The Missing "Duh!"

I've got to say, that I really like my new cell phone.

For Christmas, Lisa and I finally traded in our (very) outdated old phones for brand spanking new LG enV's. Now I use mine to make calls, take pictures, find my way (with the included GPS), and check my email. Heck, I even use it as an alarm clock!

So, what's the problem?

The problem is Verizon.

I've mentioned in the past my love-hate relationship with the "Can you hear me now?" service provider. This is not so much a story of hate, but rather annoyance would be a better descriptor. I think that it is also a lesson about taking care of your customers, important for all of us in business.

As I mentioned, I just got this new phone. One of the things I wanted to do was transfer my contacts from my computer to the phone, without having to laboriously type in each one. This seems like one of those "duh!" things that you should just be able to do. I looked high and low, on the Verizon site and on the Web. I checked out everything I could find about the phone and the Verizon service. I even sent "V" an email through their "contact" page with no results.

I saw a lot of glowing reviews, and on the Verizon site, I saw a lot of commercials.

The only thing I found that was remotely close, after much searching, was a service on the Verizon site with which you could type in each contact entry and it would then be synchronized with the phone, but there was no way to import entries wholesale from Outlook or any other Contact Management System.

So, I ended up having to type in each number by hand. At least I could use the computer keyboard instead of the one on the phone. What a huge waste of my time! And you can't tell me that I am the very first person who wanted to transfer their contact lists from whatever system they use (Outlook, AirSet, etc). Why is this service not available?

And the funny thing is, the person who is most likely to want this tool? It's the new customer. You know, the one you want to retain?

Apparently, the folks at the big "V" are too busy trying to figure out new and annoying ways to make money from us.

So, what "duh!" services have you found missing?