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Verizon raises Early Termination Fee to $350 for smart phones

Consultant

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
Verizon will probably add data transfer limits if they have the iPhone.

Note that iPhone, 2.5% of market, uses 50% of mobile traffic.
 
Unspoken Demise

Unspoken Demise

macrumors 68040
Apr 16, 2009
3,691
1
>9,000
Just throwing this out there:
Maybe they are increasing the ETF NOW, so when the iPhone comes to them, they dont get that BS where people buy, it and cancel 31 days into contract for another company.

Its just a thought. Maybe its a preemptive strike?
 
Grimace

Grimace

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 17, 2003
3,568
226
with Hamburglar.
I think Verizon also wants to charge $15 more for those using Exchange accounts.

Some day...we will have affordable plans...
 
Teh Don Ditty

Teh Don Ditty

macrumors G4
Jan 15, 2007
11,306
8
Maryland
I sadly seeing other carriers adopting this policy. It's in preparation for them switching over to LTE (amongst other things).

A real shame. Verizon has outstanding service on Long Island (IMHO) and trounces AT&T in every single way.

EDIT: Wow. An extra $15 for exchange email?!?!?! Are they f**king high!!?!?
 
rdowns

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,521
Teh Don Ditty said:
I sadly seeing other carriers adopting this policy. It's in preparation for them switching over to LTE (amongst other things).

A real shame. Verizon has outstanding service on Long Island (IMHO) and trounces AT&T in every single way.

EDIT: Wow. An extra $15 for exchange email?!?!?! Are they f**king high!!?!?
Click to expand...


When I lived in Queens, Verizon was the worst. They did work well on LI though.
 
A

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
Verizon has been running those "Buy One Blackberry, Get One Free" campaigns for awhile now. From what I read on Engadget, a lot of people were signing up for a second plan (to get the free BlackBerry), terminating it, then selling the BlackBerry on eBay. The new, more expensive ETF will put a big profit crimp into the plans of people trying to do that.

As for Verizon charging $15/extra for Exchange, that's only for business accounts, and at one point, AT&T was doing the same thing. Consumers don't pay extra for that.
 
jmann

jmann

macrumors 604
Dec 8, 2007
6,932
57
bump on a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea
Grimace said:
I think Verizon also wants to charge $15 more for those using Exchange accounts.

Some day...we will have affordable plans...
Click to expand...

rdowns said:
Correct.

http://www.cultofmac.com/verizon-charges-15-per-month-for-exchange-mail-on-droid/20290
Click to expand...

They have done this forever. Ever since the blackberry. They want $44.99 instead of $29.99 for the blackberry plan with enterprise support. It's a rip off. They also make you pay $20 a month for a regular phone to get push email.
 
Grimace

Grimace

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 17, 2003
3,568
226
with Hamburglar.
aristobrat said:
As for Verizon charging $15/extra for Exchange, that's only for business accounts, and at one point, AT&T was doing the same thing. Consumers don't pay extra for that.
Click to expand...

Many universities run Exchange, and so students (consumers) would be paying extra.

At least with the iPhone, you can run an exchange account for free! There is the corporate data option (which appears to be identical but billed differently) so AT&T gives the option, but doesn't restrict usage.
 
A

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
Here's a Boy Genius recap of it.

The folks over at Gearlog received clarification from Verizon’s headquarters about the rumored $45/month data mandate, and it looks as though it’s for corporate responsible user accounts only. Individual accounts and family lines, whether you use Exchange or not, will still cost just $30/month.
Click to expand...
 
Tilpots

Tilpots

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2006
4,195
71
Carolina Beach, NC
aristobrat said:
From what I read on Engadget, a lot of people were signing up for a second plan (to get the free BlackBerry), terminating it, then selling the BlackBerry on eBay. The new, more expensive ETF will put a big profit crimp into the plans of people trying to do that.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, that's the reason for the upped termination fee. People were making lots of money buying the phones, canceling the contracts, and then selling the phones for profit. Since Verizon paid a lot of money to subzidize the phone, they want to make sure they're the ones profiting.
 
Consultant

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
Maybe their "smart" phone sucks so bad they have to raise termination fees to make some money from the people switching to the iPhone.
 
A

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
Maybe. So they're doubling the ETF for smartphones, but they're also doubling the monthly ETF reduction. (i.e. your ETF used to go down $5/month, but for the smartphones with the new ETF fee, it'll go down $10/month).
 
jaw04005

jaw04005

macrumors 601
Aug 19, 2003
4,513
402
AR
I don’t understand why they don’t just all adopt an adjustable ETF thats price goes up or down depending on which phone you choose (as dictated by retail value).

Seems fair to both sides. You buy a smartphone at Verizon that retails for $499, but sign-up for a two-year contract and pay $299. You have $200 that should come off your contract over the next 24 months ($8.33 per month).

So, if you cancel your contract after 1 year, you owe Verizon a $100 ETF.
 
A

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
pukifloyd said:
$350 is ridiculous...

these companies are insane...
Click to expand...
How so?

Manufacturers like HTC, Apple and Moto are charging the wireless companies more and more for these devices, and then you have idiot customers that are purposefully scamming the wireless companies to get these devices for essentially half price, and then reselling them for a personal profit.

Something had to give in that situation, and it sure as heck wasn't going to be the manufacturers lowering their prices!?
 
Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,638
4,036
New Zealand
My idea was to sign up, use the phone for 2-3 months until I got back from the US, then switch to prepaid since it's cheaper and I don't make too many calls. As it happens, I've decided to stay on a plan because it's more convenient than topping up and I like having "free" calling.

I'm not kidding when I say I don't make many calls though; the subsidy on my cheap plan is only about US$50 so I'm really not too worried that my phone wasn't subsidised :p
 
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