I am Done with Verizon.

I have had phones from, Cingular, Sprint, AT&T and Verizon and I must say Verizon has been the worst of the bunch. It is obvious that their business model is focused on selling their own half-assed services and preventing you from using any other alternatives. I’ll admit, I love my LGVX9800 but only with the installation of BitPim. With Bitpim I am able to have a lot more access to the phone than Verizon wants you to. In other words I can finally do stuff you should be able to do with out having to pay extra for. Such as: synching with outlook, adding custom ringtones, adding custom video etc. I also pay for the extra web package which allows me unlimited access to the web but not unlimited access to their content. Those crappy videos and wallpapers are extra. The welcome web screen when I am accessing the web seems to be redesigned every few months with the addition of more advertising and less content. There is not much screen real estate to begin with. Oh and Verizon locked the phone so I can’t download cool apps such as Google maps, Google Mail and Yahoo mobile. But if I want to pay and extra 4 bucks a day I can use their map/gps system.

I’ve also noticed that Verizon likes to make the user experience deceptively difficult. All I’m asking for is a a quick summery on their website when I log in that tells me how many text/pix/flix messages total I have sent and how many I have before I go over my limit. What I get is how many pix/flix messages, how many text messages, how many IN messages and how many IN Pix/Flix I have sent. All tallied separate and nothing indicating the amount remaining. (“IN” does not mean incoming messages either, it means people in your network.) It’s all very confusing, a no brainer fix and something that would keep me happy preventing me from leaving their crappy service. Why don’t they fix it? Because they only make money on those .15 message you send after you go over your limit.

The best was a few weeks ago when I received what looked to be a piece of junk mail from Verizon in my mail box. It was so convincing it went right into my trash pile. Fortunately for me I had heard a podcast that mentioned what exactly was hidden behind this mask. In the envelope was a letter from Verizon letting me know that they plan to sell my call information to third parties unless I call and opt out. And if I don’t call within 30 days of receiving the letter they would assume I was opting in. What a deceptive piece of crap.

Early this week Google announced their Android open Handset Alliance. Essentially they are developing a a free operating system for mobile phones that will integrate with the web and other Google type web applications. I am a big fan of simple yet customizable and this has been something I have been keeping my eye on for the last few months. Sure enough… Sprint and T-Mobile Not Verizon will be on board. Come January when my painful 2 year death sentence with Verizon is up. I shall not be returning.

Powered by ScribeFire.