gah... family plan renewal with Verizon

[aethelbert]

My parents just called me confused about renewing their family plan with Verizon. There are two lines and they share 1400 minutes each month. The problem is that both of their phones are on their last legs and need to be replaced. They described their situation to me and asked me to find out how much it'll cost... yay for me.

The 2 year contract ended in April and the main line (read: not both lines) are eligible for a $100 credit with a program called "new every 2." This has got me wondering... is this $100 credit on top of the subsidy or does one only get the $100 off of the full price? And does the second line qualify for a subsidized price or do they charge the full price?

I would expect (out of common sense, I guess) the subsidies to exist (with the $100 discount added on), but searches around the internet have turned up answers both for and against this. So... does anyone on here know how this works?

Thanks

 

[NC MacGuy]

The "new every two" plan gives a larger subsidy or higher quality free phone to the main number on the acct. The others on the family plan if eligible at the same time, can also get a phone but usually not as much money is allowed. Have quite a few Verizon phones and found if you go to their website and order phones their using your acct. and login info, you can get a better phone than the store offers. Just look up the number on your acct. and it'll say if eligible and give you the list of phones for each number and the costs or credit. They also send them overnight fedex and you can activate easily by using the enclosed instructions. You will have to agree to extend your contract another two years for the phones though.

 

[ErikCLDR]

The way it works with my family's verizon account (mom, me, sister) is that we can get new phones every 2 years. My mom as the "primary account holder" gets the $100 credit off the price of the phone with a 2yr contract (so not full retail price). My sister and I also pay the price of the phone with the 2yr contract but we do not receive the $100 credit.

Verizon I think is a horrible company to deal with. They sometimes are very complicated and do not tell or explain well what they are doing with their customers. I lost my phone about 1/2 way through my 2yr contract. I used my moms existing $100 credit to purchase a new phone. She too was eligible for a new phone. The guy at the verizon store apparently used my moms credit and eligible upgrade for my phone. My mom however weeks later received a personalized notice she was eligible for a new phone (her phone is like 4 years old). So we went to the store and we were told she was not eligible. Then she spoke to customer support for hours and eventually worked out a deal- but it took hours and there was some confusion of when my new phone broke, they gave me a newer model (I am not sure why they did this but they considered this another upgrade or something which lead to more confusion). Long story short they are annoying to deal with and they can be vague. In the end everything worked out though and their customer support people spoke english and were responsible.

 

[aethelbert]

Thanks both for your input. I'm glad that I'm not using verizon. So let me get this straight... If they both get the same phone (say a Palm Centro) that has a normal price with contract of $200 minus a $100 online discount, one of them could apply the $100 "new every two" discount on that to make it free while the other would pay the remaining $100?

Gah, this is confusing. I'm glad that I get my phone through work. And it's an iPhone, so I'm in heaven!

 

[ErikCLDR]

Thanks both for your input. I'm glad that I'm not using verizon. So let me get this straight... If they both get the same phone (say a Palm Centro) that has a normal price with contract of $200 minus a $100 online discount, one of them could apply the $100 "new every two" discount on that to make it free while the other would pay the remaining $100?

Gah, this is confusing. I'm glad that I get my phone through work. And it's an iPhone, so I'm in heaven!

Yes. It would be like this on a family plan.

Person #1
Centro= contract price of $200 minus $100 discount minus $100 credit = $0

Person #2
Centro= contract price of $200 minus $100 discount = $100

and if the were any more people it would be the same as person #2

Only the "primary account holder' gets the $100 credit.

 

[aethelbert]

Yes. It would be like this on a family plan.

Person #1
Centro= contract price of $200 minus $100 discount minus $100 credit = $0

Person #2
Centro= contract price of $200 minus $100 discount = $100

and if the were any more people it would be the same as person #2

Only the "primary account holder' gets the $100 credit.

Alright, that's what I wanted to know. Also, another question... do the retail outlets offer similar discounts to the online ones (200-100)? I'm just wanting to know because if it's only online, I'll probably have to buy the phones for them (with their oh-so-extensive knowledge of the internet).
Thanks

 

[ErikCLDR]

Alright, that's what I wanted to know. Also, another question... do the retail outlets offer similar discounts to the online ones (200-100)? I'm just wanting to know because if it's only online, I'll probably have to buy the phones for them (with their oh-so-extensive knowledge of the internet).
Thanks

Yea usually the products with "online discounts" online have the same "in store discounts" or comparable mail in rebate. At least that is what i have found with my experience. I am sure that if there was a price discrepancy they would match the price.