Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is this the cheapest way I could get the VeriPhone?

Sharrock said:
Don't two separate lines have separate contracts? If that were true you could still cancel the older of the two plans regardless of number and still pay a lesser ETF.
Click to expand...

yes, but the contracts are accociated with the numbers, so the old number has the lesser etf, but he doesn't want to lose that number. He could just add a line and not close it, but then he's paying an extra $10 month on his plan, and if he already has 5 lines he wouldn't be able to add another line.
 
Fernandez21 said:
yes, but the contracts are accociated with the numbers, so the old number has the lesser etf, but he doesn't want to lose that number. He could just add a line and not close it, but then he's paying an extra $10 month on his plan, and if he already has 5 lines he wouldn't be able to add another line.
Click to expand...

Yeeeeeah, I guess that plan's out :/
 
Fernandez21 said:
yes, but the contracts are accociated with the numbers, so the old number has the lesser etf, but he doesn't want to lose that number. He could just add a line and not close it, but then he's paying an extra $10 month on his plan, and if he already has 5 lines he wouldn't be able to add another line.
Click to expand...

I thought the phone itself was the reason for ETF's and subsidized prices.

I really don't think the number matters much here. You can change your number at any time while on a contract, and they wouldn't charge you an ETF or restart your contract period for that.
 
Sharrock said:
I thought the phone itself was the reason for ETF's and subsidized prices.

I really don't think the number matters much here. You can change your number at any time while on a contract, and they wouldn't charge you an ETF or restart your contract period for that.
Click to expand...

The number matters a lot actually.
 
TRUCRACKER said:
I'm not gonna lie, this is pretty confusing to me XP
Click to expand...

ok, well if you really want to get the iphone at launch on verizon and pay the etf on your current line to reopen it and get the subsidized price and still keep your existing number, you have to port your number out. Best way is to port to a pre-paid service (tracphone, boost, gophone). I say go phone because you can find those pretty cheap at walmart (around $20) You go ahead and open the go-phone account and port your verizon number over. Once this happens, your number on verizon is cancelled and you will have to pay the etf. The rest of your family plan will be the same, unless your number is the main line, in which case another number on the account will be annointed as the main line. When the new iPhone comes out, go back to verizon and tell them you want to add a line to your family plan and get the iphone with 2 year contract and port back your number from the go phone. Since its prepaid you wont have any type of etf.

The other thing you can do is just add a line to your existing family plan and use that line to get the iphone, however you will still have to pay the monthly fee of having that line, even if you use the iphone on your number and never use the new line.
 
Sharrock said:
I thought the phone itself was the reason for ETF's and subsidized prices.

I really don't think the number matters much here. You can change your number at any time while on a contract, and they wouldn't charge you an ETF or restart your contract period for that.
Click to expand...

The number is what the contract is accociated with, not the phone. So while you do get the discount on the actual phone, the contract goes on the number. You can switch phones all you want afterwards, but the contract stays with that number.

Also, have you ever tried changing the number mid contract? The first 30 days is easy, but after that its really hard. I one time open a line to get a phone, but then never used that line and paid the $10 a month. About 5 months in I wanted to add my mother to my family plan, and since I was already paying for that etxtra line I tried porting her number in place of it. The system would let them do it, and the only way they could after spending much time talking with CS rep was to add another line and port her number in, cancel the other line I had, and credit my account for the ETF, and even this way it ended up restarting the 2 year contract on the new line.
 
Its the phone that is related to ETF's. (You buy a phone for a subsidized price not a phone number) Although I could be wrong because Fernandez21 makes a good point. But I am almost positive if you have a family plan already you can port any number on your family plan to any phone on your family plan you want and the contract stays with that phone.

If I were in your shoes this is what I would do. I would add a line which will get you the subsidized price on the Iphone, then switch the numbers so the Iphone has the correct number that you want it to have, find a "dumbphone" for cheap or from a friend that will let you have it for free and switch the old phone with the "dumbphone". The reason for the "dumbphone" is so you don't have to have the data plan (saving you $30 a month) and wait out the contract on the "dumbphone" and cancel with no ETF.
 
Last edited:
tbaker00 said:
Its the phone that is related to ETF's. (You buy a phone for a subsidized price not a phone number) If I were in your shoes this is what I would do. I would add a line which will get you the subsidized price on the Iphone, then switch the numbers so the Iphone has the correct number that you want it to have, find a "dumbphone" for cheap or from a friend that will let you have it for free and switch the old phone with the "dumbphone". The reason for the "dumbphone" is so you don't have to have the data plan (saving you $30 a month) and wait out the contract on the "dumbphone" and cancel with no ETF.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll probly end up doing this. Lots of you guys are saying to. How much a month would the dumbphone be?
 
TRUCRACKER said:
Yeah, I'll probly end up doing this. Lots of you guys are saying to. How much a month would the dumbphone be?
Click to expand...

Well you could just do that and cancel the old phone and just pay the etf, which is actually cheaper that just paying an extra $30 until July.
 
The dumbphone comes out to about $30 a month after taxes and all that jazz. You could pay the ETF if its cheaper than paying $30 a month until your contract expires (roughly $180) But if the ETF is higher than that I would pay until the contract expires, but that is up to you.
 
tbaker00 said:
But I am almost positive if you have a family plan already you can port any number on your family plan to any phone on your family plan you want and the contract stays with that phone.
Click to expand...

What if you just have one line and try to add an additional line?
 
Sharrock said:
What if you just have one line and try to add an additional line?
Click to expand...

You will have to sign the contract get the phone for 199 or 299 then everything works the same as above. Switch the phone to the number you want then cancel the other line/pay etf or downgrade to a dumbphone and wait out the remainder of that contract.
 
tbaker00 said:
You will have to sign the contract get the phone for 199 or 299 then everything works the same as above. Switch the phone to the number you want then cancel the other line/pay etf or downgrade to a dumbphone and wait out the remainder of that contract.
Click to expand...

Hells yeah. I'm gonna call tomorrow just to check what my ETF would be (My upgrade date is in September, so I imagine it would be the lower price before Verizon raised it). Thanks for the help man!
 
Ya no problem. You just have to sign up for the family plan and its lowest plan is 700 shared minutes for whatever the price is of that. It is pretty easy and straight forward. Then once you cancel the phone while you are on the line with verizon tell them to put you on the individual plan of your liking, and you should be good to go! Also another thing you could think about is (and some will take this as trying to butt hump verizon) is to downgrade the other line to a dumb phone wait and see if verizon will offer the upgrade/iphone5 or whatever it will be called in July then you only have to wait a couple months to get the next iphone for the subsidized price. Then cancel the other phone and save a possible few hundred dollars. And if they don't cancel the dumb phone.
 
Last edited:
How long should I wait to cancel the older line? Should I wait a week or do it as soon as I get home from the store?
 
Krandor said:
from what I understand you can pay Verizon an extra $70 to get it on a one year upgrade cycle.
Click to expand...

Can someone elaborate what this is? Is it a 1 year contract for an extra $70 upfront or is it a buyout that you do at the end of one year into your 2 year contract?

Seems very much worth it if you can do this with Verizon :)
 
ap3604 said:
Can someone elaborate what this is? Is it a 1 year contract for an extra $70 upfront or is it a buyout that you do at the end of one year into your 2 year contract?

Seems very much worth it if you can do this with Verizon :)
Click to expand...

I think they cancelled the 1 year contract at the beginning of the year. Looks like the only offer 2 years now.
 
I hope the "VeriPhone" name doesn't catch on because it's stupid and I hate it.

No body else combines the name of the iPhone with the carrier.
 
Sharrock said:
How long should I wait to cancel the older line? Should I wait a week or do it as soon as I get home from the store?
Click to expand...

It really doesn't matter how long you wait. 1 hr, 1 day, 1 week, or until your contract expires and you upgrade that older line to the newest iphone if it is out. You won't get punished for either of them.
 
Mobster Sauce said:
I hope the "VeriPhone" name doesn't catch on because it's stupid and I hate it.

No body else combines the name of the iPhone with the carrier.
Click to expand...

I hope you realize it's a joke and I couldn't care less about your opinion of it. And the other carriers wouldn't make sense anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back