I also agree! I have been a Verizon customer for several years and as I was in the process of "upgrading" my phone I noticed the $30 fee... enough is enough! I will upgrade when this excess charge is removed! I am not a happy customer right now.
It is simply a price increase. It's our free enterprise system at work. You can upgrade and pay the fee, upgrade and pay full retail price, keep your existing phone, or go to another carrier.
While I am all for the free enterprise system there is such a thing as collusion witch is illegal. We also have the freedom of speech witch allows us to complain and walk away from companies we don't feel are treating us fairly. If no one speaks out against these fees then nothing happens. Bank of America customers rose up and created such a stink that they rescinded their proposed fee increase for debit cards. If Verizon customers raise enough of a stink we could get this fee reduced or eliminated as well...there is an old saying "those who stand by and do nothing are as guilty as those who commit the crime". Shame on all of us if we stand by and do nothing....we then DESERVE what we get!! As a single person I also feel the proposed elimination of unlimited data is not fair to me. I dont and wont ever have any need for their "shared data plan" as I wont have multiple devices using the same data package so Verizons argument that shared data plans will save me money doesn't fly.
I dont think you understand what bait and switch means.
the phone is free, there is a cost to upgrade though..
dont go with a free device though please..
speaking out = not upgrading
we will find out when Q2 is finished and in the books and see if upgrade fees are here to stay
Look up "witch" and "which." Anyway, Verizon is not getting rid of unlimited data, at least not for the foreseeable future. I think it will be around at least 2+ years until all of the current contracts have expired. I don't have a problem with the upgrade fee. Verizon can charge whatever they want to. I can switch to another carrier if I want to. It's 1/2 tank of gas every 2 years.
As far as the shared data is concerned, I don't think anyone ever said it's going to be better for everyone. When someone from a company says something is 'good/bad/anything for our customers' they are talking about the majority of their customers, not every single one. And as Jim said the unlimited data is not being taken away. Why don't you kill two birds with one stone next time you're up for an upgrade and instead just buy a phone off ebay, that way you don't have to pay the upgrade fee and you'll keep your unlimited data.
My point(s) are: The entire industry is moving in directions that are the most beneficial to their bottom line with no consideration for the paying customer. ALL carriers are moving away from unlimited data. ALL carriers are charging activation fees. ALL carriers are loading their phones with bloatware. I brought up the example of Bank of America because ALL banks were taking their cue from them and were considering charging new fees as well. The carriers claim it's the fault of those who "hog" huge amounts of data but these are the vast minority of all data users. I stream tons of data but since I mostly do this using wi-fi I actually use a limited amount of my unlimited data package (my last reading for my billing month which ends on June 8 is 128.41 MB). My other point is that if we just accept as normal business practice these nickel and dime fee increases NOW than in a few years we all will be stuck with no place to turn for any kind of choice. Amazon and E-bay will close their loopholes. I don't have $700 to pay for a cell-phone. Please someone explain to me just why they cost so much...I can buy an I-pad for $300 for chr!st sake. Oh and thanks for bringing up my spelling errors...sorry it bothered you so much you had to make a snide comment about it. (Anyway, as you say). You keep stating that if we don't like it move on. What I am saying that soon there will be no place to turn to.
I was going to upgrade my phone as well, was offered a promo code to get a free samsung charge droid. I couldn't use it because I wasn't a new customer! Gee you get nothing for being a loyal customer for many years! Then they want to charge another fee to upgrade! I love Verizon, have been with them for many years but I won't be upgrading any time soon. Guess I'll wait til my phone falls apart and then I still may not upgrade. That is so ridiculous for loyal customers to be treated this way. You get charged a fee for everything now and that isn't right.
At some point, consumers will decide they don't really need smartphones. We did just fine without them before we had them.
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