And here we go...Share Everything plans

[Yeahha]

But they want you to spend more money for less. That is why these changes. Record profits and they had to come up with a way to make even more of a record profit at everyone's expense.

I am not sure why you think it would be less...given I would have a limit as to how much data I can use but between my two lines I could easily find a tier that works. I don't need the unlimited minutes at all. That is the reason I will not switch. I would be willing to switch if they offered lower minute tiers since it looks like it would save me money. But I see no need to pay any extra for something that will limit my data (albeit how little I actually use) and give me more of something I won't actually use.

This may not be the full plan who knows, if they introduce minute tiers I will look into switching, I feel bad for the consumers who see "Unlimited" and think "OOH Unlimited that is great" when they use less than their current tiers...

 

[digdug1]

One thing I have suggested in other threads, if you have a family plan already, and use a massive amount of data, check out adding a line, and using that as an upgrade line. Put a dumbphone on it, and move the new phone to your main line that has unlimited. With taxes, it will come to an extra 14-15 bucks a month, however thats cheaper than bumping up to the 5GB for $50 on your main line. And every 20 months, use the upgrade line to get an upgrade, move the new phone to your main line, and keep the dumbphone on the upgrade line...

quick question, could i use your idea and add my line through amazon wireless? the galaxy nexus can be added for only a penny or the maxx for $149 vs $199 for them through vzw.

 

[xmr405o]

The biggest problem I see with this is the lack of tiered minute pricing. I doubt many people need unlimited minutes. If they added minute tiers for the pricing as well this could very well save me some money even with the current discounts I get on my data...however without that I would pay more monthly.

I agree this is another way they can help their cause with tiering data. Lower the monthly access fees for devices by taking away unlimited voice. That's not what most people need.
Text and data is what most people need and want.

 

[AntimonyER]

I am thinking this will work as well. Now that I think about it, I upgraded my wife to a smartphone, she didn't like it, put her back on a dumbphone and dropped her data plan. And she still has the smartphone. So I guess I could activate it on my line if I want. Therefore, since I am the only line on my three-line plan with unlimited(and the only one who cares about phones) I COULD still use the other two upgrades for myself and keep unlimited. I just lose the upgrade on MY line. Can it be that simple?

It is that simple and is my plan going forward.

quick question, could i use your idea and add my line through amazon wireless? the galaxy nexus can be added for only a penny or the maxx for $149 vs $199 for them through vzw.

Won't work because unlike Verizon, 3rd party vendors DO have restrictions on the phone being on the line, and you are subject to their ETF if you take the data plan off before a certain time. (6 months is common).

 

[digdug1]

ahh i thought it was too good to be true lol. thanks.

 

[euph_22]

This pricing is atrocious. I really hope MANY people leave Verizon for these shenanigans. Imagine if ATT took over T-Mobile as planned, people would be pinned into a corner.

Agreed. The sizes of the bins aren't bad but the price for them is significantly too high. If either the access fees or the price of the data bins was cheaper (about half), this wouldn't be a bad scheme. But as it is, it's too expensive.

Oh, and as far as the unlimited voice, given how people generally use their phones and the fact that VoLTE (or whatever it's called) is coming there is probably no real cost difference for limited versus unlimited voice, so it makes sense for Verizon to only offer unlimited voice plans.

 

[OfTheDamned]

After running the numbers this will raise our bill by $30 a month, but that will also put my girlfriend back into a smart phone and give us unlimited talk and text. Since we only have 700 minutes now and no text it isn't that bad. While I will miss unlimited data, I don't use more than 3GB a month normally anyway.

Just as a comparison between a few carriers take a look at the numbers. If you wanted a plan for 2 smartphones with unlimited talk and text and 2GB of data a month these are your current options:

Verizon (current):
Unlimited talk and text with 2GB per line: $119.98 + $30 + $30 +$30 = $209.98 + Tax/Fees

T-Mobile (Classic):
Unlimited talk and text with 2GB per line: $139.98 + Tax/Fees

T-Mobile (Value):
Unlimited talk and text with 2GB per line: $99.98 + $20* + $20* = $139.98 + Tax/Fees
*the extra $20 is for "financing" the non-subsidized phone for 20 months.

Sprint:
Unlimited talk and text with Unlimited data: $189.98 + Tax/Fees

At&t:
Unlimited talk and text with 3GB per line: $119.98 + $30 + $30 + $30 = $209.98 + Tax/Fees

Verizon (New):
Unlimited talk and text with 4GB of data shared: $40 + $40 + $70 = $150 + Tax/Fees

In the end it works out that T-Mobile is cheaper than all of them for the unlimited features, but Verizon's new pricing plans are falling more into line with the other carriers. And really, the t-mobile plan is only $10 cheaper than Verizon now.

 

[xmr405o]

After running the numbers this will raise our bill by $30 a month, but that will also put my girlfriend back into a smart phone and give us unlimited talk and text. Since we only have 700 minutes now and no text it isn't that bad. While I will miss unlimited data, I don't use more than 3GB a month normally anyway.

Just as a comparison between a few carriers take a look at the numbers. If you wanted a plan for 2 smartphones with unlimited talk and text and 2GB of data a month these are your current options:

Verizon (current):
Unlimited talk and text with 2GB per line: $119.98 + $30 + $30 +$30 = $209.98 + Tax/Fees

T-Mobile (Classic):
Unlimited talk and text with 2GB per line: $139.98 + Tax/Fees

T-Mobile (Value):
Unlimited talk and text with 2GB per line: $99.98 + $20* + $20* = $139.98 + Tax/Fees
*the extra $20 is for "financing" the non-subsidized phone for 20 months.

Sprint:
Unlimited talk and text with Unlimited data: $189.98 + Tax/Fees

At&t:
Unlimited talk and text with 3GB per line: $119.98 + $30 + $30 + $30 = $209.98 + Tax/Fees

Verizon (New):
Unlimited talk and text with 4GB of data shared: $40 + $40 + $70 = $150 + Tax/Fees

In the end it works out that T-Mobile is cheaper than all of them for the unlimited features, but Verizon's new pricing plans are falling more into line with the other carriers. And really, the t-mobile plan is only $10 cheaper than Verizon now.

Totally agree that when comparing unlimited talk and text options between carriers, the difference is minimal. I've seen press releases where Verizon is marketing their shared data plans in this fashion, it looks a lot better when they do. VZW is basically giving away services within these plans for free that people hardly ever purchase. Unlimited voice and enabling mobile hotspots are probably the least selling services they have but yet they use it as examples of how much people are going to save? They'll probably throw in VZW Navigator too. lol.

I don't know but that irks me. I mean, more than likely I would switch to another carrier or just buy my phones at full retail so these plans don't really affect me but dang think about the children...VZW!

 

[cmybliss]

So, after a long chat with an online rep, I bit the bullet and added a ghost line and per-ordered the SGIII. It's still cheaper than switching to the new plans for us. I'm not at all convinced that upgrading one of the lines on a plan will not force that line at least to the new tiered pricing. From the way the csr was talking, it sounds like it is a distinct possibility. She also seemed to think there would be further changes to the new pricing down the line.

I called in to do the actual order and the gentleman who handled the order made it pretty clear that they have been receiving a lot of complaints about the new pricing. Here's hoping the powers that be at VZW here our displeasure and do something to fix it.

 

[PeninaD]

I used their online calculator...and it appears that on teh 700 minute shared with 1 smartphone, 3 dumb-phones/featurephones and 1 home connect (4 phones on the 250/month text plans), this could raise our bill 40-50 per month. Thankfully I just upgraded my smartphone and two of the dumbphones recently...

 

[trparky]

I called in to do the actual order and the gentleman who handled the order made it pretty clear that they have been receiving a lot of complaints about the new pricing. Here's hoping the powers that be at VZW here our displeasure and do something to fix it.

Oh believe me, they know. I called too and I told the representative on the phone that there's a PR shit storm on Twitter and Facebook. He even said that the PR department has heard it.

 

[cmybliss]

Oh believe me, they know. I called too and I told the representative on the phone that there's a PR shit storm on Twitter and Facebook. He even said that the PR department has heard it.

Good! We need to keep it then. Bombard their call centers and inboxes with our displeasure. The guy I talked to laughed when I mentioned he'd probably been hearing it all day. I've already complained over the phone, and plan on sending an email out tonight. Heck, I'm gonna like them on fb and follow them on Twitter so I can complain there as well.

The shared plan wouldn't be so bad if the pricing was reasonable, but come on! $50 for 1gig! I'd laugh if it wasn't so obscene.

 

[AntimonyER]

Yeah, they are trying to hide the increase in data prices behind unlimited talk and text, when data is what everyone is paying attention to. It's not fooling many people.

 

[octoberdana]

These new plans are atrocious. I have no idea what Verizon was smoking when they decided to price 1 GB of data for $50 to share between multiple people, when they used to offer 2GB for $30 for one user. It's insane!

Anyway, for us these new plans will be way, way too expensive. We are on a 700 minute loyalty plan w/unlimited texting and 5 friends and family numbers. We get 17% corporate discount on the voice plan. We have 4 lines, 3 smartphones, 1 feature phone. 1 unlimited data plan, 1 150 MB, and 1 300 MB. Our total bill with taxes and fees is $177 per month.

With this new plan for the same phones and 1 GB of data to share it will cost me $200 BEFORE taxes and fees. That is an increase of well over $20 a month to get far less features.

To get 4 GB of data which is probably closer to realistic it will cost me more than $50 a month before taxes and fees.

Not a good deal at all. Especially with the discount only being off of data.

 

[trparky]

I have no idea what Verizon was smoking

I don't know either, but I want a few hits of it. Maybe after getting high on whatever they are on these plans will start making sense to me.

Nah... probably not. LOL

 

[euph_22]

Yeah, they are trying to hide the increase in data prices behind unlimited talk and text, when data is what everyone is paying attention to. It's not fooling many people.

It's not fooling anybody here. We are not the typical Verizon customer. About half, if not slightly more, of mobile phone users DON'T have a smartphone. MANY people with smartphones don't actually use much data and primarily use their devices as phones (I know, bizarre concept). Granted, unless their already paying for unlimited voice, this new scheme is not great for them. But there are alot of people who do buy their plans based on the voice plan first.

 

[euph_22]

These new plans are atrocious. I have no idea what Verizon was smoking when they decided to price 1 GB of data for $50 to share between multiple people, when they used to offer 2GB for $30 for one user. It's insane!

Not only that, but they charge $40 for EACH phone that uses that data.

 

[YankeeDudeL]

This is going to work out for a lot of people, but, I'm def one that it won't. Mostly though, because I'm one of those that get's $20 off per line with data. I have 1400 min plan with unlimited texting and unlimited data on all. With my discount, and the data promotion, I pay about $225 with taxes.

The other 4 lines have used about 3GB total this month, and I've used a lil over 2GB. But I can get up to an awful lot higher, especially as we don't have 4G at my house yet. I could probably do 8GB pretty safely, so this is going to put me at $290 before taxes and a discount (which I could only assume they'd honor). I imagine factoring both in would put that about $300. So that's a $75 a month increase, I get less data (could care less about the minutes, I'm no where near my limit), and pay more. Or I could keep everything the way it is and pay more than double the price I currently do for a phone.

I thought they would do their plans much like they are now, with 2GB for $30, 5GB for $50, and 10GB for $80. I think that would have been not only more than fair, but would have attracted so much more business.

 

[jackdubl]

This is going to work out for a lot of people

I just don't see how, unless as a family you don't use much data and you have lots of devices. That seems pretty unlikely to me. If you use more than 1gb per every two phones, I haven't come up with many scenarios where this saves any money.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I just don't see how, unless as a family you don't use much data and you have lots of devices. That seems pretty unlikely to me. If you use more than 1gb per every two phones, I haven't come up with many scenarios where this saves any money.

There are plenty of people that are only interested in smartphones for communication. They do more talking, texting and emailing than anything else and use less than 1GB of data. I dealt with a whole company of people (40 salesmen/women) and our highest data user peaked at 1.5GB of data a month.

You have to remember 2 things though.

1- No matter how much anyone tells you differently, we really are in the minority. There are people out there with smartphones that have never installed an app or changed a single setting. I've met people that have the highest end Android phones that haven't changed their wallpaper or modified anything on their homescreen. In many ways these are the typical smartphone users. They have the phone and don't do anything with it. They like the features it came with and that is about it.

2- This is not meant to make anyone's bill cheaper or customers happy. This is meant to cost more and look like value. Verizon is trying to "offer" unlimited plans without cutting into their profit margin. Since texting and talking have become so much cheaper the only thing they can do is charge more for data. They have the biggest baddest network on just about every block in the country and they want you paying to use it in every way. They aren't going to get you on call and text overages anymore, but they will with data.

Matter of fact, if I were a betting woman.........oh wait, I am.......I'm willing to bet that there are about to be a whole new crop of very data intensive "features" on the way for all the loyal Verizon customers out there. New features that will help those data limits reach their breaking point. We can all look forward to Pandora, Netflix, Slacker and a bunch of other streaming services, maybe even from Verizon themselves, being pre-installed on all the phones. They are throwing wifi-hotspot into the new plans and why not, anything to get everyone reaching into their wallets for another $10, $15, $20, etc. of data every month. Maybe soon accessing wifi will become a paid feature just like wifi hotspot used to be.

 

[IOWA]

There are plenty of people that are only interested in smartphones for communication. They do more talking, texting and emailing than anything else and use less than 1GB of data. I dealt with a whole company of people (40 salesmen/women) and our highest data user peaked at 1.5GB of data a month.

You have to remember 2 things though.

1- No matter how much anyone tells you differently, we really are in the minority. There are people out there with smartphones that have never installed an app or changed a single setting. I've met people that have the highest end Android phones that haven't changed their wallpaper or modified anything on their homescreen. In many ways these are the typical smartphone users. They have the phone and don't do anything with it. They like the features it came with and that is about it.

2- This is not meant to make anyone's bill cheaper or customers happy. This is meant to cost more and look like value. Verizon is trying to "offer" unlimited plans without cutting into their profit margin. Since texting and talking have become so much cheaper the only thing they can do is charge more for data. They have the biggest baddest network on just about every block in the country and they want you paying to use it in every way. They aren't going to get you on call and text overages anymore, but they will with data.

Matter of fact, if I were a betting woman.........oh wait, I am.......I'm willing to bet that there are about to be a whole new crop of very data intensive "features" on the way for all the loyal Verizon customers out there. New features that will help those data limits reach their breaking point. We can all look forward to Pandora, Netflix, Slacker and a bunch of other streaming services, maybe even from Verizon themselves, being pre-installed on all the phones. They are throwing wifi-hotspot into the new plans and why not, anything to get everyone reaching into their wallets for another $10, $15, $20, etc. of data every month. Maybe soon accessing wifi will become a paid feature just like wifi hotspot used to be.

I think this is also a push towards tiered / tollway Internet.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Perfect example of how this doesn't do anything good for customers.

In another thread a guy was talking about how he has 5 lines on his family plan. 1 smartphones and 4 dumbphones. His wife wants to get a smartphone now too and he wants to add a line for his older son. That now means 2 smartphones and 4 dumphones on the plan.

He currently has a 700 minute plan with texting and data on the one smartphone which would put him at about $160 a month. With the addition of the smartphone on this plan he would have to drop one line and add the $30 data plan to the smartphone, but that would only make his bill $190.

With the new plan and the new line he will be paying $260 a month for his phones and 2GB of data to share with his wife. That is a $70 increase for something that he obviously doesn't need with the unlimited talk.

That is a crazy jump.

 

[IOWA]

Perfect example of how this doesn't do anything good for customers.

In another thread a guy was talking about how he has 5 lines on his family plan. 1 smartphones and 4 dumbphones. His wife wants to get a smartphone now too and he wants to add a line for his older son. That now means 2 smartphones and 4 dumphones on the plan.

He currently has a 700 minute plan with texting and data on the one smartphone which would put him at about $160 a month. With the addition of the smartphone on this plan he would have to drop one line and add the $30 data plan to the smartphone, but that would only make his bill $190.

With the new plan and the new line he will be paying $260 a month for his phones and 2GB of data to share with his wife. That is a $70 increase for something that he obviously doesn't need with the unlimited talk.

That is a crazy jump.

Yeah.. there aren't any more plans that don't include data. Verizon seems to be ignoring a pretty big segment here.

 

[Travisimo]

The key clarification that needs to be made is whether you can upgrade your phone at the discounted price and still stay in the current tiered share plans. I can finally let go of my unlimited data as long as I am not forced into this "share everything" system.

In my situation, I have 5 lines (2 smartphones, 3 basic). The two smartphones are on unlimited data, but one is my wife's and she does not need unlimited. So I was hoping to upgrade hers with the discounted price (which would move her to a tiered data plan, but that's ok). And then I would just buy my phone at full price or use another lines upgrade to keep my unlimited data. But if I'm forced into this share everything system, I'm looking at a price increase of at least $50 mo because the 3 basic phones do not need texting and use little voice.

We need to know for if the current tiered shared voice plans are still an option with individual data plans? Are we sure?

 

[IOWA]

The key clarification that needs to be made is whether you can upgrade your phone at the discounted price and still stay in the current tiered share plans. I can finally let go of my unlimited data as long as I am not forced into this "share everything" system.

In my situation, I have 5 lines (2 smartphones, 3 basic). The two smartphones are on unlimited data, but one is my wife's and she does not need unlimited. So I was hoping to upgrade hers with the discounted price (which would move her to a tiered data plan, but that's ok). And then I would just buy my phone at full price or use another lines upgrade to keep my unlimited data. But if I'm forced into this share everything system, I'm looking at a price increase of at least $50 mo because the 3 basic phones do not need texting and use little voice.

We need to know for if the current tiered shared voice plans are still an option with individual data plans? Are we sure?

Nope.