Verizon Edge: line charge discount ONLY for phones bought on Edge!!!

[jekjones1558]

I was all set to switch to Edge based on several threads (including this one https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1759885/) on this forum. Then I got this info today that messed up everything:

You: If I get a 10 GB shared data plan on Verizon Edge and want to have a dumb phone on the plan (already own this phone) what will the monthly line charge be for the dumb phone? I know that smartphones get a $25 discount per line but what is the discount for dumb phones?

Kristen: The basic phone would still be $30.00 for monthly access plan.

You: There is no access discount for basic phones if you bring your own device???

Kristen: There is no discount on the basic lines, that is correct. Also you are only able to get the EDGE discount on a phone smartphone that is purchased using EDGE.

You: So, even though I will be be buying 2 new smartphones and I bought my current smartphone from Verizon, the current smartphone will get no discount on access but will have to pay the full $40?

Kristen: If you purchase 2 new smartphone using EDGE you would qualify for the $25.00 access discount if you get 10gb or higher of data. The current phone if it was not purchased with EDGE would not qualify for the discount.

You: I read that there is a Bring Your Own Device discount available through Verizon. How does that work?

Kristen: I'm not seeing any information regarding a discount for your own equipment on the more everything plan.

So it appears that my current iPhone 5 would still be $40/month line charge and my hubby's dumb phone would still be $30/month. The 2 new iPhones bought with Edge would be $15/month but this definitely alters the overall 2 year cost analysis for Edge versus 2 year contract. Dang.

 

[Shockwave78]

Same issue here with AT&T kind of ..

i am transferring additional 4 lines from Verizon to AT&T, with me already having the main AT&T account already for a few years.

Since my current access fee is $15 with the 2yr commitment i signed again last year with the 10gb plan i figured it would be the same for any other phones i add with a 2yr commitment.

I found out that on 2/1/2014 AT&T increased that access fee to $40 per line with the 2yr commitment, the NEXT plan gives you the discount of the $25 per line resulting in right back to where I am now with the $15 access fee...BUT..then you have the additional payment per phone which is going to be about $35-$45 per month extra depending on the GB size i choose. So my bill is going from what i thought would be about $175 with 10GB to about $300 either way, but after those phones are paid off it will go back down to the $175ish range.. It should all even out pretty quickly though as i should be able to get about $250 for the iphone 5's and about $450-$500 for my 64GB 5s.

 

[willmtaylor]

[redacted]

 

[Shockwave78]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. VZW's Edge & AT&T's NEXT are "good deals" just like payday loans, renting furniture/appliances, and leasing cars are all "good deals." They all seem to be cheaper, but are only cheaper if you don't do your research and can't do math. There's. Reason why wireless providers are pushing them so much, and it's not because Big Red & Ma Bell are feeling generous.

I have totalled it all up and the NEXT plan is the way to go in my case.

With me selling all our old phones, all the new iphone 6's will be paid off within about 6 months. After that my bill will be about $175 rather than $300+ with the 2yr commitment and the $40 access fee per line. Maybe they even out at the end but my main concern is the monthly bill, not the overall cost since they are all pretty close anyway.

 

[willmtaylor]

[redacted]

 

[jekjones1558]

This thread is moving off topic. Edge may be fine if you are only using phones bought with Edge. My issue is that I was told there is no BYOD discount for phones on an Edge Everything Plan that wre not bought with Edge. This is different info from what I have been reading on this Forum.

 

[Fernandez21]

So you're going to be paying extra (on top of the $175) on your phone bill each month to pay off the phones early? B/c if you're not doing that, then you're leasing your phones; at the end of the contract period, you must relinquish the phones for new ones (you don't own them; you pay to use them).

No you don't. On at&t you can either trade in your old phone or simply keep it, once its paid off its yours.

AT&T Next: what you need to know
"[A phone's subsidy is built into the price of current 2-year agreement plans] Because the service bill price doesn't change with Next, customers are still paying a subsidy on top of their wireless payment on top of their monthly installment.In order to get an upgrade after 12 months, they have to trade in their phone (or tablet, whatever the case may be). So unlike a device purchased at a subsidized price, customers don't get to keep their Next device."

A normal upgrade period is 2 years, you can trade in your old phone at the 1 year mark to get the early upgrade, but you don't have to, you can simply pay off the device and keep it.

 

[jlake02]

This thread is moving off topic. Edge may be fine if you are only using phones bought with Edge. My issue is that I was told there is no BYOD discount for phones on an Edge Everything Plan that wre not bought with Edge. This is different info from what I have been reading on this Forum.

With AT&T I was under the impression you could still get the discount if you purchased the phone outright. As far as bring-your-own-old-phone, I am really not certain.

 

[Shockwave78]

So you're going to be paying extra (on top of the $175) on your phone bill each month to pay off the phones early? B/c if you're not doing that, then you're leasing your phones; at the end of the contract period, you must relinquish the phones for new ones (you don't own them; you pay to use them).

AT&T Next: what you need to know
"[A phone's subsidy is built into the price of current 2-year agreement plans] Because the service bill price doesn't change with Next, customers are still paying a subsidy on top of their wireless payment on top of their monthly installment. In order to get an upgrade after 12 months, they have to trade in their phone (or tablet, whatever the case may be). So unlike a device purchased at a subsidized price, customers don't get to keep their Next device."

Uh ya that's what i said already..I am paying off the phones early...

You are not renting the phones, you own them. If you want to trade them in for a discount after 12 months then you can, anyone who trades a phone into AT&T or any other carrier has no clue then in the first place.. So thats there problem.

When i order with the next plan i will probably order all 3 or 4 lines, then put $1200 towards all of them after a couple days of receiving them. Then sell all previous iphones and put another $1000 towards them, then whatever the balance is, it is what it is.

Then come next year i will do the same thing.. But i will have 4 iphone 6's that i will get about $450 a piece for, that's $1800. Then put that towards 4 more 6s's..

 

[maflynn]

Yeah, Edge isn't that great of a deal if you plan on keeping the phones for 2 years. I opted out of the edge program (paid off the outstanding balance and sold the phone).

 

[KUguardgrl13]

This thread is moving off topic. Edge may be fine if you are only using phones bought with Edge. My issue is that I was told there is no BYOD discount for phones on an Edge Everything Plan that wre not bought with Edge. This is different info from what I have been reading on this Forum.

Agreed. I'm interested in following this because my family has a dumb phone that's off-contract and two iPhones coming off soon. My parents probably won't want to upgrade phones with Edge, but I've been wondering about helping them get our bill below $250 where it is now (3 smartphones, 1 dumb phone, 1 iPad, 6gb of data).

OP, it could also be that the person you were chatting with just doesn't know about the BYOD discount. My understanding is that you need to call customer support about it. Verizon likes to keep their lower level employees uninformed so customers can't take advantage of stuff.

 

[bwsteg]

This thread is moving off topic. Edge may be fine if you are only using phones bought with Edge. My issue is that I was told there is no BYOD discount for phones on an Edge Everything Plan that wre not bought with Edge. This is different info from what I have been reading on this Forum.

The rep is misinformed...

I have verizon and I do receive the edge discount of $25 on the line that I already had a smartphone for.

 

[jekjones1558]

The rep is misinformed...

I have verizon and I do receive the edge discount of $25 on the line that I already had a smartphone for.

I guess I will need to call customer service and hopefully get someone who is knowledgable. I want to be sure of what I am doing before iPhone 6 preorder day arrives. No wonder old ladies like myself get confused when trying to sort out all these carrier plans!

 

[Primejimbo]

I have totalled it all up and the NEXT plan is the way to go in my case.

With me selling all our old phones, all the new iphone 6's will be paid off within about 6 months. After that my bill will be about $175 rather than $300+ with the 2yr commitment and the $40 access fee per line. Maybe they even out at the end but my main concern is the monthly bill, not the overall cost since they are all pretty close anyway.

Same here, I went to AT&T's Next and I am very happy. I am paying over $40 less now a month and have 3 smart phones where before I was paying more with 1 dumb phone and 2 smart phones. I own all my phones also, I'm not renting them at all. Some people just need to do research on this before jumping to conclusions.

----------

With AT&T I was under the impression you could still get the discount if you purchased the phone outright. As far as bring-your-own-old-phone, I am really not certain.

I bought my phone out right when I when to Next and I get the cheaper plans. I like them because I tend to keep my phones over 2 years. Before when I was on a contract, my plan didn't go down in price once my 2 year contract was up. My phone is paid off after 2 years, so why isn't my cell plan cheaper? Now I don't have a contract, my phone is paid off, and my cell plan is cheaper.

 

[BD2010]

I have tried and tried to get Verizon to let me switch to the edge program with my current smartphones. After speaking to a store rep, a phone rep, and a web chat rep, they all told me the line discount is only if you buy a new phone with the edge program. There is no discount if you bring a current device. Also, once your phone is paid off on the edge program, they take the discount away. The store representative did tell me that it was "poor marketing" and that it was "kind of confusing". I'm convinced if I stay with Verizon that a 2 year contract is a way better deal (although, with less data).

 

[jekjones1558]

I have tried and tried to get Verizon to let me switch to the edge program with my current smartphones. After speaking to a store rep, a phone rep, and a web chat rep, they all told me the line discount is only if you buy a new phone with the edge program. There is no discount if you bring a current device. Also, once your phone is paid off on the edge program, they take the discount away. The store representative did tell me that it was "poor marketing" and that it was "kind of confusing". I'm convinced if I stay with Verizon that a 2 year contract is a way better deal (although, with less data).

The plot thickens. Unbelievable.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

I have tried and tried to get Verizon to let me switch to the edge program with my current smartphones. After speaking to a store rep, a phone rep, and a web chat rep, they all told me the line discount is only if you buy a new phone with the edge program. There is no discount if you bring a current device. Also, once your phone is paid off on the edge program, they take the discount away. The store representative did tell me that it was "poor marketing" and that it was "kind of confusing". I'm convinced if I stay with Verizon that a 2 year contract is a way better deal (although, with less data).

That's insane! They were just reporting a few months ago that there are BYOD discounts now. And removing the discount after your phone is paid off certainly isn't in line with what other carriers are doing. If this is true it really does seem better to stay on contract and upgrade after two years.

I'd call back and see if you can escalate the call to a supervisor. Or see if Verizon had a retention department like AT&T has.

 

[rui no onna]

It seems like customer service reps are trained not to speak of this discount. From the Verizon forums:

https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/828596

"Once the smartphone lines are out of contract, you can manually add the discount. You can bring your own compatible smartphones to the basic phone lines provide they are out of contract and add the discount as well. This does assume that you are on the More Everything Plan."

"I don't know if the discount is good for Share Everything, but it works for MORE Everything. Go to My Verizon, Change Features, then add the discount. You have to do it for each phone line."

Back when Verizon announced it in April, I believe there was mention that it was limited time only. It seems it was still available as of July 2014. I don't know about now.

 

[jekjones1558]

OP here. I called Verizon today and got the same answer--no discount for BYOD. I told the rep that this is crazy. The $40 line charge has the contract phone subsidy cost built in and I shouldn't be paying that if my phone is already paid for. No amount of discussion or checking with his supervisor changed his position.
I went to Costco for something else and asked at the phone kiosk there. The rep said that there IS an out-of-contract discount for phones on Share Everything so I would only pay $15/line for out-of-contract phones. "BYOD" and out-of-contract are the same thing so I don't know if the Verizon phone rep didn't know that or what. I also noticed while at Costco that until Sep. 30 Costco will give a $100 credit for adding a new smartphone to Edge. Don't know yet when Costco will get iPhone 6 but it may be worth exploring this option since I will be adding 2 new iPhone 6, so that is $200 in my pocket.
On the way home from Costco I stopped at a Verizon Corporate store. The rep verified that there is a discount for out-of-contract phones so the line fee would be $15 for my out-of-contract iPhone 5. However, he stated that discount applies only to smartphones on Everything plans and does NOT apply to dumb phones, so I will probably go prepaid for hubby's dumb phone (he only uses maybe 20 minutes of phone time/month and nothing else.
I think I know about the plan I want but now I don't know where to get it and to complicate things even more I volunteered a long time ago to work for someone on Sep. 19. No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[ctbaz]

I think ATT gives you the discount if you bought your phone before the Next deals went into place which was in February I think. If you bought one after that not on Next then they would charge you the 40

Edit: Here is the policy straight from their site

Mobile Share Value: Pricing is for wireless service only and includes monthly plan charge and monthly access charge per device. AT&T NextSM smartphone installment charges are extra. Smartphones sold separately. Access charge savings: Compares Mobile Share Value plan smartphone access charge with a smartphone on AT&T Next ($15 or $25 per month) to one on a 2-year agreement ($40 per month). Per smartphone discount is $25 on plans 10GB and larger and $15 for plans less than 10GB. For plans 10GB or higher, customers with smartphones on a 2-year agreement prior to February 2, 2014, are eligible for the $25 per month access charge discount. For plans 2GB to 6GB, customers with smartphones on a 2-year agreement prior to March 9, 2014, are eligible for the $15 per month access charge discount. This discounted pricing is available as long as you keep your phone. If upgrading to a new phone, the discount is only available via AT&T Next, when you bring your own phone, or when you buy a new phone at full price. If you upgrade to a new 2-year agreement, the discount is lost. Other charges and restrictions apply. See att.com/mobilesharevalue for full Mobile Share Value plan pricing details.

 

[Woochifer]

Anti-consumer BS like this is why I avoided buying a smartphone until late last year, and why I prefer owning my phone free and clear.

 

[rui no onna]

I think ATT gives you the discount if you bought your phone before the Next deals went into place which was in February I think. If you bought one after that not on Next then they would charge you the 40.

The "before February 2, 2014" clause is actually a freebie. That means someone who started a contract before February 2, 2014 and got an iPhone 5s doesn't have to pay back their subsidy from the time they switch their account to a Mobile Share Value plan.

Here is the relevant verbiage telling you as long as you don't sign a 2-year contract, you get to keep the discount.

If upgrading to a new phone, the discount is only available via AT&T Next, when you bring your own phone, or when you buy a new phone at full price. If you upgrade to a new 2-year agreement, the discount is lost.

 

[gdjsnyder]

I can confirm you do get the discount on off-contract and BYOD lines on Verizon as of today. My significant other and I are on my mom's 10GB more everything plan and our 5S' are off-contract. A few months ago I had gone to a corporate owned Verizon store to have the discount added. They told me it was and that was that. Found out about a month ago it wasn't added from a phone rep, got a bill credit for the 3 months on both lines and was told it was added. Yet again, not added. I had given up, however I saw the post here that you can add the discount yourself through MyVerizon and it did indeed work just 5 minutes ago. Logged on, clicked on my line, clicked "change features" and it was above the features list that my line qualified for a discount. I had previously done edge on my line, paid in full. My significant others line never had an edge plan and he was also eligible for the discount.

 

[BD2010]

I tried logging in to MyVerizon to change features/add the discount, but it is not an option for me. My 4S has been out of contract for an entire year. I guess I might try calling them tomorrow to see, but now I'm wondering if it will even be worth it because I'll be getting the 6 ASAP.

 

[sinclac57]

It's called the EDGE discount for a reason, you have to be on the EDGE purchase program and have at least a 10GB plan.