Verizon costly?

Thunderbolt89 said:

My brother and I have a plan. 2 thunderbolts with texting and data(family plan). 280 a month!>!>!>!!??!?!?!?!?

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If you buy a texting plan, you deserve to pay for shares of the Brooklyn Bridge along with it. I've never used more than 300-400 minutes a month. So, I get off easy there. Unlimited data is the draw, especially LTE unlimited data.

I got the $20 promotional discount for data plans back in December/January, and I'm still on the $110/mth 1400 minutes + unlimited texting and ten favorites (or whatever Big Red calls them). So my bills runs $160 for three lines.

I'm on a family plan(4 people) $120/month unlimited text with 1400 minutes + $30 for my data. So, I pay $30 for my part of the plan and $30 for my data. $60 a month isn't that bad imo

I communicate more via email and text so I have about 400 minutes a month (don't forget free evenings and weekends) voice and unlimited data. And it doesn't hurt that I have a 20% and 26% company discount so I pay about $80 a month after taxes. When I see the $40-$60 "unlimited" plans from other companies, I figure the extra $20-$40 for Verizon's reliability is worth being able to make a call and not wonder if I'll drop the call or if I will have a data connection when I need it.

Thunderbolt89 said:

My brother and I have a plan. 2 thunderbolts with texting and data(family plan). 280 a month!>!>!>!!??!?!?!?!?

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Are you actually USING that many minutes a month? And is that 280 your average montly bill, or are you a new customer and that's bill #1 rec'd? I can see it at that high if you're on an unlimited talk family plan, I guess, but if you aren't coming anywhere close to those minutes, and that's the plan you're on, drop it down and save some change.

For example, my gf and I have 3 lines on ours, all smartphones, on the 700 min T&T plan, and our bill isn't that high for all three. And between all three, we use maybe 400 minutes a month.

And if it's just cause you just signed up, then the prorate and activation fees (if applicable) are naturally going to raise the first bill. That should be no surprise.

Oh and another thing to consider, Verizon's doing that free mobile to mobile minutes, so that's even less actual minutes you use if you call mostly cell phones.

TxGoat said:

Oh and another thing to consider, Verizon's doing that free mobile to mobile minutes, so that's even less actual minutes you use if you call mostly cell phones.

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True. And since so many people on every carrier seem to be getting androids i've started encouraging people to use gtalk more to save on text messaging minutes. Most of them say they don't even think about gtalk lol

CharlzO said:

Are you actually USING that many minutes a month? And is that 280 your average montly bill, or are you a new customer and that's bill #1 rec'd? I can see it at that high if you're on an unlimited talk family plan, I guess, but if you aren't coming anywhere close to those minutes, and that's the plan you're on, drop it down and save some change.

For example, my gf and I have 3 lines on ours, all smartphones, on the 700 min T&T plan, and our bill isn't that high for all three. And between all three, we use maybe 400 minutes a month.

And if it's just cause you just signed up, then the prorate and activation fees (if applicable) are naturally going to raise the first bill. That should be no surprise.

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I didn't even think of that. The very first bill is always scary.

Holy shishka!

My entire phone bill (DSL + Cellular + Home Phone) is less than 280 a month...

Thunderbolt89 said:

My brother and I have a plan. 2 thunderbolts with texting and data(family plan). 280 a month!>!>!>!!??!?!?!?!?

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What do you have everything possible? I have 4 lines 1 tb, 1 feature phone and 2 dumb phones for my parents with unlimited texting, unlimited data for me and the 9.99 a month data for my brother, 750 minutes and my bill is only 167 a month.

We pay $106 (this incl taxes) a month. That includes 700 min family plan (2 lines $70), 1 smart phone and 1 dumb phone ($30 data), $10 text plan for me and $5 for my husband and 20% corporate discount off my line and data plan. This is more than enough for us. We have never come close to hitting our limit on voice or texts. Everyone we know uses Verizon Wireless so we use a ton of mobile to mobile. I have heard that VZW is pretty expensive overall from folks who are on other carriers, but I also consider reliability/no dropped calls extremely important. Nothing more frustrating than meeting Mr. Click mid conversation imo.

TxGoat said:

Oh and another thing to consider, Verizon's doing that free mobile to mobile minutes, so that's even less actual minutes you use if you call mostly cell phones.

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You mean any mobile any carrier? Isn't that available just in the southern states or did they finally roll it out more?

lamoglinsgal said:

I got the $20 promotional discount for data plans back in December/January, and I'm still on the $110/mth 1400 minutes + unlimited texting and ten favorites (or whatever Big Red calls them). So my bills runs $160 for three lines.

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We've got pretty much the same deal as you (1400 minute plan, unlmtd txt, & unlmtd data w/ $20 discount but with 5 lines) and we're at $210 a month. Before that we had 1400 min., unlmtd txt, & unlmtd dat (data only on 2 lines then), and we were paying $220 month. So by going with that promo they had, we've got unlimited data for all lines and it ended up saving us $10 a month.

As far as the OP, is this actually your first bill? Because if so they do a prorated bill (unless you signed up at the beginning of their billing cycle) plus bill you a month in advance (that way if you try to skip out they have the last month already paid for). So if it is your first bill, your next should be anywhere for 50-75% (guesstimate) of your current $280.

I could give you a better idea of what you should be paying if you had been more specific about you plan. Like the actual amount of minutes, if you are using any of Verizon's other services (VZ Navigator, VCast, dashboard, etc.), or if you had any accessories billed to your account (cases, shargers, etc.).

Let's say a 1400 minute plan with no Verizon extras. That would be a 1400 Talk & Text plan (2 lines) for $120, plus unlimited data for 2 lines (I don't think they're still doing the promo I got) for $60. That's $180 before taxes (figure around $200 with). I'd guess that'd be your next bill unless you rack up any extraneous charges (add any Verizon services or bill any accessories to your account).

One thing I will say, the cheapest way to go (as far as smartphones) is get as many lines on a family plan (assuming all 5 lines pay an equal amount). With the plan I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we each pay around $45 a month. To put that in perspective, my dad was on our family share plan, but he doesn't text or use data, so we spun him off into his own single line plan (we had to add another family member who does use data & texting). With 450 minutes & no data or text, his line costs $47 a month.

Your probably paying too much unless you spend all day texting and talking.
Me and my wife have two smart phones and the bill is not quite $200/month after taxes and the other crap they add. We have 1400 minutes of shared talk time and 500 text each (I wasn't even going over with 250 but my wife was up in the 300's so I just upgraded both. before that our bill was only $180 a month and for $10 I can upgrade either phone to 1000 text plus free to other phones on verizon). the second phone you should only be paying $10 for the additional line + $30 for the data plan and then the little stuff (insurance $6, text plan, ring backs ect). Whatever the case we have two smartphone with more minutes and text then we will ever use for under $200 with insurance and the little stuff we want (which is hardly anything).

Howie said:

You mean any mobile any carrier? Isn't that available just in the southern states or did they finally roll it out more?

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According to this, mobile to mobile calling is verizon's new term for IN calling which is only for calling people on the VZM network.

Verizon | Frequently Asked Questions About Mobile to Mobile Calling

Sprint has unlimited mobile to mobile to any mobile phone in the USA I believe, not so for verizon.

ben7337 said:

According to this, mobile to mobile calling is verizon's new term for IN calling which is only for calling people on the VZM network.

Verizon | Frequently Asked Questions About Mobile to Mobile Calling

Sprint has unlimited mobile to mobile to any mobile phone in the USA I believe, not so for verizon.

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Oh, I thought they were talking about this www.verizonwireless.com/anymobile
which is Verizons version of Sprint and AT&T's any mobile on any carrier -- BUT it's limited to just select southern states.

Howie said:

You mean any mobile any carrier? Isn't that available just in the southern states or did they finally roll it out more?

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I meant mobile to mobile w/in the vzw network, sorry. Just about everyone we know is on VZW and that helps a lot.