All iPads: Wish I had purchased ATT and not Verizon :(

[Jane333]

I purchased the Verizon model because I wanted to be able to use the iPad as a router when I traveled so that the rest of my family could get wifi in case there was no wifi in the hotel or it was too costly. Everything was great, but then, in July, I wanted to stop the cell service until I needed it again. The process was unclear and I ended up deactivating the iPad. I called CS and after an hour on the phone with them, went to the local Verizon store. We called CS together as they did not know what to do. An hour later, the guy at the Verizon store told me to leave my iPad with him and he would figure it out. I did and two days later, he did fix it! New SIM card, ability to get on prepaid plan again. No activation or other fees. No charge for the SIM card.

So, I used the cell service again in August and then was afraid to stop it for fear of the same problem. I finally took the plunge yesterday and there was only one option - to delete the account. I thought there were supposed to be two options - I was afraid deleting the account would deactivate everything again. Before I took the plunge, I called CS and they said this was the way to do it and that my account and cell number would remain active. I went ahead and did it rather than continuing to pay $20 per month for service I did not need and, lo and behold, it is completely deactivated again. I am presuming ATT does not have the same issue as I have seen no comments about it but have seen many others having this issue with Verizon. My iphone is with ATT and I have had so much better service with them.

We are supposed to be able to use the cell service on a pre-paid basis when we want and this is not what Verizon is allowing us to do. Once we activate the pre-paid, we can change the service, but we can't stop it temporarily. Yes, I know I can buy a SIM card off ebay, but I should not have to. If I want to turn it on and off 5 times a year and have to pay $6 per SIM card, that is $30 per year I should not have to be spending. All Verizon has to do is have an option that is clearly indicated to either deactivate or to suspend.

[TB07-NJ]

Either VZW put you on a POSTPAID (more than likely) plan or you aren't reading the screens properly.

Read this thread for a way to "start over:" http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...ght=confirmed+

[Jane333]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

Either VZW put you on a POSTPAID (more than likely) plan or you aren't reading the screens properly.

Read this thread for a way to "start over:" http://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...ght=confirmed+

Nope - I was on prepaid and I read the screens correctly. I never had a second option of deactivating later. Plus, I did this while on the line with Verizon.

[Medic311]

yikes!

i just bought an iPad 3, 32GB LTE-verizon last week and activated without any problems

[Jane333]

Originally Posted by Medic311

yikes!

i just bought an iPad 3, 32GB LTE-verizon last week and activated without any problems

It is the stopping the plan temporarily that is the problem. If you do it wrong, it deactivates your sim card and you can't get service again unless a new sim card is installed.

[Medic311]

Originally Posted by Jane333

It is the stopping the plan temporarily that is the problem. If you do it wrong, it deactivates your sim card and you can't get service again unless a new sim card is installed.

ahh ok. yeah to temporarily disable service just tell them to disable auto-renew

[TB07-NJ]

Originally Posted by Jane333

Nope - I was on prepaid and I read the screens correctly. I never had a second option of deactivating later. Plus, I did this while on the line with Verizon.

Just curious. When you initially activated the data on the iPad did you do it yourself through the iPad utility or did you have the store where you purchased activate it for you? If so, what store was it (VZW, BB etc)? From what you are describing it sounds exactly like you were on their "postpaid" (but non-contract) plan. It makes no sense for the proper screens not to show up if you are on the correct plan. When I initially got my iPad I foolishly let BestBuy activate it and they intentionally and without my knowledge put me on the "non-contract" postpaid plan. There is no real way to tell the difference other than that there was no way to "temporarily" put the plan on hold. It was either cancel (and kill the sim) or keep paying. This happened to many people. There was no way to tell until you tried to "skip" a month and couldn't. VZW stores were, and still are, doing the same thing as there was no commission for them on the "true" prepaid.

[Night Spring]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

Just curious. When you initially activated the data on the iPad did you do it yourself through the iPad utility or did you have the store where you purchased activate it for you? If so, what store was it (VZW, BB etc)? From what you are describing it sounds exactly like you were on their "postpaid" (but non-contract) plan. It makes no sense for the proper screens not to show up if you are on the correct plan. When I initially got my iPad I foolishly let BestBuy activate it and they intentionally and without my knowledge put me on the "non-contract" postpaid plan. There is no real way to tell the difference other than that there was no way to "temporarily" put the plan on hold. It was either cancel (and kill the sim) or keep paying. This happened to many people. There was no way to tell until you tried to "skip" a month and couldn't. VZW stores were, and still are, doing the same thing as there was no commission for them on the "true" prepaid.

Actually, I just checked on my iPad, which has never been to a Verizon store or BestBuy or anywhere else where a greedy sales rep could put it on the wrong type of plan. I activated the data plan on this iPad myself. Now, when I go to cancel the plan, the only option I get is to "cancel immediately."

This doesn't affect me, because I never turn my data plan off -- but I can see how inconvenient it is for people who want to be able to turn the plan on and off as needed.

[TB07-NJ]

Originally Posted by Night Spring

Actually, I just checked on my iPad, which has never been to a Verizon store or BestBuy or anywhere else where a greedy sales rep could put it on the wrong type of plan. I activated the data plan on this iPad myself. Now, when I go to cancel the plan, the only option I get is to "cancel immediately."

This doesn't affect me, because I never turn my data plan off -- but I can see how inconvenient it is for people who want to be able to turn the plan on and off as needed.

Are you running 6.0? Maybe something changed there? I haven't used data since the update.

[Night Spring]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

Are you running 6.0? Maybe something changed there? I haven't used data since the update.

Nope, still on 5.1.1.

[Medic311]

Yummy

[TB07-NJ]

Originally Posted by Night Spring

Actually, I just checked on my iPad, which has never been to a Verizon store or BestBuy or anywhere else where a greedy sales rep could put it on the wrong type of plan. I activated the data plan on this iPad myself. Now, when I go to cancel the plan, the only option I get is to "cancel immediately."

This doesn't affect me, because I never turn my data plan off -- but I can see how inconvenient it is for people who want to be able to turn the plan on and off as needed.

You probably aren't going to the next menu where you would have the option. It makes no sense why millions of people (with only a couple exceptions) have the normal menu and a few do not.

I just added data to my iPan and went the the "cancel later" to keep the account from auto renewing.

Logged into my PREPAID account:





Selected "ADD DATA OR CHANGE PLAN"





Selected "CANCEL PLAN"




Selected "DELETE ACCOUNT LATER"




DONE



If you (or anyone) is not seeing all those screens you either are on a (non-contract) post-paid plan, signed up on-line at verizon.com rather than through the iPad "settings" function or simply are not going far enough into the menu to see the "cancel later" screen. There is no way your firmware settings "cellular data" selection should be any different than mine as there is only 1 version of the software.

Edit: It was identical on 5.11 to 6.0.

[Medic311]

Originally Posted by tb07-nj

you probably aren't going to the next menu where you would have the option. It makes no sense why millions of people (with only a couple exceptions) have the normal menu and a few do not.

I just added data to my ipan and went the the "cancel later" to keep the account from auto renewing.

logged into my prepaid account:

image



selected "add data or change plan"

image



selected "cancel plan"

image


selected "delete account later"

image


done

image

if you (or anyone) is not seeing all those screens you either are on a (non-contract) post-paid plan, signed up on-line at verizon.com rather than through the ipad "settings" function or simply are not going far enough into the menu to see the "cancel later" screen. There is no way your firmware settings "cellular data" selection should be any different than mine as there is only 1 version of the software.

Edit: It was identical on 5.11 to 6.0.

^ that

[TB07-NJ]

..

[Jane333]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

Just curious. When you initially activated the data on the iPad did you do it yourself through the iPad utility or did you have the store where you purchased activate it for you? If so, what store was it (VZW, BB etc)? From what you are describing it sounds exactly like you were on their "postpaid" (but non-contract) plan. It makes no sense for the proper screens not to show up if you are on the correct plan. When I initially got my iPad I foolishly let BestBuy activate it and they intentionally and without my knowledge put me on the "non-contract" postpaid plan. There is no real way to tell the difference other than that there was no way to "temporarily" put the plan on hold. It was either cancel (and kill the sim) or keep paying. This happened to many people. There was no way to tell until you tried to "skip" a month and couldn't. VZW stores were, and still are, doing the same thing as there was no commission for them on the "true" prepaid.

The FIRST time, I activated it myself and when I went to stop the pre-paid plan I did have two options - deactivate now or deactivate later - I stupidly chose "now" not understanding what it meant. Then, I went to the Verizon store, they put in a new SIM card for me and the SECOND time, the Verizon store activated it for me (this process took a long time as nobody seemed to now what to do). So, perhaps you are right. Perhaps they put me on a postpaid plan.

[TB07-NJ]

Originally Posted by Jane333

The FIRST time, I activated it myself and when I went to stop the pre-paid plan I did have two options - deactivate now or deactivate later - I stupidly chose "now" not understanding what it meant. Then, I went to the Verizon store, they put in a new SIM card for me and the SECOND time, the Verizon store activated it for me (this process took a long time as nobody seemed to now what to do). So, perhaps you are right. Perhaps they put me on a postpaid plan.

They absolutely did. They will not do anything with pre-paid. In fact, if they gave you a new sim and activated it, the chances are 99.999% you are now on post-paid (non-contract). Now if you want to stop your plan for a month or so you need to call them and when they cancel it your sim, once again, will be d-e-a-d because you can't put a postpaid iPad on hold. I would strongly suggest you invest $4-$7 on a VZW mini-sim or two (3FF I believe it's called) and you'll never have to deal with them again. The pre-paid and post-paid sims are identical despite anything they might tell you. The only difference is how it gets provisioned when you activate it. I've proven that in the thread I linked to in the second message and many other have done the same.

[Jane333]

Originally Posted by TB07-NJ

They absolutely did. They will not do anything with pre-paid. In fact, if they gave you a new sim and activated it, the chances are 99.999% you are now on post-paid (non-contract). Now if you want to stop your plan for a month or so you need to call them and when they cancel it your sim, once again, will be d-e-a-d because you can't put a postpaid iPad on hold. I would strongly suggest you invest $4-$7 on a VZW mini-sim or two (3FF I believe it's called) and you'll never have to deal with them again. The pre-paid and post-paid sims are identical despite anything they might tell you. The only difference is how it gets provisioned when you activate it. I've proven that in the thread I linked to in the second message and many other have done the same.

Thanks for your advice. I will definitely do this.

[Jane333]

Update for anyone who is interested: after trying to deal with Verizon on this issue and getting nowhere, I bought one of the SIM cards from eBay and it worked like a charm so I am back up and running. The fact that you can get the SIM cards from eBay leads me to believe this is intentional on Verizon's part.

[MrXiro]

Originally Posted by Jane333

I purchased the Verizon model because I wanted to be able to use the iPad as a router when I traveled so that the rest of my family could get wifi in case there was no wifi in the hotel or it was too costly. Everything was great, but then, in July, I wanted to stop the cell service until I needed it again. The process was unclear and I ended up deactivating the iPad. I called CS and after an hour on the phone with them, went to the local Verizon store. We called CS together as they did not know what to do. An hour later, the guy at the Verizon store told me to leave my iPad with him and he would figure it out. I did and two days later, he did fix it! New SIM card, ability to get on prepaid plan again. No activation or other fees. No charge for the SIM card.

So, I used the cell service again in August and then was afraid to stop it for fear of the same problem. I finally took the plunge yesterday and there was only one option - to delete the account. I thought there were supposed to be two options - I was afraid deleting the account would deactivate everything again. Before I took the plunge, I called CS and they said this was the way to do it and that my account and cell number would remain active. I went ahead and did it rather than continuing to pay $20 per month for service I did not need and, lo and behold, it is completely deactivated again. I am presuming ATT does not have the same issue as I have seen no comments about it but have seen many others having this issue with Verizon. My iphone is with ATT and I have had so much better service with them.

We are supposed to be able to use the cell service on a pre-paid basis when we want and this is not what Verizon is allowing us to do. Once we activate the pre-paid, we can change the service, but we can't stop it temporarily. Yes, I know I can buy a SIM card off ebay, but I should not have to. If I want to turn it on and off 5 times a year and have to pay $6 per SIM card, that is $30 per year I should not have to be spending. All Verizon has to do is have an option that is clearly indicated to either deactivate or to suspend.

When it asks you to deactivate you say NO. That's all the step before that stops payment.