It would appear that Verizon is trying to do away with us grandfathered unlimited data users once and for all. For the past 3 years I have been buying my phones at full retail price to save my old school Altell plan. This plan gives me 500 minutes to share between myself and my wife, 10 family and friends numbers which are free to call, free calling after 7 and on weekends, unlimited text messages and unlimited data. Many people really wouldn't be able to justify an unlimited data plan, but for my family it is a must. I regularly use 40GB per month while my wife uses nearly 20GB per month. We do nothing abnormal just all the social media, netflix, youtube, and pandora we care to use all without having to worry about a stinking wifi hotspot.
Today I walked into my local Verizon corporate store pretty stoked to be purchasing an LG G4. I literally had my debit card pulled out of my wallet as i walked up to the register. (A little bit of context here I have been buying phones at full retail price now for years. I don't know if the sales reps get a commission off of selling a plan or upgrading a device and get nothing when someone buys a phone retail, but when they see me walk in the store none of them seem happy to see me.) I was already expecting a bit of a struggle. Verizon is the only place that gives me a hard time when trying to hand them cash.
The sales rep that greeted me asked for my number. I gave it to her she pulled up my account and asked if I would be using my upgrade that was available. I told her no in fact I would be buying the phone at full retail cost. Without hesitation she told me the system would automatically kick me off the unlimited plan and force me on another plan even if I bought the phone out right. I told them I wouldn't be interested in losing my unlimited data and they suggested trying to buy my phone from a third party. I called the corporate hotline. They told me that they didn't see any reason why the corporate store would not sell me the phone. They didn't think it would take away my unlimited.
I returned to the store and asked for the manager. I explained to him what the corporate hotline had told me, and he said that we could give it a try, but the last two people who bought a phone outright returned a few days later raising cane because they had been kicked off their unlimited data plan. He said the system didn't show they were being kicked off the data plan, but apparently it had happened automatically when the phones were activated. They were surprised it had happened and they just wanted to make me aware of the situation before i bought a new phone and lost my unlimited data. The only way around this appears to be buying the phone from online and then using your existing sim, or you could buy a phone from a place like bestbuy albiet for an extra $100. I can not find anything official from Verizon stating that they are no longer selling phones at retail in the stores.
Are there any of you still on an unlimited plan? Have you had this same type of experience when trying to buy a phone full retail from a corporate store lately? Please respond with your experiences.
I am a current sales rep at Verizon, to answer one question, no we don't really make commission off phones bought at full retail. And as far as the overall question about unlimited data, there have been rumours going around that device only changes will soon kick unlimited data off the account. But as of now this is totally false and nothing is set and stone, the reps most likely just wanted to brush you off so they could make money making a real sale. Poor management in that store looks like to me.
I remember buying an iphone 5 on release day and telling them not to open the box (I was reselling it) and having to explain to them that if they open the box I would not be paying and would turn around and leave... they brought the box or set it in front of me.... I paid used the upgrade and left. sales rep seemed a little miffed.
