Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Verizon Introducing $20 Fee to Upgrade Your Smartphone
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I would assume and it sure sounds like even buying from a partner source ( Apple Store, Best Buy, WAL-Mart mobile, Target Mobile, Radio Shack, etc ) those would count as "indirect buy" and be billed on your next bill vs at Point Of Sale
They don't/shouldn't care about you swapping your SIM. This pertains specifically to buying new Verizon branded/Carier locked equipment be it in store, online, or thru a 3rd party partner or "Authorized Retailer"
It comes as no surprise that they're doing this, after all they are not making as much profit on the hardware now that people are financing through Apple.
That's not 100% accurate. Apple set that rule, probably to not upset the carriers too much! The bank doesn't care what you do with the phone, as long as you pay them back their $700!
and you think the activation fee is going away? ha ha. This is an ADDITIONAL $20.
I frequently switch my VZW SIM into an old iPhone 5 and I test T-Mobile on my iPhone 6 with a prepaid SIM. Would i get charged just for swapping sims like that into an old phone??
Love T-Mobile and all but they just aren't there yet in terms of coverage for my area unfortunately...
My family is like "Why would you switch Verizon has the best coverage" and I'm like "Well I don't want to be with a company that systematically scams you for all you're worth" they just reply with "well have fun with having no coverage anywhere". Can't wait till I can move out, way too far out in the sticks for me.
In what way do you save money with a 2 year contract? Those are for the most part a trap.
Yeah I hope Verizon enjoys their loss of customers. I mean yeah it's only $20, not THAT bad but it's more about the message it sends to customers than the $20 to me.
Agh I can't either. T-Mobile isn't around where I am though. Even got a prepaid SIM (you don't have to buy a plan or anything) to test the network and do unlimited speedtests. Literally "No Service" in my entire town while I have at least 3 bars of LTE on Verizon everywhere. I get 60mbps in some spots in my town, band 4 and band 13 LTE.
Love T-Mobile and all but they just aren't there yet in terms of coverage for my area unfortunately...
My family is like "Why would you switch Verizon has the best coverage" and I'm like "Well I don't want to be with a company that systematically scams you for all you're worth" they just reply with "well have fun with having no coverage anywhere". Can't wait till I can move out, way too far out in the sticks for me.
You can get a prepaid SIM for $.99 from T-Mobile right now if you enter the promo code "SIM99" at checkout. This doesn't even need a plan, right out of the box the SIM works for seeing coverage for all their network types (GPRS, EDGE, 3G, 4G, and LTE) and doing unlimited speedtests. Good way to test things out if you want to switch.
Yeah it's frustrating. $20 isn't all that much but it sends an awful message just racking up all the pointless fees.
You're lucky you get service from someone else. It sucks being stuck in an area with only Verizon and AT&T coverage. Could switch to ATT but they aren't much better than VZW in my opinion.
It's because customers are more likely to leave if their advertised price goes up, so they made up things like line access fees and upgrade fees to increase the price without advertising it. I was with Verizon for a little bit, but I found out that the person in the store blatantly lied to me about how much it would cost a month, it ended up being about $20 more a month than what they said. Fortunately I was able to pay off the phone payment plan quickly and I've since switched to Sprint, where other than the activation fee on my first bill they have charged me exactly what the rep in the store said they would.
So they got rid of them short term in order to force people off the 2 year contracts and then added them back. Cellular companies are truly scum.
$20 to upgrade even if purchased at full retail price? Wtf? I've never seen a company work so hard at losing customers. They have no clue that all other carriers are catching up in terms of network coverage/reliability/speed. I used to be a huge fan, I'll be leaving and never coming back in September.
I had T-Mobile and liked the things you listed but, it doesn't matter if you can't connect to their network.
I ended up switching from T-Mobile to AT&T this year because I wasn't seeing any improvement in the T-Mobile network.
Last edited:
If you buy a iPhone in verizon store for $649, then you need to pay $20.
If you buy a iPhone in apple store for $649, then you need to pay $0. ?
WTF. Ok, Verizon don't want for customers to buy phones in thire stores.
If you buy a iPhone in apple store for $649, then you need to pay $0. ?
WTF. Ok, Verizon don't want for customers to buy phones in thire stores.
You know, the more I see this story, the angrier it makes me. Sure, $20 isn't a lot, but it can add some significant cost when upgrading a family, especially as it essentially pours salt into the wounds of the already high cost of upgrading smartphones. Verizon was a key player in pushing for everyone to upgrade frequently. Now they're putting fees on it. I hate them. This is a really underhanded thing to do when considering everything. It's no work for them. How can they charge me for upgrading my phone through Apple? Hope they lose a lot of people, not just over this but over all the other crap they've pulled lately. I'm so thankful AT&T wasn't able to buy T-Mobile.
If they really cared, they would spend money on new towers (not upgrading old towers) so I could actually use T-Mobile.
They are. They are deploying 700 Mhz in most of the USA to help with coverage. Unfortunately it takes time.
There's also the situation where some of us have actually tried and used T-Mobile and went back to Verizon/AT&T because of coverage. Yes, their coverage is getting better but still not worth it for me to switch. I had too many dead zones and drops to EDGE for my own liking. This $20 upgrade fee blows but it's still cheaper for me to be on Verizon than T-Mobile (corporate discount) and the service is much better FOR ME.
You guys would understand this if you have ever been in a Verizon store while Soccer Mom and her two offspring are trying to do an upgrade. What should be a 5-10 minute process can easily take 45 minutes.
I don't like being nickel & dimed any more than the next guy. But I understand why the carriers do this.
I don't like being nickel & dimed any more than the next guy. But I understand why the carriers do this.
This is exactly why I'll be switching to them once my ATT contract is done. I'm all for companies making money, but what these carriers are doing is crazy!
Where T-Mobile gets you is by forcing a $20 charge by including a new sim card on each and every phone purchase. Doesn't matter if it's an upgrade, you still pay for that new sim.And yet T-Mobile still remains at zero. Awesome
No worries, wait until they move everyone to VoLTE.And yet T-Mobile still remains at zero. Awesome
[doublepost=1459450311][/doublepost]
Don't blame you. After twenty plus years, I made the switch to Cricket.
However this was the line in the article: "AT&T similarly charges $15 per smartphone added or upgraded with AT&T Next, and "bring your own" devices."
Yeah they care more but now they charge every one of their customers a $20 fee on every new device purchased for a new sim card whether it's an upgraded device ir not.
I bought five new phones since December and got charged for a sim card on each and every device even though it was for the same line.
Awesome! I was going to ask you to send me $30 but instead can you just send me $20? Thanks!
Not in my case. $60 a month total and $399 for a 128 gig iPhone through Verizon. Things have switched now though. If I'm not grandfathered in under the same plan with no extra fees, I'm switching carriers.
If they really cared, they would spend money on new towers (not upgrading old towers) so I could actually use T-Mobile
Yeah, they care a lot. When my parents had issues with T-Mobile's coverage, and my mother had trouble making calls from her new home - their solution was:
a) send my parents a microcell
or
b) tell her to go outside to make calls.
They told her to go outside.