Dear Verizon.
You recently unveiled the pricing structure of your "share everything" plans. Let's break this down, shall we?
My current plan is the 1400 minutes "Friends and family" plan. I get 10 "friends and family" that I can call any time, day or night, and it never charges me. I get unlimited mobile to mobile, and unlimited night and weekend. For when that's not enough, I get 1400 "anytime" minutes, which I never even come close to (closest I've ever been is using about 800 minutes in a month). I have unlimited texting on all phones, and UNLIMITED DATA on 2 (a Droid X and an iPhone 4). I pay $199.94 a month before taxes ($224 a month after taxes). My wife uses approximately 5-6 GB of data a month; I use around 2-3 GB. I have two more lines on my plan that are non-smart phones for a total of 4 lines.
So let's say I get the 8 GB data plan (which is probably a good average for our plan). That has a base charge of $90 a month for 8 GB of data. Add in the $40 per smart phone line charge brings the total up to $170 a month. Add another $30 a month (each) for my two non-smart phone lines brings my total plan cost up to $230 a month, BEFORE TAXES (add another $24 for taxes a month makes it roughly $253-254 a month after taxes).
So for essentially the same plan I currently have, I would have to pay an extra $30 a month. Nice job, Verizon!
Don't even try to give me the line about "well, now you have unlimited minutes!" I already stated I've never even come CLOSE to using my total monthly allotment of minutes, and I've NEVER had to ration minutes (we've always used our phones as we pleased). So that doesn't work for me.
After my plan is up, I'll be going with Virgin Mobile. No contract, 4G phones, and... $45 a month per line (for 1200 minutes each AND unlimited texts AND unlimited data) should do for me and my wife... $40 a month (for unlimited talk and unlimited text PLUS 50 mb web access for each phone) for their pay-lo option for my other two lines... that's only $170 a month... a full $30 a month cheaper than I'm paying now.
I never would have considered this before, because I assumed my loyalty as a customer counted for something. Apparently it does not.
"But you don't HAVE to get on a shared plan! You can keep your old plan and get great new phones! You just have to pay full retail price for a new phone!" Have you seen full retail price for a new smart phone? The Galaxy Nexus, for example, retails for $649 on Amazon. That ain't cheap. I got my Sony Xperia play (which has since bit the dust due to an unfortunate accident with the floor) for FREE. My wife's iPhone was about $150 refurbished (though your website). And you expect me to pay full retail price? Even a used Droid Bionic (an 8 month old phone) is still going for $300 on Craigslist/Ebay, and frankly, you don't know what you're getting when you buy on those sites.
Let's say I did decide to buy a new phone for full retail value. How long until you decide to find another way to try and push me off my unlimited plan? Last year you said "We're getting rid of unlimited data plans, but no worries! It only affects NEW customers. Everyone currently on an Unlimited Data plan will be grandfathered in!" Then many of those people hit their upgrade cycles and got nice, shiny 4G LTE phones on unlimited data plans. Can't have that, can we? So of course you figure out a way to try and force them (us) off our plans you so generously let us keep. But still, you give us an "out". You let us so graciously keep our precious unlimited data plans just as long as we pay full retail price for your phones. For now. What's next? Throttling users who use more than 5 GB? 2 GB? 1 GB? I wouldn't put it past you. Can't have people with unlimited 4G LTE AND the shiniest new phone in town (even IF they paid near $700 or even $800 for it), can we? In fact, I'd say that's EXACTLY what you'll do next. Throttle users who go over a relatively small amount of data and then tell them "but if you upgrade to a shared plan, you'll get great discounts on phones *wink wink nudge nudge* AND enjoy 4G LTE speeds for however much you're willing to pay". Unfortunately, you're making us pay through the nose.
I'm not a complainer. Really. I respect your need to make money, I truly do. I understand that the mobile market is ever-expanding, and the huge boom with smart phones means bandwidth is an ever more precious commodity. But surely there can't be THAT many of us left with our unlimited plans, can there? If you had introduced this plan WITH the option to keep my unlimited data the next time I upgrade, I wouldn't be writing this right now. A little more respect for your loyal consumers is all we ask for. That's not too much, is it?
Sincerely,
A Very Dissatisfied Customer.
