This is just an FYI to all those who may fall into the trap I did. I wish I had know about this prior so I would have made my choices accordingly.
VSW has changed the upgrade plans for those with older unlimited data plans. If you use a line upgrade to get a smartphone that line not only gets the 24 month contract but you will also be forced into a min of $30/month data plan.
I have 3 phones on my account. 1 of them have unlimited data and the other two are simple flip phones (no data).
For 3 years I have used one of these non-data plan lines to upgrade the smartphone and then would move the phone to the unlimited line and the flip phone back to the non-data line. This worked great as my 2 non-data lines had contracts that ended on opposite years.
This last time I upgraded, In January, I explained to the sales person what I wanted to do, they told me they do this all the time and they would take care of it.
My Feb bill was a bit higher than I expected so I called support. I showed them the $30 data fee and how I did not want this on a flip phone. They stated oh yes we understand, will fix it and credit you. Perfect I thought. Sure enough March's bill came and the credit was there but the $30 data charge had not been removed. I called support again and this time they dropped the hammer on me.
My credit was an "Inconvience" credit, it was a range of $3-$8 per line, it was not a reversal of the $30 data charge. This is when I find out that VZW has now changed thier smartphone plan upgrades for accounts who are on grandfarthered in plans. If I switch to thier current plan, ie lose my unlimited data then they are more than happy to remove the data charge. So now I'm stuck paying $30 a month for the next 22 months = $660 in charges for something I will not use. A full contract 24 months $30/month is $720 which is more that the cost of most smartphones.
If this is your situation please be sure you have all the facts prior to getting tricked into a contract worth more that the darn phone you get for "FREE!!!!"
Sorry this is not a new policy and it was announced and it's in the terms. Not seeing the issue. Besides unlimited data lines are NOT supposed to be able to upgrade. They should be paying full price. This is why Verizon closed that loophole last year. You want to use a basic phone line to upgrade a unlimited data line then it will cost you more than buying the phone outright, and that's the point. If you want to keep unlimited data you pay full price. If you want a discount upgrade then you give up unlimited data.
According to VZW support this was a policy change in 8/14, 7 months ago(ish), I'm not claiming this is brand new but I am telling others who have been with VZW for many years and still like the less expensive package they have had for those many years need to be aware that this is the rule now. In attempts to force those long term customers to go to a more expensive plan that offers far less service they have implemented this.
I do understand this policy now and certainly will no longer use the upgrades however I wanted to offer my story as a heads up to any other potential person from running into this situation.
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