I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
BICEPSBOB
Enthusiast - Level 2

I have been a loyal verizon customer for 2 decades and I have never been so annoyed and frustrated with Verizon as I am right now. I feel you have hung all us Note 7 owners out to dry and are taking advantage of the Samsung Note 7 disaster, buy making everyone start a new 2 year contract and pay up to $900 for a phone we don't want, while we wait for the Galaxy S8 series phones to come out in a few months.

I still have my Note 7 and want to keep it until I can buy an S8 series phone, but Verizon and Samsung are trying to make this impossible by sending an update on Jan 5th to basically disable the phones (unless you are blocking updates).

So I contacted Verizon via chat on your website on 12/29 and the rep told me that I could keep using my Note 7 until the S8s come out. I asked about the Jan 5 update and they didn't know what I was talking about. I have the chat saved.

So the next day, yesterday, I went to my local Verizon Wireless corporate store to get better answers. My primary question was if I got a S7 Edge now, am I stuck in a 2 year contract? And if I want to upgrade to a phone I actually want, an Galaxy S8, when it comes out in 3-4 months, will I be forced to pay the full price of the S7 Edge off (if I get that phone temporarily), or will I have to pay half of it off and turn it in to be able to get an S8 phone?

When I asked one of the sales reps in the store this question, they confirmed that I would need to pay half off and return the S7 Edge to be able to get an S8 phone when they come out.

I then looked around the store for a while and I ran into another sales rep and I asked him the same question, but his answer was different! He said I would need to pay the entire S7 Edge off before I could upgrade to an S8 phone. I asked if he was sure and he said he was. He said you only had the option to pay half off if you bought the S7 Edge within the first few months of its original release.

Obviously Verizon has totally failed at disseminating information about the Note 7 properly to its employees, but I need accurate real and verified from the very top answers because my phone could be turned off by you in 5 days.

Before you answer my important questions below, I want to say that I really enjoy using this, the most advanced phone on Earth, and I use many of its advanced features on a daily basis for my business. I also want to say that I am a victim in this whole Samsung Note 7 disaster, and have 0% fault in what happened, plus in order to upgrade to the Note 7, I had to pay around $450 to pay off my previous phone, which I ended up selling back to you for around $150 in credit.

1. Am I going to have to start paying you for a new phone that I don't even want just so I have something to use for the next 3 months??

2. What is the correct answer to my question above regarding the payoff and upgradability if I temporarily got a S7 Edge or other phone?

3. What options, that makes sense, do I have for a phone to use for the next 3-4 months while I wait for the true replacement for my Note 7?

4. If I temporarily get another Samsung phone, will I still get the $100 Samsung credit that they are still stating I will get?

Thanks and please make sure your answers are correct and verified.

Bob

Richmond, VA

Re: I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
kathy65793
Master - Level 1

We all got -----what ever you want to call it from the note 7  but from my understanding is if you want to wait till the new phone comes out get an old phone and use it til the new one comes out that is the only way to do it.without any penalty.I too got caught up in this thing they called an upgrade from note 7 to s7 edge which was really a downgrade . The only thing we can do is wait til the new phone comes out and take it from there. Hopefully Verizon will have made out like a bandit and pass some of that onto those of us that got caught in this mess   

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Re: I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
kathy65793
Master - Level 1

As far as the $100. I believe you can still do that as long as you get another Samsung phone for your replacement of the Note 7

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Re: I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
rcschnoor
Legend

BICEPSBOB wrote:

Before you answer my important questions below, I want to say that I really enjoy using this, the most advanced phone on Earth, and I use many of its advanced features on a daily basis for my business. I also want to say that I am a victim in this whole Samsung Note 7 disaster, and have 0% fault in what happened, plus in order to upgrade to the Note 7, I had to pay around $450 to pay off my previous phone, which I ended up selling back to you for around $150 in credit.

1. Am I going to have to start paying you for a new phone that I don't even want just so I have something to use for the next 3 months??

2. What is the correct answer to my question above regarding the payoff and upgradability if I temporarily got a S7 Edge or other phone?

3. What options, that makes sense, do I have for a phone to use for the next 3-4 months while I wait for the true replacement for my Note 7?

4. If I temporarily get another Samsung phone, will I still get the $100 Samsung credit that they are still stating I will get?

You would pay the balance of $450 on your old phone and THEN sell it back to Verizon for $150. You should have either kept it for the exact situation you are currently in or sold it on a site such as swappa.com for likely MORE than the $450 of your payoff amount. It is RARELY a good choice to sell your phone back to for a below market price amount.

1 - Yes, if you want to purchase a new phone, you will have to pay for it. Other options would to be to purchase one from a site such as swappa.com.

2 - The S7 Edge does not currently participate in the annual upgrade program. If you purchase one, you will have to pay off the entire amount. Afterwards, you would be able to do with it what you would like, such as sell it to recoup MUCH of your purchase price. Unless Verizon offers a special deal at the release of the S8/S8 Edge, you will likely get a MUCH better price by selling it at a site such as swappa.com.

3 - If you do not want to spend a lot of money, the best option would be to use an old phone you already have. Unfortunately, since you sold back your old device to Verizon for a paltry amount, it does not appear you have that option. The next best option would be to borrow an old device from /relative which tends to keep their old devices when purchasing new. Personally, I have loaned/given many of my old phones to friends/relatives who needed a stop-gap device for a few months before being eligible for a new device or wanted to wait for a specific device. The next best option would be to purchase a new/lightly used device from a site such as swappa.com.

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Re: I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
pherson
Champion - Level 1

I'm trying to figure out why this is still a question .

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Re: I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
AHEDRICK21
Enthusiast - Level 2

It was my understanding that you could still get a refund and not have to get a new phone. I'm sorry, I'm not sure about the contract situation but I would have bought a cheap phone and simply not added it to the plan at all until the s8 comes out. It seems silly...but I'm still paying a bill but I'm not using a phone with them bc I refuse to downgrade and then turn around and be stuck with a phone. Plus it's better to pay a little more for the phone and go with the plan that allows you to pay as you go. 12 months or whatever it is. To me it is a breach of contract anyway, on Samsung's behalf making it verizon's behalf.

Re: I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
BICEPSBOB
Enthusiast - Level 2

Hello Verizon?? Is anyone home? I am still looking for answers to my important questions. I know you just want this whole situation to go away, while you rake in the benefits of ripping off every Note7 owner, making them buy an extra phone that they either already paid for, or for a phone they don't even want (while they wait for a true replacement for the Note7 that they loved), but I at least deserve your time to answer my questions. Thanks

Re: I need facts please ...not more Verizon contradictory information
tk3765
Contributor - Level 3

Actually, this is a consumer-to-consumer forum and not a direct line to a customer service rep; in other words, no guarantee a rep is going to come online to answer.  You need to either call, or, my advice, use the chat feature as it seems to work a little better.

I admit I took the easier route and just took the Edge but I had no choice for purposes of business travel.  To date all the fees and costs for the Note 7 process have been received.

To go to the Edge I had to go with the standard month-to-month payment for the phone. As far as I know, if I go tot he 8 (Note or S8 Ultra whichever the name may be), I will be required to pay off the Edge just as I would any other phone, unless Verizon comes out with some Note 7 "inconvenience promotion" to help out prior Note 7 owners; which I doubt will happen. Heck, Verizon had an Edge promotion a month or so back with payments dropped to $15 per month.  I contacted a CS rep about it, they said it would be applied automatically about three months after the promotion...will see.  I am not holding my breath.

As long as the 7 remains on your account, however, you are not going to get back the incentive credit from Samsung as the credit is in related to the new phone you might have exchanged for.  Non-Samsung gets $25.00, Samsung phone would get $100.00.  Not sure how long that promotion by Samsung lasts.

Support for the Note 7 was halted when the recall occurred and Samsung stopped all production.  Any issues are not covered under warranty and there will be no system updates (improvements anyway).  Samsung, through Verizon and the other carriers, rolled out the "bricking" update in order to get everyone to return the phones since as long as the phone remains in the hands of users, it is a liability.  Anyone still in possession of the 7 as well would be getting charged for the cost, and that won't get reimbursed if they refuse to return them.  By hanging on to it you are actually going to cost yourself more in the long run.