Didn't just drop the ball, they tripped over their customers and flubbed the launch.
I'm pissed.
Not because I wasted over two hours round trip on icy roads to find there were not enough Storms. I'm pissed that no matter how I look at this spectacle, I end up with the feeling that I was played by Verizon.
I've followed the news and gossip leading up to this great event. I knew that there might be issues today. That's why I located the closest store in Montana that was expecting any quantity of Storms for the launch. I even went to the Bozeman store the day before to ask in person what the deal was going to be. They still had no idea how many Storms they were going to get, but it should be enough for the initial morning demand. The store was opening two hours early and I was there around 8 am, an hour after their scheduled early opening. I just missed the last of the Storms.
I did the best I could while maintaining some sense of responsibility as a parent and I would have been fine with the whole deal had Verizon stepped up to the plate and just been honest.
As I see it, Verizon blew their most important launch ever for one of two reasons. Either they have some sick sense of marketing and they shorted their launch supply to create an artificial "demand exceeds supply" headline or their launch was in trouble and they didn't have the decency to inform their employees or customers That there were problems. At this point I really don't care which reason it was. Verizon has issues, created or unforeseen, and they made the decision to sacrifice their most devoted customers by keeping silent on the details of the launch. Judging by the chatter on these boards, the true nature of the launch was an actively guarded secret to the very end, ensuring that we would not know how futile launch day would be for so many. We were played.
I asked at the store how many Storms they received. They said 28 and that was the most of any store in Montana! Wow. @ Verizon: some information, a heads up, a little honesty, even the day before, would have gone a long way in preserving your reputation for customer service with me.
Sh t happens and everyone makes mistakes. The true measure is how we deal with them and you Verizon chose not to, you flubbed the launch and pissed off a bunch of your best customers to boot.