I recently upgraded my old Motorola flip phone to Verizon Wireless's new Droid Smartphone which uses Google's Android operating system (OS). It is a competitor to Apple's iPhone. I had earlier used several Palm Pilots which were known as personal digital assistants (PDA's) since they did not have phones built in. I fully believe that the Android system will grow in importance and eclipse Apple's phone since Google is spending a lot of money on it, and others like Palm Pre or even Blackberry's will lose customer interest.
So, I went to the Verizon "store" in the Lake Square Mall (Leesburg, FL) and bought one. Verizon still aggravates me by...
having small signs that play up the "after rebate" price as the price, but instead of $199, you really pay $299 plus tax, sign up for a more expensive phone and data plan for 24 months (figure over $100 per month, and even more if you add texting). Thus, the little $199 purchase really incurs a total purchase of over $2700 over 24 months, and even more if you buy apps or programs that run on the Droid. Then you have to fill out forms and send in the rebate request, and instead of a $100 check, you get a pre-funded ATM card. I was familiar with apps from the Palm Pilot days, and even some of the leading software firms from Palm are providing Droid apps, indicating better programming skills.
But, my experience getting and initially using the phone was Shaky, or to be more direct, it "sucked".
The salesman didn't verify he had copied all my contacts from the old phone to the new one, so I had to go back and listen to them explain all the reasons their really sophisticated equipment could fail. While I was there, another customer with a different phone had returned for the third time because a salesperson had transferred contacts but they all had different, obnoxious ring tones and the salesman that was there refused to "go into 100 contacts and change the ring tones" and blamed it on the conversion routine. But, when I asked why they didn't have a simple "indoctrination" and migration checklist like professionals do in other fields that required they visually verify that the same number of contacts on old phone matched the number copied to the new phone, (or that an acceptable ring tone was used), that was too logical. It turned out that my problem was a known glitch and they fixed it quickly, but would not agree to initiate my suggested checklist process. They told the other guy to come back for a FOURTH time with some document he had not brought. (Which is how salespeople get rid of problems...)
AND, they did a POOR job of explaining how to actually use the new DROID phone just to receive and make calls so it could be actually used like a phone. So, it actually took me days to figure out how to answer the phone, how to just open the main menu screen, how to make a call, etc. The phone requires the use of a Gmail email account, and they set one up for me, but again, no formal process to ensure I had the password, etc. I wrote all that down during the process, but it was from my experience, not theirs. I already have another GMAIL account, but if you didn't know where to find your account online, that is another thing you would have to worry about.
One reason is that the "Getting Started manual" was only a few pages long and was a joke. I had to do a Google search to find a more detailed user guide, and it was only about 60 pages and very brief. I had to then do searches to find online forums on Droids and Android to find answers to simple questions. For intance, there are numerous features but they are buried under several levels of menu buttons, and you just have to look at all of them, and then try to remember how to find them if you need to reverse a feature choice (like vibrate) in a hurry.
As a result of this, when I received some calls, didn't even know how to hang up because the screen shuts off after a short time, and I didn't know a fast way to pull up the "Phone" app.
So, I am looking forward to using the Droid features, but you have to be willing to constantly be experimenting how something works, then looking up answers on the internet. If you are not, then maybe a smartphone is not for you. Don't get this phone for someone who only wants music, for instance, on a phone, and has no interest in the advanced features, or who will not read a manual or search the internet for answers.
I tried writing up a bunch of this on Verizon's "feedback" forms, but then their website timed out and I lost all the writing, so that is why:
Here is what I posted on Verizon's "Feedback" form today, and as you can tell, I was rather direct:
YOUR VERIZON CUSTOMER WEBSITE SUCKS FOR USERS.
I spent 20 minutes after signing in to my online Verizon Wireless account and filling out a review of the Droid phone and your system timed out, did not tell me how to extend it, and I lost all my writing. YOUR PROGRAMMERS NEED TO BE FIRED - If you ask my help to get hardware reviews on equipment you sell, then why do you timeout the period when I am actually entering the data and cause me to lose it?
ADDITIONALLY, the DROID documentation that comes with it SUCKS and is for children. How do you expect adults to figure out all the options on the Droid phone with the simpleton book you provided with the phone?
AND, FINALLY, your phone salesman in the Lake Center Mall in Leesburg, FL did a VERY poor job of explaining how to use the phone, and did not verify the correct transfer of my contacts to the new phone, so I had to go back. Since your salesman was lazy, and your documentation sucks, it was days before I could figure out how to use the phone just as a phone, much less how to use it to view documents, etc. This phone lists for over $500 and requires signing up for $2400 plus in services, so you need to get your act together and provide better user indoctrinations and documentation. And, I put this on my blog... under the topic "Verizon Sucks". You can brag all you want about many connections but your poor product support will lose you customers.
