After my '2 years' if I don't upgrade I deserve a discount

[Galactus54]

After my '2 years' if I don't upgrade I deserve a discount - the reason for the service contract was to pay off the cost of the "free" phone. Especially since there was a hefty penalty for cancelling before the contract completes. So now I'm effectively overpaying, right? And I'm not looking for some snarky comment to go elsewhere, this is an INDUSTRY WIDE issue. EVERYONE who pays off their phone deserves the discount.

[#2]

You're "discount" so to speak is that when your contract is done you're free to leave anytime. And if you feel this is an industry issue that needs to be stopped then stop giving your money to the industry.

[#3]

If you really feel strongly about your position, you could always do what seams to be many peoples answer to thier wireless problems....... initiate a "class action" lawsuit against all who you think are wronging you.

While you're doing that, I'll be patiently waiting for the release of my next phone in the summer of 2014. 

[jknapp123]

Actually you are wrong. The point of paying for 2 years is to pay for service. The reason they give you a phone cheap is because they know you'll use it. and they hope you use it so much that you incure overages, etc. So taht you pay more. They also do not give you a discount because this is not what they want. They want you to upgrade to the newest best biggest phone with the most capabilities so that you, again, will use more data than u expect and recieve overages. Or realize youll use more data and buy more. Etc... The industry isnt here to help, galactus... They are here to take your money. If you don't like it, may i suggest reviving the pony express???

[silver6056]

Well, all been discussed before but I don't think there is an "official" position on this, and there are various competing interpretations.  I think the one you discuss is simply:

1) Pay for a two year contract, for which you get two years of service at a fixed price, like many other types of contract.  (And in fact you will probably continue to get the same pricing afterwards, unlike many other types!).   In this model, the ETF is a penalty for breaking the contract and not giving Verizon the promised two years of revenue.  In theory, you could keep your existing phone, and sign a new two year contract (to keep the pricing) and still be hit with an ETF if you left

The other common view:

2) As above, but with a subsidized phone, some portion of the monthly fee is used to pay back the subsidy.  Now the ETF is charged because you haven't paid the subsidy off fully.

In some support of 2 is the different ETF for smartphones vs basic phones.   This is a little murky because smartphone plans are probably generally higher than basic phone plans, but there is no ETF difference for a smartphone with 400 minutes (on old style plans) and a smartphone with unlimited, despite the big difference in monthly cost.

Some t-mobile plans are more like 2), if you bring your own phone, there is a reduction in monthly charge, so what the OP suggests does exist, just not on VZ.

[cgiron]

T-mobile offers a plan where you can purchase an off-contract phone and they'll give you 20 dollars off per month.  They're called value plans and are much cheaper than verizon's in the long run.  I suggest looking into a Nexus 4 for 300 dollars and reading more on the options they have to offer.  This is what i'm doing.

[commonsense101]

tmobile lost nearly 500k customers in Q3 and verizon gained 1.2M

tmobile needs customers, verizon does not

your discount on the phone is plenty with a subsidized contract. There is no "penalty" for canceling, just the part of the phone you didnt pay for.. sort of paying off the principle early on a loan

[cgiron]

What commonsense said about the only penalty is correct.  They paid for 300-600 dollars of your phone for you to use it for two years.  If you cancel early, they just want the money they spent on you back since you didn't use it like they intended.

What commonsense said about tmobile vs verizon is incredibly vague though.  Service and $$$/month matters in the end, not the amount of customers.  By switching my three lines over to t-mobile and buying off-contract phones, I will be saving 80 dollars a month for a better plan (more minutes/data), arguably better customer service, and great signal strength here in my area.

[Tidbits]

cgiron wrote:

What commonsense said about the only penalty is correct.  They paid for 300-600 dollars of your phone for you to use it for two years.  If you cancel early, they just want the money they spent on you back since you didn't use it like they intended.

What commonsense said about tmobile vs verizon is incredibly vague though.  Service and $$$/month matters in the end, not the amount of customers.  By switching my three lines over to t-mobile and buying off-contract phones, I will be saving 80 dollars a month for a better plan (more minutes/data), arguably better customer service, and great signal strength here in my area.

What he is saying.  The reason why Verizon has more customers is because they offer better service overall which customer base is a reflection of.  T-Mobile has more bandwidth and spectrum to convince people to switch.  Their outside of Metro areas are lacking and if you live in those areas you may have tons of trouble.  I have been there and done that.  Personally I'd rather pay $140 a month for nearly 100% up time than $80 for 50% or less up time.  What good is service you are paying for when you can't use it?

In the end you can switch and may have better service overall and you can save money.  There should be no brand loyalty.  IF you have brand loyalty then you break how economics should work.

[cgiron]

And what I am saying is that Papa Johns is so big because their marketing

department is ridiculous, Apple is doing so well because their marketing

department is ridiculous; The same goes for Verizon. Sure, they have a

good service, but if you stay away from the marketing and do your own

research on coverages t-mobile has in your are, you COULD have better

service for a better price (unless you live in the middle of Iowa, then you

gotta stay with big red). T-mobile offers better coverage than verizon in

my downtown area and verizon offers better coverage over at my workplace,

but the chances are I'll never even notice the difference and I'm saving

80/month.

The amount of customers should never determine where you put your money.

It CAN be reflective, but that's the issue with this market - uneducated

consumers that look at advertising and sales numbers rather than research

on the actual product.