Letter to VZW's Daniel S. Mead

[dlcpa]

6/26/12


Daniel S. Mead & Executive Team
President and CEO
Verizon Wireless
1 Verizon Way
Basking Ridge NJ 07920-1025


Dear Mr. Mead & Verizon Executive Team,


I was eligible to get a new phone from VZW back in July of 2011. When I saw the Samsung Note, I knew that was the phone for me. So, I waited and waited and Verizon never said a word about when or if you were getting the phone.



Now I have to buy a phone by Thursday or I lose my unlimited data plan and yet still no word about the Note. You can't be that clueless that many people want it and there is a big market for a phone that size and so easy to read.


I saw the S3 on Saturday in Time Square and I didn't like it, too narrow. It's as narrow as my Blackberry Storm but just as long as the Note. Because of the S3's length it can still fall out of shallow pockets, like the Note can, but the Note has the extra width that might keep the phone from falling out.



I don't text with one hand so why would I need a phone that is harder to read than the Note and the S3 was not easy to read for a phone that size. I think, once many consumers decide to go longer with a larger phone, a large part of those people would also go wider if it meant the screen would be easier to read, albeit a drop slower.



Feeling pressured by the unlimited data plan sun-setting is not really fair to those of us waiting so long for the Note or a phone like it. Even T-Mobile is getting it and Verizon doesn't have the decency to tell us whether or not you'll be carrying the phone?



So, I decided to wait and not renew and not buy the S3, a phone that I don't care for. I'll probably get a Note or Note 2 from ATT because your company is impossible about providing information so that we can make informed decisions that affect the next 2 years. By then ATT will probably have LTE service where I need it and Goodbye Verizon.



It would have been fair and appropriate to allow anyone qualifying for an updated phone, to be able to wait to get a phone they want rather than a phone you want us to buy. NONE of the new crop of phones compares at all with the Note. Either they don't have interchangeable batteries, no SD cards or they're smaller. Most people who wear suits have no problem putting it in their inside pocket. It fits in most trouser pants and almost all pocketbooks. Plus, there are millions of baby boomers who want a larger phone that they can actually read from and on which they can use the internet. The S3 and all the others are too small for surfing the web for baby boomers. Good marketing job! Hopefully, one of your people will get this posting to you.



DLCPA

 

[carracerz14]

Lololololol. I can read just find on my maxx. Maybe you need glasses? Maybe Verizon never has intentions of getting the note? You can't be mad at them for that. You just assumed that they would make an announcement about it and noe you're mad that they didn't.

 

[dlcpa]

Maybe Verizon never has intentions of getting the note? You can't be mad at them for that. You just assumed that they would make an announcement about it and noe you're mad that they didn't.

VZW is a business and they and ATT and all the carriers don't have an ounce of sympathy for it's customers. Communications companies are like utilities, you just have to pay and have no recourse.

VZW knew how long we've all been waiting and they are giving up on a large potential customer base. Don't assume all businessmen are smart. The idiots at Microsoft introduced WP 7.0 and 7.5 without any regard for the people who wanted great connectivity and features from the Windows Office Suite programs. These morons decided it wasn't important and they lost a big customer bases that came from WM 6.0. Perhaps the ole idea to give the customers what they want really works.

As far as the Maxx, it's too small for a lot of reading and it has a permanent battery so if you forget to charge the phone at night, you're out of luck. I will say it ran very smoothly at the Verizon store under 4G LTE. However, Motorola gave the customer what it wanted to give rather than what customers want, swappable batteries.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Verizon has halted the release of just about any phone until after the data plan change. They do not want people staying on unlimited data. As a business move, it isn't a bad one for them. It forces anyone waiting for a specific phone to change to the new plans.

As far as the Note goes, I've seen nothing that says Verizon ever plans to get it. Overall they like their Droid line and push that more than anything else. If you don't like the plans or the phones they are offering then it probably is time for you to pick another carrier.

BTW, I'm moving this to the Verizon forum.

 

[Cares]

No offense but he won't give it a second thought...probably won't even read it. The only small rumor is that Verizon might get an HTC Note-like phone. That rumor might have zero basis to it though.

 

[dirkbonn]

Lololololol. I can read just find on my maxx. Maybe you need glasses? Maybe Verizon never has intentions of getting the note? You can't be mad at them for that. You just assumed that they would make an announcement about it and noe you're mad that they didn't.

I think you're 100% correct carracerz14. I don't think any of the carriers are in the habbit of issuing press releases regarding phones they will NOT be releasing.

Best of luck to all of us when upgrading our phones,

 

[carracerz14]

As far as the Maxx, it's too small for a lot of reading and it has a permanent battery so if you forget to charge the phone at night, you're out of luck. I will say it ran very smoothly at the Verizon store under 4G LTE. However, Motorola gave the customer what it wanted to give rather than what customers want, swappable batteries.

I have never heard of anyone having any trouble reading anything on the maxx, or any other 4.3 inch phone. It is plenty bug enough. And if i don't charge my battery at night, then oh well. Because I can still go the entire next day with out charging anyway.

 

[Codec]

how can the GS3 be to small for surfing the web? that's like the biggest phone they have

 

[svensett]

I think you're the first person I've seen complain that the S3 is too small!

I think the Note sized phone are more of a niche market than mainstream. Remember the Del Streak? It was going to be the business man's phone, but didn't take hold either.

The S3 is about as big as I want to go for a phone. I have a laptop and a Touchpad if I need a bigger screen.

 

[euph_22]

I think you're the first person I've seen complain that the S3 is too small!

I think the Note sized phone are more of a niche market than mainstream. Remember the Del Streak? It was going to be the business man's phone, but didn't take hold either.

The S3 is about as big as I want to go for a phone. I have a laptop and a Touchpad if I need a bigger screen.

I like to say that the Note is the WORST of both a Tablet and a Phone. It's far too big to be a good phone for most people, and far too small to be a good tablet. I might be exactly what some people like the OP want, but it will never be a mainstream device.

Oh, and as for the letter. That is a discordant mess that is far to long, way too unfocused, and mostly way beyond Daniel S. Mead of Verizon's interest. He doesn't need to know what you like the Note so much or don't like the Galaxy S3.

I saw the S3 on Saturday in Time Square and I didn't like it, too narrow. It's as narrow as my Blackberry Storm but just as long as the Note. Because of the S3's length it can still fall out of shallow pockets, like the Note can, but the Note has the extra width that might keep the phone from falling out.

Why would the CEO of a company with $28Billion in revenue last quarter care about this?




He should care that you're not happy about the current phone choices, not happy that there has been no announcement either way about the Note (or a note-like phone) coming to verizon, not happy about the deadline for losing the unlimited data, and are taking your business elsewhere. You would have been better served with a shorter letter that had a laser-like focus on those key points. This is definitely a situation where less is more.

 

[rivera02]

Euph22, I agree with everything you said, except the part about the note not being a mainstream device. They've sold over 7 million units to date, and expect to sell over ten million by the end of the year. Not bad for only being available in limited markets. If the rumored note 2 comes to Verizon, i will be selling my s3 on craigslist and buying it unsubsidized.

 

[euph_22]

Euph22, I agree with everything you said, except the part about the note not being a mainstream device. They've sold over 7 million units to date, and expect to sell over ten million by the end of the year. Not bad for only being available in limited markets. If the rumored note 2 comes to Verizon, i will be selling my s3 on craigslist and buying it unsubsidized.

Don't confuse mainstream with popular/successful. Just because something isn't mainstream, that is something the average consumer would buy, doesn't mean that there isn't a market. And at the moment the only player in the Phablet market is the Note. And that market is large enough, no pun intended, that it will probably support some competition (especially since if you build a larger version of one of your normal phones, you don't need to spend alot on R&D). But I really don't expect the market for Phablets is much larger then that 10 million or so.

Oh, and the Galaxy SII has sold over 24 Million phones thus far.

 

[rivera02]

Ten million devices sold is a huge number in the android world. Definitely more than just a niche market. The galaxy s2, like the s3, was sold worldwide in many more markets than the note. I'm sure if you told HTC or Motorola that they would sell 10 units of any of their phones, they would say yes please. Samsung thought the note was mainstream enough to run a minute and a half super bowl commercial to promote it.

 

[rehpyc]

So.. you're mad that they aren't releasing, and may never release, a particular phone on another carrier that YOU want? And you're mad that they are making a business move to remove unlimited data plans with how the data market is growing?

It sounds like you should simply take your business elsewhere.

 

[live311]

Letters like this usually don't go anywhere because there is too much emotion involved. The fact that the OP jumps from a rant about VZW not offering the Galaxy Note to the loss of unlimited data to his dislike of the S3 back to the Galaxy Note makes him seem angry, disjointed, maybe even a little crazy. If you're upset about a certain phone not being available on carrier X then the solution to that problem is to go to carrier Y. If you're upset about the loss of unlimited data then you're pretty much SOL as the entire industry is going in this direction. The next time you're thinking about writing a letter to the CEO of any company, sleep on it, keep the emotions checked, and stick to logic so you can at least sound intelligent before s/he hits the delete button.

 

[dlcpa]

Letters like this usually don't go anywhere because there is too much emotion involved. The fact that the OP jumps from a rant about VZW not offering the Galaxy Note to the loss of unlimited data to his dislike of the S3 back to the Galaxy Note makes him seem angry, disjointed, maybe even a little crazy. If you're upset about a certain phone not being available on carrier X then the solution to that problem is to go to carrier Y. If you're upset about the loss of unlimited data then you're pretty much SOL as the entire industry is going in this direction. The next time you're thinking about writing a letter to the CEO of any company, sleep on it, keep the emotions checked, and stick to logic so you can at least sound intelligent before s/he hits the delete button.

Letters like this do go far, especially when you question the judgment of management. Certainly, I can take my business elsewhere and that $400 for two phones won't lift any eye lids but examine the particulars for a second of the overall mgmt decision.

How many different kinds of phones are out there right now. One is 4.2, one is 4.3 or 4.4. One has a permanent battery and one doesn't. One has 1 GB of memory and another may have 2GB. One has Amoled and others Amoled+. One has an 8mp camera and one was a 9 mp camera. One has a little better sensor than others. However, the Note is so hugely different than everything else/. What kind of management cannot see that? Are they willing to give that up even though their network blows the competition away and would fit perfectly for this phone?

You can say what you want about the $125 billion company (VZ) but I think VZW ignoring the Note was shortsighted. Perhaps they will come out with the Note2 in a month or so and I'll get it or perhaps ATT gets LTE in South Florida and many other places and help make VZW management pay for their decisions. Do they care, of course not because their golden parachutes are more important to them than their company's success. How smart was Detroit in the 70s and 80s when the multi millionaire CEOs took good care of themselves but let their industry die.

I have no doubt that if ATT had more LTE coverage they'd blow Verizon away with that certain segment that has no trouble with a larger phone. I felt a little frustrated because of the ending of the unlimited data plan but now I don't believe it will make that much of a difference for me now and by the time it would, Verizon will get rid of all of them.

dlcpa

 

[svensett]

Here's another spin on this. It might not even be VZNs fault. Has Samsung actually made a CDMA version of the Note? There were rumors of the Journal, but was that speculation or is this out there? Maybe Samsung made the GSM version to test the waters and the next version will be available on both systems.

 

[dlcpa]

Here's another spin on this. It might not even be VZNs fault. Has Samsung actually made a CDMA version of the Note? There were rumors of the Journal, but was that speculation or is this out there? Maybe Samsung made the GSM version to test the waters and the next version will be available on both systems.

That would make them even more clueless. If that were the case, they should have leaked it so as not to seen as nasty SOBs.

 

[euph_22]

That would make them even more clueless. If that were the case, they should have leaked it so as not to seen as nasty SOBs.

There is no upside to telling everybody what phones you WON'T be carrying. Besides making themselves look more open and honest (which will almost certainly do NOTHING for their balance sheet), how would him announcing that they weren't planning on selling the Note help his business?

 

[OfTheDamned]

When I read over your posts it really comes across as though you are taking this very personal. There are a lot of phones that Verizon doesn't carry. The HTC One X, EVO Lte, 99% of the Windows Mobile phones, etc. They also carry phones that others don't like the Razr, Galaxy Nexus, HTC Rhyme, etc. When the original iPhone came out you had to switch to At&t to get it. This happens all the time. Carriers and manufacturers reach a deal and decide which phones they will carry. Sometimes the carrier you are on gets an amazing phone that everyone else does and sometimes they don't.

 

[dlcpa]

I like to say that the Note is the WORST of both a Tablet and a Phone. It's far too big to be a good phone for most people, and far too small to be a good tablet. I might be exactly what some people like the OP want, but it will never be a mainstream device.

Oh, and as for the letter. That is a discordant mess that is far to long, way too unfocused, and mostly way beyond Daniel S. Mead of Verizon's interest. He doesn't need to know what you like the Note so much or don't like the Galaxy S3.



Why would the CEO of a company with $28Billion in revenue last quarter care about this?




He should care that you're not happy about the current phone choices, not happy that there has been no announcement either way about the Note (or a note-like phone) coming to verizon, not happy about the deadline for losing the unlimited data, and are taking your business elsewhere. You would have been better served with a shorter letter that had a laser-like focus on those key points. This is definitely a situation where less is more.

Euph, unlike rivera, I don't agree with anything you wrote but that's why we're all here and that's good. Do you have any idea how many people didn't buy the Note because it was on ATT? In a 4G LTE world, most towns are at least a year away.

Miami, West Palm Beach, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Long Island, Boca Raton, Charleston, Ann Arbor, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, New Orleans, Richmond, etc etc etc have no LTE on ATT but does on Verizon. This is what the 4G LTE Note is up against.

I don't know your background and how much you know about business but I am a CPA/Forensic Accountant and I do business valuations and evaluations. I'm only mentioning this because for a young kid with great eyes and in school the S3 is enough and maybe a little better for gaming because it's a little faster than the Note. For people in business, it's mixed but I can tell you many people would prefer the Note of the S3. I was surprised myself when my friend who is a neuro-psychologist and a female told me how much she loved her Dell Streak. An internist I know was a devout IPhone user until he saw the Note and showed me how much easier it is to read patient records on it than on a small phone. Other people like to read on the Note, do inventory on the Note, use the Note as a GPS, etc. There are so many things the Note does better than the S3 and for those who have big pockets and who don't want to carry around a tablet, the Note is perfect. Maybe not for you but for many it is. Just think about all the uses..it's endless.

If you are getting an S3 I wish you all the luck in the world with it and hope it's exactly what you need. I didn't go to the VZW store tonight because it's not what I want.

dlcpa

 

[euph_22]

Euph, unlike rivera, I don't agree with anything you wrote but that's why we're all here and that's good. Do you have any idea how many people didn't buy the Note because it was on ATT? In a 4G LTE world, most towns are at least a year away.

Do you have any idea how many people didn't buy the Note because it was on ATT? Really, do you? Can you give me a number supported by market research, or any quantitative backing?

You're a CPA. You certainly know, like I do as an Applied Mathematician, that anecdotes aren't evidence (certainly not quantitatively useful evidence). (This is just a rhetorical response. I actually have little to no interest in discussing the market feasibility of Samsung building a CDMA Note or Verizon selling it. And we have nowhere near enough data to have a meaningful analysis)

And everybody on here wishes that every device was available on every network. We all want you to have your Verizon Note. It's just not possible for the time being, no one on here has the power to make it possible (atleast in the short term). And nobody on here is responsible for deciding what versions of the Note Samsung will make or what phones Verizon will sell. You can stop pushing so hard.

 

[dlcpa]

Do you have any idea how many people didn't buy the Note because it was on ATT? Really, do you? Can you give me a number supported by market research, or any quantitative backing?

You're a CPA. You certainly know, like I do as an Applied Mathematician, that anecdotes aren't evidence (certainly not quantitatively useful evidence). (This is just a rhetorical response. I actually have little to no interest in discussing the market feasibility of Samsung building a CDMA Note or Verizon selling it. And we have nowhere near enough data to have a meaningful analysis)

And everybody on here wishes that every device was available on every network. We all want you to have your Verizon Note. It's just not possible for the time being, no one on here has the power to make it possible (atleast in the short term). And nobody on here is responsible for deciding what versions of the Note Samsung will make or what phones Verizon will sell. You can stop pushing so hard.

Anything I would say would be totally subject however, here is a very interesting Poll taken on Facebook. It is entitled if there could only be 1

Note 10,341
S3 17,541

NOTE is available on one Carrier w/ very limited 4G LTE
S3 available on all the big 4 with VZW's huge 4G LTE network.

It's a shame the geniuses at Verizon can't understand that. Maybe they were too busy negotiating their golden parachutes.

You have to draw your own conclusions. It's been obvious to me since Sept 2011 that Note had a huge following, too bad the Executive Team from Verizon Wireless wasn't reading what so many of us knew.

 

[VoidedSaint]

There are a lot of phones that Verizon doesn't carry. The HTC One X, EVO Lte, 99% of the Windows Mobile phones, etc. They also carry phones that others don't like the Razr, Galaxy Nexus, HTC Rhyme, etc. Carriers and manufacturers reach a deal and decide which phones they will carry. Sometimes the carrier you are on gets an amazing phone that everyone else does and sometimes they don't.

Anything I would say would be totally subject however, here is a very interesting Poll taken on Facebook. It is entitled if there could only be 1

Note 10,341
S3 17,541

NOTE is available on one Carrier w/ very limited 4G LTE
S3 available on all the big 4 with VZW's huge 4G LTE network.

It's a shame the geniuses at Verizon can't understand that. Maybe they were too busy negotiating their golden parachutes.

You have to draw your own conclusions. It's been obvious to me since Sept 2011 that Note had a huge following, too bad the Executive Team from Verizon Wireless wasn't reading what so many of us knew.

OTD's response should be your answer, i also saw in one of the previous posts, and they stated does smasung even make a cdma galaxy note? its not all verizon's fault you have to take into consideration about samsung, and the phones they make.

 

[dirkbonn]

6/26/12


Daniel S. Mead & Executive Team
President and CEO
Verizon Wireless
1 Verizon Way
Basking Ridge NJ 07920-1025


Dear Mr. Mead & Verizon Executive Team,


I was eligible to get a new phone from VZW back in July of 2011. When I saw the Samsung Note, I knew that was the phone for me. So, I waited and waited and Verizon never said a word about when or if you were getting the phone.
Like posters have said before, Verizon is not in the habbit of announcing phones they will NOT be carrying.


Now I have to buy a phone by Thursday or I lose my unlimited data plan and yet still no word about the Note. You can't be that clueless that many people want it and there is a big market for a phone that size and so easy to read.
No you don't. Do nothing and you keep your unlimited data.


I saw the S3 on Saturday in Time Square and I didn't like it, too narrow. It's as narrow as my Blackberry Storm but just as long as the Note. Because of the S3's length it can still fall out of shallow pockets, like the Note can, but the Note has the extra width that might keep the phone from falling out.
Now you've switched topics and are complaining about the size of the S3 which Verizon has nothing to do with. SamSung made the phone.


I don't text with one hand so why would I need a phone that is harder to read than the Note and the S3 was not easy to read for a phone that size. I think, once many consumers decide to go longer with a larger phone, a large part of those people would also go wider if it meant the screen would be easier to read, albeit a drop slower.
More complaining about the S3, which again is a SamSung issue.


Feeling pressured by the unlimited data plan sun-setting is not really fair to those of us waiting so long for the Note or a phone like it. Even T-Mobile is getting it and Verizon doesn't have the decency to tell us whether or not you'll be carrying the phone?
Again with asking Verizon to announce which phone they will NOT be carrying.


So, I decided to wait and not renew and not buy the S3, a phone that I don't care for. I'll probably get a Note or Note 2 from ATT because your company is impossible about providing information so that we can make informed decisions that affect the next 2 years. By then ATT will probably have LTE service where I need it and Goodbye Verizon.
After complaing about Verizon not announcing whether or not they will be getting the Note, you have deciced to inform them that you will be leaving Verizon. What is Mr Meads incentive to asist someone who has already decided he will no longer be his customer?


It would have been fair and appropriate to allow anyone qualifying for an updated phone, to be able to wait to get a phone they want rather than a phone you want us to buy. NONE of the new crop of phones compares at all with the Note. Either they don't have interchangeable batteries, no SD cards or they're smaller. Most people who wear suits have no problem putting it in their inside pocket. It fits in most trouser pants and almost all pocketbooks. Plus, there are millions of baby boomers who want a larger phone that they can actually read from and on which they can use the internet. The S3 and all the others are too small for surfing the web for baby boomers. Good marketing job! Hopefully, one of your people will get this posting to you.
For a CPA who graduated college, and must have had a class in english composition, this letter does ramble and switch topics and then return to the original topic. It's probably best you posted it here and didn't mail it.


DLCPA

__________________________________________

Possibly some good news for you. The Note 2 has entered the rumor mill. It says it has LTE connectivity so maybe it will come to Verizon. Here's a link,

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 could be launched in September