I read this article at WinExtra this morning, and I’m glad I’m not the only one that this happened to. When I wanted to upgrade to a Windows Phone 7 through Verizon, I was first given a speech to buy the iPhone instead. Nope, I want the Windows Phone 7. I was two weeks away from an upgrade, so I waited. Two weeks later, I called again. Yet again, Verizon tried to convince me to go with a different phone: Thunderbolt, powered by Android. No, I still want the Windows Phone 7. After some pushiness on my side, I finally got it through his head that I wouldn’t accept anything less than the WP7. He thoroughly tried to convince me to NOT get a WP7 powered device. I don’t know if they have a lower profit margin or what, but I’ve never seen salespeople try and get someone to NOT buy a product. I’ve never had to argue with a salesperson to buy a product that I wanted that they had for sale.
I hope Microsoft can get this under control. There are a lot of consumers out there that are being tricked and forced into buying a non-Windows Phone 7 device by the carriers that are supposed to be promoting the devices. The carriers are forcing the Windows Phone 7 platform to failure, not the OS or the devices.
However it seems that, from everything I have read and seen personally, the carriers couldn’t care less about Windows Phone. Oh sure, head office might spin on and on about how much they like the phone and how they believe in the phone as part of their offerings to consumers; but when it comes down to the consumer in the store, Windows Phone might as well not even exist.
I’ve also seen a lack of advertising from Microsoft about their new phones. I’ve yet to see a commercial, much less a banner ad, from the phone operating system developers. If Microsoft plans on taking some market share from Apple and Google, it’s going to need to step up their game a bit and actively push this thing. I know Steve Ballmer can sell anything, I think he sold me a car once. 