AT&T 42mb/s Verizon 2 :(

[ohsnaphappy]

I've been with AT&T for 6 years. I had a huge fight with them on the phone, it got downright nasty with both of us screaming at each other, and I canceled my service. Kind of a long story.

So my new Verizon 6S+ is here. And in my house AT&T is 42 mb/s and Verizon is 2. TWO! Haha! Right now I'm telling myself maybe I won't notice for everyday use. We'll see, haha!

 

[Zwhaler]

Hmm, care to share why it got so heated?

 

[ohsnaphappy]

Hmm, care to share why it got so heated?

The first thing that was bothering me - they wouldn't let me switch from my 7gb plan to the new 15gb plan because I wasn't a Next customer. All four of my phones were on two year contracts.

But the fight happened when I called them to see how I could upgrade from the 6 to the 6s. They said I could not. Ever. No matter what. I asked them if I paid off the phone could I upgrade then? They said I could not under any circumstances pay off the phone. Finally, they told me the only way I could get the 6s was to cancel my service and pay an ETF fee. By that time most of the screaming was over and I was more than happy to pay an ETF fee and walk. So the guy who went ballistic on me transferred me to a lady to cancel my service. She told me if I canceled service my number would be gone for all eternity. I was like - fine just get me out of here. Then she said if I canceled there would be a $215 fee, I was like - dang that's cheap, let's cancel. Then she told me if she canceled my phone would die the moment I hung up. I was like whatever. So she canceled my number and I went for nearly a month without a phone.

As of right now I'm VERY happy with my 18gb of Verizon data for less money. And this time I bought my phone outright so no one could tell me what to do again, haha! But hopefully Verizon's LTE speed is perkier outside of my house. We'll see.

 

[bwsteg]

That is one issue you will encounter with Verizon. Slower speeds inside of places such as buildings, etc. I try to use wifi wherever possible when indoors. Outdoors, it's different story. Blows every other carrier in data speeds.

 

[Wise87]

They were wrong by saying you could never upgrade. At the end of your two year contract you could have. They could have also said to just to pay the ETF and start from scratch. You were totally wrong thinking you could just simply change in the middle of a two year contract. You signed the paperwork for the plan you had so to get upset because you couldn't upgrade is on you. What do you think a contract means, it's a binding agreement. You knew when you got your iPhone 6 that you would not be eligible for upgrade for the 6s.

 

[patrickbarnes]

You spoke to a clueless CSR, unfortunately.

Both networks suck -- just depends where you are. Verizon is abysmal in a lot of SF.

 

[ohsnaphappy]

They were wrong by saying you could never upgrade. At the end of your two year contract you could have. They could have also said to just to pay the ETF and start from scratch. You were totally wrong thinking you could just simply change in the middle of a two year contract. You signed the paperwork for the plan you had so to get upset because you couldn't upgrade is on you. What do you think a contract means, it's a binding agreement. You knew when you got your iPhone 6 that you would not be eligible for upgrade for the 6s.

Yeah I learned my lesson. For now on I'm buying my phones outright. It's really not much more than the $299 I paid with the contract.

 

[bking10]

Does Verizon not build the subsidy into the plan price? Or do you get a credit for having a non contract device?

 

[Applejuiced]

There's bad customer service reps on every company.
There's no point in arguing and fighting or even canceling to prove a point to that one ignorant employee. They don't care if you leave or stay.
Hang up and call again and ask to be transferred to a supervisor or manager. Have them explain you your options. If you're in a contract obviously you can't get another subsidized device whenever you want.
Paying hundreds of dollars, losing a phone number that you might have had for a long time and switching to a carrier with worst service in your area is not the rational thing to do because one of their employees pissed you off.

 

[DJ.Nickk]

People are too sensitive. Op you should have hung up and called back and speak to a Supavisor.

 

[JoeTomasone]

I've been with AT&T for 6 years. I had a huge fight with them on the phone, it got downright nasty with both of us screaming at each other, and I canceled my service. Kind of a long story.

So my new Verizon 6S+ is here. And in my house AT&T is 42 mb/s and Verizon is 2. TWO! Haha! Right now I'm telling myself maybe I won't notice for everyday use. We'll see, haha!

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/1383476529

3 bars inside the house, 30mbps on AT&T.

 

[ohsnaphappy]

No I'm really happy. I definitely over-reacted and got too upset. But in the end I got what I want. And there really was no other way to upgrade under contract. Once you're under contract there's no escape. You can't pay an ETF and pay off your phone without canceling your number. You just have to cancel. That's just their policy. And they would NOT let me switch to Next, so I was stuck with 7GB. Now I have 18 for LESS money haha.

However, if I'd talked to Verizon first, they could have saved my phone number by transferring it to their service. That's exactly what I'm going to do with my other phones. Transfer the numbers to Verizon and pay the ETF's. Since I'll own each device Verizon only charges $20 a month per phone. And going forward I'll buy all my devices outright. It's really no big deal.

We did some real world tests side by side. Websites and youtube videos loaded faster on AT&T, there's no doubt. But at 2mb/s things loaded well enough on Verizon. In real life, the difference isn't substantial. But on paper, dang, AT&T has the speed advantage where I live.

 

[Applejuiced]

No I'm really happy. I definitely over-reacted and got too upset. But in the end I got what I want. And there really was no other way to upgrade under contract. Once you're under contract there's no escape. You can't pay an ETF and pay off your phone without canceling your number. You just have to cancel. That's just their policy. And they would NOT let me switch to Next, so I was stuck with 7GB. Now I have 18 for LESS money haha.

However, if I'd talked to Verizon first, they could have saved my phone number by transferring it to their service. That's exactly what I'm going to do with my other phones. Transfer the numbers to Verizon and pay the ETF's. Since I'll own each device Verizon only charges $20 a month per phone. And going forward I'll buy all my devices outright. It's really no big deal.

We did some real world tests side by side. Websites and youtube videos loaded faster on AT&T, there's no doubt. But at 2mb/s things loaded well enough on Verizon. In real life, the difference isn't substantial. But on paper, dang, AT&T has the speed advantage where I live.

I agree, we all overreact sometimes.
There is many ways to upgrade under contract.
You sell your current phone and put the rest of the money out of your pocket. Or pay full price like you're doing now. That's what many of us are doing for years on subsidized plans. It's very irrational to demand another full subsidy from your carrier when the contract you signed has not expired yet. That shouldn't be that hard to understand and not something you should be upset towards your carrier.
They don't just kick in $450 towards your phone purchase whenever you feel like it.

 

[Macinva]

The problem with AT&T (well one of them anyways) is that for every 10 CSR's you talk to, 1 may be decent enough to get you where you need to go. In the last 3 days, I've talked to them on the phone, over chat and through email... these are just people doing a job and they really couldn't care any less if you left. They say they value you as a customer, but they don't. I suppose if everyone bailed on them it would be a different story, but that won't happen so there's always going to be stories like this (myself included). Unfortunately, I've found the grass is almost never greener on the other side. Companies will stick it to you so you just have to stick it back where possible. I'm not difficult, just give me what I pay for and stop giving me crap when I have a problem.

 

[Acejam2k]

And there really was no other way to upgrade under contract. Once you're under contract there's no escape.

If you're under contract you can purchase a phone at full price and have it activated. (for a line that's under contract) I've done it several times on multiple carriers. You cannot however get the subsidized pricing, hence the full price.

 

[jldesutter83]

The problem with AT&T (well one of them anyways) is that for every 10 CSR's you talk to, 1 may be decent enough to get you where you need to go. In the last 3 days, I've talked to them on the phone, over chat and through email... these are just people doing a job and they really couldn't care any less if you left. They say they value you as a customer, but they don't. I suppose if everyone bailed on them it would be a different story, but that won't happen so there's always going to be stories like this (myself included). Unfortunately, I've found the grass is almost never greener on the other side. Companies will stick it to you so you just have to stick it back where possible. I'm not difficult, just give me what I pay for and stop giving me crap when I have a problem.

I used to be a CSR at AT&T. I was actually the best on my team. We had to take a two month class on proper Customer Service and then another couple months half in training and half on the job. It's a lot work, and a very stressful job, which is why I had to quit. But I can say AT&T really strides to have great Customer Service. I really did care and try my best to help the customer as best as I could.

 

[Macinva]

I used to be a CSR at AT&T. I was actually the best on my team. We had to take a two month class on proper Customer Service and then another couple months half in training and half on the job. It's a lot work, and a very stressful job, which is why I had to quit. But I can say AT&T really strides to have great Customer Service. I really did care and try my best to help the customer as best as I could.

You would have been that 1 out of 10 most likely. I hate to say stuff like that about companies, but it really is my experience. Some of the people I spoke to literally pulled answers out of the air, unfortunately. If I asked 5 people the same question, I'd get 5 different answers.

 

[jldesutter83]

You would have been that 1 out of 10 most likely. I hate to say stuff like that about companies, but it really is my experience. Some of the people I spoke to literally pulled answers out of the air, unfortunately. If I asked 5 people the same question, I'd get 5 different answers.

Yeah, unfortunately the job has a high turn over rate, and there are a lot of people there just to get paid because it's a decent paying job.

 

[bhags8]

I'll put this right here

 

[JoeTomasone]

I'll put this right here

 

[dancefreak]

But the fight happened when I called them to see how I could upgrade from the 6 to the 6s. They said I could not. Ever. No matter what. I asked them if I paid off the phone could I upgrade then? They said I could not under any circumstances pay off the phone. Finally, they told me the only way I could get the 6s was to cancel my service and pay an ETF fee. By that time most of the screaming was over and I was more than happy to pay an ETF fee and walk. So the guy who went ballistic on me transferred me to a lady to cancel my service. She told me if I canceled service my number would be gone for all eternity. I was like - fine just get me out of here. Then she said if I canceled there would be a $215 fee, I was like - dang that's cheap, let's cancel. Then she told me if she canceled my phone would die the moment I hung up. I was like whatever. So she canceled my number and I went for nearly a month without a phone.

Not that it matters now since you've switched providers, but you most definitely could have upgraded your on-contract phone if you switched to a NEXT plan for the new device. I know this because I just did it. I had a 6 with a year left on the contract and was able to upgrade to the 6S by calling retention. I now owe nothing on my original phone, paid NO ETF, and was able to keep it and will sell it for $500. Also for future reference if you want to switch providers, rather than cancel with the original provider, it's always best to just sign up with the new company and port your number so that you don't lose it. You'll be automatically cancelled and billed the ETF by default and you get to keep your number.

 

[dancefreak]

If you're under contract you can purchase a phone at full price and have it activated. (for a line that's under contract) I've done it several times on multiple carriers. You cannot however get the subsidized pricing, hence the full price.

But as mentioned in my post above, you CAN upgrade to a phone with a NEXT plan from an on-contract subsidized line if you don't want to pay full price upfront. You just have to deal with a customer service agent who has the power to actually help so a call to retention/cancellations is required to make it happen. The only caveat is that you can't preorder because of how their override system works--it needs to be a released product. Wasn't really an issue for me as I called in on Friday morning and the new 6S 128GB phone was delivered today.

 

[ohsnaphappy]

Not that it matters now since you've switched providers, but you most definitely could have upgraded your on-contract phone if you switched to a NEXT plan for the new device. I know this because I just did it. I had a 6 with a year left on the contract and was able to upgrade to the 6S by calling retention. I now owe nothing on my original phone, paid NO ETF, and was able to keep it and will sell it for $500. Also for future reference if you want to switch providers, rather than cancel with the original provider, it's always best to just sign up with the new company and port your number so that you don't lose it. You'll be automatically cancelled and billed the ETF by default and you get to keep your number.

I begged, then argued, then literally screamed. They would NOT let me switch to a Next plan. I have no idea why.

 

[ohsnaphappy]

I agree, we all overreact sometimes.
There is many ways to upgrade under contract.
You sell your current phone and put the rest of the money out of your pocket. Or pay full price like you're doing now. That's what many of us are doing for years on subsidized plans. It's very irrational to demand another full subsidy from your carrier when the contract you signed has not expired yet. That shouldn't be that hard to understand and not something you should be upset towards your carrier.
They don't just kick in $450 towards your phone purchase whenever you feel like it.

Let me be clear. Yes I was under contract. One year in to be exact. But NO, I did not want another subsidized phone. I wanted to buy the 6s outright. I wanted to pay off my current phone, and buy a new one at full price. They said that was impossible. The guy SCREAMED at me over and over, I stopped counting after he said it the 7th time "the only way you can get a 6s is to cancel service." Then he transferred me to the cancellation department where the entire argument started all over again with some poor girl. After 15 minutes she just finally agreed with him and said the only way I could get a 6s was to completely cancel.

Here's the fun part, in my next post, I'm going to explain exactly how you CAN pay off a phone early with AT&T and upgrade. It's actually really easy. I discovered this yesterday.

 

[ohsnaphappy]

This post explains how ANYONE on AT&T can pay off their phone, while it's still on contract, and upgrade to a new phone.

1) Never tell AT&T you want a new phone. Never tell them you want to pay off your contract. They'll say NO!
2) Call them and tell them you're traveling to Europe. While in Europe you plan to use a European SIM.
3) For the sake of your vacation, they'll permit you to pay an ETF and then guide you through the process of unlocking your phone. Unlocking is really easy and takes 20 minutes tops.
4) Don't go to Europe.
5) Buy a new phone outright from Apple.
6) Put the SIM in your old phone into your brand new phone.
7) Sell your old phone on Amazon. You paid the ETF, unlocked it, you own it. Boom. Sell it.
8) Enjoy your new phone and enjoy your life without being yelled at by AT&T.

Someone said there's no need to make up a story. But the story allows you to avoid friction. They're really excited to "help you go to Europe" and they get super friendly. When are they not excited? When you tell them you want your phone unlocked so you can sell it and get something else. They don't like that for some reason.