chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 11:29:18 GMT -5
any VZW customers in here? I'm having it out with a CS agent via chat right now, very unimpressed with some hinky stuff they have going on. I happen to have unlimited data on my plan, as I was grandfathered in when I bought my last phone (which was an ordeal in and of itself) since it was no longer offered on new contracts. starting last month, they have increased the data package charge by $20/month for those with unlimited data - without having to sign new contracts. how is that okay??
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Dec 22, 2015 11:32:11 GMT -5
I am sure you are not the first or last pissed off customer the CS agent is going to have to deal with over this issue.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2015 11:33:43 GMT -5
No it's not ok.
That said, do you know How much do you actually use per month?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 11:48:11 GMT -5
I'm positive I'm neither the first, nor the last. I should print out the chat, and post it here. this guy is not at all helping fix my opinion of VZW right now.
I do know how much I use - over 4GB/month since moving to this new job. between time in the car, and time streaming music, it's pretty much all day.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Dec 22, 2015 11:56:19 GMT -5
They're not interested in keeping you as a customer as long as you have unlimited data.
In fact, they will try and make you go away. They can't take it away, but they don't have to make it easy or pleasant for you to keep it.
Your choice is to buy a fixed plan from them...or go somewhere else. Or, start a class action lawsuit.
It sucks and it is wrong, but big corporations by nature lack any sense of integrity.
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justme
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Post by justme on Dec 22, 2015 12:04:38 GMT -5
You're not on contact anymore so you don't have a whole lot to stand on I don't think. I switched over to a family plan with them a while ago.
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gacpa
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Post by gacpa on Dec 22, 2015 12:54:47 GMT -5
My son had unlimited data with Verizon also. We kept that plan for many years. This year, it just no longer made sense to keep paying for it, so I dropped it. Now we have unlimited talk and text, which is what he really needs and uses. I realize this may not work for you. If they don't have another plan that will work for you, then it may be time to shop around with another carrier. What they are doing is not right, and they know that. They are betting if they make it unpleasant enough for you to keep it, you will go elsewhere or sign up for another plan.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 13:12:18 GMT -5
I flat out told the guy I was shopping around, and to make his best case to keep me. I saved the chat window so I can go through all the numbers tonight, going to put a spreadsheet together with other carriers to see what will make the most sense for me. right now, it seems like that will be unlimited text and a high/unlimited data plan. however that's going to pan out, I'll have to see. I'm actually a little shocked that they don't really seem to GAF that they could be losing a 20+ year customer that's never given them any problems.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Dec 22, 2015 13:17:27 GMT -5
I'm not happy either but I burn through 5 gb a month at least. And for where I go they have hands down the best service. I am pissed that they tacked that little increase on AFTER they did away with subsidized phones. So $20 more per month and a full price phone.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 13:22:49 GMT -5
I'm not happy either but I burn through 5 gb a month at least. And for where I go they have hands down the best service. I am pissed that they tacked that little increase on AFTER they did away with subsidized phones. So $20 more per month and a full price phone. they do still have subsidized phones - you can pay in full at contract signing, but then that means you pay $40/month "access fee" for your phone service. if you pay the retail price off monthly over your contract, you only have to pay $20 for that "access fee" instead. see, it's a win-win.....for them. I may actually post a little of the chat where he got into the numbers. when he put in the full retail price for the calculation for me, I called him right out on it. I also called BS on the hinky "upgrade fee" they charge - UNLESS you pay the full retail price over the contract period. such bull, just charge a price and be done with it.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Dec 22, 2015 13:25:14 GMT -5
Yeah I'm not paying them monthly for my phone. I've bought my last two outright on eBay and been happy.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2015 13:55:59 GMT -5
Oy. Please do post some of it. I have to look into changing/upgrading or something for our cell plan. For some reason, where we live is a Verizon black hole. Works some days, sucks others. I also found out Waltham sucks for it too. At least off Trapelo Road and Lexington. Jeez.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 15:08:15 GMT -5
so I was able to briefly check out AT&T over lunch - it looks like they offer the same sort of crap w/paying slightly less if you pay the retail phone price over your contract. I already knew you could pay over the contract (my roommate has AT&T) but didn't realize that also was full retail price.
I don't love the idea of Sprint - if I want to take advantage of Best Buy's current deal* - but I'm not sure I want to go full-on basic pre-paid either. Metro PCS has unlimited plans, as does Cricket, but I know pretty much nothing about the quality of their coverage.
*if you buy a Samsung S6 or Note at contract price, and sign a new 2yr contract with one of VZW/Sprint/AT&T, you will get a free 32" Samsung LED TV.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Dec 22, 2015 15:11:51 GMT -5
Cricket uses AT&Ts network - so will be the same coverage as AT&T.
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Baby Fawkes
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Post by Baby Fawkes on Dec 22, 2015 15:29:45 GMT -5
I just moved from AT&T to Verizon a few weeks ago. I have a grandfathered plan with unlimited data on AT&T but I never went above 3GB in a single month single I had it. I transferred to the Verizon 3GB plan and it's a lot cheaper for me now. I pay $45 for the data + the $20 per month smartphone fee (I view that as $20 for the unlimited talk and text part).
I brought my own device with me so there was no extra charge there. DW needed a new phone so I was going to buy it outright upfront, but it was 0% interest to spread it over 24 months so I thought I might as well.
So far I'm really happy with how straight forward the contract and pricing is. I shopped around them all and this seemed to be either the simplest or equal with T-Mobile.
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cael
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Post by cael on Dec 22, 2015 15:47:55 GMT -5
We have Sprint, which I've had for 14 years now. We both have iphones and unlimited data, we pay about $150/month for it. We would absolutely go over if we didn't have the unlimited, I use my phone a lot and stream music a lot.. I'm happy enough with it. I've also never had any particularly bad experiences with Sprint.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Dec 22, 2015 15:51:36 GMT -5
Sprint just has the worst coverage out of them all where I'm at. I need to see a bill without international charges to see what the damage really is. But that won't be until February. My trip was over two billing cycles.
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justme
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Post by justme on Dec 22, 2015 16:22:10 GMT -5
The thing to check is throttling. A lot of those prepaid ones step you down to like 1G speed or something after a small amount at faster speeds. I believe Sprint does that too.
Pretty much every company stepped away from the subsidized phone a year ago. Verizon started pushing people to it this summer. It's how I got my new phone on my a payment plan with a credit equal to the payment each month.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 16:34:13 GMT -5
I'll split this up and use the spoiler button so it's not just a wall of quotes. I've cut out a bunch, but the important stuff's in there. here's what the deal is with the $20 surcharge and what they could do for me today: next, the numbers for his recommendations for me: um, you're annoyed when your bills increase?? I haven't changed anything about what I'm doing. YOU have. and the wrinkles with the Max plan:
to be cont'd....
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 16:41:36 GMT -5
....and here's where stuff REALLY got hinky - so I thanked him for his time and said I was going to keep the chat for the numbers so I could compare apples to apples when I had time to do so. ugh.....I know I'm well overdue for a new phone and long past contract, but when did wireless carriers turn into shysters??
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 16:49:22 GMT -5
I just moved from AT&T to Verizon a few weeks ago. I have a grandfathered plan with unlimited data on AT&T but I never went above 3GB in a single month single I had it. I transferred to the Verizon 3GB plan and it's a lot cheaper for me now. I pay $45 for the data + the $20 per month smartphone fee (I view that as $20 for the unlimited talk and text part). I brought my own device with me so there was no extra charge there. DW needed a new phone so I was going to buy it outright upfront, but it was 0% interest to spread it over 24 months so I thought I might as well. So far I'm really happy with how straight forward the contract and pricing is. I shopped around them all and this seemed to be either the simplest or equal with T-Mobile. I actually can't do that this time. the screen on my current phone is shattered, and while I have a replacement kit for the glass, it's going to be a huge PITA to replace if the how-to YouTube videos are to be believed. so if I'm having to suffer with signing a contract, I may as well get a deal on a phone while I'm at it. I suppose I should point out to you that you're paying the full retail price on that phone for DW, not the contract price. in many cases, that's a huge difference. @empressspunkles - just wanted to tag so you'd see excerpts from the chat log. hope it helps you out some.
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Baby Fawkes
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Post by Baby Fawkes on Dec 22, 2015 18:01:27 GMT -5
I suppose I should point out to you that you're paying the full retail price on that phone for DW, not the contract price. in many cases, that's a huge difference. Actually that is the part that I like the most. DW and I are not people who replace our phones every year. We are now in a position where we are on a month-to-month contract so I can leave Verizon whenever I like. The phones are both ours outright so if we leave we take them with us and they are not locked to Verizon in any way. If we stay with Verizon for longer than 24 months the phone ends up paid off and the charge drops off our monthly bill so our bill goes down. I've never been a fan of subsidized phones that lock you into a contract etc. I'm much happier paying the retail price for a phone and having no ties at all. The subsidized phones were always paid for by a higher monthly bill anyway, but in the old days if you didn't trade it right at the end of the contract you would often still have the higher cost for a phone that is already paid for.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Dec 22, 2015 18:06:08 GMT -5
I suppose I should point out to you that you're paying the full retail price on that phone for DW, not the contract price. in many cases, that's a huge difference. Actually that is the part that I like the most. DW and I are not people who replace our phones every year. We are now in a position where we are on a month-to-month contract so I can leave Verizon whenever I like. The phones are both ours outright so if we leave we take them with us and they are not locked to Verizon in any way. If we stay with Verizon for longer than 24 months the phone ends up paid off and the charge drops off our monthly bill so our bill goes down. I've never been a fan of subsidized phones that lock you into a contract etc. I'm much happier paying the retail price for a phone and having no ties at all. The subsidized phones were always paid for by a higher monthly bill anyway, but in the old days if you didn't trade it right at the end of the contract you would often still have the higher cost for a phone that is already paid for. I typically keep mine well past contract as well. I suppose that is a question worth asking - if I pay full retail over the contract; will the phone be unlocked?
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Baby Fawkes
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Post by Baby Fawkes on Dec 22, 2015 18:15:18 GMT -5
Actually that is the part that I like the most. DW and I are not people who replace our phones every year. We are now in a position where we are on a month-to-month contract so I can leave Verizon whenever I like. The phones are both ours outright so if we leave we take them with us and they are not locked to Verizon in any way. If we stay with Verizon for longer than 24 months the phone ends up paid off and the charge drops off our monthly bill so our bill goes down. I've never been a fan of subsidized phones that lock you into a contract etc. I'm much happier paying the retail price for a phone and having no ties at all. The subsidized phones were always paid for by a higher monthly bill anyway, but in the old days if you didn't trade it right at the end of the contract you would often still have the higher cost for a phone that is already paid for. I typically keep mine well past contract as well. I suppose that is a question worth asking - if I pay full retail over the contract; will the phone be unlocked? Yeah, my contract is almost entirely how he described it. Here's the breakdown for my bill. My line - $20 access fee + $45 for the M plan => $65 My phone - It was already paid for, but is completely unlocked anyway DW's line - $20 access fee. No data fee as we share the plan. + $31 for the phone (she ended up wanting the expensive one) DW's phone - Completely unlocked and financed at 0% over the 24 months. There are no extra charges. So for the first 24 months I pay the following: $20 + $20 + $45 + $31 => $116 After the 24 months are done my bill drops to $20 + $20 + $45 => $85 The part I like is that when I'm past 24 months I don't keep having to subsidize the cost of a phone if I we want to stay with what I have. I'm also not on any sort of contract, so if I decide to leave tomorrow I can pay off the entire remaining balance of DW's phone and just walk away with no termination fees and both completely unlocked phones that I can take to a different provider. The other nice thing is that if I predict a high usage month for data, you can just change the data plan on a month-by-month basis. I could up it to the L or XL plan for a single month if it made financial sense and drop it back down to M again after. My bill for that month will just be the extra difference for the data plan.
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cael
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Post by cael on Dec 22, 2015 18:17:29 GMT -5
Sprint just has the worst coverage out of them all where I'm at. I need to see a bill without international charges to see what the damage really is. But that won't be until February. My trip was over two billing cycles. Good point - my Sprint phone is not able to access the networks overseas where I've been. I couldn't get on any networks in Greece, Ghana or El Salvador with my phone, but my mother could with AT&T in Ghana and ES, and my SIL could in Greece with her Verizon phone (she got some sort of plan so she could text while we were there without all the roaming charges). In Bermuda surprisingly we could use our Sprint phones.. but everywhere else we've gone has been a strikeout.
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Baby Fawkes
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Post by Baby Fawkes on Dec 22, 2015 18:20:56 GMT -5
I should also add that we got a nice deal when we signed up. They had a promotion going on where they would give you a $300 credit for any working smartphone that you were prepared to trade in and they had $100 off the price of the Android phone she wanted. DW had an old iPhone 5, which is worth nowhere near $300 seeing as it was 3 years old. However, it was in good working condition so we got the full $300 for it.
I was originally considering keeping the phone as a backup just in case something happened to one of our current devices because I thought the value was far lower, but that offer was too good so she traded it in for the credit.
All in her phone was $400 cheaper than the retail price so it wasn't terribly expensive and we own it outright. They are still running that offer if you take a look at the website. I'm not sure if a shattered screen would disqualify the device for the $300 credit though.
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Baby Fawkes
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Post by Baby Fawkes on Dec 22, 2015 18:25:02 GMT -5
Sprint just has the worst coverage out of them all where I'm at. I need to see a bill without international charges to see what the damage really is. But that won't be until February. My trip was over two billing cycles. Good point - my Sprint phone is not able to access the networks overseas where I've been. I couldn't get on any networks in Greece, Ghana or El Salvador with my phone, but my mother could with AT&T in Ghana and ES, and my SIL could in Greece with her Verizon phone (she got some sort of plan so she could text while we were there without all the roaming charges). In Bermuda surprisingly we could use our Sprint phones.. but everywhere else we've gone has been a strikeout. That's more likely to be phone based though. Do you have different phones? Verizon and Sprint use the CDMA radio tehcnology, whereas T-Mobile and AT&T use GSM. Europe is entirely (or at least very close to entirely) GSM. A lot of phones these days that are CDMA capable are also GSM capable, but not all of them. Depending on what phone you had, it may have been a case that your phone just didn't have a GSM receiver built into it. CDMA is very much a US thing and not used in too many other countries around the world.
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cael
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Post by cael on Dec 22, 2015 18:29:55 GMT -5
Aha, yes someone tried explaining the CDMA thing to me and I didn't really get it. We have iphones now. When I was in El Salvador I had a dumb phone and mom had an iphone but she has AT&T... My SIL who has Verizon has a droid or something.
We don't travel internationally enough to make it worth it to consider a different phone or company for it, but we got a phone while we were in Greece that my SIL has, so if we go back we can bring that and get minutes for it to use for in-country calls (there's a ton of wifi, so in Greece at least we weren't too lacking for connection with people).
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obelisk
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Post by obelisk on Dec 22, 2015 18:35:45 GMT -5
I flat out told the guy I was shopping around, and to make his best case to keep me. I saved the chat window so I can go through all the numbers tonight, going to put a spreadsheet together with other carriers to see what will make the most sense for me. right now, it seems like that will be unlimited text and a high/unlimited data plan. however that's going to pan out, I'll have to see. I'm actually a little shocked that they don't really seem to GAF that they could be losing a 20+ year customer that's never given them any problems. I just switched from VRWSS to sprint. Vrswss does not care about your 20+ years. The internet with coverage area is your best friend. I am saving 20 USD per month on another provider. What has VRWSS has done for you lately.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Dec 22, 2015 18:50:55 GMT -5
I've never been to Europe. Verizon has worked for me in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. My brother had Sprint for seven years and his coverage improved dramatically when he went to Verizon. Our old roommate had Sprint and had to get a signal booster for the house. I'm in a DC suburb not the middle of nowhere. I've never been impressed with their coverage. I guess if I was willing to give up my data for say the large plan, I'd save. If I add in a phone for 24 months I'm getting close to even. They texted me a month ago wanting me to call and discuss how their new plans could save me money. Haha um no!!
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