Upgrade Choices

[BlindLITE]

Hello,

I am looking to see what options I can get for upgrades. I have a bit of an issue because when we got our current phones they were under a promotional event where eligible devices were $800 in trade in credit. So we upgraded our phone plan, and to 2 s23's.  An traded in our S21's.

The issue is the agent in store lied directly to our faces when he said the $800 credit would be applied within 2 weeks and it would reduce the cost of the new devices significantly. Well it did reduce the price per month which was not up front like he said. So now when I went to upgrade so the new S24 we're being told we have to pay off like $843 for each device?

Anyone have any suggestions as to how to go about this situation. The main problem for me here is honestly being lied to more than anything. I was told by customer support that if we upgrade we'd not only lose the promotional credit remaining we'd also still be required to pay off both devices in full. 

[SynthpopAddict]

I am not defending Verizon here, but it's a "fine print" thing.  And there's invariably some catch or 2 or 3 in these things, which are an industry practice as I've seen promotions from the competition, but they all have some kind of stipulation if you dig down deeper for the details...

-The "get up to $800 for trading in" deal has a requirement that you stay on with the current setup for 36 months.  You could bail out earlier, but then all your credits stop (they are paid out monthly for 36 months anyway to incentivize you into staying with the deal) and you'd also have to pay off the remaining balance on the phone(s).  This is to prevent people from coming to a carrier for a free phone and then immediately taking off or downgrading their plan as soon as they receive the phone.

-As for the purported $800, I highly doubt anyone gets the full $800 for a trade-in unless it was last year's flagship model, factory sealed and never used.  If your trade-in was used at all, it's going to be valued at less.  Maybe a LOT less if it was old, cheap, not working, has heavy wear.

Without directly plugging any carrier, some people intentionally switch providers every few years so as to take advantage of whatever "new customer" offers look good to them at the moment.  I have seen offers elsewhere for more frequent "phone upgrades", but I'd sure check for what the hook is before signing up and having it sunk into you.  As Milton Friedman said, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."

[BlindLITE]

I mean when I talked to customer support they literally could see the promotion I got. An it was in fact $800 per device when we traded them in. The main issue here is that the agent in store said the credit would be applied after a couple weeks maybe the 1st bill. When I talked to CS just 2 days ago I was then informed that wasn't the case but the case was that it would drop my devices down per month. The agents in store need to be trained better unless lying to peoples faces is a regular practice.

My issue isn't so much persay with the 36 month deal it's mainly just the fact that the person in the store straight up lied to my face. 

Yeah I was looking to just move to ATT for a couple years but they currently don't offer any deals when moving carriers so that isn't gonna work atm. Otherwise the remaining carriers are pretty garbage around here besides these 2 giants. Oh well is what it is be easier to just buy phones outright if they weren't the cost of a limb.

[vzw_customer_support]

@BlindLITE  wrote: I mean when I talked to customer support they literally could see t he promotion I got. An it was in fact $800 per device when we traded them in. The main issue here is that the agent in store said the credit would be applied after a couple weeks maybe the 1st bill.

We appreciate you sharing your experience with us. We always want to ensure that our customers receive accurate information from us. We will certainly be lifting up your experience so that we can make sure our customers are receiving accurate details regarding our offers and services. 

-Andi