For those who signed up for the Data Discount promo last fall

[vzwuser76]

Last year around November/December I signed up for a promo they were offering for data plans. Basically (if on a family share plan) you had to put all lines on a $29.99 data plan, then Verizon issued a $20 credit for each of those lines. So basically every line on the plan got unlimited data for $9.99 each. It was a great deal and they ended it quickly.

I recently called in to find out about a few things with the new tiered data structure. What I found was:

1. Even though I had unlimited data on every line, 2 lines still had feature phones on them. When they upgrade next they will fall under the tiered data structure. Apparently to qualify to be grandfathered into unlimited data, the line had to have a smartphone on it, not just unlimited data.

2. The ability to upgrade & keep unlimited will last for at least another upgrade and will not be afftected if you're switching from 3G to 4G. But beyond that they were unclear on how long we'd be able to keep unlimited data.

3. This is the reason I started this thread. Anyone who got into the data promo I described previously will keep that discount through...2038 according to their records. While the others were kind of a bummer, this made my day.

Now granted, they will probably come up with a way to get people to relinquish this discount (some new feature that will require losing this discount), but maybe not. If you got in on it, try and hold onto it!

 

[Yeahha]

Last year around November/December I signed up for a promo they were offering for data plans. Basically (if on a family share plan) you had to put all lines on a $29.99 data plan, then Verizon issued a $20 credit for each of those lines. So basically every line on the plan got unlimited data for $9.99 each. It was a great deal and they ended it quickly.

I recently called in to find out about a few things with the new tiered data structure. What I found was:

1. Even though I had unlimited data on every line, 2 lines still had feature phones on them. When they upgrade next they will fall under the tiered data structure. Apparently to qualify to be grandfathered into unlimited data, the line had to have a smartphone on it, not just unlimited data.

2. The ability to upgrade & keep unlimited will last for at least another upgrade and will not be afftected if you're switching from 3G to 4G. But beyond that they were unclear on how long we'd be able to keep unlimited data.

3. This is the reason I started this thread. Anyone who got into the data promo I described previously will keep that discount through...2038 according to their records. While the others were kind of a bummer, this made my day.

Now granted, they will probably come up with a way to get people to relinquish this discount (some new feature that will require losing this discount), but maybe not. If you got in on it, try and hold onto it!

1. A smart phone with the discount will still get the unlimited data along with the discount from what I understand.

2. Yeah that has pretty much been discussed I do think you could just buy your new phones out of contract and they can't do anything about it.

3. When I got the promotion (on two smart phones) they confirmed the discount was for the life of my relationship with Verizon. I would expect them to honor that.

I have no issues buying a phone out of contract I've been a Verizon customers for quite a few years I expect them to do what is laid out by the contract. They will likely try to find ways to prevent people from keeping unlimited data but I will try time and time again to hold onto it as long as I can.

 

[vzwuser76]

1. A smart phone with the discount will still get the unlimited data along with the discount from what I understand.

2. Yeah that has pretty much been discussed I do think you could just buy your new phones out of contract and they can't do anything about it.

3. When I got the promotion (on two smart phones) they confirmed the discount was for the life of my relationship with Verizon. I would expect them to honor that.
I have no issues buying a phone out of contract I've been a Verizon customers for quite a few years I expect them to do what is laid out by the contract. They will likely try to find ways to prevent people from keeping unlimited data but I will try time and time again to hold onto it as long as I can.

Yes a smartphone with unlimited data will get the discount (for now) but what I was referring to was the 2 lines with feature phones on them. A lot of people on here have been saying that all you need is a data plan, but since Verizon treats feature phone data plans differently than smartphone data plans, those 2 lines will lose unlimited data, even if they upgrade to another feature phone, per the Verizon CSR.

As far as buying out of contract, once they decide to eliminate grandfathering I think they will switch you out to tiered, since they'd have to set up the phone on the network with a data plan, and after they quit grandfathering the only plans available will be tiered.

Don't know if that's exactly how it will shake out, but going by what they have done in the past, I'd guess that's how it will happen.

 

[Yeahha]

If you buy out of contract they can't change your current contract, once your contract is over if you don't renew they can't change it and you are basically a pay as you go user. What they could do is say this phone is not compatible with this old plan we no longer offer. If you already have an LTE sim card you should be able to change the phone without using VZW.

 

[vzwuser76]

If you buy out of contract they can't change your current contract, once your contract is over if you don't renew they can't change it and you are basically a pay as you go user. What they could do is say this phone is not compatible with this old plan we no longer offer. If you already have an LTE sim card you should be able to change the phone without using VZW.

They are not changing the current contract, just a feature of it. Just like you can drop, change or add features like texting or VZNavigator without changing your current contract, so can Verizon. Because the two lines I referrenced would be switching from a dumbphone to a smartphone, one feature (data plan for dumbphones) is different than another feature (data plan for smartphones) so it can be changed without changing your contract.

Believe me I have tried arguing some of the points you are making, but the responses I have been given is what I have gotten from numerous CSRs & supervisors.

In this case it kinda cuts both ways. While we can change features of our plans without changing/ extending the contract, so can Verizon. An example of this is a conversation I had with Verizon the other day. My launch day Incredible1 was damaged, which I use as a media player and backup to my primary phone (it was dropped and the amoled screen got cracked, but not the external glass). I asked if I had problems with my current Incredible2 would I be able to switch to a dumbphone and not lose my unlimited data. I was told that I could as long as I'm not on the dumbphone for more than 30 days. Doing so would switch me to a tiered data plan. The reason they give is that, again, smartphone data and dumphone data are two different features, and they have a 30 day limit before I lose my unlimited data feature.

It used to be that any change made (changing minutes, adding or dropping features, etc.) resulted in a change/ extension of a contract (which is technically how a contract is supposed to work). They don't do that anymore and lost the abilty to keep you locked into your contract longer than you initially signed on for. But now they now have the ability to get rid of features that benefit you and cost them money while in the contract period rather than wait until you are out of contract.