The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Verizon Wireless Megathread: Tears for tiers

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Sir Bobert Fishbone posted:

Is tiered data really that crippling?

If you don't stream, you'll probably never come close. If you do, well, for info a 128kbps audio stream uses roughly 65 Mb/hr, or about 18 hrs/Gb.

As to your other question, I'm not sure but I'd be shocked if the overage was prorated.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2011 06:44

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 14:46

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

I think Asurion's deductible for a smartphone is around $90, too. Higher than AppleCare+'s $50.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2011 20:28

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

MC Fruit Stripe posted:

I feel like I am just missing a button, or something obvious, so I feel kinda stupid. I understand how to get an employee discount, but is there a way to use it with a family plan, or even just have two phones on the same plan? Or do I just need to go through the process once, then start over for my wife's?

With a family plan, employer discounts only apply to the primary line.

# ¿ Oct 16, 2011 19:34

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

chocolateTHUNDER posted:

My girlfriend has a blackberry with unlimited data. She's not eligible for an upgrade yet, but her moms line is. She plans on going into Verizon tomorrow and just using her moms upgrade to get a 4s and keep her unlimited data.

This is all pretty standard stuff right? The only reason why I'm asking is because she's taking the upgrade from her moms line and using it for herself.

Yeah, it's pretty standard. In fact, you can even do it on VZW's web site now.

Tell her to make sure she knows the account password (not the same as the web site login).

# ¿ Oct 19, 2011 02:57

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

bam thwok posted:

If I'm grandfathered into the $30 per month unlimited data plan, will I lose it if I upgrade my current Motorola DROID 1 to an LTE phone?

Nope. Or, more correctly, you shouldn't.

e: meaning you'll only lose it if the retail person messes up.

WithoutTheFezOn fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Oct 21, 2011

# ¿ Oct 21, 2011 20:05

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

I don't work for them, but that's how we did it when we moved a family member onto our plan, and the retail guy made sure we did it that way -- that is, get your upgrade first, then switch the line to another plan.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2011 02:12

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

JP Money posted:

So you're saying if I upgrade phones then drop off my family plan to my own single account that I'll lose unlimited data? I thought everyone has been saying the opposite?

I think he's saying if it's your family plan (i.e. your line is primary and you switch that line to a single plan) you'll keep it, but if it's a secondary line you're moving, you lose it. Basically, if the person who gets billed for the line changes, you lose unlimited data.

But I could be wrong.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2011 17:07

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Ciabatta posted:

He will have to keep the extra data plan to keep the subsidized phone, though. You don't get a subsidized smartphone without a data plan, and you can't just cancel the data plan and keep the subsidized phone price.

Edit: In the original guy's plan, the flaw is in the step "keep data plan temporarily."

But Seaborn is right. He doesn't have to sign up for the data plan at all.

"Alternate upgrade". If you have a family plan, Verizon lets you use line A's upgrade to get a phone and immediately activate it on line B. You can even do it on their website without going to a store.

In doing this, Line A's contract is extended by two years, but line B's contract (and subsidized phone elegibility date) isn't affected.

# ¿ Nov 19, 2011 19:26

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

^^ Yes, the lines have to be on the same account/plan.

Anyone with a family plan notice the change they included in the last bill, about changing the way charges are listed for the primary line?

Looks like they're breaking out an "account charge". For instance, a basic family plan currently is $60 for the first line, and $9.99 for the secondary line. Now it's changing to a %50 account charge, and $$9.99 for each line.

Wonder what the point of that is? They say employer discounts will still be "the same amount".

# ¿ Nov 19, 2011 21:22

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

kitten smoothie posted:

In what instance would you ever want to suspend with billing? It seems illogical to continue paying for absolutely nothing. Is there some reason why they even offer this as an option, other than that someone might be dumb enough to choose it?

Going out of town for a week, don't want to take it with you, and don't want your kids running up a huge overage bill?

# ¿ Nov 20, 2011 12:27

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

PorkFat posted:

I just realized it would do that when the other iPhone I turned on today did that to my Trophy. I need to make sure that my other phone won't get disconnected as that person is 4 states away.

When you activated your iPhone, didn't you have to enter your account password?

# ¿ Nov 21, 2011 08:10

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Cojawfee posted:

Hmm, if I wasn't so attached to my number, I might start doing that. (I assume that porting my number to google requires me to be the account owner for my phone plan, which I'm not).

Not sure about this particular case, but if you ever need to do "account-owner-type-stuff", you can have the account owner add you as an "Account Manager", which can even be done online.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2011 23:10

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

vanilla slimfast posted:

I called customer service about it on Saturday and the reason for it is because I switched from a single-line plan to a family plan (bringing my wife's phone on) shortly after the start of our billing cycle. As a result, almost the whole month was pro-rated since the start of the cycle was paid month-in-advance for a single-line plan

One thing you don't mention is ... what happened to your wife's old single line account? Since (as far as I know) all carriers charge ahead of time for the upcoming month, when she switched her plan should have gotten a credit for the unused portion of the month she had already paid for.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2011 19:27

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

vanilla slimfast posted:

... but the issue is that the pro-rated amount for the family plan for ~28 days is much higher than if it had been paid up front at the start of the cycle.

That part doesn't make sense. You sure you're looking at the charge for 28 days and not for 28 days + 1 month?

# ¿ Nov 28, 2011 20:36

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

vanilla slimfast posted:

Although there is one other thing I noticed that does seem out of place, which is the 10/month line access fees. I thought those only applied for additional lines beyond the first two?

It applies to the second line, and yeah it could be clearer.

As an example, take the base 700 minute family plan. It's advertised as $69.99 for the first two lines, but if you look at your bill (maybe not your current bill, with the plan change mess in it) the first line has a $60.00 charge and the second line has a $9.99 charge.

To further confuse you (or maybe not), that will be changing soon. That same example will be changed to a $50 account charge, a $9.99 access charge for the first line, and a $9.99 access charge for the second line. At least the insert in my last bill says that.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2011 00:44

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Mark Larson posted:

That's because the corporate discount doesn't apply to additional lines, or at least that's what my inner cynic tells me.

My first thought was also "well poo poo, that means they're only going to apply the discount to $50 instead of $60 (or be real dicks and only apply it to $9.99)". The insert actually says

quote:

If you currently receive a discount because of an affiliation with an employer, the discount amount will remain the same. How the discount is calculated will be included within the Account Charges and Credits section.

so I guess we'll see. They're also doing some odd stuff with how taxes are calculated.

If anyone's interested, http://www.verizonwireless.com/newbill

# ¿ Nov 29, 2011 05:10

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Roundboy posted:

The minimum is now 5gb?

That seems to be a mistake. Check the link in his post.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2011 15:07

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Cojawfee posted:

Anyone know if I'm not the account owner if I can still go into a verizon store and upgrade my phone?

Sure, but you need to have the account owner add you as an "Account Manager" first. This can be done on the vzw.com website. You should also get the account owner to give you the account (bililng) password.

Your account manager status can be easily removed after the transaction.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2011 08:19

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Nut Bunnies posted:

I have the huge 2400 or whatever mAh battery and it's still bad. It's the phone, not the battery.

It's certainly a bad battery, but have you noticed improved life after the Gingerbread update? My wife's Inc almost doubled its battery life after that update.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2011 00:48

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

jackpot posted:

is there any reason to choose Verizon's insurance ($10/month, $200 deductible to replace phone if broken) over Applecare+ ($99/2 years, $50 deductible, two replacements only)?

Now that Verizon has (so I hear) stopped giving out replacements in-store, no benefit I can think of. e: oh, didn't realize the lack of theft coverage.

Endor posted:

First, from what I understand the Android data plans are separate from the iPhone data plans

Nope. Mine just stayed at "Email And Web Unlimited".

# ¿ Dec 12, 2011 22:41

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Dickeye posted:

Here's a question, re: this bit:

I'm pretty sure that's just their standard "hey, if you're still on the ancient America's Choice plan and get a subsidized phone, you need to change to a current plan" clause.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2011 00:03

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Ernie Luckman posted:

There are people who don't use autopay? Seriously do you enjoy paying that bill manually every month?

"Paying that bill manually" means adding one more entry into a form on my bank's web site while I'm paying five other bills. Not a big deal.

Plus, I have a (perhaps irrational) dislike of automatically paying variable bills.

# ¿ Dec 30, 2011 21:39

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

discount dogs posted:

The OP of this thread mentions Talk + Text plans, but none of that is mentioned on the site? Could someone shed some light on this?

Verizon has recently changed the way accounts are structured -- the "bundle" plans don't seem to exist any more. What you see on that page is what they currently offer.

# ¿ Dec 30, 2011 22:12

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

What was the RAZR's (subsidized) release price, $199 or $299?

# ¿ Jan 11, 2012 03:52

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Wonder what would happen if Apple said "not yet" for LTE on the iPhone 5.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2012 06:18

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Rastor posted:

I wonder if that means family data plans. Not very interesting for anyone on unlimited plans ...

Yes, it is. Or could be, depending on the price.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2012 23:25

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Astroman posted:

So my question is if there is a reliable, up to date way to check my tethering usage, via app, VWZ website, etc so I know where I am day to day?

No, or not that I know of. Both the website and app seem to use the same data, and it can at times be horrendously out of date. For example, I just checked it, and it says: "Estimate as of 01/16/12 5:57 AM"

quote:

And what is the rate per gb for overages?

$20 / Gb.

Also, keep this in mind:

quote:

When your smartphone is connected using 3G Mobile Hotspot, all data sent or received by your smartphone (including data sent or received by any Wi-Fi devices connected to it, or by your smartphone itself) will be billed according to your 3G Mobile Hotspot feature, and not according to your smartphone data feature.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2012 22:07

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Dandy Cat posted:

So I'd not lose my unlimited data? That's the thing I'm worried about.

You wouldn't lose it. On Verizon the hotspot is an add-on feature, not part of the data plan, so your data plan isn't changing. I just did it over Christmas while traveling, no sweat. You can even cancel the hotspot through their website now.

Keep in mind the data allocation of the hotspot is prorated -- so if you sign up for the 2Gb/mo hotspot and only keep it active for 3 days, your data allocation is only ~200 Mb.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2012 09:52

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Xguard86 posted:

What are some things that droid phones can do that an iphone cannot not? Limited to a stock configuration for someone that is not going to play around with roms or unlocking? Basically, open the box turn it on and go (including apps of course).

Off the top of my head ... widgets, screen customization, Amazon Cloud MP3 player, Google Music (iPhones kind of support it through a browser?). Free turn-by-turn navigation. And Flash, I suppose.

quote:

How difficult is it to migrate from an android phone to an iphone? Contact info, accessing your gmail, basic user stuff.

Piece of cake. Especially if their Droids already have contact info saved in Gmail. Literally a one-minute setup, with illustrated instructions on Google's web site.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2012 18:06

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

The Spookmaster posted:

A week ago I used my 2 year upgrade to get an 8gig droid with a 2gb plan for $199.99. Now I just saw a commercial for the 16gb droid and a buy one get one free deal on it along with a 4gb plan for 2gb price. My mom would love a droid and its a shared plan so any idea if I can get that deal since it's only been a week? I plan to go in tomorrow to check but I thought I would ask anyways.

Worst case, it would seem you could return your phone and eat the $35 restock fee (which would reinstate your upgrade eligibility) then use the BOGO deal.

e: assuming your mom's line is also eligible for an upgrade.

WithoutTheFezOn fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Feb 13, 2012

# ¿ Feb 13, 2012 02:58

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

The Spookmaster posted:

Would it matter if she was eligible or not though since it's a free phone?

From everything I've heard about past BOGO deals, yes it matters. I don't work for Verizon, though, so I'm not 100% sure.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2012 04:18

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Bizarro Kanyon posted:

Does Verizon charge you an activation fee for a contract upgrade/extension?

No. Activation fee is for new lines. There is no upgrade fee.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2012 00:59

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Meldonox posted:

LG VX8300

Best phone I've ever seen. loving workhorse.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2012 04:53

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

goku chewbacca posted:

I have 4 smartphone lines with Sprint, and we're planning on hopping onto my mother's Verizon plan since it's already established and she has a corporate discount. Do corporate discount no longer apply to the $30 double 2gb plan like they did the $29.99 unlimited plan? Or does it depend upon the discount individually negotiated by her employer?

That seems to be up in the air, but just to make sure, you should know that on Verizon employee discounts only apply to the primary line in a family plan.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2012 22:42

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

goku chewbacca posted:

Do you mean it only applies to the primary line, or just the base plan? I know it doesn't apply to the $9.99 line charges.

Both, since they've broken them out into separate charges. See below.

quote:

But I thought data plans (29.99 unlimited) on all lines were discounted.

Definitely not. Primary line only. And many employee discounts don't include "feature discounts", they only discount the phone plan -- i.e. no discount on data for any line.

quote:

1400 minute share plan $89.98 for the first two lines. Only 79.99 gets the discount.

Yes, kind of. The way it would work is there is an "account charge" of $70, and a primary line charge of $9.99, both of which get the discount. (Plus a $9.99 charge for the second line, which gets no discount).

quote:

What about the $10 messaging or the $30 family messaging?

This, I'm not sure about. I would guess the $30 charge would apply, but not the $10. Just a guess, though.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2012 00:11

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

cuedotnet posted:

Does the data used from the hotspot feature show up as a combined total under the data usage widget?

No. They're broken out in two sections -- iirc, they're called "Data" and "Broadband Connect data".

Also, note that any data used by the phone while the hotspot is active is considered hotspot data.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 13:06

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Weird Uncle Dave posted:

(Does Verizon resell their network like that?

Do things like Straight Talk and Net10 count?

# ¿ Apr 14, 2012 03:04

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

Cardboard Box A posted:

If I gift a used Verizon iPhone 4 to someone using an old Droid 2 on Verizon will it change their plan/data or whatnot?

Nope, nothing will change. Androids and iPhones use the same data plan, and since it's not a subsidized phone there's no contract extension.

quote:

What do I need to do to transfer it to them, given there's no SIM to swap?

You do nothing (I assume 'used' means it's not currently activated on your plan). They just activate it -- although I'm not sure if dialing *228 and choosing option 1 (the usual way to activate a Verizon phone) will work with an iPhone.

# ¿ May 4, 2012 07:45

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

frodnonnag posted:

What is wrong?

Don't know, but your numbers seem a bit high unless you're using non-base options and/or adding in taxes and fees. Are you getting your info from here?

Base family would be $70 for two voice lines (700 minutes)+ $60 for two data plans + either $10 for 1000 messages for you or $20 for unlimited messaging.

Single would be $40 for a voice line (450 mins?) + $30 for data + either $10 or $20 for texting.

# ¿ May 10, 2012 02:48

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 14:46

WithoutTheFezOn: Aug 28, 2005; Oh no

I'm more interested in seeing the numbers for the family data share plans, to be honest.

# ¿ May 16, 2012 20:22

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