instead of HTML code.
It should read “[super small text at the bottom of the screen] Based on global coverage [/super small text at the bottom of the screen]“
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Sore losers (And I am a berry user). Stop crying VZW!!
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Of course they lock down GPS, att does the same damn thing! You guys always want everything for free. If you want an premium service, then pay for it. All of these companies have to find new ways to bring in revenue (especially with unlimited texts being so prevalent). Verizon is the most financially stable wireless company in the states and I would rather pay 10 bucks then get everything for free and become sprint.
Before you start hating, realize that ATT copies everything VZW does and their prices are almost identical across the board.
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Enough is enough! I’m definitely losing respect for the Boy Genius. We all know you like the iphone and hate Verizon. I wish you could try to hide your bias in your articles. It’s funny to me that you talk bad about verizon, but your web site always has verizon advertisements. I’ve even seen an ad for the “Craptastic” Vz navigator on your pages before.
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@ Dubs
I understand that you’re just trying to look cool for your 5th grade classmates, but Google Maps GPS works fine on my Verizon Pearl, although it’s nowhere near as nice as vznavigator. Maybe you should ask your parents if they’ll buy you one. That way you’ll be a little more educated when you post.
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I leaked the document. You must understand he hates vz navigator because it is a slow and pathetic application. They could do so much better. Not to mention if they would stop making there own proprietary user interface and let the manufacture choose the interface customers could choose phones based on how they work rather then how the look which is pathetic. Why should all phones work the same! Thats what is really retarded.
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I had Verizon for all of 3 months. I spent two of those months getting out of the contract without an ETF.
So, I was dating this girl and she had VZW. She was a poor college kid, and I am gainfully employed. So I buy a Motorola Q on VZW and got 300 minutes and unlimited data & IN messaging.
well, after 1 month I HATED it with a passion. The Motorola Q I had to get warranty replaced 4 times. 4! The over billed, double billed almost every month. Even though I had Verizon FiOS at home, I couldn’t get the discount because I didn’t want a $40/m extra home phone to just get $5 off a month.
Two months later and about 12 hours worth of calls, I finally got out of Verizon.
The next day I added my girlfriend to my AT&T plan. My Palm Treo 650 was MUCH better than that POS Q!
And the service? I’ve am up and down the east coast US frequently. I am big on offshore fishing. I go out from the Key West, Florida to Bar Harbor, Maine. I can tell you that coverage in Florida keys SUCKED with VZW. I was in Marathon, FL and couldn’t make a phone call. Yet my AT&T phone had full coverage.
Heck, From Kuaui, Hawaii - ONLY AT&T had service. VZW has 0 coverage.
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just a couple thoughts on vaious replys to this thread…
-MMS is not data, it is messeging, and they are two distinct services offered so to say because the iPhone dosn’t support MMS therefore VZW wasn’t incorrect about it’s claim is either naive or dumb, prolly both considering your eagerness and effort to defend VZW…
-VZnav blows, in comparrison to similar services offered by other providers; if you honestly try to argue otherwise, know that the minute someone with an acutual brain reads that you feel that way, you instantly render your post laughable…
-I am proud to say that i work for AT&T, but untill 3 of my close friends told me how they actually run things at VZW (they all work there) and not only was i kinda disgusted, but instantly reaffirmed my pride in my employer; to sum up what i’m referring to, it’s a common practice with Verizon employees to flat out lie to a customer about either pricing or stock if the rep has concluded that the customer is not going to help his quota in some way, I.E..existing VZW customer wants a new device and is eligible for best pricing with renew of contract, if the customer is not wanting additional accessories and/or dosn’t want to add additional services to his account, rep will then use one of a couple tactis to ensure the customer walks out without a new phone, like tell him/her that “Your better off ordering your phone online, because they have a better price…” or “sorry, we are actually out of stock, but if you go to the authorized reseller down the road, they have it….” when in reality they do have it in stock, and they actually have no idea if the other reseller even carries the phone, much less has it…With that being said, NEVER, not once, have i seen or even heard of ANY coworker of mine doing something like that, we actually strive to ensure the customer walks out and we have done whatever we can to provide them whatever they may have come in for…I kid you not, i have at least one VERIZON customer walk into our store weekly and ask me to either transfer their contacts because the verizon store across the street either couldn’t or wouldn’t and we do it gladly, and yes, i meand from one verizon phone to another, and we do it free of charge with a smile, usually having to turn down money offered to us…
-just to sum up my point after all that, VZW has nothing unique to offer and truly, at the store level, couldn’t care less about anyone except themselves, most deffinitly not the customer…which shows they truly have no pride for who they work for, but moreso the money they make…AT&T takes pride in both, which is why we ultimatley are #1 in the wireless buisness…
-so if your really gonna whine about BG bashin VZW, at least admit your own personal bias first…At AT&T, we are use to being hated on, it should be expected by anyone on top of any givin industry…We have more customers, we do use the global standard GSM type network, we have a larger coverage area than anyone else, we have the best phones and biggest selection, we have rollover, we have faster 3G speeds, and yes, we have the iPhone and after all that we are also aware of anything you know that may be a shortcoming, because we know we aren’t perfect…with that, what does VZW have, a more reliable network? Ok, but by how much margin and what kind of standards…but then what? Larger 3G netowrk? New and Improved PTT?
Someone please post something real, something that is actually worth posting answering my question of what VZW offers that nobody else does, and something i didn’t mention…go on, i dare ya…
oh, and although went to verizon first, the simple fact that verizon pretty much wanted to beat apple in a pissing contest when in negoiations about device control and regulations, which is pretty much like passing on lebron james because you want him to wear black socks and will only wear white…or simply RETARDED….
i’m goin to work, kinda feel even more the usually motivated to port at least 5 lines from VZW onto iPhones…i’ll reply in an hour after when i’ve completed that, peace
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Boy Genius,
I don’t know what your point in even posting this article, because the information is actually true in the article. VZW is pointing out truthful advantages over the Iphone 3G.
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Wow BGR you are a whiny cunt.
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