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$10 a month my butt!

Maclver

Maclver

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 23, 2008
2,861
2,620
New Mexico
So just activated our two new Apple Watches on Verizon and HOLY SH^T... not only is it $10 a month per watch, there is also a $9.79 surcharge per watch and $2.36 in taxes (which I understand).... so $10 a month has turned into $22.15... and on top of that I got hit with two $37 activation fees that they said (over chat) they can't be waived... Wonder if it would be worth calling to try to have the activation fees waived?!

I don't understand when cell phone companies literally do nothing manual when I activate a device at home, why they need to charge me a fee...
 
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Yeah. ATT is not much better.

$10 + around $6 taxes and fees. There was an activation fee, but that was years ago (S4 is when my wife got her plan, and has carried it from watch to watch) and ATT waived the fee, but only through a billing credit months later.
 
FWIW, I got Verizon to waive the activation fee for me. They also told me that the ~$9 surcharge was an estimate on the first bill so we shall see what this really is. Totally agree that carriers should be more transparent about the total cost for their smartwatch plans.
 
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citivolus said:
FWIW, I got Verizon to waive the activation fee for me. They also told me that the ~$9 surcharge was an estimate on the first bill so we shall see what this really is. Totally agree that carriers should be more transparent about the total cost for their smartwatch plans.
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How did you get them to waive the fee? Did you call?
 
Yeaaaaahhhh... And $10 / month was already too much. Completely useless feature for the vast majority of people, since the Emergency Services functionality will work even if you don't have a plan activated AFAIK.

Screenshot 2022-09-20 190430.png
 
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Telco companies can do whatever they want. Which is why I don't like the eSIM concept. It's like reverting back to CDMA on Verizon. You're locked in. I've been a Verizon customer for 2 decades. I don't have a choice because where I live, Verizon has better reception.

It's just not right. But big companies run the world. So no choice, but to make more money.:rolleyes:
 
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GrandeLatte said:
Telco companies can do whatever they want. Which is why I don't like the eSIM concept. It's like reverting back to CDMA on Verizon. You're locked in. I've been a Verizon customer for 2 decades. I don't have a choice because where I live, Verizon has better reception.

It's just not right. But big companies run the world. So no choice, but to make more money.:rolleyes:
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I get why you'd compare an eSIM to an ESN (from the customer's point of view, they accomplish the same thing) but how does having an eSIM 'lock you in,' in any way? I mean, it's not like you could use your Verizon physical SIM to use your phone on AT&T's network. If anything, eSIMs make it even easier to change carriers, as you no longer need to receive a physical SIM card from your new carrier. All you need is a QR code, which can be generated immediately after setting up your account.
 
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mavis said:
I get why you'd compare an eSIM to an ESN (from the customer's point of view, they accomplish the same thing) but how does having an eSIM 'lock you in,' in any way? I mean, it's not like you could use your Verizon physical SIM to use your phone on AT&T's network. If anything, eSIMs make it even easier to change carriers, as you no longer need to receive a physical SIM card from your new carrier. All you need is a QR code, which can be generated immediately after setting up your account.
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I prefer an iPhone with a SIM slot. This makes it easier when I travel out of country. So immediately when I land, I can use other country's physical SIM card and have a local number when abroad. Right now, not every country uses eSIM, so having an iPhone 14 from Verizon doesn't help me right now. Well, unless I get the iPhone 14 from another country.

365 days a year, I'm probably out of the country 100 days or more. Sometimes for business, other time for pleasure.
 
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GrandeLatte said:
I prefer an iPhone with a SIM slot. This makes it easier when I travel out of country. So immediately when I land, I can use other country's physical SIM card and have a local number when abroad. Right now, not every country uses eSIM, so having an iPhone 14 from Verizon doesn't help me right now. Well, unless I get the iPhone 14 from another country.

365 days a year, I'm probably out of the country 100 days or more. Sometimes for business, other time for pleasure.
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Have you heard of apps such as Airalo? They offer eSIMs with data-only plans for lots of countries or even regions (Europe, Latin America, etc) and global.
You install the eSIM before your trip, it can be activated right after you land and you are good to go!
I just recently discovered this and it works great for me.
 
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Maclver said:
So just activated our two new Apple Watches on Verizon and HOLY SH^T... not only is it $10 a month per watch, there is also a $9.79 surcharge per watch and $2.36 in taxes (which I understand).... so $10 a month has turned into $22.15... and on top of that I got hit with two $37 activation fees that they said (over chat) they can't be waived... Wonder if it would be worth calling to try to have the activation fees waived?!

I don't understand when cell phone companies literally do nothing manual when I activate a device at home, why they need to charge me a fee...
Click to expand...
I'm a Verizon customer waiting for the delivery of my Ultra watch. So, this post caught my eye. My latest bill was just generated. I took a look at the charges for my current watch. My surcharges are $2.94 and my taxes and fees are $0.94. So, maybe these charges are based on where you live? Maybe local tax stuff? Also, I think business customers don't get charged activation fees. At least that's the way it used to be. I'll find out when my Ultra arrives in a few days.

So maybe this is not Verizon's fault. Maybe the blame goes to the required fees and charges by local and state entities. Also, because these required charges and fees can vary greatly across the country, Verizon can't in advance advertise what they are when promoting their $10 plan.

I know I won't be a popular person defending Verizon. I can't believe I'm defending them!
 
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I could never leave my phone and just have the watch, too many business calls and emails. My 14 PM allows me to leave the office and still stay fully connected.
 
coolbreeze2 said:
I'm a Verizon customer waiting for the delivery of my Ultra watch. So, this post caught my eye. My latest bill was just generated. I took a look at the charges for my current watch. My surcharges are $2.94 and my taxes and fees are $0.94. So, maybe these charges are based on where you live? Maybe local tax stuff? Also, I think business customers don't get charged activation fees. At least that's the way it used to be. I'll find out when my Ultra arrives in a few days.

So maybe this is not Verizon's fault. Maybe the blame goes to the required fees and charges by local and state entities. Also, because these required charges and fees can vary greatly across the country, Verizon can't in advance advertise what they are when promoting their $10 plan.

I know I won't be a popular person defending Verizon. I can't believe I'm defending them!
Click to expand...
Part of my job is telecom compliance and I can tell you the fees across cities, counties, & states is off the rails. Everyone wants a percentage of the pie and the prices vary greatly. It's an easy way to quietly add money to a government budget. Most of the money goes to USAC which is a crock. There are over 2000 tax categories for telecom.
 
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Recouping bandwidth auction fees.

C-Band Auction

The C Band auction raised a gross total of $81.17 billion, smashing the previous auction record of $44 billion raised in the AWS-3 auction that ran in 2014-2015 and raised nearly $45 billion....

The top bidders in terms of dollar amounts were:

  • Verizon: $45.455 billion for 3,511 licenses in 406 PEAs
  • AT&T: $23.407 billion for 1,621 licenses in 406 PEAs
  • T-Mobile US: $9.336 billion for 142 licenses in 72 PEAs
  • US Cellular: $1.283 billion for 252 licenses in 99 PEAs
Click to expand...
 
Publicstaticvoid said:
Have you heard of apps such as Airalo? They offer eSIMs with data-only plans for lots of countries or even regions (Europe, Latin America, etc) and global.
You install the eSIM before your trip, it can be activated right after you land and you are good to go!
I just recently discovered this and it works great for me.
Click to expand...
No. But open to trying. Thanks!
 
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