An open letter to Lowell C. McAdam

Verizon Wireless President and CEO

Mr. McAdam,

First, I hope this note finds you well and in good spirits.

I should give you my back-story before getting to the meat of my issue with Verizon Wireless. I was a long time (8 years) customer of T-Mobile with multiple lines of service and always on the bleeding edge of phone technology. I’ve been an IT professional since 1986 and the mobile arena is exciting to me, especially now with the advent of the Android open source operating system for mobile devices.

I have owned 2 HTC Dream devices as well an HTC Sapphire device. On November 13^th, I began my relationship with Verizon Wireless. My impetus was simple, I need 3G coverage and T-Mobile was not delivering in my area or in many of the areas I do business. My first contact with Verizon was EXTREMELY pleasurable and, quite honestly, very surprising. I called and ordered 2 HTC Eris devices with the $30.00 unlimited web plan as well as the 1400 minute voice and unlimited text family plan. I also ordered two lines for the kids with a Motorola slider and a Samsung slider. The first surprise was the CSR. I originally had ordered the cheapest free phones you offer, but she immediately pointed me to better phones that were also free on a new line. The phones we ended up with were satisfying, except for my Eris, which with the amount of always-on work I do, was miserable on battery life. I tried all the tricks that have worked before with various Android devices to extend battery life and never got it to a point that I could make it through my day without a charge. Finally, on December 14^th, just before the end of the 30 day worry free period, I called in to a CSR to request a change. I was determined to stay with Android, but also could not deal with my battery situation. I told the CSR that I wanted to change from an Eris to the Motorola Droid handset. To my surprise, again, the CSR not only told me that it wouldn’t be a problem, but that it would not cost me anything to make the change. I was shocked and asked three times (I didn’t want a charge showing up on my account that I didn’t expect). I even asked about the $35.00 re-stocking fee. I was assured that there would be no charge and that the device would be delivered on Wednesday by 3pm! Imagine my excitement! This was the third time I had a great experience with Verizon Wireless CSRs. The second time was when I asked for a received a credit of $99.00 for the second Eris during the BOGO period. Oh, and the original CSR waived all activation fees on my four new lines of service, a savings of another $110.00!!! So Wednesday, December 16^th, I am excited when Fedex shows up with my package from Verizon Wireless! I open the box and IMMEDIATELY my heart sinks! Here is what I received…

There is no battery, not charging or data cable. The only thing in the box was this BROKEN Droid. By broken, I mean the sliding mechanism scrapes and the shiny rear underside (you can’t really tell from the pics taken with the Eris) is scratched so badly that it no longer shines. My first call to Verizon after this arrival was less than satisfying. I was told that the original CSR made a mistake and sent me the wrong device, I should have received another Eris as a replacement. When I told them about the call I made on the 14^th, I was told that she made an even bigger mistake and that there was no way I could receive a Droid in exchange for an Eris without a charge. Now, I HAVE a Droid that your company sent me. I then spoke to a supervisor who told me the exact same things, except that I could give Verizon $300.00 and wait until I sent you back the Eris to receive $165.00 back (I would be spending $199.00 + $35.00 re-stock - $99.00 that I already spent on the Eris). I mentioned that this was NOT my screw-up and that I should not be held responsible and would like to speak to a manager. I was told that a manager would call me back that day, the LAST day of the 30 day worry free period. Well, that call never came and I am sending this broken droid back to your company and after my initial 2-year contract is up with Verizon (and there are MANY more Android phones from all carriers available), I will leave Verizon and keep sharing my disappointing story with as many people as I can get to listen. I was prepared to spend money on the 14^th of December when I called to order the Droid in exchange for my Eris and up until December 16^thwhen I opened the box containing my new Droid, I was a very satisfied customer. This is not the case anymore.

Nobel WHAT?

I woke up this morning, an otherwise normal morning, to hear that our President, Barack H. Obama, had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I thought it was a practical joke they were playing on us from Oslo. NOPE, Obama has been awarded the Peace Prize (along with $1,000,000.00 that he so desperately needs!) for ... ummmm... for the life of me I can't figure out why. It occured to me that this is the same organization who awarded the prize to Mohammar Khaddafi (sp) and Al Gore, so in reality it's really no big deal. In the grand scheme of things, Obama has done as much to promote peace as either one of them, so celebrate America! Your President has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ... something... I'm sure that no-one will notice those 40,000 extra troops arriving in Afghanistan pretty soon. Right? How to you spell Nobel? H I P O C R A C Y! (or L I B E R A L, you pick!

It Might Get Loud...

What happens when you put three guitar icons in a film? You get one of the most interesting documentaries ever produced. Jimmy Page (Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin), Edge (U2) and Jack White (the White Stripes) get together to share ideas and play some great music in this (Rock)umentary. Here is the trailer for "It Might Get Loud" in theaters August 14th in LA and New York, soon after everywhere else!

Dave Matthews with BMG

Every once in a while, a piece of music comes along that I just connect with. This is one of them. Dave Matthews and the Blue Man Group got together and recorded this song "Sing Along" and the result is fantastic. Give it a look and listen!

Borrowing one ... Just Because!!!

I am borrowing this story, one that has been told many times before, to demonstrate that ANYONE can become conservative if common sense is used...

How to explain “fairness” to a liberal…

By NavyWings

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

Her father responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn’t even have time for a boyfriend, and didn’t really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, ‘How is your friend Audrey doing?’

She replied, ‘Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She’s always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn’t even show up for classes because she’s too hung over.’

Her wise father asked his daughter, ‘Why don’t you go to the Dean’s office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.’

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father’s suggestion, angrily fired back, ‘That’s a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I’ve worked really hard for my grades! I’ve invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!’

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, ‘Welcome to the Republican party.’

Thanks "Navy Wings" for your great story... It's one that needs to be told again and again...

Tea Party in Sacramento...

Like minded conservatives are meeting at the capitol steps in Sacramento Friday, February 27th as part of a national Tea Party, inspired by Rick Santelli and his call-out of the Obama administration and the details of the so-called "bailout" plans. The new pork(stim)ulous package has a new name, courtesy of Mike Huckabee - we now call the package C.R.A.P. or the "Congressional Relief Action Program". That's right, Mike calls it what it really is, a program to help congressional Democrats get votes in the next election. It does NOT help Americans (except for that wonderful $13.00 a week tax break, if you want to call it that). It does NOT help small business, instead O's new plan calls for new taxes on small business, disguised as a tax increase on the rich (those making $250,000.00 or more a year). I know many small business owners and you'd be hard pressed to find a successful small business owner who makes less than 250k. So what does this mean? These small businesses will have to fire people to make up for the losses. While they have businesses that make over 250k, these same folks have families to support, and that's another knock from the left, the marriage penalty will most assuredly return! But hey, Obama's special and smart and a superstar, so I had better quit questioning his motives.... they know where I live!

Here's the sign I'll be taking with me to Sacramento tomorrow. If you are in Northern California and you are more than a little upset with all the C.R.A.P. being force fed to us by congress, join us at noon on Friday!

Citi joins the Nuts from Chicago!

CitiCorp has signed what it calls a "Groundbreaking" agreement with none other than that wonderful community organizing group, ACORN! Yup, that's right, now that the "One" is getting ready to set up shop in the White House, is cronies are again putting pressure on banks to offer BAD LOANS to low to moderate income families so that they can realize "The American Dream" of home ownership. So here we go again. As interest rates drop, so does the desire to loan more money to folks who can ill afford to buy a home in this country. Maybe Citi and ACORN will focus on buying up forclosed properties. You know, from the last crop of low to moderate income families that they "helped". This is sickening. If you have a Citi card, cancel it and write them a letter telling them why you cancelled. Tell them that you wont abide by socialist programs like this. This does nothing to help the ailing American economy, worse it puts the housing market in even deeper jeopardy. Obama needs to come out and publicly tell ACORN that this is WRONG and needs to be stopped NOW! This is a veiled attempt to guarantee bailout money for Citi, so in the end WE pay for all these people to be "helped" into homes that they can't afford and will ultimately end up on the forclosure roles. DAMN THEM!

Source: FreeRepublic.com