Check your bill!!!

[rlb]

I just got my first bill w/ new plan. I got my droid on 11/6 and the DBag salesman screwed up my account.

My billing cycle ended 10/25, from then until 11/6 I was on a dumb phone plan. However, I received a credit for my original plan and was then charged at my new higher rate for 10/25 to 11/25. I should have been prorated for that time period at my old rate. I called and raised the issue and received a $24 credit. The woman on the phone kept saying the salesman "back dated" my account, instead or prorating it. Not surprising considering the guy was an ass, and more focused on helping the customer of the sales girl next to him rather than helping me.

Review your bills!

 

[Signum]

I just got my first bill w/ new plan. I got my droid on 11/6 and the DBag salesman screwed up my account.

My billing cycle ended 10/25, from then until 11/6 I was on a dumb phone plan. However, I received a credit for my original plan and was then charged at my new higher rate for 10/25 to 11/25. I should have been prorated for that time period at my old rate. I called and raised the issue and received a $24 credit. The woman on the phone kept saying the salesman "back dated" my account, instead or prorating it. Not surprising considering the guy was an ass, and more focused on helping the customer of the sales girl next to him rather than helping me.

Review your bills!

back dating eliminates proration. pro-ration is being billed a partial month, plus a month in advance.

had you been prorated your bill would have been as follows

10/25-11/5 - old calling plan
11/6-11/25 - new calling plan, partial month
11/26 - 12/25 - full month.

you bill would have been much higher, he saved you money.

 

[KiotaKahn]

As a Verizon Sales Rep, I can assure you that backdating will almost NEVER save you money. Assuming you would not have gone over your allowances (voice, text, or data) on the previous plan, the only way that it would be cheaper is if you were going to a less expensive plan. However, Verizon's policies only allow backdating if you are moving to a higher plan. If you had gone over your allowances, backdating allows you to CYA by moving to the higher plan and avoiding the overage charges.

Proration confusion is something I see a lot in my store. And it can usually be avoided by the rep taking an extra couple minutes and explaining it to the customer, rather than hope they don't notice on the next bill.

 

[Signum]

As a Verizon Sales Rep, I can assure you that backdating will almost NEVER save you money. Assuming you would not have gone over your allowances (voice, text, or data) on the previous plan, the only way that it would be cheaper is if you were going to a less expensive plan. However, Verizon's policies only allow backdating if you are moving to a higher plan. If you had gone over your allowances, backdating allows you to CYA by moving to the higher plan and avoiding the overage charges.

Proration confusion is something I see a lot in my store. And it can usually be avoided by the rep taking an extra couple minutes and explaining it to the customer, rather than hope they don't notice on the next bill.

back dating saves money when compared to doing price plan changes on demand

you should know that.

 

[KiotaKahn]

you should know that.

The fact that you said this means that you give credit to my position, yet somehow think that I am not informed in my job. Let me break it down for you.

Using easy numbers for quick math. Let's say that my bill cycle is on the 1st, and I change my plan on the 15th. I'm going from the $40 450 minute and no extras plan to the $60 450 minute and unlimited texting plan with the $30 data plan, totalling $90. We'll leave insurance and taxes and fees and all that out.

If we were to backdate, you would receive a credit for the month in advance you paid on the previous bill (-$40), pay for the new plan on the previous month ($90), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $140, right?

Now let's prorate. You would receive a credit for the half month of the old plan that you did not use (-$20), then pay for the new plan on the second half of the month ($45), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $115. See? We saved the customer $25.

 

[shugknight]

you should know that.

The fact that you said this means that you give credit to my position, yet somehow think that I am not informed in my job. Let me break it down for you.

Using easy numbers for quick math. Let's say that my bill cycle is on the 1st, and I change my plan on the 15th. I'm going from the $40 450 minute and no extras plan to the $60 450 minute and unlimited texting plan with the $30 data plan, totalling $90. We'll leave insurance and taxes and fees and all that out.

If we were to backdate, you would receive a credit for the month in advance you paid on the previous bill (-$40), pay for the new plan on the previous month ($90), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $140, right?

Now let's prorate. You would receive a credit for the half month of the old plan that you did not use (-$20), then pay for the new plan on the second half of the month ($45), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $115. See? We saved the customer $25.

:icon_ banana: pwned. :icon_ banana:

 

[thelion]

And that, folks, is why math counts.

 

[Signum]

you should know that.

The fact that you said this means that you give credit to my position, yet somehow think that I am not informed in my job. Let me break it down for you.

Using easy numbers for quick math. Let's say that my bill cycle is on the 1st, and I change my plan on the 15th. I'm going from the $40 450 minute and no extras plan to the $60 450 minute and unlimited texting plan with the $30 data plan, totalling $90. We'll leave insurance and taxes and fees and all that out.

If we were to backdate, you would receive a credit for the month in advance you paid on the previous bill (-$40), pay for the new plan on the previous month ($90), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $140, right?

Now let's prorate. You would receive a credit for the half month of the old plan that you did not use (-$20), then pay for the new plan on the second half of the month ($45), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $115. See? We saved the customer $25.

you forgot the prorated cost on the data plan

as well as the pro-rated amount of minutes on both the old and new calling plans.

 

[rlb]

back dating eliminates proration. pro-ration is being billed a partial month, plus a month in advance.

had you been prorated your bill would have been as follows

10/25-11/5 - old calling plan
11/6-11/25 - new calling plan, partial month
11/26 - 12/25 - full month.

you bill would have been much higher, he saved you money.

prorate - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

You get prorated on both plans not just the new plan so re-think your argument.

Why would minutes used (on either plan) be a factor when you pay $X for a pool of minutes?

Re-read the thread, it's been explained.

 

[Vulcan1600]

you should know that.

The fact that you said this means that you give credit to my position, yet somehow think that I am not informed in my job. Let me break it down for you.

Using easy numbers for quick math. Let's say that my bill cycle is on the 1st, and I change my plan on the 15th. I'm going from the $40 450 minute and no extras plan to the $60 450 minute and unlimited texting plan with the $30 data plan, totalling $90. We'll leave insurance and taxes and fees and all that out.

If we were to backdate, you would receive a credit for the month in advance you paid on the previous bill (-$40), pay for the new plan on the previous month ($90), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $140, right?

Now let's prorate. You would receive a credit for the half month of the old plan that you did not use (-$20), then pay for the new plan on the second half of the month ($45), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $115. See? We saved the customer $25.

Yea lets pro rate - lets pro rate the minutes. Lets say you had an America's Choice 450 minute plan and you had to upgrade to the Nationwide 450 minute plan. You change this at your store on demand. That 450 minutes for the first 15 days allows you 225 minutes. You change on demand and lets say you used 300 minutes for the first 15 days - well you're getting 75 minutes on your next bill charging $0.45 per minute for 75 minutes. That comes out to $33.75 in overages. Remember, Mr. Store rep - sure, changing from a non-data plan to a data plan mid bill cycle could have terrible adverse effects on someone. Same with adding or changing someone's text message package. If you do it on demand on a $10 Unlimited IN/ 500 out of network message plan 15 days into the bill cycle and don't backdate it, imagine the surprise when they get their next bill and see they were getting charged $0.10 per message overage after their first 250 messages.

I had to unscrew up billing errors two or three times per hour sometimes in my call center, so yes I understand pro rates. The scenario you presented was probably only adding the data plan in mid bill cycle, which is fine, but you conveniently left out some other important details about pro rates for other things in your attempt to educate the masses on here. And, believe me, a lot of people are still on AC2 plans and are now going Nationwide and has caused a lot of billing reworks.

 

[Vulcan1600]

you should know that.

The fact that you said this means that you give credit to my position, yet somehow think that I am not informed in my job. Let me break it down for you.

Using easy numbers for quick math. Let's say that my bill cycle is on the 1st, and I change my plan on the 15th. I'm going from the $40 450 minute and no extras plan to the $60 450 minute and unlimited texting plan with the $30 data plan, totalling $90. We'll leave insurance and taxes and fees and all that out.

If we were to backdate, you would receive a credit for the month in advance you paid on the previous bill (-$40), pay for the new plan on the previous month ($90), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $140, right?

Now let's prorate. You would receive a credit for the half month of the old plan that you did not use (-$20), then pay for the new plan on the second half of the month ($45), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $115. See? We saved the customer $25.

you forgot the prorated cost on the data plan

as well as the pro-rated amount of minutes on both the old and new calling plans.

I just replied to Mr. VZW store rep before I read your reply. I agree, he forgot about pro rated minutes, which I just explained. As for adding the data plan, using his scenario that 15 days into the new bill cycle the data plan is added, would only make the data plan for that first pro rated month $15, and since data is Unlimited on PDA/Smartphones it won't matter...and no, there is no data cap on PDA/Smartphones, just tethering is affected.

 

[KiotaKahn]

Yea lets pro rate - lets pro rate the minutes. Lets say you had an America's Choice 450 minute plan and you had to upgrade to the Nationwide 450 minute plan. You change this at your store on demand. That 450 minutes for the first 15 days allows you 225 minutes. You change on demand and lets say you used 300 minutes for the first 15 days - well you're getting 75 minutes on your next bill charging $0.45 per minute for 75 minutes. That comes out to $33.75 in overages. Remember, Mr. Store rep - sure, changing from a non-data plan to a data plan mid bill cycle could have terrible adverse effects on someone. Same with adding or changing someone's text message package. If you do it on demand on a $10 Unlimited IN/ 500 out of network message plan 15 days into the bill cycle and don't backdate it, imagine the surprise when they get their next bill and see they were getting charged $0.10 per message overage after their first 250 messages.

I had to unscrew up billing errors two or three times per hour sometimes in my call center, so yes I understand pro rates. The scenario you presented was probably only adding the data plan in mid bill cycle, which is fine, but you conveniently left out some other important details about pro rates for other things in your attempt to educate the masses on here. And, believe me, a lot of people are still on AC2 plans and are now going Nationwide and has caused a lot of billing reworks.

As a Verizon Sales Rep, I can assure you that backdating will almost NEVER save you money. Assuming you would not have gone over your allowances (voice, text, or data) on the previous plan, the only way that it would be cheaper is if you were going to a less expensive plan. However, Verizon's policies only allow backdating if you are moving to a higher plan. If you had gone over your allowances, backdating allows you to CYA by moving to the higher plan and avoiding the overage charges.

Proration confusion is something I see a lot in my store. And it can usually be avoided by the rep taking an extra couple minutes and explaining it to the customer, rather than hope they don't notice on the next bill.

This is something that I do realize, and check for when I do a plan change. But in my experience (and maybe it's just the area I'm in) my customers are usually on a plan that's high enough to where it's not a concern. I check usage for every customer that comes in, and very rarely see any that are using more than 75% of their plan minutes. Most are using less than half. But again, that might be a localization thing where people would rather pay the extra $20/month than worry about going over their minutes and being tagged for $50-$100 or more. The only reason I used the lowest minute plan Verizon offers is to keep the numbers small and the math easy.

 

[Sam]

Omg.. just check your bills people, deal?

 

[Signum]

you should know that.

The fact that you said this means that you give credit to my position, yet somehow think that I am not informed in my job. Let me break it down for you.

Using easy numbers for quick math. Let's say that my bill cycle is on the 1st, and I change my plan on the 15th. I'm going from the $40 450 minute and no extras plan to the $60 450 minute and unlimited texting plan with the $30 data plan, totalling $90. We'll leave insurance and taxes and fees and all that out.

If we were to backdate, you would receive a credit for the month in advance you paid on the previous bill (-$40), pay for the new plan on the previous month ($90), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $140, right?

Now let's prorate. You would receive a credit for the half month of the old plan that you did not use (-$20), then pay for the new plan on the second half of the month ($45), and your next month in advance ($90). That's $115. See? We saved the customer $25.

Yea lets pro rate - lets pro rate the minutes. Lets say you had an America's Choice 450 minute plan and you had to upgrade to the Nationwide 450 minute plan. You change this at your store on demand. That 450 minutes for the first 15 days allows you 225 minutes. You change on demand and lets say you used 300 minutes for the first 15 days - well you're getting 75 minutes on your next bill charging $0.45 per minute for 75 minutes. That comes out to $33.75 in overages. Remember, Mr. Store rep - sure, changing from a non-data plan to a data plan mid bill cycle could have terrible adverse effects on someone. Same with adding or changing someone's text message package. If you do it on demand on a $10 Unlimited IN/ 500 out of network message plan 15 days into the bill cycle and don't backdate it, imagine the surprise when they get their next bill and see they were getting charged $0.10 per message overage after their first 250 messages.

I had to unscrew up billing errors two or three times per hour sometimes in my call center, so yes I understand pro rates. The scenario you presented was probably only adding the data plan in mid bill cycle, which is fine, but you conveniently left out some other important details about pro rates for other things in your attempt to educate the masses on here. And, believe me, a lot of people are still on AC2 plans and are now going Nationwide and has caused a lot of billing reworks.

which call center do you work in? im in irvine.

 

[Vulcan1600]

Yea lets pro rate - lets pro rate the minutes. Lets say you had an America's Choice 450 minute plan and you had to upgrade to the Nationwide 450 minute plan. You change this at your store on demand. That 450 minutes for the first 15 days allows you 225 minutes. You change on demand and lets say you used 300 minutes for the first 15 days - well you're getting 75 minutes on your next bill charging $0.45 per minute for 75 minutes. That comes out to $33.75 in overages. Remember, Mr. Store rep - sure, changing from a non-data plan to a data plan mid bill cycle could have terrible adverse effects on someone. Same with adding or changing someone's text message package. If you do it on demand on a $10 Unlimited IN/ 500 out of network message plan 15 days into the bill cycle and don't backdate it, imagine the surprise when they get their next bill and see they were getting charged $0.10 per message overage after their first 250 messages.

I had to unscrew up billing errors two or three times per hour sometimes in my call center, so yes I understand pro rates. The scenario you presented was probably only adding the data plan in mid bill cycle, which is fine, but you conveniently left out some other important details about pro rates for other things in your attempt to educate the masses on here. And, believe me, a lot of people are still on AC2 plans and are now going Nationwide and has caused a lot of billing reworks.

As a Verizon Sales Rep, I can assure you that backdating will almost NEVER save you money. Assuming you would not have gone over your allowances (voice, text, or data) on the previous plan, the only way that it would be cheaper is if you were going to a less expensive plan. However, Verizon's policies only allow backdating if you are moving to a higher plan. If you had gone over your allowances, backdating allows you to CYA by moving to the higher plan and avoiding the overage charges.

Proration confusion is something I see a lot in my store. And it can usually be avoided by the rep taking an extra couple minutes and explaining it to the customer, rather than hope they don't notice on the next bill.

This is something that I do realize, and check for when I do a plan change. But in my experience (and maybe it's just the area I'm in) my customers are usually on a plan that's high enough to where it's not a concern. I check usage for every customer that comes in, and very rarely see any that are using more than 75% of their plan minutes. Most are using less than half. But again, that might be a localization thing where people would rather pay the extra $20/month than worry about going over their minutes and being tagged for $50-$100 or more. The only reason I used the lowest minute plan Verizon offers is to keep the numbers small and the math easy.

You should never, ever, ever not backdate a plan change, especially if the customer is staying on like a 450 minute plan, going from a basic to a Select plan. Shame on you for ASSuming the customer wouldn't go over their minutes. How do you know what their usage would be for a month. Let's use your 15 days into the bill cycle analogy. Ok, fine, they used 150 minutes so far. You're ASSuming they would only use 150 minutes the rest of the bill cycle, so why backdate it??? Do you know the future, do you know if that person for some reason needs to use more minutes, and you shortchanged them because instead of them thinking they have 300 minutes left, they really only had 250 minutes left, and they use that 100 minutes they thought they still had to deal with the sudden loss of a loved one or they lost their job and are doing tele-interviews? You'll be the one they go to when they ask about the $45+ in overages they incurred...and what will you say as the sales rep?? Well, you need to call Customer Service so they can credit your account. I saw it all the time, and it's because of people like you who think you're helping the customer but tarnishes all the good VZW employees reputations because you thought you could save them a couple bucks by not backdating. You really need to think about all the scenarios and be an advocate for the customer, not perceived as another stupid sales rep in a store.