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Tokenfreak

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
684
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It’s been a few years since I bought a new iPhone but in the past I had to pay an upgrade fee. If I buy the iPhone 13 Pro Max carrier free and then activated it through Verizon replacing my old phone will I still have to pay the upgrade fee? Thanks
 
It’s been a few years since I bought a new iPhone but in the past I had to pay an upgrade fee. If I buy the iPhone 13 Pro Max carrier free and then activated it through Verizon replacing my old phone will I still have to pay the upgrade fee? Thanks

I bought my 12 Pro Max unlocked through Apple and never paid any upgrade fee. I inserted my SIM card before turning it on, but I can’t remember if it would make a difference in wether or not you would pay an upgrade fee.
 
I bought my 12 Pro Max unlocked through Apple and never paid any upgrade fee. I inserted my SIM card before turning it on, but I can’t remember if it would make a difference in wether or not you would pay an upgrade fee.
Ok cool thanks for the reply. I’m on an esim so I wonder how hard it will be to switch on esim…?
 
the site is down for the iPhone 13. I wonder what deals they are offering for trade ins
 
You mean that $40 fee that they whack you whenever you make a change? Probably! They did it when I switched my plan to a more expensive one but removed it when I complained. I also asked them about moving my old pay-as-you-go iPad plan over to the phone plan and you guessed it, they wanted $40 for that too.
 
I just got a text my latest bill is online. They tacked on the $35.00 "upgrade fee."
What fee!? I was eligible for a free upgrade.

If this was something else...as for activation fee/charge, I'm the one that technically activated the iPhone 13. The online eSim card activation failed miserably (eSim still not active 9 days later), I just put my old 5G sim card into this phone.

I won't waste my time calling, I'll go there tomorrow.

Screen Shot 2021-10-03 at 8.58.48 PM.png
 
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I've had them waive the fee, split the fee and say no dice on any reduction.. All depends who you talk to at Verizon and if they feel like helping you out. They charge you the fee anytime a new device is is put on your plan regardless if your eligible for an upgrade or not. It's total BS but all carriers do it..
 
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This is just another reason why you should buy your phones outright, and pay half the cost of service on prepaid. Stop complaining. You know how it works. They make you think you are getting a "deal" on a new phone, and then rob you for 2-3 years in similar ways to this.
 
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Why does Verizon charge $30 for an upgrade fee?

Nobody is exempted from the upgrade fee once you want to purchase a new device through an authorized Verizon outlet. According to Verizon, the fees help them keep the cost of service delivered down and use part of it for community development.

🙄

Talk to the customer representative

Another strategy is to summon the courage and speak to the customer representative. Most times, they might not waive the fee completely. You can get as much as 30% or 50%, which is still a good deal, and you’ll also be free from additional charges. However, this often works when the representative attending to you is gentle. This method won’t work for everyone; hence, it’s essential to hope that the fees will be waived for you.

Upgrade yourself and get a fee cut

Because of some subscribers’ complaints, Verizon has modified the upgrade fee structure to include a self-service for those who can handle it themselves. This means that you can pay half of the fee if you select the self-service option and upgrade yourself.

*Well, Verizon didn't do anything, couldnt even get a hold of them to activate sim (gee, they may have charged me for that) Upgrade and Activation fees are 2 different things..

I COULD have avoided it if I bought Sim-Free 13 Pro Model.
I'll try to get it waived, or even reduced ....if not, what can I say. Still is a nonsense charge from corporate greed.
 
This is jus another reason why you should buy your phones outright, and pay half the cost of service on prepaid. Stop complaining. You know how it works. They make you think you are getting a "deal" on a new phone, and then rob you for 2-3 years in similar ways to this.
I did pay in full for the phone.
 
I did pay in full for the phone.
Then why are you paying for postpaid service? There are many prepaid services available where you would never notice a change in service, and you'd likely pay half the cost.
 
I did pay in full for the phone.
This is what I don't really understand. IF you paid in full for the phone, why would they charge you a activation fee? Did you choose a carrier model instead of sim-free? I always buy sim-free model and always use my current SIM card from my previous phone and never been charged an upgrade fee. Not to mention that I'm also on Verizon.
 
I just got a text my latest bill is online. They tacked on the $35.00 "upgrade fee."
What fee!? I was eligible for a free upgrade.

If this was something else...as for activation fee/charge, I'm the one that technically activated the iPhone 13. The online eSim card activation failed miserably (eSim still not active 9 days later), I just put my old 5G sim card into this phone.

I won't waste my time calling, I'll go there tomorrow.

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There’s no such thing as a free upgrade.
 
My carrier is Xfinity Mobile but they just resell the Verizon network. I bought my iPhone 13 mini a couple of days ago and they gave me a $300 discount. Verizon offered me a free iPhone 13 if I came back to their network directly.

That would be a no.
 
This is what I don't really understand. IF you paid in full for the phone, why would they charge you a activation fee? Did you choose a carrier model instead of sim-free? I always buy sim-free model and always use my current SIM card from my previous phone and never been charged an upgrade fee. Not to mention that I'm also on Verizon.
That's what I did wrong, I chose a Verizon phone when I selected the iPhone 13 Pro Max, so yeah...my mistake on that. Next time, I'll do no carrier.

These 13's don't even come with sim cards and the activation was a boggled down disaster last Fri, Sat morning. So I ended up putting my 5G Verizon sim card from 12 Pro Max into this one (Still caused some eSim vs real Sim confusion in the Carrier settings of the phone, I figured that out after 20-25 min.)
 
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That's what I did wrong, I chose a Verizon phone when I selected the iPhone 13 Pro Max, so yeah...my mistake on that. Next time, I'll do no carrier.

These 13's don't even come with sim cards and the activation was a boggled down disaster last Fri, Sat morning. So I ended up putting my 5G Verizon sim card from 12 Pro Max into this one (Still caused some eSim vs real Sim confusion in the Carrier settings of the phone, I figured that out after 20-25 min.)
And you had to enter your carrier info? That's what I thought. This is why I always buy the sim-free model and not the carrier model.
 
Upgrade fees are like “delivery fees” you have to pay on top of tips when you order food. Is there any justification for it ? No.
 
And you had to enter your carrier info? That's what I thought. This is why I always buy the sim-free model and not the carrier model.
Nope, didn't enter anything when I got this phone. Turned on and immediate "cannot connect to carrier - phone not activated" Once I put the old sim card in, then I was getting somewhere. Lesson learned. It is what it is. I'll still try to get it knocked down at least, but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

I've seen other posts with UPS losing new iPhones or extremely overdue deliveries (CC already charged), mint condition phones mailed in and trade in's getting a horrible diminished value. Those who want a new phone now may have to wait until mid Nov.. So I could be a far worse situation.
 
Nope, didn't enter anything when I got this phone. Turned on and immediate "cannot connect to carrier - phone not activated" Once I put the old sim card in, then I was getting somewhere. Lesson learned. It is what it is. I'll still try to get it knocked down at least, but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

I've seen other posts with UPS losing new iPhones or extremely overdue deliveries (CC already charged), mint condition phones mailed in and trade in's getting a horrible diminished value. Those who want a new phone now may have to wait until mid Nov.. So I could be a far worse situation.
Good luck. I agree, better than UPS losing package, that would suck worse. Feel bad for those who have to go through that.
 
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So Verizon charges $40 to make a change to your account plus a $35 activation fee. Can one avoid the $40 fee by going through Apple?
 
This is what I don't really understand. IF you paid in full for the phone, why would they charge you a activation fee? Did you choose a carrier model instead of sim-free? I always buy sim-free model and always use my current SIM card from my previous phone and never been charged an upgrade fee. Not to mention that I'm also on Verizon.
This!!!!
I've been using Verizon pre-paid for years. Much cheaper and none of these stupid fees. I just buy phones from apple directly and stick in my sim. Don't tell me postpaid is cheaper because you can finance a phone - you're sill paying full price for it over time in addition to paying more for the service AND their ridiculous upgrade fees. Over the long run, you will pay less to buy the phone outright and purchase the less-expensive pre-paid plans, period.
 
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