NORTHEAST U.S. -- Is Verizon completely honest to it's customers?

The Verizon version of this plan is used as a retention tool to keep low volume users from fleeing to other carriers (AT&T and/or prepaid)... Who knows why they don't advertise the 550 minutes plan; I think they don't make it widely available because they want to maintain higher revenues per user.

If money is purely a motivator for you, T-Mobile has 750 minute family plan for $50. Only string is that you have to pay full retail price for the phones or you bring in your own compatible phones. This can be quite the coup for you if T-Mobile's network is solid in your area.

 

It depends on how you look at it. The plans Verizon offers are on their site. When they update plans, changing the name and price/options, they are within their right to do so. They do not have to offer any old plans, nor make mention of any holdover plans. They will grandfather people on those plans, but once those customers make a change, the grandfathered plan is gone for good.

Though they may have retention plans such as the one you found out about, that again is at their discretion to offer that. Does that have to be an announced or publicly known plan? No. I can't say I agree with this, but Verizon is a business and they are, for the most part, operating within industry (FCC) guidelines (whatever those are).

Move past expecting ANY carrier to be overly forthcoming about anything. They are in business to make money and will do what they need to do to make that money. There are other options out there.

This is not to defend their practices and methods, just my assessment of how they operate, and how many other companies operate. You've just become aware of an industry dirty little secret. It's up to you to decide if it is worth leaving for another carrier or not.

 

I do not see the dishonesty here; you knew exactly what you were siging up for with the inital contract.

The plan is called a "nationwide family loyalty plan", when you started your 2 year contact you were a new customer, correct?

If this "nationwide family loyalty plan" was a new plan added after the start of your contract, wouldn't you be obligated to finish the remaining time on your old contact/plan before you can switch to this new one (which indicentallly would requre a new contact)?

Additionally, this new plan you are considering is actually a DOWNGRADE in minuets and I wouldn't immediatelythink that a customer would want less minuets unless the customer mentioned it themselves.

Beyond that, if VZW was offering the same amount of minuets for cheaper, when you would be up for renewal, you would have been eligible for the lower price point. In fact when when verizon droped the price of it's unlimited plan from $99.99 to $69.99, it alllowed customers to swtich to the lower price even if they were in contract and without making them renew! Not many companies would do that.

 

It's actually a very common business practice. Did you know Starbucks has a coffee size called "short"? You wouldn't if you looked at their menu.

 

This is something even I didn't know, and I practically live at starbucks!

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I don't think that verizon was trying to be dishonest with you, don't get me wrong tmobile wants your business if available in your area...lol. But as a Retention rep for Tmobile I would tell you from this perspective a lot of CSR's are trained to respond in a certain way to why you're calling. There are always some plans that are held in reserve and labeled as loyal customer offers. Tmobile for the most part as gotten rid of this as are plans advertised are better than our loyalty plans that we used to offer. So I guess I would just tell you to not hold that against Verizon it's just really the nature of the beast in this industry. Good luck shopping though and remember no matter which way you go all carriers give you an opt out period of 14 to 30 days when you first sign up so don't be afraid to try a couple.

 

I agree with this. AT&T does the same thing. Back in October, they offered me a $29.99/month Region Plan that wasn't listed anywhere on their site. Verizon offers a similar plan as well, if a customer is at or near the end of their contract, and tells customer care that they plan on leaving at the end of their commitment term due to not using all of the minutes that they are paying for each month.

 

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No more honest than the next wireless company.

 

Applying your thoughts, considering I am a loyal customer for about 100 years with Verizon, I like my Chocolate, do you think I can get a Chocolate Touch w/o the 9.99 added fee per month if I tell them I might leave them? If not, what would you consider to replace the chocolate? I only use my phone for calls, but like the slide and wheel....I think once or twice I may have gone over my 500 minute limit and usually keep it around 200 or less....

 

My wife and I have an older Verizon plan (America's Choice II) with 500 shared minutes. We are very low voice users (~200 minutes per month). However, there are many times when we wish we had a data plan to look up a map, local restaurant, etc.

When I sign in on the Verizon website, it shows I am eligible for the "New Every Two" upgrade discounts. It shows that ALL the Smartphones are compatible with our existing plan, although all have the $29.99 data plan required.

So I go to the Multimedia phones, which only require the $9.99 data plan. However, it also says that none of the multimedia phones are compatible with our current plan, and we need to upgrade to a different plan that is $20 more per month for voice. Is there something about so-called multimedia phones that is different than a smart phone that wouldn't allow them to work with an existing plan?

BTW our existing phones are LG VX8300s.

 

I don't think there is a carrier out there who is completely honest with their customers, especially where the almighty dollar is concerned. That being said, I think Verizon is pretty much like all the other carriers out there as far as honesty goes...... As a consumer, you need to educate yourself as to the Terms and conditions of any carrier that you chose to go with, so you can call them out on something, if they are in violation of their own T&C.......

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It's the fact you are on a grandfathered old plan no longer offered. In order for you to upgrade to any phone, you have to change to an offered plan, which unfortunately is much more than you were paying before with more minutes you don't need.

Why the smartphone's don't require a change of plan is beyond me. I've never figured out the logic why there system does this. It might have something to do with the fact that smartphones don't offer the standard Verizon user interface the multimedia phones do. Since smartphones operate a little differently, you can get away with keeping your old AC II plan versus being forced to change your plan if you want a multimedia phone...I'm guessing Verizon has their reasons, but I can't say it makes sense. Maybe those "in the know" of Verizon's inner workings can explain this one.

 

It's really just a standard business practice. See my Starbuck's example above. Likewise, two people can buy the exact same car from the same dealer and pay different prices.

Another example is with mattresses. The manufactures make minor changes (e.g. the color pattern) and sell to different stores under different model names. You can get a better price by knowing what Sleepy's, 1800Mattress, and a department store call the same mattress. They're not going to tell you it's the same mattress unless you mention it first.

 

Simply put, that's the way business is done in the U.S. (as well as in many other parts of the world)... and not only in the wireless industry, but in EVERY non-regulated industry. Demand sets the market price, and companies seek to be as profitable as possible (adjusting their prices accordingly).

Two years ago, you were willing to pay a specific price per month to Verizon for cellular service, so you signed up with them. Now, you are less willing to, so Verizon attempted to "sweeten the pot" and offered a retention plan to you. They didn't HAVE TO do it, but they valued you enough as a customer to sacrifice a bit of profit in exchange for your continued patronage.

As for me, I was/am not willing to pay Verizon prices for service (even their retention plan prices). But I am willing to pay Sprint prices (~$175/mo or $31/line/mo) for a lot more (5 Lines, Better coverage/reception where I go in SoCal... and free in-market roaming on Verizon's/Alltel's Network where Sprint doesn't cover, 1600 Shared Anytime Minutes, Unlimited 7PM N&W, Unlimited Any Mobile 24/7, Unlimited Messaging, Unlimited Data, Unlimited BIS, Unlimited GPS, Unlimited TV & Radio, Sprint Premier Status, and a few other free perks "regular" customers usually don't get).