iPhone 8/Plus Trading in/Upgrading on Verizon Device Payment?

[puma1552]

I have an 8 on Verizon Device Payment.

Their site says I can pay off half the device and trade it in and upgrade (I'm considering an 8 plus).

The site also says "If your device is working properly, send it in after you upgrade and you're all set."

So if I read that right, that means I could be in posession of two phones at once, which is key. My 8 won the Apple QC lottery and is perfect and I don't want to turn it in unless I'm sure the replacement also has perfect QC.

But let's say the 8 plus has a bad screen, cosmetic defects, or I just plain don't like it after a few days and want to keep my 8. Can I just return it and keep the 8 and restore my upgrade eligibility as if I never tried a plus?

Curious about upgrade experiences from those on this program.

 

[puma1552]

Talked to Verizon online chat, they said you have 14 days to return the new device and can go back to the old device if you don't like the new one, but you have to pay a $35 restocking fee. They also said the upgrade eligibility on the account will be restored, just not immediately.

What I didn't think to ask though is how the phone arrives, is it already activated, do I activate it upon firing it up, etc. Trying to think how that would work if I decided I didn't like the new one and wanted to keep using my 8...take the SIM out of the 8 plus and put in my 8 and send my 8 SIM back with the 8 Plus? Not sure.

 

[44267547]

Talked to Verizon online chat, they said you have 14 days to return the new device and can go back to the old device if you don't like the new one, but you have to pay a $35 restocking fee. They also said the upgrade eligibility on the account will be restored, just not immediately.

What I didn't think to ask though is how the phone arrives, is it already activated, do I activate it upon firing it up, etc. Trying to think how that would work if I decided I didn't like the new one and wanted to keep using my 8...take the SIM out of the 8 plus and put in my 8 and send my 8 SIM back with the 8 Plus? Not sure.

When the new iPhone arrives, it might include a Sim card already, but you don’t have to use the SIM card if you don’t want to. You can simply remove your old Sim card from your previous iPhone and then insert it into the new iPhone, it should work from that point forward. If it doesn’t, simply dial 611 from another phone and Verizon will walk you through the activation process in a matter of minutes. Also remember, during the initial activation over the phone, itmight take some additional time if you restore from backup.

 

[puma1552]

When the new iPhone arrives, it might include a Sim card already, but you don’t have to use the SIM card if you don’t want to. You can simply remove your old Sim card from your previous iPhone and then insert it into the new iPhone, it should work from that point forward. If it doesn’t, simply dial 611 from another phone and Verizon will walk you through the activation process in a matter of minutes. Also remember, during the initial activation over the phone, itmight take some additional time if you restore from backup.

Another option I'm kicking around is having my wife upgrade her paid off SE and get an 8 plus, then I'll take her new 8 plus and hand her my 8. Maybe this is simpler? However we are both on unrelated single line plans (not a family plan), so I don't know if we can do this and just swap SIMs.

 

[44267547]

Another option I'm kicking around is having my wife upgrade her paid off SE and get an 8 plus, then I'll take her new 8 plus and hand her my 8. Maybe this is simpler? However we are both on unrelated single line plans (not a family plan), so I don't know if we can do this and just swap SIMs.

I can’t quite attest to changing your Sim cards between your iPhones based on the plans, but I don’t believe it should be a problem, but you might want to check with Verizon.

But to be the cynic, you were also interested in the 6.5 X Plus weeks back. You seem like the type of individual that may regret purchasing the iPhone 8+ now and then in approximately four months when they announce the 6.5 X Plus, you might have wish you waited, then, give your wife your iPhone 8 and an upgrade to the 6.5 X Plus. That is, if you are still interested in the iPhone 6.5 X. If it were me, I would likely wait if you had any _uncertainty_ at all until the September keynote.

 

[puma1552]

I can’t quite attest to changing your Sim cards between your iPhones based on the plans, but I don’t believe it should be a problem, but you might want to check with Verizon.

But to be the cynic, you were also interested in the 6.5 X Plus weeks back. You seem like the type of individual that may regret purchasing the iPhone 8+ now and then in approximately four months when they announce the 6.5 X Plus, you might have wish you waited, then, give your wife your iPhone 8 and an upgrade to the 6.5 X Plus. That is, if you are still interested in the iPhone 6.5 X. If it were me, I would likely wait if you had any _uncertainty_ at all until the September keynote.

Lol I think you have me mixed up with someone else...I don't have any interest in the X+.

 

[44267547]

Lol I think you have me mixed up with someone else...I don't have any interest in the X+.

My mistake. You started a thread indicating your interest in the 5.5 iPhone, not the rumored 6.5 X Plus.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/plus-size-phone-im-getting-curious.2115773/

 

[puma1552]

Talked to two different reps today on the online chat about the idea of my wife (has a paid off SE) signing up for a new Verizon Device Payment agreement for an 8+, then me taking that new 8+ and her taking my 8. Recall we are on completely separate, unrelated single line plans.

-First guy just says, sure, you can do that - that the phones can be activated on lines from different accounts, the financial agreements will just stay tied to the lines. He says just swap SIMs physically and Imcan also swap the devices online in our accounts.

-Second person says we can also do it, but that the new phone has to be activated with my SIM, which I took to mean the SIMs had to be swapped prior to turning on the new 8+ for the first time?

I sometimes wonder what the definition of "activate/activation" is - in my head it's a singular event that happens once in a phone's life when new, but sometimes I wonder if activated is just a synonym for used, meaning we can just swap SIMs at will and use either phone on either account as we please.

 

[Trvlngnrs]

I recently read that if you insert your old SIM before ever turning on the phone, you won't have to pay the activation fee.

 

[Sean006]

yeah i dont care for the way Verizon does the trade in program...if im getting 400.00 i want it put towards the phone i am upgrading to....not taken off my bill each month.

id rather have it taken off the phone this way i can upgrade to the next iphone coming out.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I recently read that if you insert your old SIM before ever turning on the phone, you won't have to pay the activation fee.

Not true.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

^^^ This.. I swapped my sim from my 6S to my X and I still had to go through the activation process.. I swapped it back to the 6S and it worked fine. Somehow the phone knows it hasn’t been activated..

 

[puma1552]

As I continue to waffle on this, I keep going further and further through the checkout process on Verizon's site.

This time I got all the way to the actual checkout page to see that I'd have to pay $245 today to go to a 256 8+ which was a bit of a sticker shock. $145 to get my current device paid to halfway (which I was expecting), $30 for the upgrade fee, and $70 for tax on the entire $950 8+. I honestly didn't think they'd charge the $30 fee today (figured it would go on the next bill) and I actually completely forgot about the sales tax.

Chat did say I would get the tax and upgrade fee refunded if I chose to return the 8+, but you know what, I think I'm good with my 8. This device is just too good and too perfect to give up. By FAR the most even screen I've ever seen, and I've had some good ones. Compared it again this morning to display models, this time at Target, and mine was still the brightest/most even/whitest. Warmer than my 6, sure, but that's the way Apple calibrates them now. But put it this way - you know you have a fantastic screen when you have a plain white wallpaper on full brightness, with only 4 folders along the top of the home screen. Most screens probably aren't nice enough to do that.

If anything I'm more apt to pay off the remaining $495 on my 8 just to be free of Verizon's financial/upgrade limitations. 2 year contracts may have disappeared, but you're still largely at the mercy of the carrier as long as you are doing device payment. I think I'd rather just pay it off completely (not saying I will today) and then next time around just buy the SIM free model outright and be done with it. That way I don't have to hassle with any complications in the event I lose the QC lottery, if I get (what to me is) a bad phone (to date all my phones have been keepers but there's always that chance) just return it and rebuy it without having to explain why to anyone.

 

[Brandonjr36]

Another option I'm kicking around is having my wife upgrade her paid off SE and get an 8 plus, then I'll take her new 8 plus and hand her my 8. Maybe this is simpler? However we are both on unrelated single line plans (not a family plan), so I don't know if we can do this and just swap SIMs.

Why not let her on you’re plan or get on hers? Your bill would go down tremendously. Then you can give her the 8 and take her new phone which would be the 8+. It would be a win win.