They are trying to solve one problem (the Unlimited Data plan heavy users) but they are causing a whole lot of other problems with their solution. Young family members often become lifelong customers and are much sought after by most companies. Verizon has created a barrier to their entry into the Verizon family.
I allowed texting with my first child an used Parent Controls to restrict his time of use. That worked great, all for about $20 per month. Now it would be nearly three times that for my daughter to do the same and force the rest of us to make changes to our plans that would cost even more.
Verizon better wake up.
I am still on the same plan as you. We upgraded one line the day before the plan changes because I was told by several employees that if we made any phone changes afterwards, we would be forced into the new plan. I still have unlimited data on my line. The new upgraded line took a 2gb package. The 3rd line is for my mother and she has a very old flip phone which serves it's purpose for her; calls and texts. She has no use for a smart phone and could never use one. I'm not paying $30 a month for her 8+ year old phone and I'm certainly not paying $80+ to upgrade her to a current flip phone. I sat down and did the math between my current plan and the new one. Because the employer discount I currently have is applied to the rate plan fee, it's cheaper than the new plan where the discount would be applied to the data package, which means less money saved. Not to mention, thanks to Friends & Family, we've only used 97 minutes so far and have about 10 days left of our billing cycle. Unlimited minutes doesn't really matter for us.
FamilyOFair wrote:
Thanks Lewis. I hope you are right but the on-line service keeps forcing me into the new plan when I attempt to do it. I will check with a local rep.
if you are doing it online, continue with the process. i actually tried to upgrade a phone and it "appeared" that i had to select the new share everything plan. however, when i did select it, one or two screens later, it actually did still show my current plan. not sure if this is the case for you, but if you are stopping at the page that makes you select share everything, then try going one or 2 pages further to see if your current plan shows up. you can always back out before you actually finish the process of adding the line.
I have to agree with you. I will be dropping my netbook off my plan as soon as it is off contract (in Nov). I will NOT be upgrading my phone next year. If you look at the website, you will find that the only plans out there is the share everything plan. I do not text and I use less than 450 minutes per month. I do use data, but it is almost always under 2 Gig. I am looking at the prepaid plans now as they are looking VERY attractive financially. I will do without the ability to use my computer. I can get free wireless access at McDonalds if I really need it. No way am I paying those kind of fees.
Looks like AT&T is next in line for Share Everything type plans but isn't dropping "grandfathered" unlimited just yet (they do, however, throttle data speeds at 3GB for 3G devices and 5GB for LTE).
http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-plans.html#fbid=kQP5kstzU_E?tab2source=EC0000PP100000JD
they have it structured a bit differently, but it looks comparable. i quickly ran 3 different scenarios in my head and both carriers were within $10 of each other in the 3 scenarios. they do look better if you combine a couple families, for example, and had 6-10 smartphones, sharing 20gb's due to the fact that the line access charge drops to $30 (instead of $40) with the larger data plans. if 10 people went in on it, they could all have 2 gb's and unlimited talk, text for $50 each. that's real close to these smaller (boost, virgin, etc) outfits, for a much better network.
I guess the thing to do with all of these plans would be to buy the largest data package available. Then, put on as many people as it takes to use up all the data.
yeah....if this is the way of the future, then i will eventually go with it. my kids are too young now, but when i have 3 teenagers/college students (i can be optimistic right?) we'll have 5. my brother in law lives down the street with wife and 2 kids (same age as mine). there's 9 devices. i can really start to see where these plans actually do benefit certain situations. instead of 2 families with monthly bills of $300-400, you could combine them and split one $500 bill each month. another way to go is get your plan and then if you have any friends with ipads tell them "hey....just give me $30 month and i'll add you to my plan." start reselling your data.....lol.
AZSALUKI wrote:
they have it structured a bit differently, but it looks comparable. i quickly ran 3 different scenarios in my head and both carriers were within $10 of each other in the 3 scenarios. they do look better if you combine a couple families, for example, and had 6-10 smartphones, sharing 20gb's due to the fact that the line access charge drops to $30 (instead of $40) with the larger data plans. if 10 people went in on it, they could all have 2 gb's and unlimited talk, text for $50 each. that's real close to these smaller (boost, virgin, etc) outfits, for a much better network.
Verizon is much better on the data at&t is better on the line fee. If Verizon were to lower it's line fee they'd eat at&t's lunch on shared plans.
AZSALUKI wrote:
yeah....if this is the way of the future, then i will eventually go with it. my kids are too young now, but when i have 3 teenagers/college students (i can be optimistic right?) we'll have 5. my brother in law lives down the street with wife and 2 kids (same age as mine). there's 9 devices. i can really start to see where these plans actually do benefit certain situations. instead of 2 families with monthly bills of $300-400, you could combine them and split one $500 bill each month. another way to go is get your plan and then if you have any friends with ipads tell them "hey....just give me $30 month and i'll add you to my plan." start reselling your data.....lol.
A) you have to make sure eveyone comes up with their part of the bill. A lot harder to do with 10 people.
B) Someone has to keep up on how much data everyone is using so no one uses more than their share. I'm not sure if Share Everything has a way to set a data limit on a device.
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