What options do I have ?

[sze5003]

I have verizon and I have a smartphone and one basic phone with 750 minutes and unlimited data.

My sisters phone the basic one, broke and its been replaced once before. Went to Verizon and they wrongly informed me I can drop her off my plan in February. So I call Verizon and they say her contract is not up until September 2013.

I was gonna put her on metro pcs but now I can't do that. So she can't be without a phone for 3 weeks because that's when I can let her use my upgrade for her phone. I'll loose my unlimited data but I guess I'm stuck. What I hate most is it will be another 2 year contract

What have you guys done when your shitty basic phones broke ?

 

[lopri]

What would be her early termination fee? If it's not too much, I would go that route.

Alternatively, you should be able to transfer your basic phone to your sister? What's the contract on that one? Be friendly to the personnel at the Verizon shop and do not mention anything non-Verizon. (such as Metro PCS ^^)

 

[sze5003]

I have an HTC rezound which is a data phone. Her phone is the basic one. The early termination fee is 95 or $105 I forgot what they said. I really think the Verizon in store employee didn't know what she was talking about because if her line expires in September I think the ETF may be more.

The employee also told me I could add another line and get her another phone then drop my sisters line in February but obviously February is my phones upgrade date not the contract end date.

Customer service from the 800 number mentioned if I call with a phone to upgrade using my line for her upgrade they could do it early. But it can't be a special price upgrade which is usually all upgrade phones which you can pick on the website. So I basically have to shell out full price.

 

[ImDonly1]

Why extend contract for a basic phone? Aren't most flip phones like $50 used anywhere?

 

[sze5003]

Well she wants a data phone. So might as well go that route. I wish I could put her on metro pcs. I just hate loosing my unlimited data because I average over 2gb a month.

With my upgrade being in 3 weeks I was thinking of the Samsung s3 for myself but I guess I'll have to get my next phone on eBay so she can use my upgrade.

If she didn't have so many extra curricular activities after school or work, I would say screw it you don't need a cell phone.

 

[Insomniator]

Don't give up unlimited data... Paying her ETF and moving her to metro would cost less in the long run.

An S3 is not worth upgrading over a Rezound if it costs you data. Save your money for a while and buy a phone used or retail. KEEP UNLIMITED.

 

[sze5003]

Don't give up unlimited data... Paying her ETF and moving her to metro would cost less in the long run.

An S3 is not worth upgrading over a Rezound if it costs you data. Save your money for a while and buy a phone used or retail. KEEP UNLIMITED.

I got my rezound on eBay when it went cheaper so I could keep unlimited data.

I'm looking at 105 to terminate her line then say 100 or 150 for a metro phone. Hopefully she makes enough money at this job she just got to pay her own bill or that doesn't really bother me it would only be $40 bucks.

 

[gmaster456]

If I used that much data (I don't) I wouldn't give up unlimited. Pay the $105 fee to terminate the line and move her to metro. Most of their phones are nice upgrades from basic feature phones anyway.

 

[s44]

Don't ever drop unlimited.

It goes for $200 or more on eBay now, you know.

You can buy another shitty basic phone on craigslist or something until her contract is up.

 

[sze5003]

I'll have to ask for sure how much the etf is. That lady did not know anything. I could easily get her a shitty basic phone but yeah don't think she wants that.

 

[podspi]

Whoa. Phones are so cheap nowadays. Don't blow your upgrade on a feature phone. They can be had for less than 100 bucks. Even if you don't plan on sticking with VZW in the long run, you can always flip it on eBay once your are done.

 

[s44]

ETF should be $95. Used AT&T S2 ~$200. Put her on Straight Talk for $45/m for 2gb -- better than $40/m for 500mb with massive throttle after.

 

[sze5003]

Yeah if I were to blow my upgrade she would get a smartphone. But she won't use much data as she has WiFi at her moms and she mainly texts and talks. I forgot att had the same options as metro.

 

[Chocu1a]

Buy a cheapo off Craigslist. You can buy a cheap descent data phone for around 100 bucks. I just picked up a Galaxy S3 from Craigslist for $200.

 

[bearxor]

I'm with these guys. Pay the $100 ETF, get her a used or a lower-end smart phone on Straight Talk. You can get a used iPhone 3GS for about $100 on CL these days, I've also see some NexusS's and some older HTC's go for that used. Even Straight Talk has some fairly decent Android phones for under $129 new.

If your phone budget hits $200, then there's definitely good deals to be had in the used market.

 

[sze5003]

Yup I called Verizon and took her off my plan. Payed 90 bucks. Now I can get her the Samsung galaxy admire on metro or I'll check out straight talk too. My plan will go back to 450 min and unlimited data plus unlimited texts. So that brings my Verizon bill down to 80 or 90 bucks with my company discount.

 

[gmaster456]

You can use pretty much any GSM phone on straight talk

 

[sze5003]

You can use pretty much any GSM phone on straight talk

Can you reload it with minutes without buying a card at Wal-Mart ? I'm not going to be around all the time and my mother works all the time as well so in this case making a 25 min drive over the their house and Wal-Mart to buy those cards would be annoying.

 

[s44]

If she's a big texter, maybe get this: $160 for a mint unlocked Captivate Glide -- Tegra2, hard keyboard, official ICS upgrade, 1gb RAM, and the 8mp SGS2 camera.

 

[sze5003]

If she's a big texter, maybe get this: $160 for a mint unlocked Captivate Glide -- Tegra2, hard keyboard, official ICS upgrade, 1gb RAM, and the 8mp SGS2 camera.

That's like the admire and yeah all she does is talk (figures) and texts.

 

[s44]

That's like the admire and yeah all she does is talk (figures) and texts.

No.

The Admire is 3.6" 480*320, the Cap Glide is 4" 800*480.
The Admire is low-end LCD, the Cap Glide is SAMOLED.
The Admire is Gingerbread with no upgrade, the Cap Glide has an official ICS release.
The Admire is single-core A8, the Cap Glide is dual-core A9.
The Admire is gets 1-3mb/s (*maybe* 4 in some areas) on its LTE, the Cap Glide gets double that on AT&T HSPA+.
The Admire has a crappy 3.2mp camera, the Cap Glide has the still-quite-good 8mp camera of the SGS2 line.
The Admire does have a bigger battery, but it needs it for Metro's battery-hog network.
And yes, the Admire relies on on-screen typing, the Cap Glide has a physical keyboard for banging out texts.

There's absolutely no comparison.

 

[podspi]

Can you reload it with minutes without buying a card at Wal-Mart ? I'm not going to be around all the time and my mother works all the time as well so in this case making a 25 min drive over the their house and Wal-Mart to buy those cards would be annoying.

When you order a refill online (from WalMart) they email the refill code to you. No driving necessary. Their unlimited plan also allows you to renew automatically via CC if you want.

 

[Bman123]

You can call and pay over the phone with your debit card, no need to go to walmart. You can do a auto reload too if you want with ST

 

[sze5003]

Yeah thanks for all the input guys. I tried to convince her that the LG motion was a better phone but she insisted on the admire. Oh well now I just have to wait for VZ to remove her old line from my plan.

 

[gmaster456]

Can you reload it with minutes without buying a card at Wal-Mart ? I'm not going to be around all the time and my mother works all the time as well so in this case making a 25 min drive over the their house and Wal-Mart to buy those cards would be annoying.

Yup. You can have it bill you automatically online for you can purchase cards online as well.