A glaring reason to not buy a Thunderbolt or any 4G phone for the time being.

[escapeplan]

I just spoke with a Verizon rep at their customer loyalty office and was informed of a rather disappointing piece of information. Apparently If one upgrades to a Thunderbolt they will loose any promotional pricing they may have on their existing plan.

My wife and I have a Motorola droid X and an HTC droid incredible. I got in on a promotion for two phones on a family share plan that saved me $20 a month on the two data plans. Why would I be forced to give this up to buy a phone that doesn't even have 4G capability in my location yet? Furthermore, why should buying this handset ever effect my current billing structure if im only using 3G to the same capacity as I am now? This makes no sense to me and I would love for someone to tell me what I heard is wrong as at this point (eligible for my last new every 2) I may never renew and the thought of a new carrier sounds like an option.

[Cuda13]

I spoke with customer retention last week and they told me that if I got a 4G phone I would have to change my plan but when I went into the store I was able to keep my plan and the subject never came up.

[escapeplan]

Have you checked if anything changed automatically on your plan? In the same phone call I learned that my 2 year upgrade eligibility had not been reinstated since I had previously bought and returned a D2Global inside of the 30 day trial window a few months back. Too many inconsistencies here with big red for me lately. 

[Cuda13]

At the top of my ungodly long receipt it clearly shows my existing plan but I understand your caution.

[escapeplan]

Are there any Verizon representatives on this board that would care to enlighten us on this subject?

[annoni]

The plans that offer the 9.99 credit are for a limited time (24 months, I think) and are tagged to the specific device purchased under that specific promotion. In other words the promotional price plan is the mechanism for the monthly credit. 

I'm guessing it would be possible to activate a replacement for a defective device (as long as it's the same device) and not lose the promotional plan. If someone wanted to activate an older phone so they would not be required keep paying the 29.99 data plan, they would only be able to do so by dropping the promotional price plan.

While it's frustrating that the same requirement applies to the purchase of another smart phone, it is a feature/ requirement of the promotional price plan.   

[escapeplan]

I understand what you're saying and thanks for adding to the conversation but the plan my wife and I got in on did not require a new phone purchase. In fact, I was able to activate the two smartphones with unlimited data and 1400 minutes over the phone while I was still using an LG chocolate 3. There was not stipulation as to the purchase of a new or different handset. I currently have an off contract smartphone as I was saving my last new every 2 to hopefully get in on one of the new LTE phones and had a terrible experience with the droid 2 global. The promotion I have basically subtracts $20 from the $60 charge fro two smarthphone data plans.

[escapeplan]

Are there really no Big Red employees on this board that have anything to offer on this subject?

[Tidbits]

My cousin still has his.  It still shows up on his MyVerizon.  I guess he has to wait for the bill to make sure.

[Lockup]

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escapeplan wrote:

Are there really no Big Red employees on this board that have anything to offer on this subject?

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Yes I am interested in this question as well. I have the same plan you have for 5 phones.  My kids are up for an upgrade in May and I was thinking about stealing their upgrade giving one of them my Dinc and going with a Thunderbolt.   I don't want that screwing up that plan though because I am not about to pay $150 a month for data on 5 lines.