OK to buy a phone off Amazon? Verizon Unlimited Plan

[are we there yet]

I did not upgrade my phone before Verizon did away with the unlimited data plan.

I still have the unlimited data plan and have a droid x.

Can I buy a phone off Amazon ($50 instead of $750) and take it to the store for activation?
The customer service rep said I had to pay full retail.

Please help!

 

[amsolo]

You have to pay full price. If you buy from Amazon for reduced price, they will automatically renew you for 2 more years and change you to a new plan. No way around it except buy from a private person.

 

[lloydstrans]

I did not upgrade my phone before Verizon did away with the unlimited data plan.

I still have the unlimited data plan and have a droid x.

Can I buy a phone off Amazon ($50 instead of $750) and take it to the store for activation?
The customer service rep said I had to pay full retail.

Please help!

You still may have trouble because your X is 3g and going to 4g requires a new contract, that is Verizon's logic.

 

[Ghostwheel]

You still may have trouble because your X is 3g and going to 4g requires a new contract, that is Verizon's logic.

Seriously? 4G from 3G requires a new contract? I can't understand why Verizon doesn't just get it over with and cancel all grandfathered unlimited plans, instead of going through with all of this obscure gotcha stuff. My wife's in desperate need of upgrading her ancient and barely-functional Droid X, but we've been holding off just to hang onto our unlimited plan. We thought going to a 3rd party and paying full price for a Maxx or iPhone for her would work, but now, maybe not.

 

[jopie916]

Yes, what amsolo said... You will have to pay full (non-subsidized) price for a new phone, if you wish to keep the unlimited data plan. However, I believe you will still be grandfathered in despite the switch from 3G to 4G data usage. I questioned Verizon pretty thoroughly about this specific scenario before the switch. Of course that doesn't mean things haven't changed... Best to call Verizon before shelling out $600+ for a phone.

 

[jaseq]

That is incorrect switching to a 4G LTE device should NOT renew you contract.
However, yes, you will have pay full retail for the device to keep your unlimited data plan.
Though, you will need to go into a store or call to get a sim card for it.

 

[lloydstrans]

I gave my razr to my friend to use, he has a DX grandfathered in and wants the maxxHD, verizon rep said they won't activate a 4g phone on a 3g plan. Personally I think if you searched hard enough you could find one that didn't know better and would. Thus, I'm not saying the rep he spoke with was right, idk. I'm just pointing out my friends experience. BTW he was going to use it til the HD came out and is willing to lose his unlimited data.

 

[duxdad]

4G to 3G

I was able to switch back and forth between 4G and 3G phones.
Specifically I dropped my D$, broke the screen. Decided to have Moto do the repair for ~ $100 and save a Asurion life. When I sent it back I switched back to my 3G D2 and back to the D4 when it was returned. The whole transaction was done without verizon knowing the D4 was being sent back for repair. I "think" I did it all online. And I did call Verizon to see I would have any difficulty going back and forth. They said no problem.

 

[lloydstrans]

I was able to switch back and forth between 4G and 3G phones.
Specifically I dropped my D$, broke the screen. Decided to have Moto do the repair for ~ $100 and save a Asurion life. When I sent it back I switched back to my 3G D2 and back to the D4 when it was returned. The whole transaction was done without verizon knowing the D4 was being sent back for repair. I "think" I did it all online. And I did call Verizon to see I would have any difficulty going back and forth. They said no problem.

First off all I clearly said "may" in my post. That means (1) maybe a problem, (2) a reasonable doubt on my behalf.
To Address potential (1) verizon reps (enough said) they don't seem to be very consistent with the knowledge of their products and/or the rules.
(2) I based this on my friends personal experience (I was there but not privy to the conversation) , problem (1) also is applicable here as well, and the fact that verizon wants to do away with unlimited data plus phase out 3g altogether.
As from going from a 4g phone to 3g phone is not the same as going from a 3g phone to a 4g phone. Car analogies always get bashed.
Every time I deal with verizon they try and try to convince me that a would save money on a shared data plan even after I do the math for.

In closing I am not wrong, just voiced an opinion.

Duxdad, I'm not saying you called me wrong, but I did want to address your experience switch between phones. As I to could activate my DX back and forth and never step foot into Verizon store.

 

[macpro88]

Any time you pay a reduced price for a phone, no matter who you get it through, even Amazon, you renew your contract for another two years. This is why the phones are cheap, they subsidize the rest of the phone price in your contract. They aren't just going to sell you a $700 phone for $50 without locking you in for another two years.

In regards to Amazon: If you buy a device on promotion for an upgrade, PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT! Back when the Bionic was release, I picked it up for the penny sale Amazon was doing, this of course renewed my contract, no biggie for me, but the fine print stated that because of the promotion ($0.01 sale) I had to keep the phone on the line activated for 6months/180 days or they would charge me the normal upgrade price of the phone ($200 at the time).

If you buy a 4G phone from Amazon as an upgrade, they may or may not send the SIM card, either way, you have to take the SIM card (if they send you one) to Verizon to get it activated (I think if they activate the SIM card before you get it... your 3G device stops working, not sure how accurate that is though).

Please don't think you can buy a phone that cheap brand new and not get locked in for another two years.

 

[TatDroid]

In closing I am not wrong, just voiced an opinion.

Lol. Yes, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But in factual situations (like having the opinion that the world is flat) your opinion could be wrong.

I bought a GS3 (a 4G phone) off Craigs List, activated it in place of an OG Incredible (a 3G phone) on our family account. The unlimited data did not change. There was no change in cost to our plan. The SIM card was provided by Verizon at no charge. I did not pay Verizon's $30 "upgrade" fee. No money changed hands at the Verizon store.

I still have unlimited data on all four smartphones on our family plan.

 

[macpro88]

Lol. Yes, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But in factual situations (like having the opinion that the world is flat) your opinion could be wrong.

I bought a GS3 (a 4G phone) off Craigs List, activated it in place of an OG Incredible (a 3G phone) on our family account. The unlimited data did not change. There was no change in cost to our plan. The SIM card was provided by Verizon at no charge. I did not pay Verizon's $30 "upgrade" fee. No money changed hands at the Verizon store.

I still have unlimited data on all four smartphones on our family plan.

This is true, I've done the same.

Contracts only change when you initiate an upgrade and pay the upgrade price of the phone.

You can activate and reactivate as many phones the same line as you want (VZW might call and tell ya to stop, but...) you can still do it without affecting the contract.

In the last year, I've a Bionic, Rezound, GNex, iPhone 4S, Droid 2, and soon to be DROID RAZR activated on my line and no money has been exchanged with VZW nor has my contract changed at all.

 

[macpro88]

Hmm. That seems to contradict what my wife was told on the phone from a Verizon rep a few days ago. We currently have 4 phones on our grandfathered unlimited data plan. The rep told my wife that if we were to add a 5th, no matter if it were a subsidized $50 phone or a fresh-off-Craigslist full-price $600 phone, it would change the contract and we'd lose the unlimited plan. We could swap any of the current 4 out for any non-subsidized full-price phone we wanted without affecting the contract, but adding a line would change it. Or so she was told.

Its possible since you had unlimited grandfathered, I however do not, I am tiered (no biggie for me, cause I don't use more than the 4GB a month anyways) so it might not have affected me.

Who did you talk to? Customer Service or did you talk to someone in the customer loyalty division or whatever its called. Chances are, if you talk to the first person who answers your call, they usually don't know much. Talk to someone higher up who can actually take a deeper look at your account, history, etc. The first person to answer, is usually the person who determines what department to route your call if needed, and they try their best to feed you crap to get you off the phone so you can keep throwing money at them. Corporate America and their very ineffective customer service departments.

 

[are we there yet]

Thanks for the replies.

Honestly I don't even know what a SIMS card is !!!! It's a single line account if that matters.

Just a mom with two kids, a mini-van and a dog who sheds, looking for her 3rd phone in 10 yrs.
Nevermind . . . I'm too depressed now for a new phone.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Its possible since you had unlimited grandfathered, I however do not, I am tiered (no biggie for me, cause I don't use more than the 4GB a month anyways) so it might not have affected me.

Who did you talk to? Customer Service or did you talk to someone in the customer loyalty division or whatever its called. Chances are, if you talk to the first person who answers your call, they usually don't know much. Talk to someone higher up who can actually take a deeper look at your account, history, etc. The first person to answer, is usually the person who determines what department to route your call if needed, and they try their best to feed you crap to get you off the phone so you can keep throwing money at them. Corporate America and their very ineffective customer service departments.

Heh. I'd misread the post I was replying to, which is why I deleted it immediately after posting. I thought I got it down quick enough, but you saw it first. I thought the post I was replying to was referring to adding lines to his account, but upon re-reading, I think he just meant swapping between different phones on a single line on his account. My bad. :biggrin: