What reaction, if any, can we expect from Verizon in regards to the T-Mobile program to pay early cancellations fees? (This is sort of a 2-part question)

I believe Verizon is dishonest and purposely unfair regarding billing and service policies.

I am looking to move to T-Mobile.

Firstly 35% of Verizon customers can't even get T-Mobile service because that is how lousy T-Mobile's coverage is. Seems like you're not interested in using much data even if you had a smartphone. If that's the case you can get a smartphone Share Everything plan for a single line with unlimited talk and text and 250 MB data for $45 a month plus/taxes/fess so maybe around $50 total.

Verizon_Lacks_Integrity wrote:
I believe Verizon is dishonest and purposely unfair regarding billing and service policies.
I am looking to move to T-Mobile.

Care to elaborate?

Well first off unless you had the supplement insurance verizon will not replace a phone broke in a car door. That is physical damage and is not covered.

At present you can use if qualified the device payment plan which is full price spread out over 12 months with so much down and the rest paid over the year. There is a $2 fee per month for this plan. However if you have unlimited data etc on the plan now you keep it. That is a plus for many customers.

You can use the edge plan, you pay so much and after a certain time frame after paying half the phone cost you can trade in the phone and get a new super doper phone, again you pay so much down and can do this over and over. However if you have unlimited data you lose it. The cost of data is very expensive and read the posts here about problems with actual usage versus what was never used before.

Or you can pay full price for the device or get another device from a friend or buy a cheap device from a place off the net.

Good Luck

PK71

Same here. I hate Verizon's customer service. I have been a customer since 2004, and recently my Stratosphere simply stopped working. I attempted to switch over to my LG Chocolate by doing the online process. However, this didn't work. After spending a day and a half in the mall with Verizon workers, and after they deleted all of my pictures and contacts in order to do a master reset, still no working phone. While at the mall, I used their phone to call Verizon. They were not helpful. I can't even find a way to contact Verizon customer service from their site. I have no phone, only online capability. Yet, I pay over $300.00 per month for a family plan. I think T Mobile will be my next provider. Anything has to be better than this.

PK71

Well, I hear that Walmart has a plan that offers really good coverage and online capability. Verizon has very poor customer service and are over priced compared to other options.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm aware that the phone acting as a door stop thing is not covered, nor would I expect it to be. However, if T-Mobile is willing to cover cancellation and are overall much less expensive, it begins to be a struggle to see if Verizon values my loyalty enough to come up with something to keep me around. I like the call any other Verizon feature, but even when I was traveling extensively, I never had a coverage issue with T-Mobile. Verizon doesn't have any better phones. If anything, T-Mobile has more attractive devices. Smartphones and data plans are excessively priced as-is, which is why I'm not looking especially at Sprint and AT & T, who are also high, but rather I had a good experience with T-Mobile before and a lot of signs point to them. Perhaps Verizon could very quickly come up with some sort of loyalty program or even a custom one so I can both replace my device (wife needs another also) and continue on with them. I'm not interested in the Edge program, as that basically just drives an already expensive monthly phone bill higher pointlessly.

Tidbits

Loyalty is a marketing tool in a free market... Said this for a long time. Talk with your money more than your mouth if people want things to change.

Someone will probably say i am defending XYZ company soon enough for saying this(happened every other time).

ttipgem

There's nothing that they "are going to do for you". You are under contract so they don't need to do anything to "value your loyal". If you cancel, they will get their money. Period. If you stay, they will get their money.

Verizon currently does not have a "loyalty program". And even if they did, it likely would not apply unless you were out of contract. And typically Verizon's incentives have mainly applied to the service contract and not to the purchase of devices.

So, your options to get a new phone without paying full price are likely to have to come from somewhere other than Verizon directly.

All of these things are likely true.They will get their money if they break the contract, though in this scenario, it will ultimately come from T-Mobile and not from me.

I am, however, willing to give Verizon the benefit of the doubt, though given that an actual Verizon rep has not responded yet perhaps indicates that they do not care enough to take advantage of the opportunity. If not, aside from the momentary inconvenience, I have no real issues with switching to T-Mobile. It's fine for them to just sit and collect money, but this is their chance to not be fragile when needed, especially given how many people I switched over when my friend was working there. I think Verizon will need to respond to this in some way, though, at a corporate level...

Meant to say they will get their money if I break the contract, not if they do. I suppose they would, after a fashion, if they broke it also, though...

PK71 wrote:
Well, I hear that Walmart has a plan that offers really good coverage and online capability. Verizon has very poor customer service and are over priced compared to other options.

If you're talking about Straight Talk they use either At&t or Sprint or Verizon networks. Only the Straight Talk phones on At&t networks even have 4G capability otherwise you're on 3G. Also you have to pay full price for the phones. Also they say they have unlimited data but it's actually limited to 2.5 GB. They also say you're not allowed to tether and you are not supposed watch streaming video or stream music. Also whichever network they are using if there an issue with congestion Straight Talk's data gets deprioritized first. Yeah sounds great.

I sort of would rather stay with Verizon, if for no other reason that I can use my backup phone from them...well, I will be able to once I go buy one at Radio Shack, I guess. I have had no real issues with their service, other than connectivity with T-Mobile has historically been slightly better, just rather with Verizon being more expensive without commensurate value.

That will probably be the course I take...go buy a backup basic phone to get things operational and then take a hard look at things. Definitely the providers are doing their best to railroad subscribers into smartphones and one of them should be coming up with a cohesive and hopefully much better plan soon. Hopefully the delay on this will be enough for Verizon to respond in one way or another.

After my visit to a few stores, it is clear Verizon does not value my time and given their lack of response to this, evidently they don't value my business, either...looks like it may be the end when my contract is up...I managed to find a used phone, so back in order for now, but I had to waste nearly an entire day doing it...in my book, Verizon has to do better than this.

ttipgem

I fail to see why "Verizon has to do better" to accommodate someone who has a broken phone through no fault of Verizon.

Them "not doing anything" for you is not in any way a failure on their part. It seems more like a pervasive entitlement mindset being rampant.

D-Dub wrote:
After my visit to a few stores, it is clear Verizon does not value my time and given their lack of response to this, evidently they don't value my business, either...looks like it may be the end when my contract is up...I managed to find a used phone, so back in order for now, but I had to waste nearly an entire day doing it...in my book, Verizon has to do better than this.

You do realize that Verizon stores even corporate ones nor a CS rep has the power to change the rates of which Verizon charges for services. So I'm not sure why you expect that. Can you walk into McDonald's and demand the cashier charge you less than the stated price for a value meal? Also you expect Verizon to make an except for YOU. Well why are you more special than any of us? Why should YOU pay less and not ME? So that means Verizon has to make an exception for EVERYONE. Well that's not going to work.

Anon: Frankly, stores and corporate have a lot more latitude than you seem to think. It becomes a matter if they are willing to extend it. I know this as a matter of personal experience but no longer have anyone on the inside to help facilitate this. The purpose of this thread was not solely for my own sake, but also to see if they intend on coming up with new pricing programs to compete with T-Mobile, for all subscribers, not just me. If not, then not, but unless they know this is desired, I don't know that their altruistic sense is really going to move them to change things.

ttipgem: So far I have not been able to have anyone across 4 different stores help me with options, nor anyone on the website via chat nor on this thread, in terms of actual Verizon reps. If a phone breaks like that and it is as pressing as this particular case is, I don't see why would not be able to discount any of the phones at that respective level. By their inflated pricing, they are making piles and piles of money and have historically from me and all of the bills are paid on time. I currently have 3 lines with them and I should think they would not want to lose that kind of customer base, so whether it is their fault or not, if I'm asking them for some assistance and telling them I need them to stand and deliver or risk losing me, there should be someone there interested enough in customer retention to make some sort of allowance or even roll it into a mini-upgrade and plan change. Again, if not, then not. All I'm saying is that is what it will take and if they don't value me enough, T-Mobile does.

pherson

Sooo....you broke your phone....you had no insurance....but Verizon has to make it right? The sense of entitlement at its best....wish you the best where ever you go...but I think your postings are done here.

I'm not saying I shouldn't have to pay for a new phone and at no point have I said that. Not sure how that exactly got skewed, but nature of the internet, I suppose. Not sure what you mean by you think my posts here are done, exactly, unless you're someone from Verizon and are intending on banning me or whatever. In point of fact, I did already go buy another unit. The part about my damaged unit is, therefore, concluded.

What I'm saying is a few things. First, I'm NOT paying overinflated full retail for another phone through Verizon or anyone else. I don't need to do that, so why would I (or anyone else)?I don't see this as entitlement so much as asking if Verizon cares to help me. If not, then not, but the answer is definitely no without asking the question. Further, if T-Mobile is going to cover cancellation charges, then I have a very viable alternate, which was the first part of the question of whether or not Verizon is going to respond to this and how.

The second part is a little different. Cell phone bills are already excessive, so not inclined to add further cost into things for insurance. One broken phone out of 10+ years would not seem to indicate insurance would be necessary or even an especially good idea. Rather, to demonstrate to their customer base that they do care one way or another, Verizon could offer a 50% subsidy (or whatever percentage based on how much is left of the contract on a sliding scale basis) on a new unit or they could offer it once during the life of contract or once a calendar year or whatever or they can just watch people walk away, I guess. My comparison puts Verizon at between $50 - $75 more per month as compared to T-Mobile and I don't see the commensurate value, particularly when I try to visit any of the brick and mortars. Verizon has a definite PR problem in terms of their customer service perception and this would be at least one way of helping that.

To boil this down, when I say Verizon needs to do better, it means that if they actually do care one way or another about their customer base (again, not just me), they are coming up very short on demonstrating it.

Just in case someone from Verizon actually gets to this, I will present a scenario, as I think it's in everyone's interests for them to be competitive.

Let's say Friday night had someone at Verizon either answered the phone or responded via chat or even responded to this message OR on Saturday, if someone at one of the 4 brick and mortars I checked out been able to tear themselves away to help me rather than presenting me with absurdly lengthy queues (I don't have 1 hr.+ to wait to be simply seen and will not ever, for any provider - that's entirely ridiculous), what I wanted to see from them was something along the lines of, we can give you X percentage off of smartphones only with an upgrade to the data plan for the remainder of the contract. That helps me and them, as I'm back in action right away instead of having to burn an entire day finding a fix. It helps them as it's a higher bill every month for me and the enticement to drift over to T-Mobile is minimized as I feel they actually care and that my loyalty is valued.

What we have now is me getting a stopgap phone to basically buy time. Being operational again and with this latest experience in mind, I now have incentive to start looking elsewhere.

I'm not here to argue the relative correctness of my argument or attitude but rather to present the marketplace realities and Verizon can respond or not as they care to. So far, it has been not...

pherson

Onceagain....The world's biggest SMH....

dirkbonn

To answer the OPs topic question, I don't think we'll any reaction by Verizon to T-Mobiles plan to pay ETFs to customers that switch to T-Mobile. The biggest reason is Verizon has over 2-1/2 times the customer base that T-Mobile has. T-Mobile has to be aggressive in trying to gain more customers. Verizon, with the largest 4G LTE network doesn't need to offer the same things that T-Mobile does. When T-Mobile grows their customer base to 120,000,000 customers, (They have less than 50,000,000 now) then maybe we'll see Verizon do something.

It would sadden us to see you leave us D-Dub. I know how frustrating it can be when you break your device. I understand your devie warranty has expired. We would be happy to look over alternate equipment replacement options.

Are you eligible to upgrade? You may dial #UPG send to check. Ifyou are eligible, you have the ability to purchase another basic device. It is not required to upgrade to a smartphone device. To view our online deals on basic devices click, http://vz.to/1h7GnNW

Did you have insurance on your device? If so, you may file an insurance claim to replace your device. To file a claim click, http://bit.ly/07CrqPK

If there is no insurance on your device, we offer a certified like-new replacement devices. For more info on our Certified like-new replacement program, click http://vz.to/16vfYHl

Thank You,

MichelleL_VZW

VZW Support

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSUPPORT

msbaseball1974

My sister currently has T-Mobile in the Chicagoland area, and her coverage is horrible. When she visits me in Minnesota, it's just as lousy. She only has 6 months left on her T-Mobile contract, and the minute it is up, she is switching to Verizon and sharing a plan with me. If Verizon offers the the same thing as T-Mobile (to buy out contracts), we'll be signing up this weekend. I've had coverage everywhere I go with Verizon, and I'm thrilled with the customer service.

rcschnoor

Unfortunately it is doubtful Verizon will offer to pay your sister's ETF anytime soon.

msbaseball1974

Agreed - but hey, you never know until you ask :smileyhappy:

walter4396

to anonymuss - do you work for Verizon? You seem very vested in defending them... Verizon makes It incredibly difficult to reach a live person for customer service. Why? I should be easily able to get a phone # for them on their website, but I can't... Why? I am their customer & have been for more than 10 yrs. Why wouldn't they want me to be able to speak to them on the phone I pay them for every month?

I can provide you with the service you deserve, PK71! Do you have any specific concerns you need addressed? Which plan do you have? How many lines are on your account?

ChaunceyM_VZW

Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport

Hello PK71,

Help is right here, front & center! There's no need to consider another provider. It will be my pleasure to address all of your equipment concerns and win your trust and loyalty back. If you haven't activated the device yet then please send me a private message so we can get this taken care of. I took the liberty of following you to make the process easier. I'm looking forward to your reply.

Thank you...

ArnettH_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

I am not the person you are answering, but its easy to get a hold of Verizon wireless. On the top of each page there is a CONTACT US link. It has the telephone numbers. *611 or 1-800-922-0204

People that work for Verizon wireless have an Avatar that shows they work for the company. All the rest are just customers like you and I.

Good Luck

AZSALUKI

walter4396 wrote:
to anonymuss - do you work for Verizon? You seem very vested in defending them... Verizon makes It incredibly difficult to reach a live person for customer service. Why? I should be easily able to get a phone # for them on their website, but I can't... Why? I am their customer & have been for more than 10 yrs. Why wouldn't they want me to be able to speak to them on the phone I pay them for every month?

from THIS page you can click "contact us" in the upper right corner, and then click "phone" towards the bottom right. i'm not sure how much easier they could make it.

Thank you, Verizon Michelle, but no need for another device at this point. I found one elsewhere. Not to be combative, but the answers to every one of your questions are in this thread in my posts. I would direct you there.

I was very interested in a Certified Pre-Owned at the time, but I needed something immediately and all of the stores told me explicitly that they did not have used phones and further, didn't sell them at all. If waiting was an option, I would have considered online, but mostly I couldn't wait the 2 days or whatever expedited was.

That part is basically concluded, however. What I'm trying to determine now is whether Verizon intends on making their smartphone price-attractive enough for me to upgrade to that when my contract is up or when my patience wears out, whichever is first. If Verizon insists on being that much more expensive than say T-Mobile, perhaps it could be explained to me how it is valuable to that extent, given that I have had both services.

It saddens me that Verizon could not be there when I needed them, but you still have a chance...

Hi Walter4396,

We want contacting us to be easy! I apologize if this is not occuring. You can use our contact us page http://vz.to/19bXyZu to talk to someone via Live Chat, Verizon Wireless Community, Social Media via Twitter or Facebook, or by Phone. You can click on "Phone" >then I need help with finding device or account support> our customer service numbers (1-800-922-0204 ) are listed and a shortcuts to reach customer service from your phone.

Thanks,

PamelaF_VZW

Tweet us @vzwsupport

rcschnoor

Verizon Wireless Customer Support wrote:
We want contacting us to be easy!

Thanks,

PamelaF_VZW

Tweet us @vzwsupport

, many would tend to disagree with your statement as email would be the EASIEST way to contact for MANY users, let alone being the preferred method. Not everyone has a Facebook OR Twitter account, nor does everyone want one and/or how it even works. There are MANY on these forums who claim LOOOONNNNGGGG wait times when calling in. While I have NEVER experienced long wait times when calling CS, I will take them at their word. This leaves email which would be the easiest way for MANY users.

If Verizon REALLY was sincere about making contact easier, it never would have taken away the option of email.

denbush1

I find nothing compelling to stay with Verizon. I have all major networks available in my area. Having been a long term customer of Verizon I don't understand how their new plans, which don't even come close to what ATT came out with, benefits me. The share everything would have cost me $50 more, and now these more of everything cost nothing less. My two lines with one having unlimited data and the other 2gb exceed what ATT offers for four phones. Have already moved my parents off Verizion with their basic phones and now I guess I will be leaving as well.

pherson

You cannot decipher or troubleshoot issues over printed word. Calling or going in the store is the best preferred method. By print is akin to wanting to go through the drive thru - it's because you're (not u specifically) are lazy and want instant gratification. I've never had long hold times either.

tommyman, we're disturbed to hear that you feel this way about visiting our store locations. It's our goal to ensure that D-Dub has the best customer service experience when he comes to see us. What happened to make you feel this way? Your feedback will be appreciated as it allows us to hear your voice and recommendations on how we can be better for you.

For your convenience, click http://vz.to/3SdsA for the closest store location.

LasinaH_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport