Why are loyal customers going to pay more then new customers??

[Jim759]

So Verizonwireless is changing the way it is doing business and making plans for new customers cheaper and better. I chat today with a rep to try to lock into one of the newer lower cost plans. Being a loyal customer for many years I would have thought they would offer the best plans. I was wrong current customers cannot get the better plans at the cheaper cost. Pricing is different and more expensive for current customers!! I guess it is time to shop at other companies!!

[kaebfly]

This has been discussed at length. If you are currently in a contract then you have to complete the terms of your contract (the $40 access fee) so in that case, yes you will have to pay $20 more. Has nothing to do with loyalty and everything to do with completing the terms of your existing contract. New plans do not negate a contract already in play. If you're referring to something different than the $40 access fee then please specify.

[Weth · Accepted solution]

The new plans are not really cheaper, just shifting the costs.

You pay $40 access fee, but the phone is included in that price. Contract 2 years.

New people pay $20 access fee, but the phone IS NOT included, and must pay a monthly fee averaging $20 per month for the phone for 2 years. SAME $40 really, just separated out into individual costs. You are actually getting no worse or no better of a deal.

[ik8tey]

I feel the same way.  I've been a Verizon customer since they were Bell Atlantic Mobile.  My Droid 4 is dying and I feel like I should get a better deal than the people who left Verizon and came back.  Nope.  Nope.  Nope.  Customer loyalty is actually a drawback.  I think I'll just have them replace it with a refurbbed one which hopefully won't be psychotic.

[Tidbits]

You understand it's equal they are not being treated better than you. You have the same options if you are out of contract... If you are under contract then you already took that present deal and you'll get the same deal when you completed your contract. How can you be loyal when you signed a contract which is something I can never understand.

[Jim759]

Loyalty titbits means you have remained with the same company for many years for me that is over a decade. How long have you been a customer?? I do not know if you have seen advertisements for other cell services but most of them will buy out your Verizonwireless contract. So essentially the contract is meaningless except to Verizonwireless who will not even buy out there own contract to retain customers.

[rcschnoor]

Jim759 wrote:

Loyalty titbits means you have remained with the same company for many years for me that is over a decade. How long have you been a customer?? I do not know if you have seen advertisements for other cell services but most of them will buy out your Verizonwireless contract. So essentially the contract is meaningless except to Verizonwireless who will not even buy out there own contract to retain customers.

Many of the informed customers on here have been with Verizon for awhile.

Yes, some other providers offer to buy out your Verizon contract for your less than $350 ETF. For this to happen, you have to turn in your Verizon phone AND purchase a new phone from your new provider at a cost of $500-$800. I personally don't see the monetary incentive. YES, your service may be a bit less expensive. YES, your coverage may be a bit less. YES, you will either pay a BIG chunk of money for a new phone up front OR have monthly device payments which will wipe out most if not ALL of your savings. YES, you can go right ahead and do this if you want. Many on these forums are happy with their service and will be staying.

For what it is worth, I look at the competition EVERY time I look to purchase a new phone. IF/WHEN a competing provider can give me the same coverage at a comparable/lower price, I will be HAPPY to do so. Some smoke and mirror offer to pay my ETF will not make me do so, though, because when you look at the ENTIRE offer it will be quite expensive to take their offer. Fact is, 3 of my 4 lines are CURRENTLY out of contract with the final line soon to be out of contract. My monthly service bill is $178 with 15 GB of shared data and that amount will DROP when the final line is out of contract.

[Weth]

With large corporations, loyalty is just another marketing term.  Makes you feel warm and fuzzy. It always involves more continued profit for the company.  Real loyalty involves no contracts or agreements, like friends and dogs. 

[vzw_customer_support]

ik8tey,

We truly value your long time loyalty and want to help. Having a reliable phone is definitely important. Let's bring your phone back to life.

What specific issues are you having with your Droid 4? How long have you had this phone?

JohnB_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[Jim759]

Wow you sent this to the wrong customer. But the original ? was mine.

My phones are ok my plan is not. Heading to the Sprint store this weekend. They have a great plan and will pay my fee to Verizon Wireless so I may have to give them a try. After close to 15 years with Verizon wireless I was surprised that for $17 per month difference your company will lose my loyalty. That is all I asked for was your newer plan with the 6gb of shared data. Only $17 cheaper then my current plan but Verizon wireless will not allow me there new plan.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

[kaebfly]

Glad you were able to find something you are happy with but you were in contract and had not completed it. $17 or not...your contract stipulated that you pay $40 access fee until the 24 months was up. You weren't wronged...you were just expected to complete your contract. The idea that you couldn't switch to the new plans is false...you weren't told that you couldn't. You just still had to pay your contractual access rate...so it was higher than that of those who are not under contract would have to pay.

[avidmar1978]

New/Returning customers DO get a better deal...

"

Come home & get $300.

When you trade in your
phone and buy a new one.

New smartphone device payment activation and port-in req’d. $300 = $200 trade-in VZW gift card + $100 bill credit (applied within 2-3 billing cycles). Trade-in must be in good working condition."

Loyal customers don't get a $100 bill credit or $200 VZW gift card for trading in any smart phone.

[Snn5]

Those promos are one-time only deals.  Yeah, you can leave and come back, but most people got a similar deal when they signed up the first time too.  I know i did.

[avidmar1978]

I joined Verizon in the 90s, and I didn't get any such promotion.

For anyone to globally say that new customers don't get special perks that existing customers don't enjoy is just wrong.  To say that everyone probably got some similar deal when you joined X number of years ago isn't necessarily true either.

Why is it so hard for people to admit that new customers get better deals than existing customers?  It's true here, it's true with TV providers, it's true just about anywhere you go.

I'd be happy to bring Verizon my old phone and get a $200 gift card for it.  I'd love a $100 bill credit for doing absolutely nothing but pay my bill.  Even if it's "just a one time deal" it's more than I'm getting.

I'm not even mad about the fact that new customers get better deals than existing customers.  Just admit it.

[Snn5]

Again, open to interpretation and relative association I suppose.  Way back when, in the 90s, there weren't as many promos changing all the time.  Cellphones were phones, not data devices with new-fangled technology nor the costs associated with the operation and manufacturing thereof, nor were there carrier wars.  Times, customers, companies, technology, business, and industries change constantly.  Marketing must change as well to meet the demands and stay competitive, but a company also cannot run itself into the ground trying to make up ground, or even...keep its current ground.

New customers are not offered unlimited data.  Current customers who have that plan can keep that plan, under certain circumstances.  Customers who have a better deal on More Everything plans can keep their plan too, and some can even upgrade with a new contract again (however in-advisable cost-wise that may be.)  New customers get none of that.  Current customers are then technically able to save more depending on their plan than a new customer might with a new plan.  This is not the case with all current customers, but again, current customers signed a contract that couldn't be changed by either party unless Verizon submitted written documentation to the contrary.  You don't want them changing you to a higher plan and cost mid-contract, why would they want to you to change on them?  that's the purpose of a contract:  both sides know what is expected of them in the arrangement.

However....current customers can go to Sprint or T-Mobile or whoever will "buy out" their contract, but they will also have to turn in their phone and buy a new one and wait a few months for reimbursement and then, guess what?  If they want to come back to Verizon, Vzw isn't buying out contracts.  So, unless the same promo is running 3 months from now, those customers cannot easily switch back to Verizon.

[avidmar1978]

What does any of that have to do with the fact that as a 16 year customer, I can't get the options that are being offered to first time customers or those who come to Verizon from another carrier?

I've been with Verizon for 16 years.  I had unlimited data on 3 lines, and paid $90/month for that.  That was the only option available, and I didn't need or use unlimited data - heck the 3G was slower than my home/work WIFI anyway.  I was perfectly happy to give it up to lower my bill by $60/month (or however much, I don't remember) when the option became available.

Again, I'm not mad that I can't get the promotion. Marketing, grow your customer base, yada yada yada.  I get it.  I just don't understand why there's such a rush to tell people that new customers don't have it any better than people who've been here forever. 

Take all of the variables out of it.  A customer who comes over from Sprint and trades in an iPhone4 will get $200 VZW gift card and $100 bill credit - once they sign up for Device Payments.  An existing customer with a Verizon iPhone4 who is not in contract who wants to buy a new phone on a Device Payment gets neither of these.  They will both pay the same $20 monthly fee.  They will both pay for their data.  They will both pay for their new device.

The new customer gets the better deal than the existing customer - all else being equal.  Why is this so hard to just admit?

[Snn5]

Impossible to admit to anything that is not absolute.  But, think of it this way:  YOU have been getting great coverage and service for 16 years!!!  Those other folks have not been and now are looking to get the same services you've always had.  Sounds like you have been taken care of much better than they have all these years.   And, if that isn't the case, why are you with Verizon still?

[avidmar1978]

Now you sound like VZW customer support!

Won't the new customer be paying for the same "great coverage and service" that I'm paying for?  Won't the new customer be getting $300 in perks/discounts that I'm not getting?

[Snn5]

Maybe, but you've been getting the great coverage and service much longer than them and you have the satisfaction of knowing you chose wisely the first time around. 

[avidmar1978]

But that's completely irrelevant...

As a long time customer, I've been PAYING MORE for the entire 16 years.  Verizon has always had the best/most reliable network and have ALWAYS charged the most because of it.  Me "knowing I chose wisely" doesn't put $300 in my pocket*, now does it?

You're intentionally avoiding the only point being made.

*in my pocket is defined as a $100 bill credit and a $200 VZW gift card

[Snn5]

If I remember correctly, your question involved "Why don't I get the same perks as new customers?"

Because you are not a new customer and the promo is for new customers.