Sent Letter to VP and Chief Marketing Officer

05-12-2011 01:34 PM

Here is the link to the about page for VP and Chief Marketing Officer, Marni Walden.

http://bit.ly/iAKpSp?

I sent her the following letter (click the link at the bottom of her page)

Ms. Walden,

I am contacting you as a very disgusted customer. Since last fall, I have been waiting for Verizon to release a Windows Phone 7 device. I learned in the fall that this device would not be available on the CDMA networks, and as a software developer, I understand how Microsoft had not yet implemented support for it. However, Verizon has been stringing its customers along for about five months now with the implied promise of a Windows Phone 7 device, yet has not delivered.

In December, VZW advertized to Microsoft employees the Trophy, and it promised an “Early 2011″ delivery. That offer had an expiration date of 12/31/2010, although that delivery has been pushed back to March, April, and May, and the delivery time range has been removed from the flier.

On March 23 the CDMA Sprint HTC Arrive was released. CDMA support was finally here. But Verizon dragged its feet. An April launch was expected, because despite the tight lips at Verizon, pictures were leaked of a Verizon branded Trophy, as well as an April expiration date on the Microsoft employee offer. That came and went. Now two Thursdays in May have come and gone without the device that many of us are waiting for.

You are not doing anything but making customers angry by dragging your feet, not releasing the device, and not giving us a release date. You are holding on to a phone that was available in Europe last October, albeit without CDMA support. Which means if you wait much longer you will be releasing a year-old phone. Do you think it is all right to treat your customers like this? Are you that ticked off at Microsoft over the failure of the Kin that you are willing to drag your customers who want the Windows Phone through the mud like this?

It is high time for whomever at Verizon is throwing the temper tantrum about the Kin to get over it, and give us the phone we want. I don’t want one of the 47 different Android phones you now carry. I don’t want the iPhone. I and many well-informed consumers like me, want a Windows Phone 7 device. Please quit holding us hostage.

Sincerely,

Richard Hopkins?

Microsoft’s internal date is still May 19th.

Well put, Richard. I feel the same way. I feel strung along and not happy. While I realize that VZW never made a formal announcment specifying a launch date, it is their lack of communication now that has me most upset.

Maybe I should contact that guy selling the Verizon HTC Trophy on craigslist.