After explaining the situation, the customer service representative on the phone apologized for the incident and understood why I might be upset.  I explained how I understood that their Buy-One-Get-One deal did not include the Incredible and also understood why they couldn’t offer me that deal.  I proposed that instead they simply apply a credit to my account for the difference.  That way I could buy the Incredible for both my wife and me and there wouldn’t be any out of pocket difference.  Her solution was a wee bit different.  Do to “regulations” that prohibited them from both honoring the original deal that was offered to me or providing an equitable solution she could offer me 10% off my main line bill monthly for six months.  This comes to a whopping $10.99 a month for six months.  I suppose she thought I’d jump right on that super deal.  ”Hell yeah that sounds great!” – Ummm no not really.

I went on to explain that not only did I not receive the offer presented but also wasted two hours of my time at their local store and now another 20 minutes of my time on the phone.  I bill for my time and this amount is easily more than the cost of the phone. Still, regulations prohibit them from being able to provide an equitable solution or reasonable customer service apparently.

Finally maybe a quantifiable explanation resulting from previous and past income generated from my account would turn the tables.  As an Alltell customer for around 10 years now, I calculate that we as a family have contributed over $10000 in monthly payments.  This calculations is using two phones at $85 per month for ten years.  Currently we have three phones one with a smarthphone plan, one with a data plan, and one regular voice plan all for around $200 per month.  Soon we’ll be adding another phone as my son comes of age and perhaps another for my business.  Just our three current phones and a new two-year contract (assuming our current rate plan) brings in another $4800 for Verizon.  So here’s my loose quantification for their solution  - at $65.99 for $14800 of past and future business or .0448 % of my total expenditures with the company.  Or to put it in terms of a per month dollar figure, 45.8 cents per month.  I think this would probably destroy their margin. Alas I’m just a small fish.  I’m sure that my future $4800 means nothing to them.  I’m glad. I’ll keep you posted because we’re not done yet.

While I am currently being billed by Verizon, I still have an Alltel contract so in order to get the phone I was going to have to make the switch.  I had always been happy with Alltel’s service but knew that switch was inevitable.  The phone was only for pre-order online and not available in stores until the 29th. I decided to wait and get mine in store because I knew I’d be switching over my plan and upgrading my wife’s phone at the same time and didn’t want to deal with that hassle online.  I went in on the 28th and spoke with a sales associate about my plans.  He told me that in order to “guarantee” my Incredible I needed to schedule an appointment for the next day. So I did.  He also let me know that they were running a Buy One Get One deal and that my wife could get an Incredible for nothing extra. As a side note, my wife has never had a smart phone and I didn’t think she’d be interested in the Incredible.  When I got home I told her about the deal and how much I thought she’d love the phone and that once she starting using the features there’d be no turning back.  She was convinced and even a little excited to be getting rid of her out-dated jankity flip phone.  The monthly increase in our plan bothered her a bit but she was still a little excited.

The next morning I arrived at the Verizon store promptly for my appointment. Of course my friendly associate was not there.  To be fair however, he did tell me that he might not be and he assured me that someone else would be able to take care of me.  Well needless to say nobody else in the store knew of the BOGO deal that he had mentioned the day before but thought perhaps he’d be able to help me when he came in.  I wasn’t feeling so good about it at this point.  I left my card and asked them to have him call me when he got in for the day. The day and evening passed – no call.  I dropped in this afternoon and waited for, we’ll call him Lameek, to get back from his lunch break. Lameek walked over  and greeted me and asked if I had received his message.  I hadn’t, hhmmmm how strange?  He then proceeded to tell me what I figured he was going to tell me all along, “We all thought that the Incredible was going to be part of the BOGO deal.”  We could purchase a Droid and get the Incredible for free.  The Droid is currently being offered for the same price as the Incredible.  I wasn’t quite sure why we couldn’t make this work.  I could get a Droid for $250 and then get a free Incredible.  But I couldn’t get an Incredible for $250 and a free Incredible.  The problem is neither my wife or I wanted a Droid.  We wanted the Incredible. Lameek apologized and said there was nothing that they could do.  What he meant was “sorry for you.” No offer to compromise or anything.  Am I just wrong or are policies just a way for companies to alienate their customers?

Anyway, I digress.  What I meant was “sorry for them” from what I read today the iPhone 4G/HD could be out as early as June and more than likely won’t be on the Verizon network and neither will I.

What better way to spend your commute than learning something new.  Stay a step ahead of your competition by learning continually and staying up to date with the newest business trends and developments.

Are there any untapped resources out there that you’re using to get a leg up?  If so, leave us a comment and share the love.

This book puts it in your face that business is changing at a rapid pace and that the way we looked at things yesterday or even today may be out of date.  Stressing the importance of adaptability is a major theme that runs throughout the book.  Many of the points made run contrary to what we’ve been told in the past.   Some of the chapters:

• “Learning from mistakes is overrated”
• “Planning is guessing”
• “Throw less at the problem”
• “Meetings are toxic”
• “Underdo your competition”

Overall I found Rework to be an entertaining and easy read.  While you may not agree with everything, you should definitely check this book out for no other reason than see a different way of looking at the same old problems.  Maybe you’ll even find a way to “Rework” your business a little bit.

• Be Real
• Cut the Fat
• Small is Good and Nimble

Weeks have passed since the Droid release and I’m still hacking away with my trusty Blackberry Curve.  However, rumors are flying around lately that the Nexus One will be available for Verizon as early as tomorrow, March 23rd.  If so will I go for it? Maybe but more than likely not.  There’s still that lack of unlimited budget and I hear the HTC Incredible is around the corner.  And 4G for Verizon should be here by spring or summer at the latest and who can fathom what kind of Super Phone will be out by then?

Let me know what you think, what you’re using , and what’s next for you?

Even before reading the post I realized that I had to make a change.  Getting to work when everyone else does is simply not an option when you want to have a productive day.  The phone rings as soon as you walk in the door, you have to check your emails, have another cup of coffee, talk to a co-worker or two, an unexpected emergency arises – the list goes on. None of those things happen at 5:00 a.m.  Except for the cup of coffee. In the post Simonds says, “You can do anything for 5 days.”  For the most part I think that’s true.  What it boils down to though is deciding that you’re going to do it and finding the motivation that enables you to follow through.  Get up and get going. Check out the post though.  There are some great tips and a even contest for further motivation. I entered – will you?