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Verizon Raises Smartphone Upgrade Fee to $30

This sucks. I know that other wireless companies are tying their best to offer better pricing and contracts, Verizon STILL has best reception everywhere.

This is absolutely crucial to me. Until other carriers offer similar signal performance... I am stuck with these thieves...

Please build more towers!!!!!
 
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You should only have to pay the fee if you use their phone support. I've added and deleted new phones without ever having to talk to a person. This is a smoke screen just to make more money. Why stop at $30? Why not $50 or $100 fee?
 
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FWIW, following up on the line in the OP "According to Verizon, its upgrade fees help to cover 'increasing support costs' from customers switching their devices" should take time to read the Ars post, which I read much earlier today. In essence, their support costs went down, Ars cited it, Ars asked VZW for feedback on the lowered costs but "increasing support costs", and Ars still hasn't received feedback on their question about this matter. So, bullsh*t, in consumer-speak.

Not in the Ars post is that VZW started phasing out their in-corporate-store tech support 3 years ago, leaving only commission-based sales people in-store and recently closed several of their support call centers (http://www.cio.com/article/3131057/...e-customer-service-is-about-to-get-worse.html). VZW offloaded their towers to American Tower about 2 years ago (http://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/verizon-offloads-towers-to-american-tower-for-5b). So, what increased support costs?

Happily beating up VZW's LTE network while under contract since 2011.
 
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QCassidy352 said:
So just to be clear: if one buys a new iPhone sim-free, takes the sim out of their old phone, puts it in their old phone, and does all of this without ever entering a Verizon store or calling their customer support... That costs $30?

So glad I'm not with this awful, greedy company.
Click to expand...

They do not charge you $30 if you swap the sim yourself. Only if their "system" activates the phone. Only time you'd have to do that is if you don't buy the phone outright or come from a phone that doesn't take a nano sim.

Everyone else is likely to follow this shortly. With more people buying their phones outright or doing Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program, these companies have to make their billions to do nothing.
 
So glad I switched to T-Mobile, best thing. With verizon they wanted $15 per MB overseas:eek: like whatttt?!?? That would be like $45 per email!! T-Mobile I used 22 GB of data last time in Japan no extra costs just my normal $70 a month. Best things for me at least
 
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Meh. I'm on the iPhone upgrade program with Apple. I don't plan on upgrading my phone anytime soon. But if I do. It will be directly with Apple. So this won't hurt me any.
 
scoobierules said:
This is what happens when you limit competition! Verizon and ATT continue to increase rates on everything because there is no competition. I am paying double what I paid 5 years ago for the same service, nothing has changed except my bill! Verizon and ATT continue to grow and as they get bigger, we will all pay more!
Click to expand...

Try cricket. ATT towers and unlimited for $65 a month. Sure it's capped at 8mbps, that plenty fast for mobile
 
scoobierules said:
This is what happens when you limit competition! Verizon and ATT continue to increase rates on everything because there is no competition. I am paying double what I paid 5 years ago for the same service, nothing has changed except my bill! Verizon and ATT continue to grow and as they get bigger, we will all pay more!
Click to expand...

Good point. The current administration has fostered steady, incremental monopilzation. I'm ready for the anti-trust wrecking ball to start swinging and knock these executives out of their Maseratis.
 
You do not pay an upgrade fee for this. Only pay when your purchase new equipment from Verizon or a vendor. Moving your SIM to a new device is called a device only change and will not occur the fee.

QCassidy352 said:
So just to be clear: if one buys a new iPhone sim-free, takes the sim out of their old phone, puts it in their old phone, and does all of this without ever entering a Verizon store or calling their customer support... That costs $30?

So glad I'm not with this awful, greedy company.
Click to expand...
 
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Hector2Fingers said:
They do not charge you $30 if you swap the sim yourself. Only if their "system" activates the phone. Only time you'd have to do that is if you don't buy the phone outright or come from a phone that doesn't take a nano sim.
Click to expand...

kayle12 said:
You do not pay an upgrade fee for this. Only pay when your purchase new equipment from Verizon or a vendor. Moving your SIM to a new device is called a device only change and will not occur the fee.
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks. I genuinely was asking. That's still greedy, then, but not as greedy as I thought.
 
Another reason why I switched to the Apple upgrade program last year. Popped my old sim in and didn't pay Verizon anything.
 
scoobierules said:
This is what happens when you limit competition! Verizon and ATT continue to increase rates on everything because there is no competition. I am paying double what I paid 5 years ago for the same service, nothing has changed except my bill! Verizon and ATT continue to grow and as they get bigger, we will all pay more!
Click to expand...

Yep. When you pay $150 and only get 3GB of data in 2017, something is wrong.
 
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DVNIEL said:
And yet I can't vote with my wallet because the places where I need strong signal the most is dominated and proven reliable only by Verizon.
Click to expand...

Can't you switch to one of those smaller companies that use Verizon's network?
 
BeSweeet said:
I bet they have a calendar already prepped with more upgrade fee increases. $100 probably isn't too far away.

I've been a happy AT$T-to-T-Mobile convert for 3.5 years. Never would've taken 3 lines over if they forcefully didn't remove my unlimited data plan. No fighting it did anything.
Click to expand...

So how did they force you off your unlimited plan? I've had mine through AT&T for years since they removed it.
 
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