I'm new to all this and this may be a stupid question. If my current phone breaks, am I able to buy a replacement phone (on ebay, for example), then have Verizon activate the new phone inplace of the old one? Must the phone be new, or is previously used OK? Do they charge for this activation?
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Verizon was evil before, but they have really done it this time.
- Thread starter jbuck1984
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offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
Only with those who don't care to actually read the rest of what I said and see what I'm talking about.
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
"It's their nightmare" why because you said so? Prove it.
Sure, they'd rather have you locked-in, but it's not like the month-to-monther's aren't making their monthly payments just like everybody else. Why would Verizon care if you want to pay $600 for a new smartphone?
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
Yes you can activate used phone. If you call customer service or do it yourself online it is free. I think they charge you if you get a store to do it.
From my last post, i've been reading the rest of the comments posted here. I really don't get why people here are defending verizon for this change. Do you guys want less choice? And no, i don't believe what verizon is doing is "evil" as some were arguing but borderline greedy. Since the launch of the iphone (not saying the iphone is completely at fault) they have made many changes to their policy mainly against the customer needs. Like i said before, personally i HATE this because i love to upgrade phones yearly. Not necessarily the newest but a different phone then i used to have. I'm just a poor college student so i can't afford very expensive phones.
Now, i have 2 choices. Ether, get a 2 yr. plan, whine i hate because i get board with a phone after a year. Or switch to a month to month plan which i can't afford. I've been really happy Verizon, my whole family have some sort of service with Verizon. But when my contract is up next Jan. I'm gonna have to leave.
Also, does anyone know which of the other 3 big carriers either have 1 yr. contracts or allow you to upgrade after 1 yr.?
Now, i have 2 choices. Ether, get a 2 yr. plan, whine i hate because i get board with a phone after a year. Or switch to a month to month plan which i can't afford. I've been really happy Verizon, my whole family have some sort of service with Verizon. But when my contract is up next Jan. I'm gonna have to leave.
Also, does anyone know which of the other 3 big carriers either have 1 yr. contracts or allow you to upgrade after 1 yr.?
jbuck1984
Android Enthusiast
I got a call back from the corporate headquarters. They told me the change has been made and there is nothing I can do about it except leave. It's just time to take a look at the business model and realize these changes are leading to price hikes in every peace of the Verizon business unless you sign up for 2 years, and believe me the price hikes to the 2 year programs are coming. I am willing to bet the unlimited data comes to an end, and the tiered data plans will be implemented into the two year contracts.
Verizon no longer runs a fair business based on what consumers want. Verizon is now in the business of milking their customers for anything they can get.
Hey they can do it, they have the market power. Even when I leave Verizon, where will I go? To one of the other big companies that will be implementing the same control?
My prediction, you will see more and more of post just like this, and more and more people frustrated with the "Big 3". Believe me thats what they will be referred to, when they are scrutinized by the FCC, and that is what they will be called when they eventually become more regulated. This is evil business practice, and for everyone that doesn't believe me and are masked by an unregulated free market system, I welcome your debate. It will only keep this post going longer and more views.
Don't forget to download your data usage widget, you will be needing it.
Verizon no longer runs a fair business based on what consumers want. Verizon is now in the business of milking their customers for anything they can get.
Hey they can do it, they have the market power. Even when I leave Verizon, where will I go? To one of the other big companies that will be implementing the same control?
My prediction, you will see more and more of post just like this, and more and more people frustrated with the "Big 3". Believe me thats what they will be referred to, when they are scrutinized by the FCC, and that is what they will be called when they eventually become more regulated. This is evil business practice, and for everyone that doesn't believe me and are masked by an unregulated free market system, I welcome your debate. It will only keep this post going longer and more views.
Don't forget to download your data usage widget, you will be needing it.
What do you consider a "fair" business? One that gives you everything you want, and dons't care about making a profit, paying its employees or expanding its network?
If you mean charging a price based on what consumers are willing to pay, then yeah... along with every other for-profit company on the planet.
So the entire cell phone industry is "evil" because they wont' give you a one year contract?
What percentage of consumers do you think preferred the 1 year contract to the 2? what level should that be at before they can end the program without being "evil?"
Can someone explain exactly how this is "evil?" Is everything you don't like "evil?" Is every company that ends a product offering "evil" for doing so?
Greedy, as in they would like to make more profit, that they can then expand their business, networks and hire more people? Yeah, all companies are greedy.
And I'm not defending Verizon. I don't like less choices, but I don't think this is "evil," thats all I've been saying.
Have you taken a poll?
And someone can easily make the argument, the 2 year plan is "best" for meeting your "need" because you get handsets for cheaper.
To my knowledge none, but I could be wrong.
This_Is_Kyle
Well-Known Member
I'm pissed that NE2 and 1yr contracts are gone, real pissed.
Agreed, but does being pissed at their decisions make them "evil?"
jbuck1984
Android Enthusiast
Cipher- You sticking to the point that I believe this company is evil because they are discounting a program. You have asked this questions multiple times and I did not address it.
No, this does not make the company evil. No, other companies that discontinue products are not evil either. I can understand you may not like the term evil, but as a long standing customer with Verizon, this is how I feel when they take away large components of their flexibility and raise prices of all their plans. The thought process behind these moves is to increase their bottom line without any regard of the consumers that use their products. My definition of Evil Verizon, is just that. Increase price to gain more profit, regardless of our consumer desires. The very consumers that made Verizon the big company they are today. Consumers went to Verizon because of flexibility, reliability, and low pricing, and in one swoop they are taking it all away. So, before you rip apart another one of my posts this paragraph should remain in tact as to what my definition of evil is. Feel free to ask any questions of this paragraph to further your debate.
And if you are able to believe these changes (all of them) are not evil because of the semantics of your definition of evil, than there will be no way you or I will agree.
Your basic points are that Verizon is not evil. Thats fine. My using the word, was for two reasons. My feeling is they are evil, and the word evil will attract more people to read my post so more people will read this and make their opinions based off of the debate.
I feel I have been successful with some, and some disagree. Which is OK. I welcome the debate, but to dwell on the word evil and not see the other points that are being made, I don't know how to help with that.
No, this does not make the company evil. No, other companies that discontinue products are not evil either. I can understand you may not like the term evil, but as a long standing customer with Verizon, this is how I feel when they take away large components of their flexibility and raise prices of all their plans. The thought process behind these moves is to increase their bottom line without any regard of the consumers that use their products. My definition of Evil Verizon, is just that. Increase price to gain more profit, regardless of our consumer desires. The very consumers that made Verizon the big company they are today. Consumers went to Verizon because of flexibility, reliability, and low pricing, and in one swoop they are taking it all away. So, before you rip apart another one of my posts this paragraph should remain in tact as to what my definition of evil is. Feel free to ask any questions of this paragraph to further your debate.
And if you are able to believe these changes (all of them) are not evil because of the semantics of your definition of evil, than there will be no way you or I will agree.
Your basic points are that Verizon is not evil. Thats fine. My using the word, was for two reasons. My feeling is they are evil, and the word evil will attract more people to read my post so more people will read this and make their opinions based off of the debate.
I feel I have been successful with some, and some disagree. Which is OK. I welcome the debate, but to dwell on the word evil and not see the other points that are being made, I don't know how to help with that.
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
If you don't think it's fair, you shouldn't have signed the contract, agreeing to unfair terms. Unless they held a gun to your head and made you sign a contract, then it's perfectly fair.
jbuck1984
Android Enthusiast
Well the original contract I signed was fair, however I will not be signing a new contract when my time is up since with all these options taken away the are now no longer a good deal. To me- at least, and I'm still at the will of either Sprint or ATT if I want comparable coverage. Unfortunately all the plans from any of these companies are about the same now, and if they are more flexible its in sacrifice of quality. So I'm still rather let down.
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
Sprint is still a better deal from what I can tell, as long as they have coverage where you need it.
noah way
Android Enthusiast
Another observation on VZ corporate policy:
Got a warranty replacement (Eris) 4 days before the VZ warranty expired. After the replacement, upgrade options were reduced: the option to transfer an upgrade from another phone on the account to this one was removed.
Go figure - because their product was defective and required replacement under warranty, they reduced my ability to upgrade. My new phone shops of choice are Craig's List and ebay.
I'd go to another carrier in a second if there was one that had decent coverage. Nextel was the best service I ever had but they went the way of the dodo, and their phones were bricks.
Got a warranty replacement (Eris) 4 days before the VZ warranty expired. After the replacement, upgrade options were reduced: the option to transfer an upgrade from another phone on the account to this one was removed.
Go figure - because their product was defective and required replacement under warranty, they reduced my ability to upgrade. My new phone shops of choice are Craig's List and ebay.
I'd go to another carrier in a second if there was one that had decent coverage. Nextel was the best service I ever had but they went the way of the dodo, and their phones were bricks.
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
Go to Sprint if you loved Nextel's service.
Why would Verizon not want you to upgrade? They make more money if you upgrade usually.
noah way
Android Enthusiast
Like I said, they went to hell when they merged with Sprint, and their phone selection is beastly. To this day they only have one Android device that works on the Nextel IDEN network, which they are now phasing out (so why did they buy Nextel to begin with?).
jamor
Android Expert
That is an easy one. Because they would get payments from you for 24 months instead of you having the choice to switch to a cheaper carrier with a better phone. duh. Otherwise they wouldn't need contracts. Proven. Win.
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
If you were gonna do that, you wouldn't be a monthly customer. You would've already switched. And which one of us out there just switches between carriers everytime we find a cheaper one?
They are gonna get those payments either way. Some people let their contract expire and resist the urge to take an upgrade discount because they just don't like the feeling of being locked-in. But the reason they locked-in in the first place is the same reason they aren't going anywhere, because Verizon is the best, and it has been the best for a long time. Verizon likes locked-in customers because that is revenue they can count on, but they know that contracts are not what keeps their customers for the long haul. Service is what does that.
ACD168
Android Expert
Verizon is getting pretty nasty.
a few complains I have
1) warranty replacements, went from 10 days down to only 5 to return the defective device. and with the 2 day sticker they give, that only leaves you 2-3 days to get to the store. Very inconvenient. I also had to fight for overnight shipping as I was asked to pay $12 for it, when every other time it was just given for free no questions asked, this time had to get manager to approve it.
2) the time to try out a phone went from 30, cut in half to 15. I know 15 days is still bit long to test a phone, you should know within the first few days. again just inconvenient.
3) the deletion of 1 year contracts?
we have to take out 2 years now? that sucks!
a few complains I have
1) warranty replacements, went from 10 days down to only 5 to return the defective device. and with the 2 day sticker they give, that only leaves you 2-3 days to get to the store. Very inconvenient. I also had to fight for overnight shipping as I was asked to pay $12 for it, when every other time it was just given for free no questions asked, this time had to get manager to approve it.
2) the time to try out a phone went from 30, cut in half to 15. I know 15 days is still bit long to test a phone, you should know within the first few days. again just inconvenient.
3) the deletion of 1 year contracts?
we have to take out 2 years now? that sucks!
noah way
Android Enthusiast
The difference in plan cost between carriers is pretty much an illusion. They offer different plan "features" and gimmicks (like "free rollover", LOL), but the actual cost of comparable plans among major carriers is, well, comparable. How do you spell COLLUSION?
People change carriers because of the quality of service. Funny thing is, none of the carriers will guarantee the quality of their service and they will gladly penalize you with a "termination fee" of up to $350 for their inability to provide you with service.
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
Verizon released me from my contract without paying any early termination fees a few years ago because of poor service. Ok, it was more than a few years ago, it was about 10 years ago. But I bet I could get that again if I really pursued it.
That's not true about the prices. Sprint for example offers a much better deal than Verizon, IMO. For less money you get unlimited everything than Verizon. But in some area Sprint has poor coverage. But in some areas Verizon has poor coverage too. At my place of work, Verizon's coverage sucks, and Sprint's is great.
Both Pepsi and coke sell pop for around $1.25-1.5 for a 20oz. Is that collusion, or market pressure to sell at that price point?
And based on this site (I didn't feel like going to all 4 major carriers websites to compare prices), you'll save 15-40% with Tmobile vs. Verizon. And those are just the major carriers, you can save even more with smaller/regional carriers.
noah way
Android Enthusiast
BULL. Sprint is $10 less than a comparable VZ family plan. On a $200 bill that's 5%. Whoopie. It comes down to service more than price, becuase if you don't get service it doesn't matter what it costs.
AT&T absolutely screwed me on termination despite a long and repeated history of dropped calls and connection problems they were "not responsible for coverage issues". Prttey funny coming from the self-proclaimed "largest network" in America. Face it, all the corporations suck. It's their job to screw everyone.
offanairplane
Android Enthusiast
No it's not bull. We almost went to Sprint not long ago because it's a better deal. The only reason we didn't is because I didn't want to wait out my contract to get a new phone. And LTE was supposed to be better than the other 4G's out there. The price difference was a lot more than $10. And on top of that, we didn't need a comparable plan with Sprint, do you know why? Because Sprint give you free mobile to mobile, so that is about 90% of the calls we make are to other mobile numbers. But big Red doesn't do that, do they? Nope, only Verizon to Verizon, and if you have the enormous minutes plan as we do, you get 10 friends and family. But that is a joke, because with friends and family we don't use anywhere near our alotted 1400 minutes, so you think, oh we can just downgrade to a cheaper plan. WRONG. They cheaper plan doesn't include 10 friends and family. lol
But when it all boils down, I knew what I was getting into when I signed the contract, and every time I renew it. Which means, I am either really stupid, or I think it's worth my money to stay with Verizon. Same goes for everyone else too.
On top of that, Verizon charges $10 bucks per month for VZNavigator, no matter what plan you have. Sprint's navigator is included in their unlimited data bundle.
I pay more for limited data and voice and text at Verizon than I would pay for unlimited data and voice and text at Sprint. That is not bull, unless things have totally changed in the last couple of months since I looked into it. There is competition out there for Verizon. And Sprint has some really nice phones too.
No, their job is to make money. What's wrong with that? Nothing.
If you think they suck, then take your business elsewhere. If they all suck, then don't use a cellphone at all. Get a $60 per month landline from Verizon like I used to have. Or get a $25 Vonage line. Whatever. Quit complaining because you don't like the contract you agreed to.
JB in AZ
Android Expert
Having just moved to VZW in March, after 12+ years with Sprint, I can agree that there is NO WAY that VZW is comparable in price with Sprint.
Due to poor quality cell reception at our home, and even worse customer service at Sprint, every time our contracts came up for renewal, we price shopped the competition. We always stayed with Sprint, due to the economiccs. Added to what offanairplane mentioned, there is also the free visual voice mail on Sprint, that VZW charges extra for. And until this month, Sprint had yearly upgrades for the primary user on the account. (they still do under some conditions, one was length of time with Sprint, which I qualified for)
So why did I go from paying $160/mo for 4 smart phone lines to over $260 for less features with VZW? Had to. The reception issues got so bad at our new house under Sprint, that 2 out of 3 inbound calls would not come in. And half of the voicemails weren't working either. I got used to the poor customer service, and usually got what I needed, after some pushing, but there is no way that saving $80/mo is worth it if the phones don't work as phones.
So I agree partly with what noah way said: " It comes down to service more than price, becuase if you don't get service it doesn't matter what it costs.." ...but I don't agree with the price comparison.
BTW, during thiose 12 + years with Sprint, they also changed the plans many times, required different plans for certain phones, and offered, then removed perks.... It's all part of business.
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