verizon upgrade questions

[stag3]

i have had my thunderbolt since launch, still works fine but i wanted to upgrade and NOT lose my unlimited. so i went into the store prepared to pay the 599 for the galaxy s3. when i went to check out the girl said you can either pay the 599, or add a basic line for 10 bucks a month (2yr contract) and get the s3 for 199 and switch it over to the main line. so i ended up paying 200 + (10 X 24mos) = 440 for the s3.

since i have the extra line now, and no phone since i switched the s3 over to my main line. can i use my "upgrade" from the thunderbolt to get a cheap or free phone, then switch that to the new basic line? i think so, just wanted to see if anyone else did this.

 

[s44]

No. If you upgrade on that line at all, you lose unlimited LTE.

 

[RockinZ28]

What about transfer upgrade from your old line to the new basic one? You can do this through the VZW website. It just renews your original line for 2 years. See what it tells you about forcing any changes.

 

[NutBucket]

I think this could work. Transferring the upgrade wold probably make everything work out.

 

[stag3]

ah damnit, s44 is correct. that was the whole reason i didnt get an s3 with my own upgrade that's due in december, because if i take the subsidized phone i lose unlimited....ughhhhhh

 

[RockinZ28]

Did you try the transfer upgrade thing? What did it say? Did it force you to a capped 2gb plan, or a share everything plan?

Another question for you guys: What about upgrading at the discount price on a line in a family plan without unlimited data? Does that force all lines into a share everything? I wanted to upgrade my wife's line in January, or whenever a good phone comes, activate it, then swap sim cards with her. So I get new phone at discount and keep unlimited.

 

[grkM3]

How did she give you a smart phone for only another 10 bucks? Smart phones need data plans and they start at 29.99 a month.

Dont be suprised if your bill is 40 bucks higher next month plus the new 20 activation they are adding now.i would log into your my verizon account and double check your bill

If this is true i can go add 3 lines and get 3 iphone 5s and only pay 30 extra a month and sell the phones for 750-800 each

 

[Red Storm]

Supposedly there are ways to still get an upgrade and keep your unlimited data, but it involves other lines/family plans and whatnot and I would most definitely not do it through any online service, only face to face with a rep who knows what they're doing.

Having said that, for the first time I find myself seriously considering ditching Verizon for the Nexus 4.

 

[stag3]

How did she give you a smart phone for only another 10 bucks? Smart phones need data plans and they start at 29.99 a month.

Dont be suprised if your bill is 40 bucks higher next month plus the new 20 activation they are adding now.i would log into your my verizon account and double check your bill

If this is true i can go add 3 lines and get 3 iphone 5s and only pay 30 extra a month and sell the phones for 750-800 each

she added a new line to my account, got the s3 for 199 and immediately xferred it over to my primary line, then removed the data plan and downgraded the new line to basic @ 10/mo. she then used a made up s/n and added a basic phone to the new line on the account. i already logged in to my account and it shows my normal primary line charges and a new line listed at 10/mo with nothing else added.

and yea you can get 3 iphone 5's for 200 each then pay 30 a mo for 24mos = 720. so you'd be paying ~1500 after taxes/activation etc... basically earning a profit of 750 or getting 1 iphone 5 free if you wanted it.

the girl helping me said that's what everyone has been doing to not lose the unlimited.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I did this. I upgraded my Thunderbolt on line 2 to a GS3 and transferred the numbers. Since line 1 didn't upgrade yet I have unlimited data for my GS3 and 6GB on my Nexus (now line 2).

When you upgrade it's based on the phone number you upgrade. So if you upgrade one line that immediately loses unlimited but you can transfer the device to another line which will still remain on unlimited until you finally upgrade on that line. It's a little loophole.

 

[boomhower]

It's possible. I upgraded a dumb phone I already had to an iPhone five and then put that phone on my main line and put the dumb phone back on the second line.

 

[grkM3]

I tried this and said there is a 375 termination fee

 

[cmdrdredd]

I tried this and said there is a 375 termination fee

That's cause you cannot cancel the line you open. You have to pay for it even if it's not in use.

 

[stag3]

yea my cancellation on the new line was 350, but i'm just riding it out the 2 yrs, i still ended up saving about 150 over buying the s3 new w/o adding a line

 

[grkM3]

I was told that any smartphone needs a data plan and if you cancle/downgrade that data plan,like the one you need to activate on the new line to get the gs3 for the subsidised price will get the early termination fee.

they told me I can transfer the cell to any line but the way to get the gs3 for its subsidised price was because your are signing a 2 year data plan on that line and said I could do what ever I want with the gs3 after that but Im still stuck with a new line that has data for 2 years

It seem like you got to downgrade that data line to a basic line and keep the gs3 and avoid the termination fee

Im going to do this.I have an upgrade on my line and give it to my mother that recently bought a gs3 and is on a capped data plan,have her buy a iphone 5 and then switch back to her gs3 and I will sell the iphone 5 for 900 on ebay,if that works I will do it with the 3 more upgrades we have on our family data plan and keep getting phones.

We have 3 lines that are on unlimted data and 2 have upgrades now so we will see if we can just keep giving my mom the upgrade lol

 

[cmdrdredd]

Since you buy the iphone it needs a data plan and is listed on your account. So you are always going to have to pay for the data.

And aince you upgrade your line and activate the iphone with your number its stuck there. Meaning you cannot just activate a 3rd device and turn off the other one.

The reason this works is because you open a new line and have to have that subsidized device in your account. Doesnt matter what line but it is on your account and you have to keep paying for it.


It will be like this...you upgrade your line and you lose unlimited. Then transfer that upgrade to another line. You are atill paying for multiple devices.

You would have to open a new line, transfer the device and deactivate your old device but keep the new one. Deactivating the new device costs you $350. There is no way to get a $200 iphone and resell it because you must keep it acrivated on your account somewhere.

 

[grkM3]

Just transfered my update to capped line and ordered an iPhone 5

 

[cmdrdredd]

And when you sell that iphone it is listed on your account so you will always pay for it even if you remove the sim. Verizon will still charge for the data plan.

If you try to cancel it it will cost you $350

 

[grkM3]

And when you sell that iphone it is listed on your account so you will always pay for it even if you remove the sim. Verizon will still charge for the data plan.

If you try to cancel it it will cost you $350

its going on a plan that is already 80 a month with a data plan,I just confirmed with my friend that works at verizon and said that is the only way they get people phones and keep there unlimted data.

We are not canceling a line and the line I transfered my upgrade already is a smartphone line and he said it will just start another 2 year contract on that number.

We are just moving upgrades to a line that already has a capped data plan

verizon doesnt care about what phone is on the line they just care about the 2 years of paying for a data plan and they way I did it starts a fresh 2 year contract on that line.

Just to be clear we are not canceling anything,the line that got the upgrade will just jump back to there old cell and continue paying like normal

 

[cmdrdredd]

Whatever...hope it backfires on you and you get screwed.


The whole reason they subsidize phones is because you will use the newer device on their network. I hope the fix this loophole to get people like you to pay up instead of getting almost free phones.

 

[grkM3]

Whatever...hope it backfires on you and you get screwed.

I just called verizon and confirmed and why would you want this to backfire,Im not the one(verizon)that decided to screw all there loyal grandfathered customers with losing there unlimted data and forcing us to a capped data plan when we are eligible for 3 upgrades and cant even use them or if we want to use them our whole contract gets rewritten and we get fucked over.

We pay verizon almost 300 a month for our phones and Im using MY upgrades that verizon gave me and I can either keep the iphone or sell it.

We are keeping one iphone and selling the other

 

[grkM3]

Whatever...hope it backfires on you and you get screwed.


The whole reason they subsidize phones is because you will use the newer device on their network. I hope the fix this loophole to get people like you to pay up instead of getting almost free phones.

Are you not understanding what Im doing?I am extending the line another 2 years on top of the 1.5 years left on it and also putting another 350 cancelation fee on top,I am only doing this to use up an upgrade to get a subsidized hardware but you seem to skip the part where we will pay for that data plan for another 2 years!Verizon does not care what phone you use on the line as long as they are getting there 120 bucks for that line they could give a shit what cell is on the line

this is not like the op that had some major luck with someone at verizon and somehow got him to cancle data and still kepp the phone.

Verizon is more than happy to have us for another 2 years ontop of what we have left on that line.Thats the whole point of getting subsidized phones,you get the hardware cheaper but agree to pay for service for another 2 years.

Ohh and for the record anyone can do this,log into your my verizon acc online and transfer your upgrade to a line that is capped and order any phone you want.

 

[cmdrdredd]

They are selking a phone at a diacount because they expect the customet to use that device on their line. You are exploiting the system and IMO are as bad as every politician out there cheating the system in their favor.

 

[grkM3]

They are selking a phone at a diacount because they expect the customet to use that device on their line. You are exploiting the system and IMO are as bad as every politician out there cheating the system in their favor.

WRONG,they are selling the phone at a discount for agreeing to pay for use of at least 2 years worth of $120/month subscription

I just called verizon and confirmed this and said to come in and they would be glad to do it.

verizon subsidizes the hardware for exchange of having a locked 2 year contract,you have no clue and this has nothing to do with politics,im not the one that made verizon alow me to transfer my upgrades,its right on the site,so you are saying that my mother cant upgrade her line to a iphone 5 and then decide she doesnt like the phone and switch back to her old phone and then give the iphone to her son and have verizon switch it?

just so you know the person told me they do this everyday and that is what everyone is doing.

 

[stag3]

Whatever...hope it backfires on you and you get screwed.


The whole reason they subsidize phones is because you will use the newer device on their network. I hope the fix this loophole to get people like you to pay up instead of getting almost free phones.

how is it an almost free phone, we're still paying 200+
and still paying for data every month for the next 2 years