Thinking of switching to Verizon.

[maflynn]

At some point in the near future, we'll be adding two phone lines for my two kids, and part of that, its our idea to switch back to VZW from ATT.

Since we're still under contract, I'm curious to know about the process. I am seemingly getting conflicting information from the people I've chatted with on the VZW site, which is why I'm asking for some clarification here.

AFAIK, If I switch, and trade in my phone, they will give me X dollars to go towards buying a VZW phone, but they will also pay for my ETF. Are they offering two items, i.e., discounting the iPhone and paying the ETF or are they just providing one bucket of money (so to speak) that I can use to help pay off the ETF and lower the cost of my phone.

What about paying the ETF myself and then using my unlocked ATT phone instead of being forced to buy a new phone - will I be able to do that or will they not activate/provide a sim?

 

[mrwalleyeman]

Yes Verizon is offering to pay you a trade in value on your current phone so say iPhone6 128gb gold would equal $240 trade in. Then you send Verizon within 60 days a copy of your final bill showing your ETF, they will then send you a visa prepaid card with the amount of ETF. So essentially you would get for example $240 for trade, then if ETF is $350 they will give you $350 for that.

SO Verizon is offering up to $650 so trade in then will pay ETF, or if you are on a AT&T next plan they will pay off the balance owed on your phone. So for example they give you $240 trade then you owe say $350 on the AT&T next plan, they will send a visa prepaid for the $350 to pay off your AT&T next plan.

The $240 they give you in trade you can use to help pay for your new devices. But you also have to port your number over to Verizon in both cases.

And yes you can bring your own device over to Verizon if the phone is compatible. Verizon does have a spot on their websit to check and see if your phone will be compatible.

Hope this helps

 

[maflynn]

That's the best explanation I've heard. I tried to get something like that out of the VZW person I was chatting with and she was unfortunately failing to convey that.

 

[mrwalleyeman]

I actually just went to a Verizon store on Monday and talked to someone there. I did make the switch. It is a fairly decent deal.

I tried the chat thing and the person that I was chatting with had no clue to what I was asking about. Basically clueless.

Well I hope I was able to help you out.

 

[maflynn]

Yeah it was helpful. I wanted to get my ducks in a row before we head to a VZW store

 

[ToroidalZeus]

AT&T iPhone 6 will work on Verizon tho so it doesn't make sense to trade it in and buy another phone. Even worse their trade-in value will be below craigslist market value. With T-Mobile what people would do is buy a cheap old android smartphone off craigslist and trade that in instead for the ETF promotion. I would recommend doing the same.

If you cancel your service, make sure you do so at the end of your billing cycle, before it starts a new cycle.

Btw you might want to try unlocking the AT&T iPhone right now. It's quite possible it'll unlock before you even pay off the ETF. https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/

 

[Sketchr]

Yeah it was helpful. I wanted to get my ducks in a row before we head to a VZW store

And I recommend going to an actual corporate Verizon store rather than a retail store or worse yet a kiosk. Miles difference in service. Far less likely to encounter a hitch in your transaction.

 

[I7guy]

And I recommend going to an actual corporate Verizon store rather than a retail store or worse yet a kiosk. Miles difference in service. Far less likely to encounter a hitch in your transaction.

I agree with this whole-heartedly.

 

[maflynn]

And I recommend going to an actual corporate Verizon store rather than a retail store or worse yet a kiosk. Miles difference in service. Far less likely to encounter a hitch in your transaction.

Definitely, but I will say Costco has some really nice incentives to with them to switch over. In the past, I've only dealt with the corporate offices and not gone to a kiosk

 

[jetsam]

Definitely, but I will say Costco has some really nice incentives to with them to switch over. In the past, I've only dealt with the corporate offices and not gone to a kiosk

After the Apple store, Costco is Consumer Reports top-rated bricks-and-mortar place to buy a cellphone.

 

[maflynn]

Cosco, definitely has some incentives to buying there, and so we may visit that this weekend, or the next.

 

[shinji]

Yes Verizon is offering to pay you a trade in value on your current phone so say iPhone6 128gb gold would equal $240 trade in. Then you send Verizon within 60 days a copy of your final bill showing your ETF, they will then send you a visa prepaid card with the amount of ETF. So essentially you would get for example $240 for trade, then if ETF is $350 they will give you $350 for that.

SO Verizon is offering up to $650 so trade in then will pay ETF, or if you are on a AT&T next plan they will pay off the balance owed on your phone. So for example they give you $240 trade then you owe say $350 on the AT&T next plan, they will send a visa prepaid for the $350 to pay off your AT&T next plan.

The $240 they give you in trade you can use to help pay for your new devices. But you also have to port your number over to Verizon in both cases.

And yes you can bring your own device over to Verizon if the phone is compatible. Verizon does have a spot on their websit to check and see if your phone will be compatible.

Hope this helps

But if you do have a device that would be compatible with Verizon and want to use it there, like the AT&T iPhone 6s, do you still get a credit for the entire AT&T Next balance? Because it seems like once you switch, you're then starting over with the entire $650 cost at Verizon, so the switch cost you in hardware alone $100. Correct me if I'm wrong on that?

 

[maflynn]

Well, you don't get a trade in credit, in a sense you're a new customer and not a switching customer. Will the amount that you get from verizon be satisfactory, or is it worth the effort of selling the phone on swappa and using that money to offset the cost of the iPhone from VZW?

I can see both sids of the argument, though since I have an ETF, and if I choose to leave ATT now, then it seems in my best interest to have VZW pay that ETF, and give me a credit towards a new phone purchase. I haven't worked the numbers yet, but I'm leaning towards the ease and simplicity of handing it over to VZW.

 

[maxsix]

My wife's company just issued Verizon iPhones to the managers. The increase in voice quality, clarity and data speed is quite noticeable, compared to my phone on AT&T. Therefore I'm seriously considering switching myself. Might as well get it done sooner rather than later, especially since Verizon incentives are ideal at the moment.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Well, you don't get a trade in credit, in a sense you're a new customer and not a switching customer. Will the amount that you get from verizon be satisfactory, or is it worth the effort of selling the phone on swappa and using that money to offset the cost of the iPhone from VZW?

I can see both sids of the argument, though since I have an ETF, and if I choose to leave ATT now, then it seems in my best interest to have VZW pay that ETF, and give me a credit towards a new phone purchase. I haven't worked the numbers yet, but I'm leaning towards the ease and simplicity of handing it over to VZW.

Like I said. You are better off buying a cheap android cell phone and trading that in instead and selling your iPhone privately. With that said, an AT&T iPhone 6 has full compatibility on Verizon so it doesn't make sense to sell it and repurchase another iPhone, unless you wanna upgrade to a 6S.

 

[maflynn]

Well I haven't looked at the fine print, but a lot of the programs that offer to pay your ETF also require you buy a new phone on the network in question (in this case VZW), so I don't think I can get a cheap android phone, use that to switch and then activate my current phone on the VZW network. They'll require that I buy a new phone from them.

As I've said, I've not looked into the details of switching as we're not quite ready to pull the trigger, but I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Well I haven't looked at the fine print, but a lot of the programs that offer to pay your ETF also require you buy a new phone on the network in question (in this case VZW), so I don't think I can get a cheap android phone, use that to switch and then activate my current phone on the VZW network. They'll require that I buy a new phone from them.

As I've said, I've not looked into the details of switching as we're not quite ready to pull the trigger, but I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.

You can buy a cheap android phone on Craigslist ($25) with a trade-in value of more than $0 and buy the cheapest android phone they offer (Droid Mint $100) to take advantage of the offer.

Depending on how much you owe on the ETF. It might just be better to skip the ETF payoff and just pay off the balance yourself.

 

[shinji]

Another thing I'm wondering is, what if your current phone that you want to trade-in is locked at AT&T and on AT&T Next?

Is the in-person process like:

1) Pay off Next balance at AT&T, request unlock. Wait for this to happen.
2) Go to Verizon store and trade in old phone. Get credit applied immediately for trade-in.
3) Walk out of store with Verizon phone.
4) Later, receive gift card covering the difference between the trade-in and what you've paid AT&T Next.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Another thing I'm wondering is, what if your current phone that you want to trade-in is locked at AT&T and on AT&T Next?

Is the in-person process like:

1) Pay off Next balance at AT&T, request unlock. Wait for this to happen.
2) Go to Verizon store and trade in old phone. Get credit applied immediately for trade-in.
3) Walk out of store with Verizon phone.
4) Later, receive gift card covering the difference between the trade-in and what you've paid AT&T Next.

Wow. I just realized that Verizon does balance minus trade-in value. What A TOTAL SCAM.

I did the math on this. If someone bought on iPhone 6 on AT&T NEXT 18 (aka 2 yr version) at launch about 16 months ago, then they'll have paid about 433 for the phone and still owe 217 balance. Verizon trade-in amount for the iPhone 6 is 220. So they'll get absolute nothing for the ETF. Verizon says if they someone has no balance then they'll give them 100 anyways. That's still less than market value of just selling the iPhone 6 privately tho.

 

[shinji]

Wow. I just realized that Verizon does balance minus trade-in value. What A TOTAL SCAM.

I did the math on this. If someone bought on iPhone 6 on AT&T NEXT 18 (aka 2 yr version) at launch about 16 months ago, then they'll have paid about 433 for the phone and still owe 217 balance. Verizon trade-in amount for the iPhone 6 is 220. So they'll get absolute nothing for the ETF. Verizon says if they someone has no balance then they'll give them 100 anyways. That's still less than market value of just selling the iPhone 6 privately tho.

Is that true? It says:

Device Installment Balance: Your Verizon Wireless Visa® Prepaid Card will be the amount of your remaining device balance (up to $650) listed on your bill that you uploaded into your submission minus the amount that you received for your trade-in.

So you still get the trade-in to cover the remainder. In other words, you've paid $433. You get $220 for the trade-in and $217 for the remainder of the balance, adding up to $437. You just aren't getting full credit for what you've paid already when you start over with a new phone.

At least, I think that's how it works.

Thing is if you pay AT&T the remaining balance on Next, then unlock a Verizon-compatible AT&T phone, Verizon will give you $100 if you switch to a postpaid plan. There's also the possibility of switching to a prepaid plan and foregoing that, though I've read this is a different customer service number and it's nowhere near as good as it is for postpaid.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Is that true? It says:



So you still get the trade-in to cover the remainder. In other words, you've paid $433. You get $220 for the trade-in and $217 for the remainder of the balance, adding up to $437. You just aren't getting full credit for what you've paid already when you start over with a new phone.

At least, I think that's how it works.

Thing is if you pay AT&T the remaining balance on Next, then unlock a Verizon-compatible AT&T phone, Verizon will give you $100 if you switch to a postpaid plan. There's also the possibility of switching to a prepaid plan and foregoing that, though I've read this is a different customer service number and it's nowhere near as good as it is for postpaid.

It says "MINUS AMOUNT YOU RECEIVED FOR TRADE-IN." So 217 remaining balance MINUS 220 = -3 aka 0. So you'd just get the 100 dollar promotion.

In other words you got 220 + 100 = 320 total. That's below fair market value for an iPhone 6 which would be around 350-400 on craigslist.

In contrast T-Mobile gives the entire ETF amount without an deduction for trade-in value. Basically the only way to take advantage of Verizon's ETF policy is to buy a cheap smartphone on craigslist (around ~$5 trade-in value) so that way the trade in deduction doesn't completely cancel out the remaining balance.

 

[shinji]

It says "MINUS AMOUNT YOU RECEIVED FOR TRADE-IN." So 217 remaining balance MINUS 220 = -3 aka 0. So you'd just get the 100 dollar promotion.

In other words you got 220 + 100 = 320 total. That's below fair market value for an iPhone 6 which would be around 350-400 on craigslist.

In contrast T-Mobile gives the entire ETF amount without an deduction for trade-in value. Basically the only way to take advantage of Verizon's ETF policy is to buy a cheap smartphone on craigslist (around ~$5 trade-in value) so that way the trade in deduction doesn't completely cancel out the remaining balance.

Oh, I see. In my case, the remaining balance is greater than the trade-in. I have $541.63 remaining on Next, and my trade-in value is $360. So that means I get $360 immediately as the trade-in credit and $181.63 for the balance credit, adding up to $541.63, right?

Also, the phone is of course still locked. I can still trade it in regardless at a Verizon store, right?

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Oh, I see. In my case, the remaining balance is greater than the trade-in. I have $541.63 remaining on Next, and my trade-in value is $360. So that means I get $360 immediately as the trade-in credit and $181.63 for the balance credit, adding up to $541.63, right?

Also, the phone is of course still locked. I can still trade it in regardless at a Verizon store, right?

I believe so correct.

You'd be even better off getting a cheap $20 cell phone on craigslist and trading that instead then reusing your phone.

 

[maflynn]

Wow. I just realized that Verizon does balance minus trade-in value. What A TOTAL SCAM.

That's what I'm trying to get my brain wrapped around. I see what's written (and I go by if its not written its not said)

I talked to two VZW reps via the chat on to separate occasions. Rep #1 said, I'd get my ETF paid for, in total and the full trade in value that I will use towards a new iphone.

Rep #2, said I can choose having VZW pay for the ETF OR provide the trade in value for a new phone, not both. I think #2 was more wrong then the #1, but clearly given what's written, even rep #1 wasn't dead on correct.

If I only get the ETF paid for, then its in my best interest to get a cheap android phone and use that. I already have a fully functioning windows phone so I can use that to trade in my phone, and maybe I'll get something for the wife.

I think this sunday, I'll visit a corporate VZW store and try to get this mess explained clearly.

 

[mrwalleyeman]

So I just switched to Verizon from att and I got $240 for my trade in iPhone 6 128 gb. I still owe on my the att next $300 roughly. Verizon is also paying that so essentially I am getting $540 for switching to Verizon. And yes the phone was still locked to att at time of trade in.

Their promotion says up to $650 so you get what ever your trade in is then they will pay your etf or payoff the remaining balance on your next plan. So if you owe 450 for you iPhone and they only give you $240 that's $690 you will need to pay the other $40.