No more 1 yr contracts!

[jreed2560]

 

[spottedcatfish]

Didn't Verizon give us some spiel about how when they did away with NE2, it was so they could create more special offers for customers? If the cell carriers hadn't created a situation for themselves where even the low-end smartphones cause buyers massive sticker shock at full-price, I'd expect to see the concept of the upgrade dying off. 1-year contracts were probably under-used due to the "Annual Upgrade," so the number of people who want an upgrade on an annual basis (and are willing to pay for it) =/= the people on a 1-year contract. Verizon already knows that though.

I'm betting they're about to jack the off-contract prices as well ala AT&T. And people say this market doesn't need more competition? I would say that constriction in benefits to customers is a pretty good sign that the market could stand another few viable competitors to force some cost innovation.

 

[Droidz]

Dear VZW,

F off and die.

Signed,

Everyone on your network.

This really makes me wonder why they push out 1 - 3 brand-new latest and greatest smartphones every month when you want to trap people in contracts for 2 years. I've got news for you, no ones gonna pay full retail for your stuff every couple months and your gonna be sitting on quite a bit of inventory because of this.

Quick question... do any of the other providers offer 1 year contracts still or allow you to upgrade every year like VZW did? If so I've found my new provider.

 

[drdoom]

Quick question... do any of the other providers offer 1 year contracts still or allow you to upgrade every year like VZW did? If so I've found my new provider.

If you find anyone, let me know. I would go sprint, but they don't offer annual upgrades unless you have a stupid high package price ($90 for individuals or $170 for shared).

Anyone want to give this a shot? I just confirmed that the clauses are still in the contract, unchanged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYUAnnCFscw&feature=player_embedded

 

[gwlaw99]

I wish Sprint didn't have such crappy coverage on the East coast compared to Verizon. I am getting so sick of them !@#$%ing their customers.

 

[generic username]

The carriers are not in business to be our friends. They are in business to make profits.

 

[drdoom]

The carriers are not in business to be our friends. They are in business to make profits.

As a consumer, I am in the business of saving money and voicing my disapproval of crappy companies like verizon by taking my business elsewhere.

 

[jreed2560]

So you are going to take your business away from verizon because they don't do one year contracts, and go to another carrier(sprint) that doesn't offer one yr contracts?

 

[kyler13]

As a consumer, I am in the business of saving money and voicing my disapproval of crappy companies like verizon by taking my business elsewhere.

This.

So you are going to take your business away from verizon because they don't do one year contracts, and go to another carrier(sprint) that doesn't offer one yr contracts?

No, you simply take your business to the lowest cost option. If they're gonna start killing off choices, they better start competing on other aspects. I don't need Verizon's super reliable network THAT badly. All I can say is that with my commitment to the family data plan back in December, I decided I'm not paying for new phones on a 2-year contract anymore (got my wife's Continuum for free). Fortunately there was a 1-year option that I didn't mind paying a slightly higher device price for a shorter commitment. With that only option now gone, the new option becomes changing carriers.

 

[jreed2560]

Remember you did this when Sprint kicks you off their network for roaming too much

 

[xmr405o]

VZW doesn't make money on cellphones even if they sold it at full retail price. They actually lose money on the hardware and make their profits on the plans. Thus all of their cost saving plans are based on discouraging their customers 1) from discontinuing service and 2) reducing the amount of customers buying new cellphones at a discounted price.

That's why they discontinued NE2, no more 1 year contracts and they jacked up the price on the early term fee.

All the things that VZW has been doing has mostly been negative. The only thing that I can remember that VZW has done in recent times is not charge a premium for using LTE but I'm sure that'll change too.

So their motives are clear to me.

 

[0837s]

If you find anyone, let me know. I would go sprint, but they don't offer annual upgrades unless you have a stupid high package price ($90 for individuals or $170 for shared).

Anyone want to give this a shot? I just confirmed that the clauses are still in the contract, unchanged.
YouTube - Tutorial: Get Out of Your Verizon Contract Without a Fee

Sprint actually had the "annual upgrade" on their plans up until April 1, 2011. I have a Sprint phone now and remember when I started service with them in June, they said that 1 year in, you could upgrade your phone. When I read this thread, I just called Sprint to find out and it appears that they are following suit with Verizon and AT&T. I'm going to have to make my next cell phone choice very carefully!

 

[drdoom]

Does anyone know of a carrier that offer one year contracts with a data plan only package?

I'm wondering if it is possible to be blacklisted by a carrier for calling them out on a contract breach on their end. Looking back through my bills, I noticed that the Federal Universal Service charge changes in price every 4 months or so.

 

[0837s]

Does anyone know of a carrier that offer one year contracts with a data plan only package?

I'm wondering if it is possible to be blacklisted by a carrier for calling them out on a contract breach on their end. Looking back through my bills, I noticed that the Federal Universal Service charge changes in price every 4 months or so.

I did this with US Cellular a few years ago, to get out of a contract. It worked, but they let me out and I had 1 week to go to a different carrier. It was then clearly stated on my profile that if I were to come back, that I was aware of this charge and there would be no way of bypassing it. I would imagine that those notes are still linked to my name/ssn.

 

[drdoom]

I did this with US Cellular a few years ago, to get out of a contract. It worked, but they let me out and I had 1 week to go to a different carrier. It was then clearly stated on my profile that if I were to come back, that I was aware of this charge and there would be no way of bypassing it. I would imagine that those notes are still linked to my name/ssn.

I figured it would work out that way. I could see how this could be abused if they didn't note it. Although, if it is still in your contract, I think it is bullshit that they are saying they can basically violate their end of the contract as long as you are aware of them doing so. Good to know this works though.

 

[0837s]

I figured it would work out that way. I could see how this could be abused if they didn't note it. Although, if it is still in your contract, I think it is bullshit that they are saying they can basically violate their end of the contract as long as you are aware of them doing so. Good to know this works though.

Otherwise I could cancel my contract because of the fee when a new phone came out, then start a new contract for the new phone. Then a new phone comes out that I want, so I cancel service and start a new contract for a new phone. It would keep going and going, especially on a network that has the iPhone. Each year at new iPhone launch time, you could bet a majority of customers would cancel service to get a new phone.

EDIT- I think once you cancel service, if you come back within 90 days, your old contract goes back in force. Could be wrong about that though- I do vaugely remember that from somewhere.

 

[gvillager]

Does anyone know of a carrier that offer one year contracts with a data plan only package?

I'm wondering if it is possible to be blacklisted by a carrier for calling them out on a contract breach on their end. Looking back through my bills, I noticed that the Federal Universal Service charge changes in price every 4 months or so.

Here is a pretty good explanation of why the Federal Universal Service charge changes quarterly.

Telephone Taxes | Federal Universal Service Fund

 

[vzwuser76]

VZW doesn't make money on cellphones even if they sold it at full retail price. They actually lose money on the hardware and make their profits on the plans. Thus all of their cost saving plans are based on discouraging their customers 1) from discontinuing service and 2) reducing the amount of customers buying new cellphones at a discounted price.

That's why they discontinued NE2, no more 1 year contracts and they jacked up the price on the early term fee.

All the things that VZW has been doing has mostly been negative. The only thing that I can remember that VZW has done in recent times is not charge a premium for using LTE but I'm sure that'll change too.

So their motives are clear to me.

I've heard this quite a bit & I highly doubt that. I remember when we were waiting on the Tbolt to be released, and there was a screenshot from Best Buy that showed 3 prices for the phone, cost, employee, & retail. The price of cost was around $380, employee was aorund $420, & retail was $750. Now Verizon's retail is $600, significantly lower than Best Buy's, but if the cost price is really $380, then they are making plenty of profit. Cost is what the retailers pay HTC for the phones, so if Best Buy is paying that much for them, Verizon is probably the same or close to it.

My remedy is simple. If they are going to get rid of 1 year contracts, let us buy it at full retail, and give us a discount on the plan. With a 2 year price of $249 and a cost of $380, they have to recover $130 over the 2 year contract. That's about $5.40 a month. Now add to the fact that they are making $220 of profit on each device, they could discount the plan up to $14 and still be in the same boat they are now, except for having the customer locked in for 2 years. But if the customer's happy, they will most likely stay with Verizon is they are satisfied.

Everybody says you won't switch to another carrier because of this, but when my contract is up, I will shop around. If nothing else I will try them out for the intro period and not be out anything. I have been with Verizon for 11 years, and was a loyal customer, but over the past few years they've been getting worse & worse. I've had phantom data on my bill (when I still had a flip phone & NEVER used data), had the VIP program dropped, lost NE2, annual upgrade, 1 year contracts, & had the phone test drive period cut in half. My bill has gone up 25% (not including data) and the only benefit I have gotten is free gps navigation (by Google). LTE won't be in my area for a few years, by which time it will be tiered. And I don't buy that losing a lot of these things happening around the time the iphone coming to Verizon is a coincidence.

They've basically taken away any perks that entice their customers to stay with them. It seems that their attitude is "We have the network and the iphone, why do you need choices?"

 

[cipher6]

So, would all you guys crying about Verizon being a crappy company and trying to screw its customers every time they change something you don't agree with, off up an apology if something like this was implemented?


Leaked Verizon Unleashed pricing sheets detail $50 unlimited talk / text plans -- Engadget

 

[jreed2560]

No. For 2 reasons:

1. It's not for smartphone
2. Without contracts we would have to buy the phones at full retail. And I'm not paying 600 bucks for a phone.

 

[cipher6]

So, basically anything a company does that you don't agree with, makes them a bad company trying to screw their costumers? You do know they have to make some sort of profit to stay around, install that new LTE and buy those cool new phones you can't wait to get your hands on.

What if you could add the 30$ unlimited data for your smart phone on to this $50 month to month?

 

[jreed2560]

Never said they were a bad company . Lol I work for them.

 

[cipher6]

So, can you tell us anything about this unreleased Verizon unleashed plan?

 

[kyler13]

So, would all you guys crying about Verizon being a crappy company and trying to screw its customers every time they change something you don't agree with, off up an apology if something like this was implemented?


Leaked Verizon Unleashed pricing sheets detail $50 unlimited talk / text plans -- Engadget

Wow, they take away a good benefit and replace it with a rather useless one. My apologies to Verizon. They clearly care about more than their bottom line.

 

[vzwuser76]

So, basically anything a company does that you don't agree with, makes them a bad company trying to screw their costumers? You do know they have to make some sort of profit to stay around, install that new LTE and buy those cool new phones you can't wait to get your hands on.

What if you could add the 30$ unlimited data for your smart phone on to this $50 month to month?

Ok, so they have taken away all options for their customers but 3. Either a 2 year contract (while they push out more advanced phones every month & push to get you to get them), pay full retail (which removes their overhead but they still charge you the same as if they are subsidizing the phone), or prepaid (no smartphones). If they left either the 1 year contract or the annual upgrade I don't think people would be as angry as they are.

They want people to stay with them, but the only way you can upgrade sooner than 2 years is pay full retail and go without a contract. I think they're banking on this economy forcing people to take the 2 year contract & shut up. They get everyone hooked on smartphones (when was the last time you saw a verizon ad for a non smartphone). They're kinda like a drug dealer. They get you hooked, but only the first one's free.

They're not a bad company, they're just a business looking out for number one. But good businesses find a way to do that and keep their customers happy at the same time. I think a lot of the issues arose when they canged CEOs. after that we lost annual upgrades, NE2s, 1 year contracts, trial period cut to 14 days, and getting a replacement phone will end up costing you almost as much as a mew retial phone (getting charged exhorbatant amounts for blemishes & nicks) if you don't have a protection plan with them.

Look at what they did with the Thunderbolt. It's version of Sense is not like the Inspire's on AT&T in that the features of htcsense.com (download skins, wallpapers, ringtones, locate your phone & do remote wipe) have been disabled becasue they have competing services that they can charge for. I kinda think if Android didn't have free navigation (like if Verizon only offered VZ Navigator), it wouldn't have taken off like it did.

Do I think any companies actually care about their customers? No. The only reason Sprint is offering what they are is because they are trailing the big 2, & have somewhat limited coverage (when you take away roaming on Verizon's network). If Sprint were in Verizon's place, I doubt they'd be offering what they are. Bu as the carriers get larger and insert themselves more into our lives, I see them getting even worse, either eliminating contracts altogether & charging a premium for their plans, or going the opposite end of the spectrum & going with 3 year contracts like Canada. That's my take. Just because how they do business isn't bad persay, it doesn't mean we can't get frustrated with it. I mean really, when is enough money enough?

As far as getting the $50 plan (for prepaid feature phones btw), even if you could get that & add data to it with your smartphone, it won't be unlimited. Verizon is already hinting that we're looking at tiered data by summer.