What to Do About an Upgrade?
DDmiTV
Enthusiast - Level 3

Okay, here's my dilemma....

I upgraded to my current phone, a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, in January 2013, making it eligible for an upgrade in January 2014.  Since my wife's phone was working fine at the time, I transferred her upgrade to get the phone.  Last February, I transferred my upgrade (which was originally her upgrade) back to my wife's line, as she was in sore need of a new phone (hers was falling apart, literally).  We got her an iPhone 4S with the upgrade.  By doing the transfer, it made my Nexus eligible for an upgrade in February 2016, which of course, I can re-transfer back to my phone this coming January.

Well, January is a little more than three months away, and wouldn't you know it, my Nexus is starting to go wacky.  I think the problem is in the phone's internal USB adapter.  It takes several minutes for the charging icon to light up when I insert the charging cable, and the icon stays lit for several minutes after I disconnect.  Also, I'm noticing that the battery is either not charging properly, or not holding a charge.  I have two batteries (the original, and an extended life battery I purchased later), and they're both exhibiting the same problem, so my thinking is that it's the phone's internal circuitry and not the batteries themselves.

I recently received an e-mail offering an early upgrade on my wife's iPhone through the Edge program, as hers has the January upgrade date.  No problem, I figured....I could transfer the Edge upgrade back to my line.  Except when I went to the local Verizon store, I was told I couldn't transfer an Edge upgrade.

To make a long story short, I'm stuck with a Nexus that isn't charging properly for the next three months, and no way to upgrade it.  I looked it up, and replacing the USB circuitry would cost around $50 in parts alone, and would require taking the phone apart (which I'm not totally comfortable with).  Being a little more than 90 days away from an upgrade, it's not even worth the replacement cost in the maintenance plan, as I plan to get an iPhone 5 with my upgrade.  So what are my options?  If the Edge upgrade was transferable, I'd be in good shape, but as it stands, I've got to hope and pray that my Nexus doesn't totally bite the dust between now and January.  Anyone have a suggestion?  Thanks!

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
rcschnoor
Legend

Of course you can upgrade at any time simply by paying full retail price for a phone. You do not have to wait the 3 months. You can also purchase a used phone from a site such as swappa.com. You can also reactivate any old Verizon phone you still have from earlier use. You can also borrow an old unused Verizon phone from friends/relatives to use until you are eligible for a discounted upgrade.

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
Core2
Specialist - Level 1

I did not see it mentioned, but guessing different USB cables/charger have been tried?

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
DDmiTV
Enthusiast - Level 3

Yep, tried several cables, including the original, but I get the same issue.

Unfortunately, forking out the full price for a new phone isn't really an logical option for me, as I am three months from upgrade time (so close, and yet, so far).  Of course, VZW is under no obligation to work with me on this, but it would be nice if they could, seeing as we've been customers for six years.  Even if they were able to transfer the Edge upgrade with a contract extension, they would make a profit in the long run.

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
rcschnoor
Legend

DDmiTV wrote:

Unfortunately, forking out the full price for a new phone isn't really an logical option for me, as I am three months from upgrade time

That certainly depends on how much you need a phone. Some people ALWAYS pay full price for their phones as they don't like to be tied to contracts.

DDmiTV wrote:

it would be nice if they could, seeing as we've been customers for six years.  Even if they were able to transfer the Edge upgrade with a contract extension, they would make a profit in the long run.

I don't think you understand an Edge agreement if you want to "transfer the Edge upgrade with a contract extension". Edge agreements do not come with a service contract. Edge agreements are simply a payment plan spreading out the full retail price of a phone over 20 equal payments. If you want to upgrade before you have completed all 20 payments, you must have paid a minimum of 60% of the full retail price and return the Edge phone in good working order before you would be able to purchase another phone on Edge. I suppose you can "transfer the Edge upgrade", but the line you are transferring from would have to return their phone in good working order if they had not yet completed the payments AND make an additional payment to bring their total payments up to the 60% level if it was not already there. Not sure how that would benefit you???

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
Core2
Specialist - Level 1

Any chance someone makes a QI wireless charger setup for this phone?

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
DDmiTV
Enthusiast - Level 3

I understand what you're saying, but if that's the case, why is VZW offering an Edge upgrade a phone that my wife has had for all of 7 months?  Her current phone isn't on the Edge program, and even if it was, it would be nowhere near 60% paid for.  Meanwhile, I've had my phone for 21 months, and I can't qualify for an Edge update simply because I transferred an upgrade between lines.  One would think that when I transferred my upgrade to her line last February, the two-year upgrade clock would have started ticking on the line the upgrade was transferred to and used on.  Instead, it reverted back to my line, giving my old phone two more years to upgrade eligibility, and her new phone 10 months to same.

Now, that's no issue as long as I wait until January, when I can just flip-flop the upgrades again.  Hopefully, my Nexus will last that long (fingers crossed).  Should I need to get a new phone sooner, however, I can't trade in my Nexus simply because previous upgrades were reversed, and then reversed themselves back by default.  The way I see it, it's basically a glitch in the system which, in this case, is offering an Edge upgrade to the newer phone rather than the older one.

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
rcschnoor
Legend

In my opinion, transferring upgrades will eventually end up causing headaches. Contracts are tied to a line, not a phone. If you transfer an upgrade to another line on your account, the new contract stays with the line which originally had the upgrade, not the line you are transferring the upgrade to.

When you enter into an Edge agreement on a line still under contract, you must return the phone which was purchased on THAT line's upgrade AND the phone must be in good working condition. If the phone currently active on her line is not the phone which was purchased when renewing her contract, her phone would not have to be returned if she entered into an Edge agreement. The phone which was purchased when renewing her contract, even if it is active on your line of service would have to be returned. If that phone is not in good working order, as appears to be the case in your situation, you would have a fee of I think $299 for returning a phone which is not in good working condition.

It is NOT a glitch in the system. They are offering HER line the Edge agreement because HER line has the contract which is the oldest, not yours. She has the newer phone active on her line, but only because it was purchased with the upgrade from YOUR line which had its contract renewed at the time of that purchase.

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
DDmiTV
Enthusiast - Level 3

Okay, I think I'm starting to get it, and you're right....it is a headache.

The only reason I started transferring upgrades (I've done it, I think, three times) is that the line with the newest contract was initially tied to a phone that crapped first, so naturally, I transferred the upgrade to replace the bad phone, since the other phone (the one tied to the longer contract) still worked fine and didn't need to be replaced at the time.  Then when that phone crapped, I could just switch the upgrades again.  Now, however, the situation has reversed itself, and the phone that's supposed to die first is the one that actually is dying first.  Thank God for the transferable upgrade, though, because if I didn't have that option at this point, I'd be stuck with this Nexus for another 1 1/2 years instead of 3 months, and that would be a real pain!

Perhaps I should start scoping out iPhone 5c's on eBay.  I'm guessing that with the release of the 6, prices on the 5's are about to drop like a rock.

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Re: What to Do About an Upgrade?
DDmiTV
Enthusiast - Level 3

Well, my worst fear came true....phone crapped last night (not accepting a charge at all now).

Fortunately, I still have my old Droid Pro, which I had given to the kids to play games on, so I just fired it back up.  It's 3G and rather slow to respond, but it will fill the gap between now and January.  One thing I'll say for the Droid....it's a sturdy workhorse (hey, it survived my two boys), and it lasts forever on the extended battery!

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