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Geoj posted:Also you're rambling more about net neutrality than unlimited mobile data, which while is a good discussion to have is largely off topic here. Verizon took billions of dollars, and secured city wide franchise agreements by promising millions of people FiOS. Instead, millions of people ended up with LTE as the 'replacement' for FiOS. A fantastic game of "moving the goalposts" was played, and this is why we can't separate Net Neutrality and data limits within VZW. Who's forcing me to hook up anything to the internet? Nobody. Look at how Verizon approached Redbox vs Netflix for their own user base. I can also see the entire industry/Verizon salivating about variants of T-Mobile's recent rollout of 'Music Freedom'. Possibilities are endless for further revenue generation here. Ultimately, if these convoluted rules continue to root in the very foundation of the industry, yes the refrigerator example could be the least of anyone's worry in this hypothetical "dystopian future". mrchina fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 00:47
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mrchina posted:this hypothetical "dystopian future". Yeah, clearly I'm the one going down the crazy  conspiracy rabbit hole here. Because I'm the one who suggested Verizon is going to charge you by the kilobyte the have your refrigerator send your grocery order to the store and then delay it by five days because you didn't opt for the top-tier service plan 
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Jul 29, 2014 01:39
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Still waiting for VoLTE to be the hidden "got ya"..
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Jul 29, 2014 05:33
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According to the info they've published thus far, the only VoLTE calls you'd even be able to make are to other Verizon customers who also have VoLTE devices. Sounds like VoLTE itself is the gotcha at the moment regardless of what data plan you have.
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Jul 29, 2014 06:06
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http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/07/fcc-chair-accuses-verizon-of-throttling-unlimited-data-to-boost-profits/FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler posted:
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Jul 31, 2014 04:12
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kitten smoothie posted:http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/07/fcc-chair-accuses-verizon-of-throttling-unlimited-data-to-boost-profits/ Tough talk, we'll see if it turns into anything though...
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Jul 31, 2014 04:33
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Favorabilis Solitud posted:Here are a few of the ways to lower a bill with a line you don't want: So slow reaction time but. We did the math and ate the etf. Between killing her line and lowering the plan to just what data I use (not a lot), we saved enough to more than make up the etf over the course of the contract. Thanks for the advice.
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Jul 31, 2014 04:40
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Well, apparently Verizon intends to shaft me. That would explain why my web browsing's been so slow lately. Still, gently caress them. I'm keeping my unlimited data. To that end, I need to replace my phone again. I've got a used-when-I-got-it Droid 3. The battery's starting to get hot with moderate use, which is what happened before my Droid R2D2's digitizer burned out so I'm looking for an older phone I can get used on eBay or somewhere that isn't a horrible piece of crap. I saw the LG G2 in a store today and it was much faster than my current phone even web browsing over the air (though the above would explain why, it seems), and it seemed to be a nice phone that stays within the $150 range on eBay. I'd like to stay under even that as we need to save money for imminent moving expenses, but A) I want to get something I won't need to replace again soon and B) I want to make sure I don't go without a usable phone, as I'm job hunting and need one. What can I find that's got a reasonably large screen and doesn't have really irritating quirks? So far I've only had Motorola phones and both have been mildly unstable. Of course, as I said, I got this one as a hand-me-down from a friend anyway.
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Jul 31, 2014 04:50
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Moto X.
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Jul 31, 2014 04:52
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chocolateTHUNDER posted:Tough talk, we'll see if it turns into anything though... He does have a point, in that if the issue were truly about congestion and network management, the throttling would affect everyone regardless of pricing plan. A clogged cell tower is a clogged cell tower regardless of whether the customers are paying by the byte or on an unlimited plan. I'm just surprised they haven't cracked down harder on the loopholes used to renew contracts and keep unlimited (and dodge any throttle, at that). There was that talk a couple months ago in this thread about them auditing lines for alt upgrade activity and such, but I never read anything more about that except for here. And the "Best Buy" loophole for renewing w/o any alt upgrade dance seems to have been alive forever with a 115 page thread on slickdeals about it.
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Jul 31, 2014 16:18
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kitten smoothie posted:He does have a point, in that if the issue were truly about congestion and network management, the throttling would affect everyone regardless of pricing plan. A clogged cell tower is a clogged cell tower regardless of whether the customers are paying by the byte or on an unlimited plan. I'm not saying he doesn't have a point, just that words are useless unless some sort of action is taken.
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Jul 31, 2014 17:45
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kitten smoothie posted:(and dodge any throttle, at that)
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Jul 31, 2014 22:21
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In my area, Sprint is temporarily offering a full unlimited plan(minutes, text & data) for $50/line. According to the ad for it, the promo runs til 8/14. My contract ends 3 days later. The promo says it's only for new lines. Hoping a Sprint rep can tell me my chances of being switched to this plan by bitching enough to CS? I don't really want to switch carriers because everyone else's plans are so loving ridiculously expensive, but I would like to take advantage of this plan while I can, if I can.
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Jul 31, 2014 22:24
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bradzilla posted:In my area, Sprint is temporarily offering a full unlimited plan(minutes, text & data) for $50/line. According to the ad for it, the promo runs til 8/14. My contract ends 3 days later. The promo says it's only for new lines. Hoping a Sprint rep can tell me my chances of being switched to this plan by bitching enough to CS? I don't really want to switch carriers because everyone else's plans are so loving ridiculously expensive, but I would like to take advantage of this plan while I can, if I can. Also please never bitch to customer service, even Sprint's. Narcissistic self-entitled special-favor-asking motherfuckers like you are one of the worst part of customer service jobs. 
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Jul 31, 2014 22:30
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this sweet move posted:4G phones are no longer exempt from Network Optimization starting October 1st. They say this only happens if the line has a fulfilled contract and has an unlimited data plan. Looks like if you use the Best Buy or other alt upgrade loopholes you get a subsidized phone, keep your unlimited, and have a renewed contract, so that wouldn't meet the qualifying conditions for optimization or throttling or however they want to spin it. At this point they're just penalizing people for not trying to abuse the system.
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Jul 31, 2014 22:32
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I decided to keep using the loophole and I think the account managers were just using scare tactics. Nobody's come back in and complained, at least. I can't explain the 2-3 week spat of people coming back in with their unlimited removed, though.
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Jul 31, 2014 22:33
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this sweet move posted:Dunno man, the Sprint thread is thataway. Whoops, saw the cdma tag and blindly posted. Oh and I work CS too, people bitching at you is literally part of the job so deal with it. 
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Jul 31, 2014 23:14
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When you port a number off of a Verizon Family plan (not the main account), does it automatically cancel that line of service or do you need to call Support? Every other carrier (AT&T & T-Mobile) has just done it automatically and billed for any ETF, but I thought I'd double check.
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Aug 1, 2014 05:12
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tonic posted:When you port a number off of a Verizon Family plan (not the main account), does it automatically cancel that line of service or do you need to call Support? It's automatic, it goes into suspension and then falls off at the end of the bill cycle.
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Aug 1, 2014 05:56
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tonic posted:When you port a number off of a Verizon Family plan (not the main account), does it automatically cancel that line of service or do you need to call Support? When I did mine, that line was canceled immediately. I don't know if it was charged anything because my dad never emailed me.
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Aug 1, 2014 11:57
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Lol at this Verizon Rewards Program. I signed up and had 31,000 points. I can buy discounted gift cards! AWESOME! I need to cancel this poo poo because in order to sign up for it you have to agree to Verizon Selects which is just their data mining bullshit http://www.droid-life.com/2014/02/03/verizon-introduces-smart-rewards-program-like-a-credit-card-point-system/
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Aug 1, 2014 21:28
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Their "relevant mobile advertising" thing is just as creepy. They apply a tracking cookie in your desktop browsers when you visit MyVerizon, so as to get a cookie that's connected to your wireless account. They use that to gather data about your desktop browsing habits and infer demographics and your interests. Then Verizon brokers that info to ad networks so that mobile ads on your phone are "relevant" to you. If you haven't gone through your opt-out settings now is a good time.
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Aug 1, 2014 21:51
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I am not a fan of it either. I remember Wells Fargo had a program where it flat out let you just get free stuff or cash. It wasn't great but I never liked the rewards programs where you had to spend so much to save so much. I will say this though, the local deals are ok because they seem more willing to give discounts. Especially auto service stuff.
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Aug 2, 2014 01:17
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bradzilla posted:Whoops, saw the cdma tag and blindly posted. Oh and I work CS too, people bitching at you is literally part of the job so deal with it.
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Aug 2, 2014 03:17
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tonic posted:When you port a number off of a Verizon Family plan (not the main account), does it automatically cancel that line of service or do you need to call Support?
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Aug 2, 2014 03:25
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I broke my phone cause I'm a big dumb klutz. My MAXX was in my pocket while I was helping somebody move. I used my hip to kind of nudge a giant 60lb tower speaker and it crushed the poo poo out of my screen. Everything works aside from the navigation buttons. I've been using voice commands more than ever due to the fact that I have no way to go back or pop up the home screen or app drawer. I've gotta give asurion credit where its due. After a $99 deductible I have a new phone being shipped out due on Monday. Until then I'm kicking myself every time I have to drag my thumb across a spiderwebbed screen.
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Aug 3, 2014 02:25
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Grumbletron 4000 posted:I broke my phone cause I'm a big dumb klutz. My MAXX was in my pocket while I was helping somebody move. I used my hip to kind of nudge a giant 60lb tower speaker and it crushed the poo poo out of my screen. Everything works aside from the navigation buttons. I've been using voice commands more than ever due to the fact that I have no way to go back or pop up the home screen or app drawer. This is the reason my phone always goes screen in.
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Aug 3, 2014 02:29
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It was screen in and in a griffin reveal case. That case has a clear hard plastic back and a rubber surround. Its stood up to a few drops and scrapes with nothing more than scuffs on the case. The weight of that speaker against my hip must've flexed the chassis of the phone in the perfect way to fracture the screen. I'll consider it a $100 lesson about how taking my phone out of my pocket when I'm gonna be shifting heavy objects is a good idea.
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Aug 3, 2014 03:07
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We're going to be travelling to the UK for a couple weeks and have two phones on Verizon: Moto X and iPhone 5s. Would we be able to pick up a SIM card over there for one of these phones? Would that be cheaper than using Verizon's global plan? (looks like they charge by the minute for voice, for each text, and 100mb of data)
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Aug 4, 2014 16:55
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Yes, the phones are unlocked, and yes you will save money.
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Aug 4, 2014 17:01
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Great facebook post verizion
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Aug 5, 2014 14:59
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Their lack of self-awareness is just staggering.
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Aug 5, 2014 15:06
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bull3964 posted:Their lack of self-awareness is just staggering. I think they're highly aware that their no-contract plans are worse, and they're just running them to give the illusion of being competitive. Unless you buy (and have a need for) a 10GB data plan with the bigger per-line discount for being on Edge, you're better off taking the contract.
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Aug 5, 2014 15:37
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kitten smoothie posted:I think they're highly aware that their no-contract plans are worse, and they're just running them to give the illusion of being competitive. Unless you buy (and have a need for) a 10GB data plan with the bigger per-line discount for being on Edge, you're better off taking the contract. But you really aren't anymore. Base case, 1gb of data. Contract is $80 /month. No contract is $45 month (as long as you autopay which gives you that extra 500mb). That's $35 /month savings. The average phone has a $300 subsidy. So, even if you pay out the rear end for a $600 smartphone full retail, you start saving money over the contract at month 11.
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Aug 5, 2014 17:31
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kitten smoothie posted:I think they're highly aware that their no-contract plans are worse, and they're just running them to give the illusion of being competitive. Unless you buy (and have a need for) a 10GB data plan with the bigger per-line discount for being on Edge, you're better off taking the contract. Oh....they are not. The Verizon distortion field makes Apple's look pathetic in comparison. The entire company is being run by delusional, idiotic, spreadsheet obsessed monkeys. Everything at Verizon is done in a massive panic, at the last minute, with no thought about if it will work or actually cause numerous issues everywhere else. The only people who have a clue are in the network team. This is a company who's brilliant idea to spark up sales in a slow month is to slash $100 of every phone in the store, while still charging insane monthly rates with absurdly low data caps, or to offer a free complete piece of crap tablet for "free" to keep "new customer" adds up while churn is spiking. 18 years in Wireless and I just couldn't take it anymore because of the people at Verizon.
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Aug 5, 2014 21:22
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Mighty Horse posted:The entire company is being run by delusional, idiotic, spreadsheet obsessed monkeys. Everything at Verizon is done in a massive panic, at the last minute, with no thought about if it will work or actually cause numerous issues everywhere else. The only people who have a clue are in the network team. You just described nearly every large company.
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Aug 5, 2014 21:43
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bull3964 posted:But you really aren't anymore. I guess the paygo options are a little better now that they have 4G. It was a nonstarter before. I was doing some back of the envelope math with the "more everything" plans with contract, vs the same package with Edge. It looks like if you buy a phone and keep it for two years in both cases (Edge is 20 months, so you'd go 4 months of enjoying a mortgage-free phone before getting back on the merry go round), the total outlay over 24 months is higher on Edge versus contract. Which makes sense, they wouldn't offer the plan and push it so hard if it didn't make them more money versus what they were doing before.
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Aug 5, 2014 22:06
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Why are you talking about Edge though? Edge is still contract, it's just a payment plan for phones that allows earlier upgrades. It gives discount on the contract service price, but it's still contract.
bull3964 fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Aug 5, 2014 |
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Aug 5, 2014 22:42
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The Verizon/ATT 4 lines for 160 is BS. I think it was a big misfire and the other side fired away too. That was a real lovely call..."No the equipment fee is seperate from the 160...yes it is the same as ATT..." I don't care for the edge plan but there are situations where it is very nice. Depending on the phones you get. I have seen situations where we are basically paying people to upgrade. Their credit matches or exceeds the monthly payment. If you want the newest phone all the time you are probably focused more on being able to upgrade every year at the latest and not worrying about the monthly payment - monthly credit. So its weird, in my opinion the edge would benefit old people the most...since they don't give a gently caress about having the newest/best phone. When it first came out, we had to push it big time. We found out that people were for the most part "Mehhhhh". So once the data was there, it changed from, "Don't push it, but offer it." Basically it comes down to: Do you like paying once at a heavily subsidized price but be in contract for 2 years? No? Would you like to make a monthly payment on full retail instead and be able to upgrade every year at the latest if you choose(with a credit per phone on edge)? No? Would you like to pay full retail over 12 months plus a 2 dollar finance fee every month? No? Would you like to pay full retail? No The only other option I can really think of that would be a reasonable option is a one year contract. A difficult part of the job is explaining that we don't get a discount from a phone manufacturer and lose money on all contract phones until after the 1st year at the earliest. This comes into play especially when they break their phone, have no insurance, and expect another phone at the original's subsidized price. Edit: I also forgot. You can buy a "Certified Pre Owned" phone. But people avoid those. Favorabilis Solitud fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Aug 6, 2014 |
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Aug 6, 2014 01:27
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kitten smoothie posted:I guess the paygo options are a little better now that they have 4G. It was a nonstarter before. What I have noticed with the new plans are that for 24 months iPhones will be more, a good number of android phones equal out or are cheaper. But that's assuming you upgrade on the dot, right at 24 months, and/or get every phone new in box. Personally I just like the separating costs part,it avoids the whole BS of "upgrade now, you pay the subsidy either way," or you save money and buy a Nexus or Moto X (I guess options there are more limited on Verizon). bull3964 posted:Why are you talking about Edge though? Edge is still contract, it's just a payment plan for phones that allows earlier upgrades. It gives discount on the contract service price, but it's still contract. Its am agreement on the the cost of the phone, but not a 2 year contract. Its the reason why T-Mobile will buy out two year contracts but wont give credit towards an Edge payment plan.
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