Blackberry CEO outrage at T-Mobile iPhone offer. T-Mobile sent emails last week advertising a free upgrade to an iPhone 5s and calling it “a great offer for Blackberry customers”. After Blackberry customers complained on social media, chief executive John Chen called the promotion “inappropriate and ill-conceived”.

From the official BlackBerry blog:

“I want to thank our loyal customers for your commitment to BlackBerry. By expressing your outrage directly to T-Mobile ‎through tweets, calls and comments in the media and on blog posts, you sent a powerful message that T-Mobile could not ignore. Your partnership with our brand is appreciated by all of us at BlackBerry, and draws a sharp contrast with the behavior of our longtime business partner.

I can assure you that we are outraged too. What puzzles me more is that T-Mobile did not speak with us before or after they launched this clearly inappropriate and ill-conceived marketing promotion.”

Chen goes on to thank the BlackBerry user community and its loyal customers on T-Mobile, saying that their “passion motivates us every day as we navigate our turnaround.” As for the carrier, Chen says that he hopes they can find a way to work together.