No more NE2 and Annual upgrades

[mozes316]

I dont know if anyone is talking about this yet or I'm just late, but i just found out that Verizon is now discontinuing the NE2 and Annual Upgrades as of January 16... SMDH I don't mind losing the NE2 credit, its the Annual Upgrade that kills me...

 

[Todd M]

+1 I was due an annual upgrade at the beginning of February. And of course they get rid of that... So much for having privileges for the VIP customers or primary number...

 

[BetaMan]

That's what Verizon just informed me of as well. I just got off the phone with the National Verizon Customer Service. I have 4 phones up for upgrade (total of 7 phones on my account) currently.

Wanted to hold out for the HTC "Thunderbolt".

 

[wedgemoose]

so what does this mean? that we have to pay Full retail for a phone? it can't be...


i thought it was only for the 1 year plan people???? they expect us to use the same phone forever???? what the hell...... (i'm hoping i'm just understanding it wrong--please tell me "I'm an idiot".....Please!!!!)

 

[mozes316]

Everyone that has signed a contract before the 16th is still eligible for it... but its your last one.

 

[Tony Touch]

Damn..terrible news!

 

[Mischka7]

I still can't believe that they would do away with either program. More likely is they won't allow people to apply the upgrade discount to the iPhone.

 

[fortesquieu]

god damn iphones

 

[cipher6]

From what I know, NE2 means you get a discount on new phone in 20 months. Other companies make you wait the full 24 months before you get your discount.

I'm pretty sure when your contract is up you will still be offered a discount on a new phone to sign a new contract. If not, everyone is gonna bail on Verizon once their contract is up.

I got my new contract price upgrade 2 months before my NE2 was up just recently by telling them I needed to buy a phone today, and 2 new iPhones plus 1st month of ATT contract plus canceling Verizon fee would be a few hundred dollars cheaper than if I bought 2 incredibles at retail and kept Verizon.

It took about a hour, of bounding from sales to support to sales etc. And make it sound like I was doing them a favor by offering them a chacne to match ATT and iPhones price and keep my account.

 

[dibs ODDJOB]

Everyone that has signed a contract before the 16th is still eligible for it... but its your last one.

Ya, it has to be this. For us that bought last year, we should be able to upgrade early, per usual, granted you have a primary line. But it will be your last early upgrade. I'd recommend switching over to 1 year contracts for early upgraders. A little more upfront, but loads cheaper than dropping $600 for a new phone. It's what I'll probably end up doing.

 

[Old Member]

Just BS that's all.

 

[drdoom]

I think I'll wait as long as possible so my ETF drops down and either switch carriers or get on a 1 year contract plan.

 

[ACD168]

I just called to ask about this, it basically just doesn't give you the $30-$50 NE2 discount, you can still upgrade after 20 months.. I also asked that if I could still use an upgrade on a different line to upgrade my device and she said yes and get this, she says that if I do that I would either have to return mine or my dads phone becuase it under contract even though I and he paid for our phones... so I said well. I'll just give him my money go in upgrade his phone, then go back to his old phone, and give me the new one and save myself from sending back my old phone and she goes, well yea you can do that. HAHAHAHAH what a joke. She said this change is basically to get people to upgrade their devices now BEFORE all the better phones come out. WHAT A BUNCH OF A-HOLES. WOW!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ACD168]

OKAY, so I just called and got a real cool chick rep who gave me the real deal. If I was to use an upgrade from a line on our plan that has an upgrade because my phone doesn't. The phone I'm taking the upgrade from is a non-smart phone, I am going to use the upgrade to get a LTE phone when they come out. She said All that has to be done is activate the new phone on the line that the upgrade was used from, then activate the old phone, and then give me the new phone to activate, and also the line I used the upgrade from (non smart phone) contract wouldn't be affected meaning they wouldn't have to pay for a smart phone contract since they technically used an upgrade for a smart phone. The rep before me what a joke. I said the lady 5 min ago said I'd have to send back my phone or the upgraded line phone since its under contract AND the upgraded line that doesn't have smart phone would be charged smart phone price EVEN though it went back to a non smart phone

 

[Medion]

Everyone that has signed a contract before the 16th is still eligible for it... but its your last one.

This post needs to be repeated.

If you already have an account with the annual (13 month) and/or NE2 upgrade, you still get it, but only once more. Any accounts signed up for on or after the 16th will not get this benefit.

If you renew between now and the 15th, you'll still be treated as being "before the 16th," meaning you'd get the upgrade you just used, plus one more.

Many people are speculating that this is because of the upcoming iPhone. If so, it does make sense. Apple charges a larger subsidy to sell their phone (about $100 more than other smartphones). As such, AT&T makes less money on an iPhone sale than they do on, say, a Samsung Captivate. Well, if Verizon has to deal with this, they can't then afford to keep giving extra customer incentives. Also, I don't think Apple would like it if Verizon sold their phone, continued using NE2 for everyone EXCEPT Apple customers, so it had to go.

It sucks, but it had to be done for Verizon, if the speculation is to be believed.

 

[octoberdana]

This post needs to be repeated.

If you already have an account with the annual (13 month) and/or NE2 upgrade, you still get it, but only once more. Any accounts signed up for on or after the 16th will not get this benefit.

If you renew between now and the 15th, you'll still be treated as being "before the 16th," meaning you'd get the upgrade you just used, plus one more.

Many people are speculating that this is because of the upcoming iPhone. If so, it does make sense. Apple charges a larger subsidy to sell their phone (about $100 more than other smartphones). As such, AT&T makes less money on an iPhone sale than they do on, say, a Samsung Captivate. Well, if Verizon has to deal with this, they can't then afford to keep giving extra customer incentives. Also, I don't think Apple would like it if Verizon sold their phone, continued using NE2 for everyone EXCEPT Apple customers, so it had to go.

It sucks, but it had to be done for Verizon, if the speculation is to be believed.

AT&T exempts the additional subsidies on the Iphone and it's not a big deal so Verizon could too. They may just want to make it easier to take it away instead of making it look like they are punishing Iphone customers.

Besides they are going to sell SLEWS of them at full price so there is no need to offer incentive.

 

[WormDoes]

So any plan that was signed before the 16th of January will still be able to use the NE2 in the future? Reason I ask is because I've been sitting on a NE2 for a few months and don't want to lose it.

 

[octoberdana]

Ya, it has to be this. For us that bought last year, we should be able to upgrade early, per usual, granted you have a primary line. But it will be your last early upgrade. I'd recommend switching over to 1 year contracts for early upgraders. A little more upfront, but loads cheaper than dropping $600 for a new phone. It's what I'll probably end up doing.

If you do an early upgrade, you have to sign a two year agreement. They don't offer the option to a do a one year contract on an annual upgrade. So at some point, we will have to hang onto one phone for 20 months or buy elsewhere to tide over.

 

[euph_22]

AT&T exempts the additional subsidies on the Iphone and it's not a big deal so Verizon could too. They may just want to make it easier to take it away instead of making it look like they are punishing Iphone customers.

Besides they are going to sell SLEWS of them at full price so there is no need to offer incentive.

Or else people are just pinning any move Verizon makes to the still mythical veriPhone.

 

[Medion]

AT&T exempts the additional subsidies on the Iphone and it's not a big deal so Verizon could too. They may just want to make it easier to take it away instead of making it look like they are punishing Iphone customers.

Misunderstanding here, possibly on my part. I'll clarify.

Let's say Verizon is selling you a smartphone at a retail of $499.99, but a contract price of $199.99 for 2 years. As a retailer, they're probably paying something like $479.99 to the OEM for every phone they sell at full price. When they rebate the phone to $199.99, rather than pay the OEM the full $479.99 (theoretical number), they pay the OEM the $199.99 plus a subsidy. This way the carrier and OEM make back most of the difference over the course of the contract.

In this case, Apple charges the carrier roughly $100 more on the subsidy than other OEMs. This isn't a fee that AT&T exempts customers, it's a fee the carrier literally has to pay to the OEM per sale.

If Verizon now has to pay an additional $100 per phone, they're not going to want to then give customers and additional $30-$100 per line to upgrade to that phone. But, if they do away with NE2 for the iPhone, in order to keep Apple on board, they have to do away with it for everyone.

 

[Los88]

I'm freaking tired of Apple!

 

[mozes316]

Well, Verizon is about volume not customer service, so we should expect stuff like this from them. Like I said though, everyone who signed before the 16th will get their annual and NE2 and will have 6 months to claim it after its available.
This couldn't just be for the iPhone though, if that was the only reason then I'm sure it would only apply to the iPhone. What they want is new lines, not really caring for established consumers.
I heard their more changes coming as well.

 

[mozes316]

Oh yea... DROID POWER!


lol

 

[Medion]

This couldn't just be for the iPhone though, if that was the only reason then I'm sure it would only apply to the iPhone. What they want is new lines, not really caring for established consumers.

Like I said, if they were to apply this ONLY to the iPhone, Apple would be pissed and wouldn't let them sell it.

 

[mozes316]

Like I said, if they were to apply this ONLY to the iPhone, Apple would be pissed and wouldn't let them sell it.

I wouldn't see why, iPhone wouldn't have any trouble selling the product regardless and the iPad already gets special treatment the Galaxy Tab and the Xoom won't get. Not saying that their isn't an iPhone on the way but that can't be all of it.