For all of my chest beating and pontificating about how much Verizon sucks and how awesome the Evo 4G is and so on... last Sunday I went out and bought a Droid Incredible... selling myself and my family to Big Red for 2 more years.
The shame. Don't get me wrong. I still hate Verizon Wireless. I just don't hate them enough to pay $200 more in up front fees and $40 more per month in service fees for services I will rarely, if ever, use.
Strike 1, as I've mentioned, I live in a rural area. 4G won't be here for a while, I'm not spending $480 per phone($10 service fee x 2 phones x 24 month contract) for service I might get once or twice a week when I have to go back to civilization.
Strike 2, my parents are never... ever... EVER going to use data. Yet if I wanted the unlimited data plan, I was going to have to pay an extra $10 per phone in service fees for each of their phones because they share with me. The whole idea of that is, they don't have to pay all the extra overhead for service and they get a cell phone in case of emergency.
Strike 3, well, when I played with the Evo, my first impression was, "Wow, this is the coolest phone I have ever seen!" And to be honest, that is still my impression. It blows every single phone made for the US market off the planet. However, if signal is king then service offering is queen. A cool phone is just a concubine... used until the next cool thing comes along. Price is only the deciding factor when two services are equal or at least mostly equal. As phone companies continue to find new and better ways to keep people from using services they haven't paid for, my question to them is... WHY? Why do you do this? The mobile hotspot was one of the key features I wanted in the Evo and then Sprint decided to upcharge it... significantly. That makes the Evo like a world champion sprinter with his legs tied together. They say, "Hey, we'll untie his legs for you if you pay us an extra $30 a month." Uh... no. I'll untie his legs myself and when he's done I'll beat you with his gold medal.
Let me be clear Sprint... if you're reading this... which you probably aren't but it makes me feel better to say it publicly... you lost $500 in equipment fees, and customer that would have been paying about $150 a month for service because of your stupid $30 up-charge. You, the reader, at this point may say, "Well, it's only $30, why don't you just pay for it if you want it." The answer is, and I mean this in the kindest possible way, "BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY FRIGGIN PAID FOR IT!!!". I'm paying $200 for a phone that has this capability built in. I am buying an unlimited data plan. At the risk of assuming you understand the meaning of the word "unlimited", why do you nickel and dime people because they are going to use a different device. Again, it's what Verizon does that makes me hate them.
So, rather than pay the extra money and move to a service provider who does all the same things I hate about my current provider, I decided to save a tiny bit of money, get a very good phone(HTC Incredible), and stick with the devil I know.
Oh, and one more time just for posterity... I still hate you Verizon.
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I have to add... because it's not his fault at all, the salesman I spoke with, Aaron at the Westnedge store, did an excellent job and is a redeeming quality to the brand. If there's a Verizon rep looking at this, you better give that guy a raise because had he not figured out a way to keep me in the store and buying on that day, I might have changed my mind, especially once the Samsung Galaxy arrives.
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