Verizon unlimited data plans changing in July

[jwinslow]

My understanding is that verizon reps & customer service often have no idea what they're talking about. :(

 

[buxfan4life]

My understanding is that verizon reps & customer service often have no idea what they're talking about. :(

I can attest to this. I have become the point person in our company when someone needs to get their info switched from an old phone to a new one because Verizon employs total idiots at their brick and mortar service centers.

Just last week one of our employees had gone to a service center to have her info switched from a faulty device to her new device. After being at the store for almost 2 hours, the "service tech" handed the devices back to her and said that there was no way for them to transfer the data from the old device because "the phone is corrupt" (his words). I took her equipment and in about 30 minutes got all of her info transferred from the old device to the new device using freeware I found through a Google search.

 

[Mac]

Glad im with AT&T...that $30 for 2gb is ridiculous. I pay $30 for unlimited now, and I'm averaging 4gb per month on my iPhone, and that's without using some of the big data usage apps.

I really hope this doesn't become the norm around the industry because it's getting a bit ridiculous.

 

[NJ-Buckeye]

Any idea what happens when I get a new phone.. which re-ups a new 2 year contract? Does that invalidate me since it's a 'new contract' ??

 

[jwinslow]

Glad im with AT&T...that $30 for 2gb is ridiculous. I pay $30 for unlimited now, and I'm averaging 4gb per month on my iPhone, and that's without using some of the big data usage apps.

so you're a big fan of ATT's $25 entry level package offering 0.2 gb ? Both are terribly priced.

I pay 30/mo for unlimited data on my Android phone, and so do iPhone users on VZW. That's really not the point.

Unlimited data is dying because they cannot handle the bandwidth. I am fine with that, but these plans are about twice what they should be.

AT&T
$15 - 0.2 gb
$25 - 2.0 gb
$45 - 4.0 gb

VZW
$30 - 2.0 gb
$50 - 5.0 gb
$80 - 8.0 gb

AT&T has good plans if you virtually never use data outside of wifi. The 2 gb plans are similar, while VZW offers more high end bandwidth (for outrageous $).

 

[jwinslow]

Any idea what happens when I get a new phone.. which re-ups a new 2 year contract? Does that invalidate me since it's a 'new contract' ??

Do you have a 3g phone? The answer is no one knows what happens to 3g to 4g upgrades after July 7, but that sounds suspiciously like "no" to me. You would be able to upgrade to a 3g phone and keep unlimited data, but then that isn't much of an upgrade.

Also, blackberry data packages are not the same as 3g data, read Android/iphone, unlimited plans.

 

[jwinslow]

For those like me who are concerned but not eligible for an upgrade:

I called Verizon, who I have been with for a decade or so. Told them my phone is not eligible for an upgrade until November but wanted to get in before the 4g cutoff. I also asked whether I could upgrade later to 4g and keep my unlimited plan.

The answer to the latter is "we don't know"

For early upgrades, they used to offer a $20 surcharge to upgrade the primary line early. They removed that option, but are still honoring it one more time like they did with the NE2 promo.

Unfortunately, a few phones ago the wife and I swapped upgrade dates, so she used up my early upgrade ability on her phone. They said they couldn't do it that far from an upgrade date.


I am going to try my local third party Verizon reseller to see if they can help at all.

 

[Bucknut24]

not sure if you've been to these forums jwins, but this is pretty good for all droid stuff

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-news/

So I asked him about the difference about different sku #'s in the system for 3G & 4G and he said that would make NO difference. As of right now Verizon does not make any distinction between their data other than the different sku's. I then asked if he could call Corporate to confirm this and also log to my account that I was here and asked about it just to CMA. He didn't seem really happy about doing it but he did. He even handed me the phone to talk with the person on the other end and confirm what he was saying. I told him I didn't think he was lying or anything but I wanted it on the record so if Verizon tried to pull anything when I upgrade in 2012, I had it noted. He said I was about the 100th person that had been in today asking that same exact question with the same exact scenario. I told him Verizon needs to make a public statement about this so people will know exactly what is going on.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

My understanding is that verizon reps & customer service often have no idea what they're talking about. :(

Your understanding would be correct. In the summer of '09 I went to a verizon store to get my BlackBerry Storm 9530 (fairly new phone at the time) so I could make international calls when I went to Australia in Dec '09 for my Ironman race. I was told I had to get a $30 side plan right before I left for Australia so I could make the calls and then I could take the plan off when I returned to Hawaii. Well, I was indeed able to make calls and send texts while there, but ended up getting charged 50 cents a text ($20 for 40 texts) and $1.50 a minute roaming fee (almost $100 for around 60-70 of calls to the US) while there. When I pitched a fit at the store after my return, they voided the text charges but let the voice charges stand, because their Australian carrier had charged them. When I reminded them that their customer service person assured me the $30 side plan would cover my calls down there, they essentially said, "Oops, our bad. Tough."

 

[Cincinnatibuck]

I take it you ruled out AT&T? They have tiered data too but it's not quite as brutal as what Verizon is doing. I've been happy with AT&T around here for the last year and a half.

They're also selling unlocked iPhones now, so even if you're opposed to AT&T you could always pay a little more to get one of those and drop a Cincinnati Bell SIM card in it.

Yes, I've ruled out both Verizon and AT&T. I think I'm done with having a contract for now. 2 iPhones would run me $600 plus $140 a month, versus $600 for 2 Motorola Triumphs (or save $300 and get 2 LG Optimus V) and $50 a month with Virgin Mobile. Neither me or my wife ever go over 300 minutes each a month. I use to have Sprint so I know the coverage in my travels around town would be good. I would end up saving $2,160 in the two years that I would be under a contract, plus would have unlimited text and data.

 

[3074326]

I love you Verizon, but I'll be switching back to AT&T when my contract is up just because of this.

Whoops, didn't realize AT&T was already in on this bullshit.

Not sure what I'll do.

 

[Bucknut24]

why not just lock in a plan now to get grandfathered in?

 

[jwinslow]

why not just lock in a plan now to get grandfathered in?

because you can't judge upgrade anytime you feel like it. They lose money on smartphone sales knowing they will recoup through profits during the data contract lifetime.

 

[Basebuck]

Interesting. At the bottom of the chart that Jwins posted it groups 4G and 3G together. I'm going to stop by Verizon after work and ask. I've got two kids who I think I'm going to upgrade this week. The last thing I want is my kids on a limited data plan. That's just asking for trouble.

I had our procurement guy call our Verizon rep to find out some details and he verified that if you get grandfathered in the 29.99 will be valid for 3G to 4G phones. I actually just added 1 4G phone and and 2 new 3G phones because of this. The Verizon Store nor Best Buy knew anything about this. When I told them they called corporate and found out.

 

[Dryden]

so you're a big fan of ATT's $25 entry level package offering 0.2 gb ? Both are terribly priced.

I pay 30/mo for unlimited data on my Android phone, and so do iPhone users on VZW. That's really not the point.

Unlimited data is dying because they cannot handle the bandwidth. I am fine with that, but these plans are about twice what they should be.

ATT's $25 plan is for 2Gb. The .2 Gb (200Mb) plan is $15. It's actually a very reasonable plan. Neither my wife or I use over 100Mb on our Unlimited plans with ATT because WiFi is available everywhere we go. For a family plan where we've got three cell phones, dropping Unlimited and going to the 200Mb plans across the board shaves $45 off our bill. All those nickels and dimes in unused plans add up, when you can cut a family cellphone bill from $200+ to under $150.

A lot of people want smartphones because they want access to apps, but they have no need for the data plan. Any sub-$30 plan is a blessing for those people, because the mandatory $30 Unlimited plan to buy an iPhone when you don't even use the network at all was a worse pricing structure than what they're doing now.

With ATT you can change your plan on the fly, online, at anytime. Not talking much? Drop to Nationwide 550. Talking alot? Upgrade to Nationwide 1400. You can change every feature of your plan yourself online with no penalty, and no extension to your 2-yr contract. We routinely change our plan around every few months to minimize the bill and maximize the rollover minutes so we're not carrying thousands of minutes that are expiring. Just get your changes in before the month goes to invoice and your new plan is reflected in your next bill.

because you can't judge upgrade anytime you feel like it. They lose money on smartphone sales knowing they will recoup through profits during the data contract lifetime.

I don't know what VZW's doing, but you can upgrade whenever you want on ATT for $18. They just rollback the start date of your 2-yr contract from the date you walk out of the store with the new phone.