JanusPorta

I recently signed up for the 5GB prepaid plan. At the time I signed up I was under the impression that the cost was $40 per month.

After determining that the cost was within my desired budget I went to a Verizon store and bought a phone and signed up for the 5GB shared data plan. However, after getting my first bill I noticed I was being charged $65. Confused I investigated Verizon's Bill and noticed that I was being charged $30 a month for the data and another $35 a month for the smartphone line access fee.

Now, I totally understand my bill and how much to expect for future months. However, when I was shopping for plans and decided on Verizon I never saw any mention of a line access fee in addition to the advertised $40 a month charge for the data plan (before loyalty discounts are applied) that I was looking at.

I even went back and reexamined the prepaid plans website page more carefully and did not see any mention of a line access fee (not even under the "See plan details" link).

What my question is; before a new customer wastes time and money signing up for Verizon's service, how are they supposed to know that there is an extra $35 line access fee that they will be charged each month? In my case, I spent $134 on activation fees ($35), phone payment agreement fee($25) plus the recurring $75 for the data plan, line access fee, and the standard taxes and gov. fees.

With the carrier, I would have otherwise signed up for if I had known the real cost I would have only spent $35 total for each month's data and phone access. This is $40 less than the recurring cost for Verizon's service after the initial one-time fees which adds up to a $480 extra expense every year that I was unaware of before deciding to go with Verizon.

Accepted answers

Ann154

There is a prepaid 5GB plan that has the taxes included in the price. There is also a postpaid 5GB shared plan with the posted price doesn't include the taxes.

https://www.verizon.com/prepaid/

https://www.verizon.com/plans/shared-data/

All comments

JanusPorta

As a side note:

Before I went into Verizon's service I was aware that their costs were a bit higher than other plans. And I didn't mind that I would be paying more. However, I did want to actually know how much I would be paying. After looking at Verizon's Prepaid overview page I expected the cost to be a certain amount and then after actually signing up it is very annoying to find that there is an extra $35 charge tacked on without plainly labeling it on the page that should be dedicated to educating new customers on the expected monthly cost of the said product and service.

I would not feel as upset if Verizon had clearly communicated the actual cost for the recurring monthly expenses.

I do understand the taxes and gov. fees can't be listed since they differ depending on where the person lives. However, the monthly data plan cost and smartphone line access fee are both going to be the same no matter who is making the purchase and thus it is sensible that both would be clearly listed on the public-facing page talking about the plan, its features, and its cost.

This sort of behavior is the sort of thing that makes me unwilling to recommend this company to others. If they had been upfront on that cost that is one thing. However, being less than clear on the actual cost is less than trustworthy behavior and lowers my respect for the company, even if the actual service provided works as advertised.

Ann154

Are you sure you have a prepaid account? Your description sounds more like a postpaid account. Are you getting an actual bill every month? Device payment agreements are usually associated with postpaid accounts not prepaid.

JanusPorta

I am pretty sure my account is prepaid since my first bill is dated September 10th the day I started my plan.

I got the 5GB shared data plan which I was under the impression is a prepaid plan.

Ann154

@JanusPorta
wrote:
I am pretty sure my account is prepaid since my first bill is dated September 10th the day I started my plan.
I got the 5GB shared data plan which I was under the impression is a prepaid plan.

Prepaid accounts don't have a bill. Postpaid accounts do.

Is this the plan you have? If so, you have a postpaid plan.

JanusPorta

I am pretty sure I am on a Prepaid plan. The first reason I believe this is that if I go to my billing page I see a drop-down menu of my Verizon bills. Currently there is only one statement and it is labeled: "First Bill - Sept 10," which is the day I bought my phone and started using Verizon. Thus the first payment for using Verizion was the day I bought the phone. This invoice included my 5GB data plan, the line access fee, an activation fee, taxes/fees and also my first payment on the phone.

If I was on a postpaid plan I would expect to sign up for Verizon and only receive my first billing statement a month later on October 10th instead of the day I started using Verizon.

The second reason I think I am using a prepaid plan is that if I look at the page called "Next Bill Summary" the plan I am currently using is called "Shared Data Plan - 5GB"

If I open the Shop menu and click on Plans I get taken to the plan overview page. I then see two sections. One is called Unlimited on the left and the on the right I see a section called Prepaid.

If I click the "Learn more" link it takes me to a page that shows 5GB, 10Gb, and unlimited data options. If I go to the previous Plans overview page and look at the Unlimited Mobile plans, then I of course just see plans with unlimited data.

My assumption is that the plans under the prepaid section are the only plans available where you can select specifically sized data plans. And this leads me to assume that the plan I am on is a prepaid plan unless there is a post-paid 5GB data plan that is not accessible on the main Verizon plans overview page... ?