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This is BS

DoctorZaius68 said:
Did everyone see Verizon wireless's new upgrade policy (link below)? They are eliminating the yearly upgrade and the new every two discount. What a joke!They should also have a policy to keep their phones updated with current OSs on a reasonable time table so that folks don't have to upgrade every year.

Verizon changing its upgrade policy; you'll have to wait 20 months for a new phone | Android Central
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yeah they changed the upgrade date on my bro's plan twice and hes been stuck with a half functioning lg dare for years... i think vzw is hurting for cash and they are playing up the prices of their hardware. personally i think they need to recoup earnings losses because of the new 4glte towers that they just put up. towers can be expensive.
 
This was taken directly from their documentation found here: https://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c...GREEMENT&jspName=footer/customerAgreement.jsp

Can Verizon Wireless Change This Agreement or My Service?
We may change prices or any other term of your Service or this agreement at any time,but we'll provide notice first, including written notice if you have Postpay Service. If you use your Service after the change takes effect, that means you're accepting the change. If you're a Postpay customer and a change to your Plan or this agreement has a material adverse effect on you, you can cancel the line of Service that has been affected within 60 days of receiving the notice with no early termination fee.

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According to Verizon, the "New-Every Two" offering is an incentive, not a contractual obligation, so changing it does not allow you to terminate without associated fees. They did allude that there may be a new incentive once the previous is dissolved, but they don't know what yet.
 
One reason i think they're doing this is for the iPhone that's going to eventually come. That way with people won't get discounts and pay full price. Same could be said with there future 4g/LTE phones.
 
Dots:

I agree with you on the discounts and would like to add that they are possibly doing this to pushing people to buy more expensive phones knowing they will be keeping them almost 2 years and have a better chance for an upgraded OS or two.

If they would update the OSs in a more timely fashion, there would be little need for people upgrade as often.

DZ
 
I'll be curious to see the entire change. This part makes little sense. The new every two is what drives phone and network development. I can't see Verizon wanting customers stuck with old technology, old features, etc because that is bad for them as well. There has to be more to this.
 
Surely Verizon has something else in mind by changing their policy. If not, it may not matter what phones they have (iPhone, Droid X, etc..) I can many people moving to the other carriers that are actually offering cheaper plans.
 
I guess it might be because I live in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana, but this is (apparently) good news for me. I've been with VZW for years, and the upgrade policy here has always been 2 years. So, instead of 24 months, it's 20 now?

Or am I reading this article wrong?
 
k.c.cole said:
++++++

According to Verizon, the "New-Every Two" offering is an incentive, not a contractual obligation, so changing it does not allow you to terminate without associated fees. They did allude that there may be a new incentive once the previous is dissolved, but they don't know what yet.
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Of course Verizon is going to say that but if you Threaten to report them to the FTC and sue them I bet they'll let you out of your contract. One last thing I have learned, never deal with a Verizon store, it's better to do business with customer service on the phone.
 
I called Verizon support yesterday to see what was up with this. My 1 year upgrade on my wife's Blackberry is supposed to be on February 3, and I've been planning on using that to get a Thunderbolt, but if this new policy goes into effect I'm obviously SOL.

Here's the reply I got from VZW:

In review of your account, I can confirm that your line ***-***-**** will be eligible for Annual Upgrade on February 3rd 2011.

I would not consider information from the site referenced, as they are in no way affiliated with Verizon Wireless other than being an informational site on Android equipment, which we also sell.

Also, please understand that we would not release information on our products and services changing in any way through this site, as it would be available directly through our website.

I make it my personal goal to resolve all of your wireless needs. I hope that I have done that today by confirming Annual Upgrade date for your primary line as requested and completing a usage analysis.

We truly appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Verizon Wireless.

Sincerely,

Darrell
Verizon Wireless
Customer Service
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Should we trust it?
 
The phone agent I spoke to confirmed that they were changing this policy. and it goes into effect 1-15-11.
 
greenless said:
I called Verizon support yesterday to see what was up with this. My 1 year upgrade on my wife's Blackberry is supposed to be on February 3, and I've been planning on using that to get a Thunderbolt, but if this new policy goes into effect I'm obviously SOL.

Here's the reply I got from VZW:




Should we trust it?
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I don't think this will effect our current dates. It's my understanding it will be phased out as people use their existing new every two upgrades.
 
So, when I use my wife's upgrade to get a new Thunderbolt, I'll be locked into a 2 year contract and will have to wait 20 months to upgrade again?

If that's the case, then that's fine. I don't see me needing anything more than that bad boy's gonna offer.
 
Yes they do. You just have to pay an extra $25 for it when you upgrade. Unless you were like me and had a piss poor phone like the LG Chocolate Touch. Then you get the upgrade for free. Just know that you can only get the early upgrade through official VZW stores.
 
If you have upgrades currently you can still use them or save them. The only thing changing is they no longer offer the yearly upgrades for account owners. Instead everything reverts to the upgrading at 20 mths policy. I have an upgrade from dec and one coming in july and after reading about this call customer service and according to them I will still get my upgrades they aren't going anywhere its just the yearly account owner upgrade that is being taken away. The new policy only effects 2 yr contracts, it doesn't change anything with one yr contracts.
 
Yeah but as a long time Verizon customer with New Every Two being one of the reasons, this new policy sucks canal water. Just sayin'...
 
I don't understand what is eliminated regarding New Every Two. Under NE2, they gave us a new phone every 20 months. Now, they're "only" giving us a new phone every 20 months? I don't get it.
 
I am really annoyed that they (Verizon) are pathetically slow with updating phone OS's (i.e. Froyo on Ally) and eliminating the 13 month upgrade for 2 year customers. I like having the option of purchasing a "current" phone after 13 months if my phone is outdated. I have had 3 new phones in three years. If I am going to keep my smartphone for 20 months I would like some guarantee that it will have the "current" OS.
 
The reason for all of this is simple. They need to make money. Giving you a $500 device for $99, they need you to stay under contract to make a profit. That is why they have the incentives- they are subsidizing the device because they know you will cover the cost in service. You can go right ahead and buy the phone outright with no contract, but they can't afford to subsidize the phone when you do that.

As for upgrades of software- yes, Verizon does sometimes slow these down, usually just to test updates and make sure they don't screw up the system or ruin your phone; but most of the time it is the manufacturer that needs to make the upgrade first before Verizon can approve it for distribution. It's not all their fault.

Verizon has provided me with good service, they have cutting edge devices, and they continue to move forward. I don't work for them, I simply feel a business has a right to make money. I don't think they are bleeding us and hope they continue with unlimited data plans as I feel that is a huge issue with ATT. Nope, they aren't the cheapest, they don't have the iPhone (for at least 3 more hours) and they don't have "the fastest 3G network in America". They do provide me with reliable, consistent service at a competitive rate.
 
The reason VZW did all of this is because of the Iphone coming to verizon the announcement is going to be made today that they are getting it, that is the reason for dropping and annual upgrade and new every two. You can do a one year agreement and its an additional $70 dollars from the 2 year agreement price which is well worth it to upgrade every year, or I think it is :-)
 
darkxsun said:
I don't understand what is eliminated regarding New Every Two. Under NE2, they gave us a new phone every 20 months. Now, they're "only" giving us a new phone every 20 months? I don't get it.
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I pointed that out as well. Everyone seems to be more interested in complaining than actually realizing VZ is upgrading faster now.
 
They are not actually "giving" new phones, unless that phone happens to be free at the time of your upgrade. They are offering "new account" pricing to existing customer, ONCE every 20 months. The original plan was the account owner could get current pricing after 12 mos, and at the 24 month mark, get an additional $50 discount off of current price. Just to clarify...
 
swagner53 said:
The reason for all of this is simple. They need to make money. Giving you a $500 device for $99, they need you to stay under contract to make a profit. That is why they have the incentives- they are subsidizing the device because they know you will cover the cost in service. You can go right ahead and buy the phone outright with no contract, but they can't afford to subsidize the phone when you do that.

Are you sure? I would imagine that part of their business plan is to write off the loss they take on susidizing the phones.

As for upgrades of software- yes, Verizon does sometimes slow these down, usually just to test updates and make sure they don't screw up the system or ruin your phone; but most of the time it is the manufacturer that needs to make the upgrade first before Verizon can approve it for distribution. It's not all their fault.

It shouldn't take this long to update the operating system, I get that they want to sell Droids during the Holidays - instead of low cost phones, but enough already give us 2.2!

Verizon has provided me with good service, they have cutting edge devices, and they continue to move forward. I don't work for them, I simply feel a business has a right to make money. I don't think they are bleeding us and hope they continue with unlimited data plans as I feel that is a huge issue with ATT. Nope, they aren't the cheapest, they don't have the iPhone (for at least 3 more hours) and they don't have "the fastest 3G network in America". They do provide me with reliable, consistent service at a competitive rate.
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I don't disagree with you on this one. They do have the best service and for someone like me who travels a lot for work, I have never had to worry about dropped calls. I am also a Verizon landline phone, FIOS cable and FIOS internet customer and I am happy with these services also, but that doesn't mean when Verizon does something dumb, I am not going to call them on the carpet about it. All I am saying is if you want me to keep my phone for 20 months or more do a better job of keeping it current.
 
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