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

escapeplan
Enthusiast - Level 2

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.

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Cuda13
Newbie

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.

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escapeplan
Enthusiast - Level 2

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. 

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Cuda13
Newbie

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

 

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escapeplan
Enthusiast - Level 2

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

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annoni
Enthusiast - Level 3

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.   

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escapeplan
Enthusiast - Level 2

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.

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escapeplan
Enthusiast - Level 2

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

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Tidbits
Legend

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

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Lockup
Enthusiast - Level 3

escapeplan wrote:

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


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.

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dodi
Newbie

Verizon told me when I purchased my thunderbolt on the 17th that any customers before the 25th would be allowed to the unlimited data packge for only 29.99 a month and grandfathered into the 29.99 a month data package for at least the next 2 years. Anybody after march 25th(2011) will have to pay based on there usage. Verizon are a bunch of rats like the oil industry.. manipulating people anyway they can.

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PJNC284
Master - Level 2

whoever you talked to was an idiot.  Verizon still has the $29.99 unlimited plan.

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TedKord
Contributor - Level 1
I spoke to a rep at the Verizon promo phone number, about this issue today. When I got in on the "Talk and Text plus Data" promo a few months back, I specifically asked what would happen if I waited a few months to upgrade to an LTE phone. Would the promo be knocked off? I was told then that upgrading to a 4G phone would NOT kick the promo off. I got this answer from 4 or 5 different reps at that number.


After reading this thread, I called back today to see if they had changed the story, and was told again that as long as the 4G data plan is unlimited for $29.99m the new phone would not affect the promo.


She also stated that they have had a problem with the promo getting knocked off for a variety of reasons, so they have set up a separate system to reinstall it for for folks who lose it for invalid reasons. (This applies too this promo only)


If anyone loses it due to phone upgrade, call 1-877-873-3278 to get it cleared up.
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escapeplan
Enthusiast - Level 2

So people can get a plan that includes unlimited 4G usage for 29.99 until the tiered pricing plans are released? I guess that’s a pretty good deal if 4G is coming your way in the near future. I'm still a little baffled as to why I can’t just keep my plan that I just enrolled into about 4 months ago and not have any 4G connectivity added.

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Chubbs
Contributor - Level 1

This is not because of the type of phone you purchased, it's because you signed a new two year contract for the phone and are now under new terms. Any company/affiliation discount will still apply though.

 

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ibanez737
Contributor - Level 1

Chubbs wrote:

This is not because of the type of phone you purchased, it's because you signed a new two year contract for the phone and are now under new terms. Any company/affiliation discount will still apply though.

 


I don't think that's the case  The promos allow you to switch between different phones (even phones purchased with contract pricing) as long as you keep the unlimited data package.  The system has a certain feature code for each data package (whether it's a smartphone, blackberry or feature phone).  When you switch to a 4G phone, the feature code is completely different for the Tbolt (and didn't exist in the system when the Talk and Text  + Data / Smartphones Talk Free promos were running).  So if you do switch, I would think it would drop off, but again there are systems in place to get it reinstated.  I haven't seen anything official barring 4G phones, but I will have to double check when I go back in to work.  Haven't seen this situation pop up yet.

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escapeplan
Enthusiast - Level 2

So I just spoke with someone at the customer loyalty office again who was completely baffled as to why I was told my promotion would be revoked if I bought a Thunderbolt. They also said that if you sign a new contract that you are entitled to maintain that renewal date price structure for the extent of that contract term unless you (customer) make changes. I mentioned the following (from Verizon’s contract) after I was told this to make sure I was getting the straight scoop:

Our Rights to Make Changes

Your service is subject to our business policies, practices, and procedures, which we can change without notice. UNLESS OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY LAW, WE CAN ALSO CHANGE PRICES AND ANY OTHER CONDITIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME BY SENDING YOU WRITTEN NOTICE PRIOR TO THE BILLING PERIOD IN WHICH THE CHANGES WOULD GO INTO EFFECT. IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE YOUR SERVICE AFTER THAT POINT, YOU'RE ACCEPTING THE CHANGES. IF THE CHANGES HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOU, HOWEVER, YOU CAN END THE AFFECTED SERVICE, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

 

The Verizon rep basically told me that everything I heard from the previous rep made no sense to her. The confusion continues.

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BakerGeckos
Contributor - Level 3

I can confirm that after purchaseing my T-Bolt My $20 dollar discount for data per line is still intact. No Issues with me losing my data pricing...:smileyhappy:

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KinquanaH_VZW
VZ Employee Emeritus

Thanks for the information everyone. I wanted to clear up some of the confusion regarding having a current promotion, purchasing a new phone, loosing a promotion and receiving a different promotion.

 

Currently, our unlimited data feature for Smartphones is $29.99 per line/per month for personal email and internet and $44.99 per line/per month for corporate email and internet. If you have this feature currently on your line and upgrade or change to a different Smartphone this feature and amount will remain unless you are advised the pricing has changed and choose the new pricing. This information will be given to you before upgrading or changing to a different phone so that you have the choice to accept the new pricing or keep your current phone on your account with the current pricing.

 

Additionally, the Smartphones Talk Free promotion we were offering can remain on the line(s) that received it as long as they continue to use a Smartphone with the $29.99 data plan for the contract term. If the Smartphone is removed from the line or the $29.99 feature is removed during the contract term, it can not be re-added and you loose the promotion. If you change to a different Smartphone during the contract term, the promotion will remain as long as you have the $29.99 data plan on that line. If this line changes to a basic/feature phone at any time during the contract term or chooses a different data feature, the promotion will drop off and can not be re-added. 

 

If new data pricing is released, we will provide our customers with information that will allow them to understand what changes will occur with there plan, cost, and promotions before changing. 

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Wildman
Legend

Chubbs wrote:

This is not because of the type of phone you purchased, it's because you signed a new two year contract for the phone and are now under new terms. Any company/affiliation discount will still apply though.

 


I was wondering if this was going to be pointed out, this is exactly correct....  What happens when you sign a new contract is that your plan will fall under the terms and plans that are valid at the time of the new contract.  The plan you was placed on is most likely none existing any longer so they usually change your plan to the closest plan avalible in price at that time, this ia a regular practice by Service Perviders.

I hope this helps some...

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androidcatdog
Newbie
Please stop offending my delicate sensibilities...
"Loose" does not equal "lose." It's everywhere online...
Your wife is loose....don't lose your wife to another man...or woman. Thank you. That is all.
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