Verizon Makes Contract and Upgrade Rules Stricter; Abandons Early Upgrades

[dgstorm]

Oh Verizon... why can't you leave well enough alone? It has been quite some time since they have come out with some new policy or statement that infuriates their customers. It would have been nice to see them continue that trend. I guess the story of the scorpion and the frog comes to mind.

Verizon just officially released a new and stricter policy regarding their contracts and upgrade policies. Here's a quote below taken straight from their website which explains it,

As the wireless business has evolved, Verizon Wireless has continued to expand its device portfolio, providing customers with more options than ever before. It is not uncommon for customers to have multiple devices such as a smartphone, tablet and Jetpack. In that context, Verizon Wireless is making the following changes to its upgrade practices:

In alignment with the terms of the contract, customers on a two-year agreement will be eligible for an upgrade at 24 months vs. today's early upgrade eligibility at 20 months. This change aligns the upgrade date with the contract end date and is consistent with how the majority of customers purchase new phones today. The first customers impacted by this change are customers whose contracts expire in January 2014. As always, customers may purchase a new phone at the full retail price at any time.

The New Every Two program ended in January of 2011. Verizon Wireless has continued to allow customers to utilize these expired credits. However, as of April 15, these credits will no longer be available.

Customers may continue to share an upgrade with another person on an account if that customer is upgrading to a device within the same equipment category. Customers can utilize a phone upgrade to purchase a new phone; however, the option to transfer upgrades from non-phone devices (such as a Jetpack or tablet) will no longer be available.

So, there you have it. At a time when companies like Sprint and T-Mobile are offering much more competitive rates and policies, Verizon is squeezing customers a bit harder when they already have the lion's share of the pie. Some of this new policy isn't really that bad, and probably makes sense, but its timing still has us scratching our head a bit.

Source: VZW

 

[kodiak799]

Will be interesting to see how this plays. On the one hand, waiting another 4 months isn't really a big deal - you extend your contract and still go, ultimately, 24 months between upgrades.

But this is where the whole contract thing gets tricky. People want their new phone now, and so they tack on another 24-mo contract. Force them to wait all the way until the end and now they are much more likely to shop around - VZW doesn't have "exclusivity" to them for that 4 months any more.

Seems pretty dumb to me. I'm not sure where this is really going to save VZW any money, but probably will cause them to lose a few more customers.

 

[kodiak799]

On a related note, VZW is clearly leading the charge to slowly take way subsidies all together. You've got Sprint and TMo hitting the other side of that equation with lower rates and no contracts. All of that, combined, is ultimately going the right direction for the consumer.

 

[jroc]

24 months vs 20 months.... I dont think its that big a deal. New Every Two was a bigger deal. Annual Upgrades were a bigger deal. This? Not so much.

Doing this...you will be right at month to month status when you can get a new phone at a discount. The power is in your hands then.

 

[94lt1]

The reason items are priced at 599,95 instead of 600$ is because of it being more appealing to the customer.. What do I mean?? This doesn't look very attractive... You've stopped with unlimited data, ad now your getting stricter on Contracts and early upgrades...


I see this as a bad thing... I think most will...

 

[djkms]

This day in age the gap in a quality signal is closing in. Either Verizon get with the times and take care of their customers or they lose them, its that simple. T-Mobile and Sprint (both previous carriers I had) are ahead of the curve with what they offer in terms of contracts (or lack thereof).

Also, both Sprint and T-Mobile are being very aggressive in putting up towers and increasing their 4G availability. We may not see it on maps yet but its coming and coming fast. I work in the insurance industry for a living and some of our biggest clients are wireless/telecom installation and maintenance companies. I am constantly sending out certificates for T-Mobile and Sprint job sites.

Big Red will fall if they keep taking care of themselves instead of their customers. One of my lines is up next month and I will not be renewing it and exploring my options (same goes for my other 2 lines as their contracts expire as well).

 

[jspradling7]

You don't get as big as Verizon by making bad decisions, but this doesn't make sense. As said above, the whole "early" upgrade policy was to entice people nearing the end of their contract to sign up for another 24 months. There must be a chart in Verizon HQ somewhere that says that enticement stopped working like it used to.

 

[kodiak799]

You don't get as big as Verizon by making bad decisions, but this doesn't make sense. As said above, the whole "early" upgrade policy was to entice people nearing the end of their contract to sign up for another 24 months. There must be a chart in Verizon HQ somewhere that says that enticement stopped working like it used to.

It has to be an intermediate step to something else. It doesn't really cost them anything, and has to be effective at roping in at least some people to extend. Really only applies to first contracts - after your first deal the next "early" upgrade is 24 months away.

I think they're just trying to simplify and clean-up some of the complexity in their model. Maybe wasn't much benefit (to VZW) observed so they got rid of it. It DOES become a nightmare to provide good service if you don't eliminate old plans and promotions as you add new ones.

 

[52brandon]

just anther move that makes me happy that I'm leaving for T-Mobile within the next couple weeks. It's a shame. I really liked Verizon when I first joined. Yeah, it was more expensive, but the coverage is better. Now it seems their customer service, from the low-level representatives all the way to their Corporate policies, has INTENTIONALLY gotten worse. It really doesn't make sense to me. They need to understand that they're not the only option available. They have the best service (coverage) and the worst service (customer service). For what they charge now? I say "no thank you"

 

[NeoPhoenixTE]

Given that I'm on an unlimited data plan with what could possibly be the last (and I do believe first) Qwerty 4G phone Verizon will ever have, I'm not planning on re-upping my contract any time soon. I'll likely let it go beyond the 2 year commitment and just keep going so long as I can keep my unlimited data plan.

I honestly thought it was 2 years already, so, yeah...

...also, guess who's upgrade date is in January 2014?

 

[52brandon]

Given that I'm on an unlimited data plan with what could possibly be the last (and I do believe first) Qwerty 4G phone Verizon will ever have, I'm not planning on re-upping my contract any time soon. I'll likely let it go beyond the 2 year commitment and just keep going so long as I can keep my unlimited data plan.

I honestly thought it was 2 years already, so, yeah...

...also, guess who's upgrade date is in January 2014?

I WAS going that route. But all this crap VZW is pulling now, I just can't continue to give them my money. I'm gonna sell my unlimited plan and wash my hands of the company entirely. Hopefully a lot more people respond the same to them being so stingy so that either the decision-makers change what they're doing or the decion makers themselves are changed

 

[pizza3]

I don't understand the concept. My wife is eligible, under the present rules, to get an update in Jan 2014 because it will have been 20 months since the last upgrade. Will she have to wait an additional 4 months now? I wouldn't want to be the person who has to break that to her. I thought we had a contract with VZW that allowed a 20 month update. That is what we relied on when we signed up on a family plan. Is VZW changing the terms of our contract nunc pro tunc? I am not eligible until Aug 2014. Do I have to wait now until Dec 2014. That is not what was explained to me when I agreed to renew my contract. If I had known I would have to wait that long I might not have renewed then. Move over EA you have new competition for "The Worst Company". HAND!

 

[jamjr74]

I have a family 2 line plan. My contract is up 5/26 and wife has til 11/14. I'll move to T-Mobile next month and ride her contract with Verizon out. They are just too pricey and keep making these bogus moves.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

 

[xeene]

shouldn't matter to those on unlimited data.

 

[bigdog357]

I've already moved on from Verizon, and couldn't be happier. I have the note2 on tmobile and my service has been great. Good luck to u all with whatever u decide to do, but mark my words we the people are gonna put another company at the top, let's just hope when they get there they remember how they got there, and yes Verizon does have the best coverage, we all no that, but they lack people skills. Never Forget what made u what u are today, cause that will be ur Downfall.