If you walk into a Verizon Wireless store knowing you want a smartphone, but are unsure about which one to get, the likeliness that you’ll walk out of that store with a 4G Android phone is pretty high.
After numerous reports from ordinary consumers looking to buy a phone, Verizon pushed really hard to get them to buy an Android handset instead. David Goldman of CNN Money decided to find out for himself if this was true by conversing with ten different Verizon representatives. “Here’s what I found,” he said. “Next time you walk into a Verizon store looking to buy a smartphone, expect the hard sell on a 4G Android device.”
Goldman says he was constantly pointed in the direction of a Droid Razr Maxx or LG Lucid. When he inquired about whether these phones were superior to the iPhone, representatives told him the iPhone is outdated because it runs on Verizon’s slower 3G network. Then he tried a different approach and blatantly stated that he wanted an iPhone. None of the reps tried to talk him out of it, but they did insist that it was not the best phone they had to offer.
I had a similar experience when last year my uncle went into Verizon to buy an iPhone, his first smartphone. He called me from the Verizon store saying the employee almost convinced him to get a $300 4G Android device. It seems like Verizon will do just about anything to get you to use its 4G network.
This push may not be working though, as consumers seem content on making up their own mind. The iPhone accounted for more than half of its smartphone sales last quarter.