Can someone please help me find answers?

[SRIHARSHA2]

Here begins another tragic tale of a Verizon user's experience with the Verizon customer service. I will try to make this a concise and an interesting narrative to all the people who might come across this in the future.

Our story begins with the release of the iPhone 7. Like everyone else, I was excited to upgrade my current iPhone 6. I logged into my Verizon account, checked the upgrade options on my device and noticed the following message:

"The device associated with xxx.xxx.6602 doesn't match the device ID on your original monthly device payment agreement. In Order to complete an Early Device Upgrade, please activate your original device. If you choose to upgrade this line without activating the original device, you will have to pay off the existing balance of $308.62. If you have any questions, you can call 1.800.922.0204 for more information."

Attempt #1 for help: So I called the 800.922.0204 number to find out what the issue was and how I can 'activate my original device'. The lady who answered my call heard me out, put me on hold for several minutes and later told me her systems were down and she would transfer me to the sales department to get this fixed. I agreed and was back to being on hold once again. After waiting for 30 odd minutes on hold, I gave up.

Attempt #2 for help: Walked into a local Verizon store in Lincoln, NE and narrated them my story. They said it couldn't be fixed in store and asked me to call the phone number.

Attempt #3 for help: Called the 800.922.0204 number again and had better luck this time. The guy on the line sounded like he genuinely want to help me. We figured out a few things during this call:

1. My phone number was part of a family plan before I transferred my line out of the family plan and made it a single-line

2. While I was on the family plan, someone on my family line used my upgrade to get themselves a new iPhone 6S. When this happened, the retail price for the iPhone 6S started showing up on my account instead of the retail price for my iPhone 6 (I was still paying the monthly device for the iPhone 6 tho)

3. When this upgrade happened, somehow the device MEID for my 6 got switched out with the 6S and that resulted in the message I originally saw when I tried to upgrade.

The rep went on to explain that this was a 'complicated' problem and he was trying to figure out a way to work through this. After several long holds, he came back to me and suggested I pay off my device and upgrade to the iPhone 7 without having to pay a lot of extra money. My issue with this was, why should I pay off for the retail price of the 6S when all I ever used was a 6? When I asked the rep the same question, he said he understood and placed me on hold again to talk with some other department. By then, I was on the phone for about an hour and needed to get back to work. So, I asked this rep to give me a call back when he figured it out. He said he would, checked my call back number and never got back to me.

Here ends the narrative of my story so far. Can someone please help me find answers?

Thanks,

Harsha

[Weth · Accepted solution]

SRIHARSHA2 wrote:

2. While I was on the family plan, someone on my family line used my upgrade to get themselves a new iPhone 6S. When this happened, the retail price for the iPhone 6S started showing up on my account instead of the retail price for my iPhone 6 (I was still paying the monthly device for the iPhone 6 tho)

3. When this upgrade happened, somehow the device MEID for my 6 got switched out with the 6S and that resulted in the message I originally saw when I tried to upgrade.

The rep went on to explain that this was a 'complicated' problem and he was trying to figure out a way to work through this. After several long holds, he came back to me and suggested I pay off my device and upgrade to the iPhone 7 without having to pay a lot of extra money. My issue with this was, why should I pay off for the retail price of the 6S when all I ever used was a 6?

Thank you for clearly explaining your situation, I wish most people were as clear as you are. However, the answer is not going to be what you wanted.

The key points to your story are what I left in the quote above. Unfortunately since someone in your old family plan used your available upgrade to buy a 6S, even though it was never used on your line, the responsibility for that phone was now on your line and it carried with you when you went to a single line. The problem is the person using your upgrade to get a phone for them. You will have to convince this other person to give up their 6S (unlikely) or get them to payoff the remaining amount for you ($308.62). Alternatively, you can wait until the payments are completed. I agree, not fun, but this is a situation someone else did to you and is not Verizon's fault or problem.