Going from 2 year contract to new monthly payment plan

[CASBAR48]

My wife and I are coming to the end of our last two year contracts and are preparing to go to the new style Verizon has adopted where you pay for your device outright (monthly payment plant) and the monthly access fee drops from $40 to $20 per line. My wife's phone does not work most of the time right now. The screen will not light up and cuts off while she is using it. Her contract expires on 9/1/2016. Is there any penalty to go ahead and purchase a new phone on the monthly payment plan? Will the $40 fee drop to $20 after her contract expires? So basically, for one month we would be paying the monthly device payment and the $40 access fee; then after 9/1 it will change to the monthly device payment and the $20 access fee?

Thanks,

[sprmankalel]

You will not be able to do the Device Payment Plan until 9/1/2016 or later. Any time before that you will be required to purchase the device at full cost, charged in one lump sum instead of over 24 months. The line access will stay at $40 until the contract end date and then will drop to $20 (if you are on one of the Verizon Plans).

[LILYANTONE]

Actually they do have edge plan... Where you can buy a phone and pay it out monthly... Don't have to have 2 years contract..  I have been on that plan for 3 years now after our two yr contract expired. Also u may be qualified for upgrade as well...

[Ann154]

The Edge program changed its name to the Device Payment Plan (DPP) which better reflect its function. The customer still needs to be out of contract to qualify for the DPP.

[sprmankalel]

The OP was asking about the getting a new phone on the Device Payment Plan. It is no longer called Edge and hasn't been in quite a long time.

Also, Verizon has not let anyone upgrade, either on DPP or 2yr agreement, until all contract terms have been fulfilled. According to the OP, contract terms will be fulfilled on September 1, 2016 and that is when s/he can expect to get a new device on DPP.

[LILYANTONE]

Strange... We switched in the middle of 2 yr contact... That was 4 yrs ago.

[sprmankalel]

That was 4 years ago. They have since changed policy. There is no longer the option to upgrade before your agreement has been fulfilled.

[Weth]

They did have a early Edge program for a while several years ago. You had to turn in your current phone though. I have not seen that offer recently, plus you would need to have a good working phone in order to do the trade in. In this case, the phone is not working properly.

[rcschnoor · Accepted solution]

sprmankalel wrote:

Also, Verizon has not let anyone upgrade, either on DPP or 2yr agreement, until all contract terms have been fulfilled. According to the OP, contract terms will be fulfilled on September 1, 2016 and that is when s/he can expect to get a new device on DPP.

I'm not sure this is completely true. I recently had a line complete its contract in May. For 1-2 months  BEFORE it had completed its contract it was designated in my MyVerizon account as "eligible for upgrade". I didn't check to see what that meant, either early qualification for DPP or 2 yr discounted price, because I simply wanted to complete the contract before doing anything.

I would certainly recommend the OP check their MyVerizon account to see what their upgrade eligibility is on their lines. If it states that it is eligible for an upgrade to the payment plan, I would make sure that they didn't have to return their current phone as a requirement for that upgrade. With the phone being on the fritz, the OP may get billed for a non working phone if that is a requirement.

Can't hurt to look seeing as my last contract line was "upgrade eligible" before completing its contract term.

[LILYANTONE]

Kept my phone. Still have other one