More TB refurb headaches to watch for....

[TxGoat]

I'm sure many of you have followed the refurb nightmare that I've been going through with Verizon over the past couple of months and I actually figured keeping my phone (since despite the screen going dark on occasion, it was still in better condition than some of the refurbs being sent) until I could deal with the Verizon customer service* issues I've been having of late.

The other day I reviewed my last month's bill only to notice that my bill was a good $30 more than typical. I called Verizon to inquire. Apparently I was on a pricing plan that was no longer available when I attempted to switch service to another refurb phone. I told the CS rep that I didn't change service, but equipment. She indicated to me that she would have to request a re-authorization of my old pricing and I'll have to wait a week to see if it's approved.

Why bother signing a contract if they can change my plan because I'm changing my equipment via a warranty repair? I think this may be the last contact I get locked into by Verizon. The only problem is that other carriers aren't any better. Who knows maybe I'll just live without cell service and rely on my company provided cell phone exclusively.....

 

[CharlzO]

Not sure why they would change the plan on this refurb, not any others. I could see if there was a plan that you were on that was no longer compatible, but I can't think of any that would've changed recently (other than the new account level pricing for family shares), that would affect it. Even with the account level, it shouldn't have changed anything. That, and you should've been made aware at the time it originally happened, that it was going to change. Hopefully they get that straightened out for you.

 

[Yeahha]

That makes no sense. If you have a contract with them and you purchase a new phone without an incentive discount they can't change your plan unless they are going to try to pull the "oh well your current plan is not available for devices produced after <insert random date here>" BS. But with the 4G sim all you should have to do to change the device is put the SIM in another 4G VZW phone.

What part of the plan did they change? Data or Voice? Or did they drop a promotional discount that you had?

 

[TxGoat]

Not sure why they would change the plan on this refurb, not any others. I could see if there was a plan that you were on that was no longer compatible, but I can't think of any that would've changed recently (other than the new account level pricing for family shares), that would affect it. Even with the account level, it shouldn't have changed anything. That, and you should've been made aware at the time it originally happened, that it was going to change. Hopefully they get that straightened out for you.

That's what they said happened, the plan that I signed up under wasn't available when I made the switch.

The woman said the plan that changed was the Voice plan. She said there were no overages but that my voice plan had been changed.

 

[brandonrr]

For some reason, when I switched to my 4th refurbished, Verizon had dropped my unlimited data and I learned after just two days that I only had 2gb after watching Netflix and nearly going over my allowed data usage. 5 frustrating customer service calls and 2 long weeks later, I had my unlimited data back and I have already used about 5gb in 15 days.

 

[TxGoat]

For some reason, when I switched to my 4th refurbished, Verizon had dropped my unlimited data and I learned after just two days that I only had 2gb after watching Netflix and nearly going over my allowed data usage. 5 frustrating customer service calls and 2 long weeks later, I had my unlimited data back and I have already used about 5gb in 15 days.

Sigh, so now I have to worry about my unlimited data being removed? I think if that happens then I'm just going to tell Verizon to go sit on a hot refurbed thunderbolt, sideways.

 

[CharlzO]

Sounds like there was a mixup somewhere during the switch. I don't know why they made such a big deal about it. Did you ever switch to an old phone in the meantime on any of your refurbs? One issue I've seen come up (and was warned to watch for in a conf. call), is that if someone has unlimited, and needs to switch back to an old (non-smartphone) phone temporarily while getting a replacement issued, to make sure that the account is noted by a CS rep to ensure that the unlimited plan is the one re-added back to the account when the replacement goes on.

Aside from that though, I can't imagine any other change that could've affected it mid-way, with the same phone. I can see if you had Phone A on plan A, and then when you upgraded to Phone B, and they had to put you on Plan B since "A" wasn't compatible. But if you had Phone B on A with no issues, and were simply changing to another identical Phone B, it shouldn't have changed.

Glad they got you straightened out. And just serves as a reminder to the rest of us with the unlimited, to make sure whenever making any account changes, to make sure that the rep you are dealing with keeps everything correct and doesn't somehow drop the unlimited.

 

[TxGoat]

Sounds like there was a mixup somewhere during the switch. I don't know why they made such a big deal about it. Did you ever switch to an old phone in the meantime on any of your refurbs? One issue I've seen come up (and was warned to watch for in a conf. call), is that if someone has unlimited, and needs to switch back to an old (non-smartphone) phone temporarily while getting a replacement issued, to make sure that the account is noted by a CS rep to ensure that the unlimited plan is the one re-added back to the account when the replacement goes on.

Aside from that though, I can't imagine any other change that could've affected it mid-way, with the same phone. I can see if you had Phone A on plan A, and then when you upgraded to Phone B, and they had to put you on Plan B since "A" wasn't compatible. But if you had Phone B on A with no issues, and were simply changing to another identical Phone B, it shouldn't have changed.

Glad they got you straightened out. And just serves as a reminder to the rest of us with the unlimited, to make sure whenever making any account changes, to make sure that the rep you are dealing with keeps everything correct and doesn't somehow drop the unlimited.

I think that's what actually happened. I used an old phone when my TB took a dump (nothing on the screen so I couldn't even answer the phone). They wanted to send me a refurb which I'd receive in 4 days (phone took a dump on Friday so my refurb request would get processed on Mon for delivery on Tue). I told them to just activate an old phone until I could get a refurb sent out. Oh well, I just hope they didn't take away my unlimited data.

 

[Yeahha]

I don't think they should, if they do then you should be able to jump ship with no EFT if that is an option for you.

 

[TxGoat]

I don't think they should, if they do then you should be able to jump ship with no EFT if that is an option for you.

In theory I agree, but I'm a heavy data user (100+ GB isn't unusual per month) and I've had them send out a lot of TB refurbs so I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I went to another carrier.

 

[Yeahha]

100+ GB are you tethering or something? Even listening to 80+ hours of audio weekly I rarely exceeded 25 GB.

Sprint is the only unlimited carrier still around and I am sure they would throttle you or call that use excessive.

 

[TxGoat]

100+ GB are you tethering or something? Even listening to 80+ hours of audio weekly I rarely exceeded 25 GB.

Sprint is the only unlimited carrier still around and I am sure they would throttle you or call that use excessive.

It used to be higher when that TV show stream app was actually working. I could watch a whole season of my favorite cheesy 80s sitcom show in a week....Sadly though, I don't have that kind of leisure time anymore....

 

[Yeahha]

And the dev of TV show stream got the C&D order, I think the German police searched the devs house and may have arrested him as well.

 

[CharlzO]

I think that's what actually happened. I used an old phone when my TB took a dump (nothing on the screen so I couldn't even answer the phone). They wanted to send me a refurb which I'd receive in 4 days (phone took a dump on Friday so my refurb request would get processed on Mon for delivery on Tue). I told them to just activate an old phone until I could get a refurb sent out. Oh well, I just hope they didn't take away my unlimited data.

Yeah, they should still get you back on unlimited. They were told to watch for things like this, that if someone had that exact situation, to make sure that you get back to the plan you had prior. Might want to call to double-check, but it should be ok for you.

 

[Sketchr]

So this makes me wonder how long Verizon is going to allow those of us grandfathered in to keep the unlimited. So when we upgrade to the newest version of TB or another phone we may be switched to tiered...

 

[quantumandroid]

Better not, that would suck. I don't care if they have the best network, they need to honor unlimited data. The limited data is a way to get rich off of customers, I mean 4g just sucks data. Unless you are on WiFi all the time it is almost pointless to have a data plan. Consumers need to stand up to this and demand some kind of unlimited data.

 

[CharlzO]

So this makes me wonder how long Verizon is going to allow those of us grandfathered in to keep the unlimited. So when we upgrade to the newest version of TB or another phone we may be switched to tiered...

Well, as it stands now, we're still grandfathered in, as long as we still stay with a smartphone on our upgrades. Basically: As long as we have the unlimited, and keep staying with smartphones as upgrades, we keep the unlimited.

However, as with anything, it is subject to change. Just because that's how it is NOW, doesn't mean it might not change down the road. But, for now, you're still locked into the unlimited, even if you upgrade to a new phone.

 

[Yeahha]

If they try to take away the unlimited data and you can afford it just buy your next phone off contract. They can't make you change your contract if you don't sign a new one. From what I have seen in the past VZW is good about keeping you grandfathered into plans as long as you don't need to do anything to the plan like add a line to a single line plan.

 

[TxGoat]

If they try to take away the unlimited data and you can afford it just buy your next phone off contract. They can't make you change your contract if you don't sign a new one. From what I have seen in the past VZW is good about keeping you grandfathered into plans as long as you don't need to do anything to the plan like add a line to a single line plan.

It must be different with USB air cards. My father had a USB aircard that for some reason just stopped working. He had unlimited data on his plan and tried to get an upgrade. He was told that they couldn't get that plan for him. We then asked if he bought a new aircard outright, if then he could switch his data plan to that new aircard. They said they couldn't allow that either. I'd say it's just selective enforcement of their policy, for the most part.