Verizon loses customers for first time ever!

[xeene]

"The carrier posted its first ever quarterly net loss of wireless subscribers during the first three months of 2017, showing the extent of the damage resurgent rivals T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. have inflicted on the nation's largest carrier by subscribers."
Verizon loses wireless customers for first time

 

[lloydstrans]

Another CEO that will get axed with a bazillion dollar severance package and then go to work for XXXXX and start another golden parachute stint.

 

[pc747]

Verizon was able to lean on the fact they had the best LTE coverage, which they still do. But now these other companies are starting to catch up to them as far as coverage and speeds while offering cheaper plans, Verizon is seeing people go towards the rivals.

A lot of this is a result of arrogance. Even att was willing to cave a little to match what TMobile was doing. Verizon have the mindset of "if you don't like it you can just leave". But they are seeing the error of inviting people to leave, eventually they will.

If they want to bring back customers they have to start listening to customers. They are tired of the nickel and diming. It will be interesting to see their next move or if they continue with their arrogance claiming the report is untrue and they are as strong as ever.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[DesktopDevin]

Verizon was able to lean on the fact they had the best LTE coverage, which they still do. But now these other companies are starting to catch up to them as far as coverage and speeds while offering cheaper plans, Verizon is seeing people go towards the rivals.

A lot of this is a result of arrogance. Even att was willing to cave a little to match what TMobile was doing. Verizon have the mindset of "if you don't like it you can just leave". But they are seeing the error of inviting people to leave, eventually they will.

If they want to bring back customers they have to start listening to customers. They are tired of the nickel and diming. It will be interesting to see their next move or if they continue with their arrogance claiming the report is untrue and they are as strong as ever.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I think this is a direct result of them cutting subsidized phones, you used to be able to "walk into" verizon and walk out with a flagship phone and service at a "minimal cost". And if you were an existing customer you got a new phone every 2 years or had the price greatly reduced.

Now you get stuck with a payment plan on top of your phone bill unless you want to shell out between $400-800 for a locked phone which most of the features that are available on other carriers will be locked down by verizon.

Who in their right mind would stay with them or at least purchase the phone directly from VZW.

This translates into lost wireless accounts as people are seeking their phones from another source.

 

[sharkattack99]

i left verizon like 4 years ago cause i was tired of having to pay full price for my phones to be able to keep my original unlimited data plan. just wasn't worth it anymore, and there "edge" plan is a joke Moved back to AT&T and there next program which is way better.

 

[TisMyDroid]

I think this is a direct result of them cutting subsidized phones, you used to be able to "walk into" verizon and walk out with a flagship phone and service at a "minimal cost". And if you were an existing customer you got a new phone every 2 years or had the price greatly reduced.

Now you get stuck with a payment plan on top of your phone bill unless you want to shell out between $400-800 for a locked phone which most of the features that are available on other carriers will be locked down by verizon.

Who in their right mind would stay with them or at least purchase the phone directly from VZW.

This translates into lost wireless accounts as people are seeking their phones from another source.

What many people didn't realize is that they were paying dearly for those subsidized phones because Verizon charged you an extra $30 for each phone line that was subsidized for the two year contract period. To top that off, they would reduce the per line charge after the phone was past the contract period only if the customer asked for it. Verizon made a bundle on those subsidized phones and the consumers paid for it.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[RyanPm40]

I think this is a direct result of them cutting subsidized phones, you used to be able to "walk into" verizon and walk out with a flagship phone and service at a "minimal cost". And if you were an existing customer you got a new phone every 2 years or had the price greatly reduced.

Now you get stuck with a payment plan on top of your phone bill unless you want to shell out between $400-800 for a locked phone which most of the features that are available on other carriers will be locked down by verizon.

Who in their right mind would stay with them or at least purchase the phone directly from VZW.

This translates into lost wireless accounts as people are seeking their phones from another source.

Pretty sure most, if not all, major carriers have dropped subsidized phones. Sprint will let you stay in the subsidized program if you complain, but that's about it.

 

[xeene]

What many people didn't realize is that they were paying dearly for those subsidized phones because Verizon charged you an extra $30 for each phone line that was subsidized for the two year contract period. To top that off, they would reduce the per line charge after the phone was past the contract period only if the customer asked for it. Verizon made a bundle on those subsidized phones and the consumers paid for it.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

That's not true. Subsidized phones is one of the reasons they kept me as their customer.

I never paid more then $300 for new phone when I was their customer thanks to their subsidization.

My bill hasn't changed since 2010 when I signed up for 1400 family minutes with unlimited text for $110 a month that I was getting 22% corporate discount on. Additional lines were $10 and unlimited data was $30 - 20 for promo. So my bill was $140 after taxes and fees for 2 lines with unlimited data and 1 regular phone line + discounted phones every year. My daughter that was with tello(sprint mvno) was costing me $10 for limited minutes/text/data.

In 2018 when my contracts with Verizon would expire I would be paying $200+ for 4 lines on Verizon.

My friend who has been asking me to switch to tmo for past couple years talked my into it this February. I got 4 lines of unlimited everything in mexico/USA/canada for $114 a month + every Tuesday we get some perks like discounted gas, free donuts, discounted movies.

To cancel my verizon contracts on 3 lines it cost me $850 in etf. TMobile reimbursed me $810 for 3 Verizon contracts and $150 for switching my daughter from tello. So in the end I ended up making profit, paying about 1/2 each month what I would be and not having to worry about my service when in Mexico and Canada.

I'm glad I switched and glad Verizon is taking a hit in the Financials because I was with them since 2005 and past 5 years they were doing nothing but screwing their customers with bs fees.

 

[Sajo]

Actually, what TisMyDroid posted is true. It's been well documented on here. That's why my bill dropped by over $70 when I switched from an old plan to a new Share Everything plan. A Verizon rep even told me about the subsidized charges on my old plan.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[TisMyDroid]

Actually, what TisMyDroid posted is true. It's been well documented on here.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Yes, most people were not aware of the fact that if they were past their two year subsidized contract, that they could reduce their per line charge for any line that was no longer under contract with a subsidised phone. All you had to do was bring it to Verizon's attention to get the reduced line fee. But Verizon certainly didn't advertise it. They charged $40 per line if under contact with a subsidized phone; only $10 per line if not. It is also why they went to a $10/ line charge when they started the buying phones on a payment plan. In other words, all those subsidized phones people got actually cost them $720 or more (more because some phones had a $20-200 charge up front). It was quite ingenious of Verizon because most people believed they were getting the phone for free or next to nothing.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[pc747]

Yes, most people were not aware of the fact that if they were past their two year subsidized contract, that they could reduce their per line charge for any line that was no longer under contract with a subsidised phone. All you had to do was bring it to Verizon's attention to get the reduced line fee. But Verizon certainly didn't advertise it. They charged $40 per line if under contact with a subsidized phone; only $10 per line if not. It is also why they went to a $10/ line charge when they started the buying phones on a payment plan. In other words, all those subsidized phones people got actually cost them $720 or more (more because some phones had a $20-200 charge up front). It was quite ingenious of Verizon because most people believed they were getting the phone for free or next to nothing.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Yeah and Verizon was slow to want to make that change. And when I brought up about the subsidies they argued tooth and nail and no drop in cost came my way when my 2 yr was up.

We could argue the facts and miss that one person may be able to negotiate a deal that another person would get shown the door for asking for the same deal.

At the base of it all is that the important thing is we have viable competition, something we didn't have in awhile. About 7-8 years ago it was Verizon and everyone else. I still remember the daily show back in 2010 clowning how att's poor coverage made the iPhone useless.

But now the landscape have changed and the playing field is evening up. The question is if you don't live in a rural area why should I pay more for similar coverage and speeds?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Domestic violence]

I left VZW and haven't looked back. My T-Mobile bill is $59/mo for unlimited everything. I'm still unsure of the Straight Talk/Metro plans, but I'm very happy with what I have now. Gimmicks aside. Verizon does have the best coverage, yes. However, with wifi calling and wifi everywhere, I have had 0 issues with T-Mo. None. I recommend them to everyone I talk to....and I'm still about $50/mo under Verizon

 

[xeene]

Actually, what TisMyDroid posted is true. It's been well documented on here. That's why my bill dropped by over $70 when I switched from an old plan to a new Share Everything plan. A Verizon rep even told me about the subsidized charges on my old plan.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

That only applied to new plans, not old unlimited data plans as I've already broke down the pricing. Grandfathered unlimited data plans had no subsidization fees. We have been over this a dozen times over the past 6 years.

 

[Sajo]

I promised myself I wouldn't post here and did anyhow. This is how I see it. Verizon lost customers. Noted. Got it. This is one of those threads that could turn into a giant pissing contest for no reason, or we all agree that they lost customers. They either make changes because of that, or they don't...and continue to lose more customers.

As far as Verizon pricing, maybe we just agree to disagree?

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[boidsonly]

The stockholders are directly to blame: it all started with screwing over the original UDP customers and quickly went downhill from there. The stockholders tacked on fees galore, took away the subsidized phones, throttled their customers and provided world class trash for support.
And then they cried when they hemorrhaged 400k customers to the other carriers in a single quarter. The shareholders problems are twofold: absolute greed and the fact their memories are shorter than their customers...

I took my family's business to T-Mo years ago and never looked back.