Very Disappointed

avidmar1978

I have been trying to do an Early Edge on one of my lines for several weeks now, but the promotion I was originally offered didn't include any of the phones my wife wants.  A little annoying, but OK.  No big deal.  The representatives tell me to "check back often" because the "promotions are always changing."  Again, no big deal.  So this is what I've been doing, sometimes by phone, sometimes by chat.  It's apparently unreasonable to publish what promotions are available online, but I digress.

Today, I enter a chat session with Rob, session ID RT19896438325 (between 12:50 PM and 1:30 PM ET on 5/8/15) and he tells me that my wife's line is eligible for Early Edge for the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, and even quotes me the monthly Edge pricing for both phones.  Unfortunately, he can't push through orders, so I need to call in.  Fine, until I call.

"Oh, I'm sorry.  You can't have what you were told you could have."  "But check back often, because the promotions are always changing".

So, I can't find out what promotions are available without contacting Verizon.  When I contact Verizon, I can't get correct information, but they're "sorry".  Today's phone representative tells me that Apple doesn't offer discounts very often.  Why does that even matter?  With Edge, I'm paying the full retail price, which Verizon is nice enough to finance at 0%.  That's got nothing to do with Apple's pricing restrictions.  She also tried to have me trade in my existing phone as a credit towards paying the full retail price up front. 

Back in March, when I was first given this offer, I was told (over the phone) that I could Early Edge to the Droid Turbo, then exchange that Droid Turbo for the iPhone 6.  I tried to do this in store, and the store manager told me that I couldn't do it.  If you don't want to let me use Early Edge to get an iPhone 6, that's fine.  But don't have your representatives tell me that I can, just to have different representatives tell me that I can't. 

I'm not going to trade in my phone, so you can turn around and sell it for $279 unless you are letting me use the Early Edge.  If I'm going to pay full retail price up front, it's going to be with a different carrier.  I'm tired of the misinformation.  I'll stop short of calling the representatives liars, but I can't help but feel lied to.

Weth

I will only comment on your statement: "Today's phone representative tells me that Apple doesn't offer discounts very often.  Why does that even matter?"

It matters since Verizon is forgiving part of your contract, and thus the expectation of repayment of your current phone. Verizon was expecting 24 payments to pay off the phone, and now they will not get that. That is where the discount comes in. The phone manufacturers pay Verizon to promote their phone and get so many sales. Early Edge is one of the big ways Verizon is doing this. Verizon then uses that payment from the manufacturer to offset the books on the loss of money on your contract that is ended early. This is only how I see it working, I have no actual inside knowledge.