Verizon Early Upgrade

[jmo1116]

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I want to get my fiance an iPhone 4 from Verizon for her birthday in a week but she isn't due for an upgrade until 5/11. I doubt it but do you think they would allow an early upgrade?

[wordoflife]

You should call and ask Verizon.

[jimyo]

i called verizon and told them I was a 17 year customer and got a early upgrade of 4 months

[chris2k5]

If you threaten to switch to AT&T, they will certainly make an exception.

[saberahul]

Originally Posted by chris2k5

If you threaten to switch to AT&T, they will certainly make an exception.

Uh... no. They do not simply care - at least in my experience.

OP: Just walk in the store and say you're a customer and would be delighted if they would let you get an early upgrade for your fiance. If no, call 611 and try there.

[icstars989]

As long as you're polite and honest with them, your chances are good. I've had great experiences with VZW's customer service.

[chris2k5]

Originally Posted by saberahul

Uh... no. They do not simply care - at least in my experience.

OP: Just walk in the store and say you're a customer and would be delighted if they would let you get an early upgrade for your fiance. If no, call 611 and try there.

Actually...YES they do. Talk to customer service and the loyalty department and say you are willing to switch or even mention a competitor and they will put you on hold for 1-2 minutes.

They will come back and make an "exception". They won't let you get the iPhone but you can a get any other phone and just return it at the store for the iPhone.

[jimbo1mcm]

If Verizon stonewalls you and you REALLY want the IPhone ( like me!) just add another line( $9.95 a month) and get the phone at the $199 price. Yeh, you pay each month, but you have the phone. And it is worth it.

[DiamondMac]

Originally Posted by chris2k5

Actually...YES they do. Talk to customer service and the loyalty department and say you are willing to switch or even mention a competitor and they will put you on hold for 1-2 minutes.

They will come back and make an "exception". They won't let you get the iPhone but you can a get any other phone and just return it at the store for the iPhone.

This may happen at times, but it does not always happen. Simply threatening to leave has been done many times per people on here AND several friends in my life with Verizon...and rarely have Verizon suddenly turned around and gave exceptions

So, I am sure it does happen. My point is, not always

[ansabakhan]

i have gotten many many early upgrades ... ranging from 6 to 11 months !

call 611 and ask them to put note on ur account to let you have an early upgrade then u can walk in to any Verizon store to get it done

[jmo1116]

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So if I want to surprise my fiance, how would I go about buying and activating the iPhone without her knowing? She has an active line right now..will it deactivate her current phone when I go to get her the iPhone?

[BobbieM629]

Originally Posted by jmo1116

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So if I want to surprise my fiance, how would I go about buying and activating the iPhone without her knowing? She has an active line right now..will it deactivate her current phone when I go to get her the iPhone?

Yes, unless you add it as a 3rd line.. My suggestion.. (what we did for my husband and it worked perfect!) is to buy an iTunes card, maybe an accessory like a car charger & the GC for VZW.. Wrap it up.. Put it with a card and offer to take her to pick it up. My husband was expecting his iPhone so when the odd box size was handed to him, he was puzzled.. But ended up getting what he wanted and the kids & I pulled over a good trick WIN.. WIN..

[jmo1116]

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But isn't it different with the iPhone? I don't know how it works because I got my iPhone by adding a line. I thought maybe the phone isn't activated in the store but instead when plugged up to iTunes at home...perhaps someone with more knowledge on this can fill me in.

[BobbieM629]

Originally Posted by jmo1116

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But isn't it different with the iPhone? I don't know how it works because I got my iPhone by adding a line. I thought maybe the phone isn't activated in the store but instead when plugged up to iTunes at home...perhaps someone with more knowledge on this can fill me in.

They still have to remove the ESN from your account to put the new ESN of the iPhone on there.. When they remove the old phones ESN, it will deactivate that phone. If you are getting a new phone number then they MAY be able to work around by doing an add a line, but otherwise.. It would reactive her current phone.. Activating with iTunes simply activates your Apple account.

[jmo1116]

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Ok I see.
I figure I'll wait until she gets off work until I go to Verizon to pick up the phone. She'll be phoneless (and confused) for a bit before I surprise her!

[jmo1116]

Where are you all getting these early upgrades?? I went to two stores today and both were very unhelpful. They didn't care that the two upgrades are in roughly 2 weeks. And you all are saying you've gotten 8-11 month early upgrades? What are you telling these reps that makes them want to actually be helpful??

[ansabakhan]

Originally Posted by jmo1116

Where are you all getting these early upgrades?? I went to two stores today and both were very unhelpful. They didn't care that the two upgrades are in roughly 2 weeks. And you all are saying you've gotten 8-11 month early upgrades? What are you telling these reps that makes them want to actually be helpful??

phone has problem (which usually was the case with me ) and never had problem with early up .... but they might not do it with iPhone , as most of the times its really apples rule you need to go with ... verizon reps may not do an early upgrade on right now or for next 6-8 months ias many many verizon smartphone users must have tried to upgrade to iphone when it came out on Verizon so they might be playing safe

[Ponderous]

Arranging an early upgrade for my wife's iPhone was the first time vzw ever told me they couldn't do it. And that was after two calls with two holds to talk to supervisors...

They are always accommodating but hesitant to pull the trigger on such a pricey device. My solution was to add the extra line and eat the ten bucks a month. And the best part was I saved an upgrade for the iPhone 5

[applesith]

Keep calling and asking nicely for the early upgrade. I have heard many occasions where they move it up a few weeks.

[ApexBoost]

I was 8 months away from an upgrade and Verizon offered me a $20 early upgrade fee to get the iPhone. I was previously on a feature phone so maybe they did that to get me into the smartphone game.

[kramerica20]

fwiw - I was a month away (11 year customer) and was denied an early upgrade.

[NJDevils1986]

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Originally Posted by ApexBoost

I was 8 months away from an upgrade and Verizon offered me a $20 early upgrade fee to get the iPhone. I was previously on a feature phone so maybe they did that to get me into the smartphone game.

Exactly what happened with me, wanted to upgrade my son's Samsung and he wasn't due an upgrade until November this year. $20 later, new iPhone4. Works for me!

[Jeremy08]

Originally Posted by jmo1116

Where are you all getting these early upgrades?? I went to two stores today and both were very unhelpful. They didn't care that the two upgrades are in roughly 2 weeks. And you all are saying you've gotten 8-11 month early upgrades? What are you telling these reps that makes them want to actually be helpful??

Your problem is that you are going in to the physical Verizon stores. I was able to also get a major advance in upgrade eligibility on my droid inc. and my gf's droid inc., about a year in advance, as well as a waived $20 early upgrade fee on both lines. I was of course having problems with my phone, but needless to say, the KEY is to CALL verizon. If you don't get the answer you are looking for...CALL BACK. You will find someone who is willing to help you eventually.

[kramerica20]

Originally Posted by NJDevils1986

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Exactly what happened with me, wanted to upgrade my son's Samsung and he wasn't due an upgrade until November this year. $20 later, new iPhone4. Works for me!

Originally Posted by ApexBoost

I was 8 months away from an upgrade and Verizon offered me a $20 early upgrade fee to get the iPhone. I was previously on a feature phone so maybe they did that to get me into the smartphone game.

Were you by chance able to do this in a retail store or via phoned customer service only?

[NJDevils1986]

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I did it in a retail Verizon store last week! No questions asked! $20 then $199 for the 16GB device.