Is it me or does it seem like Verizon is sabotaging this phone in favor of...

[Connectz]

Is it me or does it seem like Verizon is kind of sabotaging the Gnex in favor of the Rezound and RAZR? When I went into Best Buy today, they did NOT have the phone on display, and the only accesory they had was the ZAGG invisible shield. When I asked a salesperson did they sell out of them, they said they haven't heard much about the phone.

When I went into a Verizon store, there were all kinds of RAZR and REZOUND posters and accessories but NONE for the Gnex! It was sitting on the display with the Rezound and RAZR and that was it! I wanted to get a case and there were none.

Furthermore, I have not seen a single TV commercial for this phone while I ALWAYS see Rezound and RAZR commercials. Its almost as if Verizon does not want this phone to outsell the other two.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[byrds8]

Ive seen the Gnex commercial several times in my area.

 

[pool_shark]

I've only seen one or two nexus commercials.
Others have said the stores don't have the accessories on display, they are kept in back. When I went to get my case they were in back also.

 

[SolidOrange]

i can attest to the fact that the corporate VZ store near me is actively pushing people away from the GNex. when i was in there last week, a couple came in asking to buy 2 of them and the sales rep must have spent at least 10 minutes convincing them that the razr was a superior device. it was hard to watch without saying anything, and in the end, they both left with razr's (one white, one black).

that being said, i have seen several GNex commercials lately, especially during football, but they are still far outnumbered by razr/rezound ads.

 

[quickaudi]

they have a hard-on for the glory days of the OG Razr sales...

 

[Connectz]

I just got back from the Verizon store and they still do not have any Gnex accesories on display. The phone sits to the left of the HUGE Rezound display. And to the right of that was a HUGE RAZR dsplay. Verizon must make a killing of of their bloatware for them to do the Gnex this way. Its the only logical reason I can think they are doing this. In my area, NJ, I still haven't seen a Gnex add (DirecTV) and Verizon is based in NJ!

 

[davey11]

It's a shame noob smartphone buyers won't get to experience the greatness of this phone and ics because some schmuck rep pushes a razr or rezound on them. Them reps make me weak sometimes. Most of the time actually lol

 

[The_Chief]

I have long maintained the conspiracy theory that Verizon loathes phones with easily unlocked bootloaders. Add to that:

Motorola is Verizon's OEM of choice. Both made gazillions with the Droid brand, and Moto locks their bootloaders down tightly. Therefore, RAZR was top of the list for their highest-priority launch.

HTC is also good for locking bootloaders, and Verizon invested a great deal of money into marketing the ReZound. And those two phones are getting all the attention and are being heavily pushed by reps.

My theory, then, is that Verizon released Nexus out of a contractual obligation. They had NO CLUE there was such a built-in demand for the Nexus, and they really don't like developer phones at all. Hence the low-key release... with no posters, signs, commercials (I have yet to see a VERIZON Nexus commercial), or sales reps pushing it.

Sometimes the most heavily-marketed phone in the store isn't necessarily the best. I know that statement is arguable by many RAZR/ReZound owners, but most would admit that Nexus has hardware and software advantages over everything else on the market.

My 0.02

 

[vandyman]

A lot has to do with this phone being a developers phone and there are still some problems that had to be ironed out before the push.

The accessories for the GNex are limited right now, but they should start to show up in the next week or two.

Now that the New Year is here and they have ironed out some of the problems. I bet you they will start pushing this phone very soon.....

 

[truelove79]

For the past month or more Verizon would show at least a dozen RAZR commercials during any given NFL game. It was overwhelming. Today during the Bears game there were as many Nexus commercials and NOT ONE RAZR commercial. It was refreshing to see Verizon get behind a phone that deserves the attention and doesn't have their droid branding.

Also my corporate store has a pretty major display for the Gnex (though not as big as the RAZR's) and all the salesmen have Gnex's.

 

[BzB]

I wouldn't say sabotage, but I might say slightly neglecting the gnex in favor of their branded line up. The gnex is the odd man out and the only pure android phone in the line up. Motorola, HTC and even Samsung likely have more invested with verizon than a Google branded product.

Doesn't change the fact the gnex is the best android phone in their line up. And will only get better over time.

 

[ANewDay]

I've never seen any accessories on display at their stores. No posters or anything either.

 

[syntrix]

I wouldn't say sabotage, but I might say slightly neglecting the gnex in favor of their branded line up. The gnex is the odd man out and the only pure android phone in the line up. Motorola, HTC and even Samsung likely have more invested with verizon than a Google branded product.

Doesn't change the fact the gnex is the best android phone in their line up. And will only get better over time.

I'll agree with that last line, RAZR has better call quality, but not by much. SGN is just amazing in what it offers, you can't go back to RAZR!

I do like the docks and lapdock for the razr, but would I use that a lot? Probably not much over my desktop or several laptops and tablets around the house.

I do have my old bionic, so I might bite on the hdma/webtop, but not seeing that as a serious addition to a smartphone.

 

[kornesque]

Yup, looks like business as usual. They've got their comfort zone and they're sticking to it.

 

[Dubbin1]

There are several Nexus commercials that cost them millions to make and air, I think its silly to even say they don;t care about the phone. The reps in the stores will push whatever phone they "think" is best.

 

[syntrix]

There are several Nexus commercials that cost them millions to make and air, I think its silly to even say they don;t care about the phone. The reps in the stores will push whatever phone they "think" is best.

It's been advertised as their top phone over the holidays. I might get the rezound one 1:20.

Local reps, as you say, will steer on what they have. Most of the locals have SGN and even were blatant enough to say, OH I BOUGHT THE LAST EXTENDED BATTERY LIKE AN HOUR AGO.

I'd say flagship in my region, lol.

 

[sperho]

Slightly off topic, but a little story of how salespeople behave.

I watched a Verizon sales rep push a young woman hard toward an iPhone when she expressed her desire for the Droid 3 because it had a physical keyboard. He was up and down ripping the Droid 3 and extolling the virtues of the iPhone itself and the virtues it would magically place upon her if she bought the iPhone. She stuck to her guns, he took her money. I was very proud of her.

Who knows what exactly motivates a particular salesperson at a particular time. My guess is that more often than not, their arrogant thinking that they know what a prospective customer wants more than the customer herself.

 

[chrisexv6]

It actually makes me wonder if this will be the LAST "pure google" phone we ever see from Verizon.

Frankly Im surprised they still use Samsung, since seemingly every Samsung Android phone can be rooted/debloated/etc (even completely safely) in a matter of minutes.

Just placed my GNex order.........hopefully I get one with no issues, I plan on keeping it for a long time, especially with the support of Google themselves behind it.

Agreed about pushing Moto.....both of my brother in laws have Droids. Most of my family doesnt understand how you can have an Android phone that doesnt have Droid in the name. Marketing in action, thats for sure! But if they are pushing Moto because of locked down hardware, etc.....why even let Samsung make phones for you to begin with?

 

[chrisexv6]

Slightly off topic, but a little story of how salespeople behave.

I watched a Verizon sales rep push a young woman hard toward an iPhone when she expressed her desire for the Droid 3 because it had a physical keyboard. He was up and down ripping the Droid 3 and extolling the virtues of the iPhone itself and the virtues it would magically place upon her if she bought the iPhone. She stuck to her guns, he took her money. I was very proud of her.

Who knows what exactly motivates a particular salesperson at a particular time. My guess is that more often than not, their arrogant thinking that they know what a prospective customer wants more than the customer herself.

Commissions would be my guess.......a second guess would be what they happen to have a ton of in stock and need to dump. The "fun" thing with iPhones is that someone can walk in and they may have 2 or 3 models at any one time (Im guessing stores didnt send back their 4 stock when the 4S came out, did they?), trying to clear out the old model first.

 

[sperho]

Commissions would be my guess.......a second guess would be what they happen to have a ton of in stock and need to dump. The "fun" thing with iPhones is that someone can walk in and they may have 2 or 3 models at any one time (Im guessing stores didnt send back their 4 stock when the 4S came out, did they?), trying to clear out the old model first.

The 4S was the only model that they had on the floor, so I'm guessing that leftover 4 models wasn't the reason either. Commissions are a reasonable guess, but it still supports the notion that the customer is one of the last considerations in some salepeople's minds...

 

[chrisexv6]

...... but it still supports the notion that the customer is one of the last considerations in some salepeople's minds...

I dont doubt you there one bit!!

Its ashame thats the way it is, but I agree thats the way it is.

 

[ConfidentDroid]

I don't think Verizon is trying to ruin the Nexus, I just think the Nexus has a niche group which is us.

First the phone sold out for the most part in most areas without an official announcement from Verizon so why does it need the extra advertisement.

Second it is a developer phone which is not for everyone. I love android but even some of the developer options in the setting menu scare me a little bit and I'm reasonably tech savvy, so imagine someone less knowledgeable messing around with those settings.

Just my two cents but the RAZR and Rezound are the best "average consumer phones" on Verizon right now.

I dont doubt you there one bit!!

Its ashame thats the way it is, but I agree thats the way it is.

Not to split hairs but sometime the salesperson is also the last thought of a consumer.

 

[reimerj]

Is it me or does it seem like Verizon is kind of sabotaging the Gnex in favor of the Rezound and RAZR? When I went into Best Buy today, they did NOT have the phone on display, and the only accesory they had was the ZAGG invisible shield. When I asked a salesperson did they sell out of them, they said they haven't heard much about the phone.

When I went into a Verizon store, there were all kinds of RAZR and REZOUND posters and accessories but NONE for the Gnex! It was sitting on the display with the Rezound and RAZR and that was it! I wanted to get a case and there were none.

Furthermore, I have not seen a single TV commercial for this phone while I ALWAYS see Rezound and RAZR commercials. Its almost as if Verizon does not want this phone to outsell the other two.

What are your thoughts on this?

I think that Verizon is really pushing the RAZR and downplaying both the Nexus and the Rezound! I had the Rezound first and the Rezound does have a few more accessories but very low exposure for the first few weeks that it was out. Now that I have the Nexus there are even fewer accessories and the same low exposure. I have seen several Nexus commercials the last couple of days though.

reimerj

 

[quiklives]

I have repeatedly found the salespeople in my local Verizon store to be a) clueless and b) not terribly friendly or helpful. When I asked about release dates before the Nexus was out, they acted like they'd never heard of this strange "Nexus" thing I was speaking of. Most of them are young guys, and yes, I think "arrogant" is very much the word I'm looking for here.

I went in the other night in search of a case for my Nexus (which I very intentionally did not buy from them) and there were definitely no signs or displays for the Nexus, but the store was full of Razr and Iphone promotions...and for the first time, I came across someone helpful - a middle aged woman who seems to only sell the accessories. (I don't know how their company structure is set up, I just know this was all I saw her do, and she took me to a register in the service area, not up front with the waiting kiosk etc) She knew all about the Nexus, got me several cases out of the back to try, and we talked about the screen and ICS for a few minutes, she talked about how her upgrade was still a few weeks off but there was never a doubt she'd be getting a Nexus...it was totally different than any other experience I've had there.

My worry is that if they ARE trying not to promote it, will this become "Oh we've decided not to carry another Nexus, since that one sold poorly..."? Is that their intention?

 

[WormDoes]

I think it comes down to Verizon knowing where there bread is buttered. By "neglecting" the Nexus and advertising the hell out of the Razr/Rezound Verizon can show sales figures that support locked/bloated phones.

The only advertising for the Nexus I've seen is the lame (IMO) Google hangout commercial. If I wasn't an Android geek and I needed a new phone that Nexus commercial wouldn't sway me away from the Rezound or Razr.

I don't think Verizon wants the Nexus to be a success. It goes against everything they believe in (bloat, locked) If they wanted to support the Google philosophy they would have chosen to sell the Nexus One instead of the Incredible. Just think how many units the NO could have sold if they marketed it like the Incredible.

As some have said, I also think this will be the first and only Nexus device on Verizon.