Verizon CEO Makes Stupid Remarks

[nannerbean]

:bang: CNet reports on an article in the San Francisco Chronicle interviewing Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Here is the link: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6215352-1.html?tag=cnetfd.sd
He says that customers are expecting too much by expecting cell phone reception in their homes (obviously to preserve their landline business). He also makes statements like it is not the company's responsibility to distribute coverage maps. Is this what is wrong with Corporate America today and why we seem to be losing our global leadership? Such arrogance and ignorance will certainly make me think twice about going to Verizon. Can you hear me now?

[vikingjunior]

Old News..........................

[Sanyo7400]

Old News..........................



well i agree with him 100% on customer expectations. if you want something as realiable as a landline phone, then get a landline phone. landline phones have been around for what, about 75 years or so. wireless is about 20 to 25 years old. give wireless service another 25 years to catch up and then complain if you don't get service in your house. wireless phones were created for the quick chat while on the go, not to replace your home phone. i'm sure some of the people on here, or their parents or their grandparents can tell you about the great improvements that happened to landline service over the MANY years. ask them about the journey from the party line to where service is now. it takes time.

[EliteSoja]

:bang: CNet reports on an article in the San Francisco Chronicle interviewing Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Here is the link: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6215352-1.html?tag=cnetfd.sd
He says that customers are expecting too much by expecting cell phone reception in their homes (obviously to preserve their landline business). He also makes statements like it is not the company's responsibility to distribute coverage maps. Is this what is wrong with Corporate America today and why we seem to be losing our global leadership? Such arrogance and ignorance will certainly make me think twice about going to Verizon. Can you hear me now?


Seems to me like he's talking too much. Even though it's sorta true, you don't tell the public that. It's rude and say's he doesn't really care about his customers.

[vikingjunior]

Sorry the old news post was shallow, just saying there is another thread that am to lazy to look for about this story...

[lennyj17]

Heres my take on the Subject


I do think that people expect too much, they want thier phones to work everywhere (in the basement of 60 story office buildings, in the woods, on mt st helens, land of OZ) and you know who put this in thier heads verizon and cingular, claiming to have coverage allover even in the ozarks.....

Sprint goal to is maintain reliable wireless service in well populated areas (i.e at least 75K in pop) not in backwoods, and in the mountain cliff, thats what having good roaming agreements are for..........

Verizon is a mass munipulator, claiming the largest coverage area, but thats not true, i was looking a sprints maps and verizon, did you know that verizon NATIVE coverage area is not that much bigger than sprints, but where they fool people is on the AC maps b/c they combine all native and digial roaming coverage into one color (dark red) and light pink is anolog, meaning they even make the area that they use sprint towers for roaming look like is was native coverage....... If sprint did the same thing with its maps and made all digital roaming dark green like pcs coverage then sprint would have the same coverage as VZW or bigger.......Its just that Sprint sparates it for you one map and gives you everything up front, and look where its got them #3 spot, But like Ludacris Rap, I'm Headed for that #1 spot.....................

[dewmik]

Sorry the old news post was shallow, just saying there is another thread that am to lazy to look for about this story...
Viking It was not shallow. it dose help wehn you are surching fo info that there be as few and compleat threads as possable. Maby we could be mor epolite I spose but when you search before you post it all works better.

[vikingjunior]

:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[coolqf]

well i agree with him 100% on customer expectations. if you want something as realiable as a landline phone, then get a landline phone. landline phones have been around for what, about 75 years or so. wireless is about 20 to 25 years old. give wireless service another 25 years to catch up and then complain if you don't get service in your house. wireless phones were created for the quick chat while on the go, not to replace your home phone. i'm sure some of the people on here, or their parents or their grandparents can tell you about the great improvements that happened to landline service over the MANY years. ask them about the journey from the party line to where service is now. it takes time.

Complaining is what helps the development.
Question: What do the customers want?
If customers didn't comment about wanting service in their homes it would be a lower priority...

Imagine if all laptops came equipped with bluetooth? Everyone would complain to have it in their phones as well. In a heart beat it would be in phones.

[Deval]

I guess it depends on the local area...some people are lucky to live in places where service is so saturated, so not having service in your house is a make or break deal...then again, some people are rarely home, so it doesnt matter, as long as it works for them in other places.

[HyperEvo]

VZW.. we never stop ripping you off

[danny.boi]

Heres my take on the Subject

Verizon is a mass munipulator, claiming the largest coverage area, but thats not true, i was looking a sprints maps and verizon, did you know that verizon NATIVE coverage area is not that much bigger than sprints, but where they fool people is on the AC maps b/c they combine all native and digial roaming coverage into one color (dark red) and light pink is anolog, meaning they even make the area that they use sprint towers for roaming look like is was native coverage....... If sprint did the same thing with its maps and made all digital roaming dark green like pcs coverage then sprint would have the same coverage as VZW or bigger.......Its just that Sprint sparates it for you one map and gives you everything up front, and look where its got them #3 spot, But like Ludacris Rap, I'm Headed for that #1 spot.....................


Manipulator? Not so sure I totally agree unless you want to use that phrase for all carriers or even most businesses in corporate America. Every carrier to some extent will use catch phrases or remarks to lure in customers.

Last time I checked the VZW website, it showed both a native coverage map and the America' Choice map. Clear as day for those of us in the know. Customers may be a little confused; that is to say; if they even put this much effort to care. They just want to know basically where their phones will work or not. As long as they are not charged for roaming, they want to make and receive calls and don't care so much who is the provider handling the radio transmission.

The America's Choice Map tells people "in general" where they will be able to make and receive calls without getting charged for roaming. It is not a guarantee of coverage map.

Sprint has a similar map too. It is the "expanded" calling area offered by the FC&A plan. It shows practically the entire US footprint as an area where people can make and receive calls whether in digital or analog mode. Just like the America's Choice map, it is not a guarantee of coverage either.

[danny.boi]

:bang: CNet reports on an article in the San Francisco Chronicle interviewing Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Here is the link: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-6215352-1.html?tag=cnetfd.sd
He says that customers are expecting too much by expecting cell phone reception in their homes (obviously to preserve their landline business). He also makes statements like it is not the company's responsibility to distribute coverage maps. Is this what is wrong with Corporate America today and why we seem to be losing our global leadership? Such arrogance and ignorance will certainly make me think twice about going to Verizon. Can you hear me now?

Ivan Seidenberg is the CEO of Verizon Communications not Verizon Wireless. He may of ruffled a few feathers with the sensitive out there but I don't think he meant for people to blow his comment out of proportion the way it has within these mobile communities. It is one of those instances where it may of been in better taste to keep the comment to himself since it is obvious people get the two companies mixed up due to a common name.

Verizon Wireless' CEO Danny Strigl has made no mention or any apology for the remarks made by a CEO of another company. I think they just let it go and decided to move on with their lives.

Ivan Seidenberg is the CEO of the nation's largest telco. He knows his landline business shows a decline of 4% annually mainly due to an increase of mobile phone use and alternative phone services like VOIP. He would rather you keep your landline phone than ditch his company for a wireless phone company. Sure he'd rather you stay within the Verizon family by joining his wireless division if all else fails, but for what's it worth, he'd rather you'd stay a loyal Verizon landline customer for as long as he can hold you.

Just a little perspective.

[danny.boi]

I guess it depends on the local area...some people are lucky to live in places where service is so saturated, so not having service in your house is a make or break deal...then again, some people are rarely home, so it doesnt matter, as long as it works for them in other places.


I agree. Society's expectation's on mobile phone reliability and accessibility has grown ever since our carrier's have put plan prices within everyone's reach.

I remember telling customers a few years back: "It's a mobile phone. It is designed to work <on the go>; away from home. That's why you pay for a fixed wired landline phone. Wireless phone service is not perfected..." I used to say the above nicely in an effort to keep customer expectation within reality so they wouldn't come back the next day throwing the phone at me if it didn't work in their basement. I've read so many threads about mobile phone use in basements..... I'll save that for another time........ LOL

Haha. Things have changed. Service has gotten better. Still, it's not perfect. Wireless service works great for me indoors and that is why I have ditched my landline. I still know many others in well populated areas with poor wireless signal inside their homes with all service carriers. I could see how my opinions and or expectations may differ simply due to my own personal experience.

Although I agree with Ivan Seidenberg, I also agree that I would never say it in public if I was trying to play good PR. This is not the first or last time we will hear controversial comments from this guy. I had the privlege of meeting this guy in New York in 2003 and believe me, this guy does not hold back. If he thinks it, he says it. He told me my Motorola SC3160 I had at the time was the worst phone ever and he would never buy a phone at Radio Shack if they were the last store on earth. Yikes..... He cracked me up. Yes, my phone back then was the worst ever.. Haha. I hope Radio Shack isn't reading this............

[lennyj17]

Manipulator? Not so sure I totally agree unless you want to use that phrase for all carriers or even most businesses in corporate America. Every carrier to some extent will use catch phrases or remarks to lure in customers.

Last time I checked the VZW website, it showed both a native coverage map and the America' Choice map. Clear as day for those of us in the know. Customers may be a little confused; that is to say; if they even put this much effort to care. They just want to know basically where their phones will work or not. As long as they are not charged for roaming, they want to make and receive calls and don't care so much who is the provider handling the radio transmission.

The America's Choice Map tells people "in general" where they will be able to make and receive calls without getting charged for roaming. It is not a guarantee of coverage map.

Sprint has a similar map too. It is the "expanded" calling area offered by the FC&A plan. It shows practically the entire US footprint as an area where people can make and receive calls whether in digital or analog mode. Just like the America's Choice map, it is not a guarantee of coverage either.


But Unlike Verizon if you would have read the full post.......Sprint does not color roaming the same as the native coverage color, we know that dark green is sprint coverage and all pcs features will work, unlike verizon who make all coverage except anolog look like its native coverage and that is deceptive, so thay make people think all verizon service will work were they see dark red and that not true, just by looking at the ac map can you tell me that N. NY state is all native coverage or is it roaming, no you cant, sprints maps does not have this mis-information.............

[danny.boi]

But Unlike Verizon if you would have read the full post.......Sprint does not color roaming the same as the native coverage color, we know that dark green is sprint coverage and all pcs features will work, unlike verizon who make all coverage except anolog look like its native coverage and that is deceptive, so thay make people think all verizon service will work were they see dark red and that not true, just by looking at the ac map can you tell me that N. NY state is all native coverage or is it roaming, no you cant, sprints maps does not have this mis-information.............

Why does this bother you? Aren't you a Sprint customer anyways? :rolleyes:

I don't think the average customer reads into it as deeply as you; I could be wrong.

I'll send you a link of VZW native coverage if you can't find it on their website. It's in orange, not red. It specifically states that this is the area where enhanced services will work.

Remember, the AC Map is a rate map. It also tells customers where their anytime minutes, N&W minutes, and "IN" minutes apply. It is not a guarantee of coverage.

[Deval]

Why does this bother you? Aren't you a Sprint customer anyways? :rolleyes:

I don't think the average customer reads into it as deeply as you; I could be wrong.

I'll send you a link of VZW native coverage if you can't find it on their website. It's in orange, not red. It specifically states that this is the area where enhanced services will work.

Remember, the AC Map is a rate map. It also tells customers where their anytime minutes, N&W minutes, and "IN" minutes apply. It is not a guarantee of coverage.

too bad the average consumer sees that as a coverage map...and the reps push it that way

[danny.boi]

too bad the average consumer sees that as a coverage map...and the reps push it that way


I've been happy with my local reps. They always seem very knowledgeable and explain the plans to me well each time I go in even though I probably know them just as well or better. I play dumb and let them explain away.

My local store where I live is in an upscale area where they activate a lot of data customers who are excited by EVDO. I would hope that they would give their customers real expectations of where their data will work at broadband speeds. I know at least of them did for me and my boss when we went in to check out their aircards. My boss was so impressed with his knowledge we offered him an interview for one of our corporate sales positions. We like to do that since it is the perfect opportunity to see a perspective employee in action. Watch out Deval, be on the lookout. We might just come into your store one day and try to steal you away from Sprint.

Most reps I've had give me incorrect information are "over the phone" reps. I don't correct them and try to belittle them, I just get their employee ID and disconnect the call. If I'm in need of account assistance, the last thing I need is a rep who doesn't know what he/she is doing.

Any sales rep who sells CDMA products and services here in the US needs to be careful in explaining that all digital features do not work everywhere just because they get a signal even if they've been led to believe otherwise. There are even a few posters who believe this incorrect information too.

My local Verizon rep. has told me that they are currently in talks with Alltel and some other smaller CDMA providers into working out a possible data roaming deal for their customers. We'll see if that actually comes to fruition or if he's just blowing smoke. He's never let me down before so let's hope he's right.

Take Care.

[Bohemian Iconoclast]

...to the poster who said that Verizon's native network is equivalent in size to Sprint, you may wish to re-think that...GTE *plus* Airtouch/Vodafone *plus* Bell Atlantic *plus* PrimeCo equals Verizon...

As much as I love Sprint, NO ONE touches Verizon coverage overall (check Consumer Reports)...

[ZiggyZ]

hmmm.. This WAS a good article...lol

[ZiggyZ]

Here is the article again......

...Verizon says quit your whining
Two weeks ago, the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg where he admonished customers for having "unrealistic expectations" over mobile phone service. "Why in the world would you think your cell phone would work in your house?" he said. "The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator; they want it to work in the basement."
Uh, excuse me Ivan, but I do expect my cell phone to work at home (it mostly does, except in the kitchen). And unless you're a troglodyte or spend your time in bomb shelters, I don't think it's an unrealistic expectation at all. Sure, I'll give you that service in basements is a lot to ask, but service in elevators isn't an outlandish concept either. In Hong Kong, for instance, your mobile is operable in subways, which--remember--are underground. The same thing should happen here, and it's not the customer's problem if they expect it to be that way.

Seidenberg also said it's not the company's responsibility to distribute coverage maps showing coverage dead zones. Sorry, Ivan, but I just don't hear you now. If Verizon is going to claim it has the "nation's most reliable wireless network," it'd better be able to back it up. Granted, dead zones are inevitable, but it shouldn't be up to the customer to track them. Customers have a right to this kind of information, and wireless providers have a responsibility to fully detail their services.

[Aurakles]

I'm not sure why this thread was resurrected, but the CEO of Verizon Communications can say whatever he wants, no matter how asinine. He doesn't run Verizon Wireless, though it is easy to confuse the two companies.