Verizon Wireless grills exiting customers about the iPhone
Verizon Wireless must be feeling the sting of losing customers to AT&T due the popularity of the iPhone. A reader just alerted us to a survey peppered with iPhone references that was presented to him upon cancellation of his Verizon account. The coup d’etat was the question that posed, “What could Verizon Wireless have offered to keep you as a customer?” Among the optional answers, iPhone. This is not fodder to spurn yet another resurgence in the “Verizon is getting the iPhone” rumor but it does suggest that Verizon is not turning a blind eye to the iPhone and is trying to gauge the negative effect, if any, the iPhone is having on its churn rate. Needless to say, we would love to peruse both Verizon’s and AT&T’s data to see how many of 4.3 million iPhone 3G activations in 2008 were former VZW customers. Anyone care to confess to leaving Big Red and going to AT&T to get your iPhone fix? Hit the jump for a few more pages from the survey.
Thanks, DN!
@ G Bananas Man you have to be an idiot HUH??? Even Jailbroken iPhones wont work on verizon buddy different frequencies GSM vs CDMA so your post id just bullshit and none of your friends on verizon have the iPhone so take your fanboyism out back and shoot it!!
One day, the iPhone will send MMS. And maybe copy and paste. Then it will be cool. Except for iTunes. iTunes sucks. And you can’t replace the battery yourself (easily at least). Mod hip techno freak fail.
As much as I’d like to have an Iphone signing with AT&T again is a non-negotiable non-starter with me. There is no way I would ever go back to Cingular/ATT after a nine-month period in which I have experienced every level of customer-nonservice with them. Sprint wasn’t much better when I first signed on, but they’re light years ahead now.
Sorry, ATT, I’ll wait for the Pre.
Replaceable batteries is not the problem with iPhone it is not having an SD card slot that is the problem. I don’t know who carries a spare battery around 24/7 for when one dies on handset. Not being able to upgrade by putting a larger card in is the big flaw.
iTunes sucks? It is a huge driver of iPhone sales because it is great.
That SD card slot is what’s making me leary about the Pre but am still taking the plunge
I totaly agree with you,my biggest regret is having to leave verazon’s network for the I phone,they made a big boo boo by passing on this huge opportunity.I would pay any deposit if I had the chance to go to vzw with the possibility of useing my iPhone….
I was with Verizon and switched to AT&T to get an iPhone for about a week. Canceled my contract with AT&T and went straight back to Verizon.
WHY? The iPhone was great. Yet I got NO reception anywhere I was. At work, at home. Only if I was outside could I get SOME reception. It was awful. The iPhone was awesome, but not being able to use it was pretty pointless.
I now own the Storm, which is nearly as good and I have iPhone icons so it’s basically a copy.
Just imagine if Apple had the iPhone on BOTH VZ & T. They basically would have killed off all other smartphones.
So, in the end Apple will eventually add VZ & T-mobile, once the next generation LTE (aka G4) comes online. One phone for multiple networks.
For now i am stuck with my Blackberry Flip, which has a few bugs, but is adequate. You can’t beat T-mobile’s rates.
I believe AT&T and Apple are in contract till 2010. Has anyone heard otherwise?
I left VZW to at&t for the iphone. I regret that every time I see the no signal on my iphone which is something not uncommon. My problem was that VZW doesn’t want to give any concession to the phone makers to get a descent phone I can get so I had to change the carrier.
For those of you upset with the poor phone selection that Verzion offers (as am I) here is some good news to possibly look forward to especially if you still have a year left on your contract…”Rumor has it that Nokia is working on a new touch-screen device for Verizon Wireless’s new 4G wireless network set to go live in 2010.”
“Verizon Wireless, which is jointly owned by European carrier Vodafone and Verizon Communications, announced last month at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that it will test its new 4G network that uses a technology called Long Term Evolution, or LTE, this year and will begin aggressive rollouts in 2010.”
Perhaps Verzion getting phones like the N97? Probably just a dream, but it’d be nice!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10190869-94.html?tag=mostDis;dis
Verizon is the best network I have ever used,7years and counting; all of my friends on AT&T complain about never getting txt messages until hours later, as well as coverage issues. My wife and I txt more than we talk on the phone, blame my two teens. Lol. Anyway, we are staying with verizon regardless of the iPhone…I like my blackberry.
Forget the iPhone, I want them to get the Palm Pre!
The guy at Verizon responsible for nixing the iPhone trade with Apple must lie in a shallow grave somewhere. How could not combining a superior network with a superior handset not be a smart move? Verizon could have buried AT&T!
I like how people feel the need to bash others just becuase they like one phone over the other. I’m switching to get the iPhone this week because I think its a cool, fun phone. You like something else, good for you. Get over it!
I’ve been a Verizon customer for over 15 years. I had planned on going with AT&T for the iphone as soon as my contract with vzw expires. However, I recently heard that Verizon will offer the iphone in 2010. I will wait to see. I would like to stay with vzw.
If you look at the quarterly financial reports from Verizon, in which they release numerous performance metrics including their postpay churn rate, you’ll see that VZW still has the lowest churn rate in the industry. ATT, in fact, has a churn rate that was almost double that of VZW in Q4 08, Q1 09, and Q2 09 while at the same time VZW has maintained a profit margin that is about 25% greater than that of ATT.
One way to read this is that for every customer that leaves “big red” to get an iPhone, roughly 2 customers leave ATT (most likely due to its lackluster 3G network which plagues iPhone users all over the country. No matter how you spin the data (I know my previous sentence is little rhetoric) VZW is making oodles of money doing much better than ATT.
Keymaker – oh how you summed this up best of anyone. Verizon is always after the money and they just totally missed the opportunity with the iPhone. This is not your parents AT&T.
I left Verizon after being with them for long time to change to the iPhone.
Tried the Storm and it was very nice but have wanted the iPhone since its release. Positives and negatives to each. AT&T drops calls all the time and Verizon’s service was rock solid. Would switch back to Verizon if they get a full functioning iPhone and not a reduced version.
Left VZW because of the new Iphone coming out on Friday. Am awaiting the Iphone’s release, but so far have had no real coverage problems with ATT. Verizon was overcharging me for data, and their crapy Motorola Q’s broke constantly. I wouldn’t go back, even if they did get the Iphone in 2010. Am happy with ATT.
My county’s only game in town. I can get AT&T but then I would have such spotty service it is now worth the bill. I really want an iphone but I would have get Verizon quality service to get one. If AT&T would upgrade the towers and put more in our area I would switch in a minute!
wont go with either comapny at&t or vzw. vzw cripples there phones i cant stand that! the iphone isnt that great to put up with at&t. i am so glad i switched to sprint. great value for the money and data and voice coverage is great!!!