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Verizon to Initiate $30 Device Upgrade Fee on April 22
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Not really. Two year contracts aren't normal outside of North America. Most pay more for their phone's and simply pay for the minutes they use, therefore they don't pay extra fees such as ETF's, contracts, etc. Yes, we pay less for a subsidized device, however I have paid full price for my iPhone's and have sold my previous models unlocked on eBay for ~$375-$425 depending on device and sale. Paying the difference for a $600 iPhone off contract allows me the freedom to at least leave without penalty should AT&T screw us more. It's ludicrous to lock people into contracts and then start messing with our service by circumventing legal matters or not fully informing customers at the time of purchase that the agreement negates class action lawsuits (which is why customers are suing AT&T in small claims court for their unjustified throttling of many unlimited accounts).
Regulation won't help. The 30 dollars will be transfered into some other fee. Regulation is never the answer. As much as I hate this, the market will value the phones where it sees fit, and Verizon can do whatever the #*&% it wants until the market speaks.
All of
All of these cell phone companies are getting out of hand.....they are making it seem as a privilege to commit to two more years of loyal service. Horrible, and that fee doesn't give anything back to consumers, wireless workshops are taught by employees that don't get paid extra to do so. This is just the start of these cell phone companies nonsense.
All of these cell phone companies are getting out of hand.....they are making it seem as a privilege to commit to two more years of loyal service. Horrible, and that fee doesn't give anything back to consumers, wireless workshops are taught by employees that don't get paid extra to do so. This is just the start of these cell phone companies nonsense.
I hate it when ******** is this obvious. I like it better when i hear from a friend about something that convinces me "oh yeah, that doesn't make sense. I AM getting screwed over". But stuff like this? I mean its just so...obvious. They're literally saying "i'm charging more because i feel like charging more". There's no reason the cost of phones should be going up, competition and technology being more readily available should be pushing the costs down if anything.
Sign Online Petition Against Verizon Wireless and MetLife Insurance
Verizon Wireless is a blood sucking leech. They pray and exploit their customer's while they brainwash their employees to drink the damn corporate Cool Aid (i.e, There is no recession, etc.). And, if an employee becomes ill and disabled while working for them, they're denied disability benefits!
http://www.change.org/petitions/met...s-must-reinstate-employee-disability-benefits
Think Differently. Dump Your Mac and Facebook account!
Verizon Wireless is a blood sucking leech. They pray and exploit their customer's while they brainwash their employees to drink the damn corporate Cool Aid (i.e, There is no recession, etc.). And, if an employee becomes ill and disabled while working for them, they're denied disability benefits!
http://www.change.org/petitions/met...s-must-reinstate-employee-disability-benefits
Think Differently. Dump Your Mac and Facebook account!
In the Netherlands we also have activation costs and we are also charged if we need our SIM replaced.
Oh, how I dream of founding PeopleMobile, the carrier that is "for the people". No activation fee, upgrade fee, franchise fee, SIM costs, data-limit, paying for receiving texts...
And a promise on paper that once you get on board, the plan will not change. New customers might get new plans, but existing customers won't.
Does anyone have a couple of billions bucks lying around somewhere? </wishful thinking>
I don't get it, if i'm buying a new phone once my contract expires and I upgrade to a new phone and sign a new 2 year contract i'm going to be charged $30 for upgrading to a new phone.....
You are correct, pretty F*cked up isn't it...
Well, you have a point there, but they're the only game in town. There are companies that have no contract, but they're prepaid, and piggyback off of other's networks. It really does suck that we have to get a contract for the iPhone, but it's one of those things thats kinda like "If you don't like it, go somewhere else" and then after that, they laugh as they take your money.
They're basically charging us a fee to do their job. They're a cell provider, all they do is activate new phones and upgrade current customers.
I don't think Apple will support Verizon phones other than the iPhone. Unless I missed somethig, the article is not specific to the iPhone. Or, is the iPhone the far majority of ownership by Verizon customers?
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Dang it. My wife's contract is up on April 24th. She has an Android phone, and I wanted to upgrade her to an iPhone 4s for an early Mother's day gift.
I need to figure out a way to cut my bill down so that Verizon loses a lot more than $30 from me over the long run. Time to get creative!
I need to figure out a way to cut my bill down so that Verizon loses a lot more than $30 from me over the long run. Time to get creative!
Never paid a fee for paying my VZW bill online...
I love how this is now something exciting. Verizon used to offer blanket data on its family share plan. The plan could be upgraded for $30, and every line got unlimited data. Seriously. It pissed me off, because they did away with this a couple of months before I switched to a data-hungry phone. Now, they're sort of bringing back something they had years ago, and we're supposed to be grateful?
HOLD ON A MINUTE!!!
Americans pay to sign a new contract??? LOL
Not only have the worse data plans in the world and the worst pricing plans
You also have to PAY to sign up for 2 years? LOL
In the UK they pay ME £110 to take a new contract...
2000 minutes
5000 minutes network to network
5000 texts
Unlimited Data with no fair use or throttling
Free iPhone 4S
24 months
£35 a month = $45 per month without VAT
I guess that monopoly issue with the Bell Corp really didn't solve anything did it.
Americans pay to sign a new contract??? LOL
Not only have the worse data plans in the world and the worst pricing plans
You also have to PAY to sign up for 2 years? LOL
In the UK they pay ME £110 to take a new contract...
2000 minutes
5000 minutes network to network
5000 texts
Unlimited Data with no fair use or throttling
Free iPhone 4S
24 months
£35 a month = $45 per month without VAT
I guess that monopoly issue with the Bell Corp really didn't solve anything did it.
In a perfect world, this would be true.
This is why the carriers would prefer you to not upgrade at all, provided you stay with them off-contract. If you were to upgrade every 2 years, they're basically pissing away $300-500 bucks. But if you kept your phone for 4 years, they'd keep that 2nd subsidy, but still make the same on the monthly charges.
They really only want you to upgrade from a dumbphone to a smartphone, since they get you on the $30/mo data plan. But they really don't want you upgrading in the same class (dumbphone to dumbphone; smart to smart).
In a perfect world, they would have different rates for subsidized and non-subsidized users. But then the phone manufacturers would moan that their sales are stagnating ... due to people holding onto their $800 phones for 4 or 5 years.
ft