Why am I charged a month in advance, for a simple change in my data plan?

[Weth]

robereg wrote:

Why am I forced to pay the next month, in advance?

You always pay the month in advance. You just need to adjust for the higher data plan for the previous month.

You keep thinking your bill is for the services you already used. But it is not, your bill is always paying for services coming up the next month. Then you need to adjust for anything that was changed the month prior that you already paid for in advance last month.

[robereg]

Weth and rscnoor, you just answered my question in a fraction of the time I spent chatting about this with a Verizon rep, yesterday.  I understand that we're billed a month in advance, but when I saw a new charge on my bill labeled a "Month in Advance" charge, I assumed it was an additional or redundant charge, since that categorization has never been on any of my previous bills.

Alrighty then!  Upward and Onward! 

Thanks for your help.

[rcschnoor]

robereg wrote:

Thanks, again, Weth.  So I just changed my plan back to the $80/10gb plan.  Will I get a $60 credit on my next bill?  Can I expect my bill to be $120 lower for 1 month?

I would check your account as I doubt you were able to do so. The $80/10 GB plan was promotional and reverted back to the normal $100/10 GB plan in February. Verizon did not take that rate away from anyone, but since you changed your allowance from 10 GB to 20 GB you lost the promotional rate. When you switched back, it is unlikely you were able to get the $80/10 GB rate back, but instead are now on the $100/10 GB allowance.

Additionally, you would only get the credit on your next bill IF you make the switch back in the middle of the billing cycle and had the change backdated to the beginning of the billing cycle. Verizon tries to steer people away from "lowering" their data allowance mid month as it tends to cause overages due to pro-rating, etc..., and instead steer people towards having any changes in allowance to a lower tier take place at the beginning of the next billing cycle. Yes, they will allow people to lower their allowance mid-cycle, but keep an eye out for overages.

[cmbh4d]

Well, im a returning customer and as far as my first bill goes, the different bill cycle dates on all the bills they have on my account i accessed online go back as far a May 11th on one and June 6th on another and a other july 6th, so im so dang confused, i have no idea whats right. I picked up the sim card on July 6th, didnt install and activated till 7/9/19, and was told my first bill would come in 3 weeks with 2 weeks till due date. All garbage. I had the first bill posted a few days after i acticated my BYOF service dated 6/6/19 to 7/5/19 and ive viewed numerous bills online and the more i view, the more i get confused. In all my dealings with service companies, ive never seen such a mess concerning making changes to your service options and/or billing cycle concerning changing the billing start date to have the end date so the bill is due when i have the money coming in to pay it on time plus ive worked with billing systems and i dont knkw what their dont and how their bill processing system works or if the billing staff are using it correctly, but im going to be on the phone a while to get the true facts and get them to send me the complete billing history that produced all these different bills with different cycle start and end dates with charges and and credits. Totally crazy.

[cmbh4d]

I believe they have went down hill in more than one way since i had their service about two years ago. Maybe more later, but it seems to me their hoodwinking people into service options without clear information which apps come with your plan and which are trials that youll be charge when the trial ends, and what trials they enroll you in ay their date of activation, plus download the myverison app downloads some other apps with full functionality and you can blindly stumble into a trial period or billable application service, so be ware what you get into. And the mobile app is not a true mobile app, it simply links you to myverison.com under the verizon.com web site. My observations and analysis of my experience using it from where i suddenly am out or the myverison app on my smart phone and on verison.com self purchase menu. Watch their tricks of the the trade closely.

[Advance-Billing-Dept]

The answer is because Verizon can. It’s somewhere in the small print that you (and me) marked as accept so you can continue. It’s called advanced billing not prepaid. Someone missed their calling he/she should be a fiction writer.
If you are paying for service that you still haven’t used it’s called PREPAYMENT. 
OK?

Stop creating terms that already exists. 
i know that Merriam-Webster people should be happy. It gives them a reason to print new edition of the thesaurus.

If you have prepaid - you pay before you service start

If you have real billing - you have a month of service at the end of which bill is generated and then you have 20 days to pay. So about 50 days from the start of the service.

VERIZON ADVANCE BILLING - you will get a bill generated at the moment your number is ported. Which is due in 20 days but if you choose automatic payment you can’t schedule it for the last day. It has to be 3 days in advance. So in reality you get 17 days to pay from the start of the service.

And then everything is ADJUSTED next “bill”

Hmmm. OK

Everyone wants to get his money in advance right?