I am a Lumia Icon owner, and have been waiting patiently (now impatiently) for the Windows 8.1 update to the phone. So, in a fit of frustration, I filed a complaint in December with the FCC, and I wrote emails to many of the top Verizon Wireless brass, complaining of the treatment of Icon owners. Lo and behold, I received both emails and phone calls from the Verizon corporate office. I spoke to a woman (I won't name her name for now) from the Verizon corporate office prior to Christmas, who confirmed that Verizon had the Denim update for the Icon and was on the verge of releasing it. I then spoke with her after Christmas and before New Years. She indicated that I should be able to get the Denim update at that point. I told her that manual updates were not showing the Denim update available.
Here is the kicker. She told me that she had her Icon in her hand, and it had been updated to Windows 8.1, in fact the Denim update. Being the doubtful person that I am, I told her she may actually have a Nokia 928 and not the Icon. She went into her settings to confirm that her phone was a Nokia 929 (which is the Icon). She also confirmed in her settings that it was the Denim update, and that she had updated manually (using Phone Update). This was right before New Years.
She told me that Verizon's process is that they first release the update for manual updates, and then 3 to 4 weeks later they push it to the phones. She said that the Denim update she had was final, and should be available immediately to Icon owners who do a manual update, and in 3 to 4 weeks (towards the end of January) it would be pushed out to all of the Icon phones automatically. All of this conversation went on before New Years.
Well, we still don't have it. But it's clear that Verizon has had it in its final form for several weeks. They simply won't release it. Is it possible for Verizon Wireless to treat its customers with more contempt than they are doing now?
I just happen to think Microsoft used its corporate leverage (though, genuinely believing in the product) to force Verizon into receiving stock of a device (whether or not they, Verizon, believed in the device as a viable combination of software and hardware, themselves) they simply did not want. Verizon has been struggling to be free ever since. Anyone that has walked into a Verizon retail store and asked for a Windows Phone knows the 'why-would-you-want-that-this-Samsung-is way-better-anyway' drill. I've said it again and again. That's ok! Windows phone does not fit their dual-demo model. The cost of training their employees, allotting shelf space, marketing, and testing firmware isn't justified by the platform's cumulative marketshare. I get it. However ... they need to be honest about it and make it right for those to whom they broke their promise of service. Verizon sold me a $550 phone I am pretty convinced they had already slated as vaporware. A six month shelf-life on a flagship device. That is unheard of. Can anyone find a comparable example of that kind of behavior? I mean Microsoft still supports my old Zune, for godssakes.
I have seen six months for other devices before from the date of release to when they stopped selling them.
I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.
Examples, please.
Well I have a feeling that Denim will also be the last update for the Lumia Icon. I just looked and the Icon isn't even listed in the Microsoft store anymore. I will most likely switch to ATT Wireless then seek a refund from Verizon. They advertised the phone as Windows 8.1 ready and have failed to deliver the 8.1 updates in a reasonable manner.
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