Verizon upgrade - lost unlimited and paid full price

[SandersTP]

Any time you upgrade and call in to Verizon to activate the phone, the rep has to manually apply the device swap. Sometimes, even if you paid full price, or are using an alternate upgrade from another line, you might get a rep who is new or just makes a mistake and counts the device swap as an upgrade. The key phrase in those device swaps is "customer provided equipment".

If the device is added as an upgrade, sometimes that not only removes the the unlimited data from being active, but also removes it from being available on the line. Which means the rep needs to send a request to re-add the feature, wait up to two weeks for that to be approved, and then follow up him/herself to manually reapply the feature.

Additionally, since using an alternate upgrade allows the line the phone is ultimately going to to retain it's unlimited data. Verizon has made it so that by some avenues (online and possibly in store), you cannot share an upgrade between two lines that *both* are eligible. So if you have an upgrade on your line with unlimited, you have to use that upgrade and lose it. Unless you call in and ask a rep to do it for you (or just activate the device on the proper line when you receive it by.... calling in).

 

[phillypharm]

Ah, I see. They don't start counting from when you 'get' the plan, but rather count from the beginning of the month as if you had the plan already. Stinky.

(Though even then, 2GB is insane for a mobile device. I use my phone all the time and I barely break 500MB.)

meh, i'm at 3.3 gb after 16 days. my use bumps during nfl season b/c i stream the games on my phone. but even when i don't do that, i average 3-4gb/month

 

[DiamondMac]

meh, i'm at 3.3 gb after 16 days. my use bumps during nfl season b/c i stream the games on my phone. but even when i don't do that, i average 3-4gb/month

Yeah, I mean....I am literally shocked at some people claiming they use their phone often and only hit several hundred mbs.

I use my phone a lot but not THAT much and I am around 3gb-5gbs a month

 

[MatthewStorm]

Verizon informed me I use around 11 gigs a month. Mostly tethering. That was on a GNex. I paid full price so I didn't lose unlimited. Tethering on this phone rocks.

 

[vegastime]

Just checked my account and Verzizon changed my unlimited plan to 2GB. I ordered online from Apple and it clearly stated in my order that I had unlimited.

Guess I will have to give Verzon a call.

 

[CyBeRino]

Yeah, I mean....I am literally shocked at some people claiming they use their phone often and only hit several hundred mbs.

I use my phone a lot but not THAT much and I am around 3gb-5gbs a month

Just so I understand, what do you do to get that kind of crazy usage?

Stream youtube and radio over 3G all day? Why don't you have wifi for that? Or even better, a computer with a big-ass screen?

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

Just so I understand, what do you do to get that kind of crazy usage?

Stream youtube and radio over 3G all day? Why don't you have wifi for that? Or even better, a computer with a big-ass screen?

Why are you judging them ? Not everybody has Wifi at work or even at home and they might even be teathering while on the road from a laptop

 

[Topher227]

Luckily this didn't happen to me, however it did happen to my girlfriend who had a 4gb for $30 promo. When I did the preorder (at 3am mind you), it forced me to select 2Gb for $30... After I received the phones, one 5 minute call to customer service got her 4gb back.

 

[Adokimus]

I ordered it off the apple site, it said i had unlimited data on the apple site. Verizon admitted on the phone call this was a mistake on their part and did a feature request to add it back on.

How did you order it off the US site for verizon and pay full price? All that's listed online are the subsidized prices.

 

[DesertSilver]

Just so I understand, what do you do to get that kind of crazy usage?

Stream youtube and radio over 3G all day? Why don't you have wifi for that? Or even better, a computer with a big-ass screen?

Let me ask you this, how much data do you use on your iPhone, with all things combined (Wifi and mobile data)? And do you ever log into your account to make sure you're under the data cap?

I'd venture to guess that a good percentage of contributors to this, and other tech, forums could be considered power users, who use at or above average data. It's just that it varies on how much of that data we use on wifi vs carrier. If you happen to use the majority of your data on Wifi, that's great, but your usage technically puts you on equal ground with someone that uses the same amount of most-mobile data.

I use around 3-4GB/month, just in mobile data, and most of that is streaming music/podcasts/videos at work. My work has wifi but I'd rather not route my phone data through my work network.

There are so many people judging others for wanting to stick with unlimited. I, along with others, was happy to pay the full price of the phone to stick with unlimited data on Verizon. And, yes, I've seen the stat that it comes out to about $22/month savings between subsidize vs unsubsidized phone cost, which could afford me a larger data plan. But that's not the point because you'd still need to be conscious of how much data you've used. And if I did have a 2GB plan, I'm not one to think that I could use more and just pay the overage just because I'm "saving" $22/month. Just the same way that, if I went to McDonalds, I wouldn't think to eat the same amount as I'd eat at a $20 buffet.

So, me personally, I'd be holding myself back if I had a data cap.

 

[boomhower]

Verizon's network supports talk and surf on both 3G and their LTE. The phone has to implement it. This has existed for something like 3 years now. Pretty much every LTE phone supports this since the Thunderbolt - however Apple chose to not add a third antenna to support this and has publicly stated it. This falls on Apple, not Verizon.

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Your close. The reason the other phones can do it is they have separate LTE and CMDA chips. Apple chose a more power efficient single chip that performs both functions. It chose battery life over simultaneous talk and data.


On a phone, anything over 8-10Mbps is going to be wasted unless you're tethering. Even 8-10 is probably a bit over the top.

That just plain doesn't make sense. Who in the world is going to complain their connection is to fast or wasted?!?!?! Just because the phone may not be as fast doesn't mean the connection is wasted. Yeah, it's crazy fast right now. But as more and more people are on the network it will slow down. I'd rather go from 20->10 than 10->5.

 

[bogatyr]

That just plain doesn't make sense. Who in the world is going to complain their connection is to fast or wasted?!?!?! Just because the phone may not be as fast doesn't mean the connection is wasted. Yeah, it's crazy fast right now. But as more and more people are on the network it will slow down. I'd rather go from 20->10 than 10->5.

I didn't say people would complain. My point is that there is nothing special about having over 10Mbps unless you're tethering. The guys who sit here and shake their wangs around about their download speed are idiots since they're not able to utilize such speed. People worry about the difference between 20Mbps and 50Mbps on their phone... why? There is no point without tethering.

 

[CyBeRino]

Let me ask you this, how much data do you use on your iPhone, with all things combined (Wifi and mobile data)? And do you ever log into your account to make sure you're under the data cap?

I don't know, because wifi isn't counted anywhere. I don't have a data cap per se, I have a Fair Use Policy. But my bill does say how much data I've been using and it's usually around 400MB.

I use around 3-4GB/month, just in mobile data, and most of that is streaming music/podcasts/videos at work. My work has wifi but I'd rather not route my phone data through my work network.

Why not? Usage like this is why in the US no one can get unlimited data anymore. It's being abused.

There are so many people judging others for wanting to stick with unlimited.

I'd never judge for that. I understand completely that unlimited > data cap. I have it too, albeit with a provision from the carrier that in case of abuse they can say 'hey wtf do you think you're doing?', and I too keep it around specifically by buyinh full-price phones. Though I get a discount on my plan for it because I'm not also paying for the "subsidised" phone.