[Update] Verizon's New Family Data Plans Begin: It's Called the Share Everything Plan

[Trusstopher]

The pricing of any drastic change is what always sucks. No matter what it is. The per line surcharge is outrageous. The data limits to price comparison is ridiculous. And the fact that they lump this in with unlimited minutes is the icing on the cake. They still don't realize that a good chunk of their users don't use the minutes they have or anywhere near them. Give us the option to have a family plan with minutes limited and shared data. Don't make us pay for what we don't need. And don't overcharge us for what we use the most.

I think they definitely realize that we don't need/want the minutes and that is the exact reason we are forced to pay for them. The exact same way that Cox realizes I do not want/need/desire Oxygen Channel, Hallmark Channel, TLC, WGN, Telemundo, HSN, QVC, Univison, Cornerstone TV2, Lifetime, ABC Family, Fox News, truTV, BET, TV Land, The Golf Channel, E! TV, Bravo, or TV Guide Channel, but I am required to pay for a package with all of them in order to get the 6 or 7 channels I really do want. It's the only way they can keep some of those channels afloat and guarantee profit margins on cable service they deem acceptable.

 

[akhenax]

Have you been into a VZW store lately?? Or checked online Their selection of feature phones is very minimal. And most of them are junk. I remember when you could actually get a cool touchscreen feature phone that had decent build quality. Now they feel like they will fall apart after a week and have no nice features at all. This is how VZW is convincing everyone that they need a smartphone. Don't give them any other decent options.

I was pretty much forced to get my Mom a smartphone, upgrading from her 4 year old feature phone. The new "basic" phones are really BASIC. They are crap! Remember the Voyager, the Dare, etc.? I thought feature phones could only get better with time, but it seems they have gotten worse, at Verizon specifically.

 

[soulpatch]

Will do Beka.
Including Jseah, there are three of us so far. More to come, I am sure.
When we actually have some info to share, we should start a new thread.
-bk

I have the discount as well over my 2 lines. Though with the hotspot on my one line I pay about the same as I woudl with this plan. My concern is still losing unlimited data. My phone shows data usage of about 6GB last month but I did not use my hotspot as much as I will in the future. Going to 10GB a month would be about same price as I pay now with everything as unlimited which may not be enough...

 

[Trash Can]

I've had a promotional plan for my 5 unlimited lines and the new pricing structure will cost me over $100 more. No way.

Please keep us posted. I've had that promo on two smartphones since it was available in 2010. When I call up to pre-order our two GS3s, I am going to need major confirmation that this discount AND our unlimited will not be falling off. I don't want to go to Sprint, but I will if I have to.

Add me to the list. I've had the same promo on two lines since Nov 2010. It wasn't an issue when we upgraded from the X, but we'll see how this plays out going forward. This is a Loyalty Dept plan that is supposedly good for life. Loyalty is a two way street. I refuse to pay a whole lot more for a whole lot less. I have no problems walking away from VZW entirely if this is taken away, or downgrading to basic phones at the very least.

 

[billyk]

Done for you and soulpatch.
Great point about the Loyalty program.

 

[MdicnMan]

Has anyone heard if the shared plan will be eligible for employer discounts? That would be the only thing that might make me switch. I am currently on an 'Altel' unlimited plan and until this last renewal I was getting a 20% service discount. Now I do not get it becasue I am on an unsupported plan.

With 20% off, it might just be ok....maybe.

 

[Garemlin]

I was pretty much forced to get my Mom a smartphone, upgrading from her 4 year old feature phone. The new "basic" phones are really BASIC. They are crap! Remember the Voyager, the Dare, etc.? I thought feature phones could only get better with time, but it seems they have gotten worse, at Verizon specifically.

My point exactly. When we were on AT&T I had the Samsung Impression, my daughter the Samsung Eternity and my wife the Samsung Propel. All great phones for what they were. My wife currently has a failing LG Env3 (which she loves) and we are at wits end trying to figure out what to get her. I just browsed the VZW site and the feature phones look like Fisher Price toys.

 

[billyk]

Regarding corporate discounts:

Only the shared data access fee is eligible for discount. The $40 per line fee for each smartphone ($30 for each feature phone) is NOT eligible for the corporate discount.

 

[Garemlin]

Has anyone heard if the shared plan will be eligible for employer discounts? That would be the only thing that might make me switch. I am currently on an 'Altel' unlimited plan and until this last renewal I was getting a 20% service discount. Now I do not get it becasue I am on an unsupported plan.

With 20% off, it might just be ok....maybe.

Already been posted. The discount will be applied only to the shared plan itself. Not to the line access charge.

 

[kodiak799]

Current plan: $79.99 (plus TAXES!!!) for 450 national minutes and unlimited data, 500 messages. The recommended plan with 2gigs (which could work for me) is $100.

Heck, I'm trying to get friends to text my GV number so I can ditch the $10 texting fee. Unlimited minutes would be nice, but I've gone over it like twice in the last five years, mostly when I'm not paying attention. If they really want to turn the screws they'll eliminate the free mobile-to-mobile and maybe make the free night hours later.

If I really need more minutes for some reason, I'll just add this plan on a new account for a dumb phone - unlimited minutes and text for $40 is a good deal. So in that scenario, if I get everyone to call/text my GV number it will forward to both phones and I just need to monitor minutes on the one - total cost of $110 and I keep my unlimited.

 

[nikecar]

I haven't seen this graphic before. Its from Time.

View attachment 50980

 

[soulpatch]

that graphic would be fine if it were to showcase how many of us on unlimited or those that use higher tiers of data get screwed here....

 

[Colorado]

I will be leaving vzw shortly.

 

[Beka27]

The other thing that ticks me off is that Verizon SAW how popular (among low-level users) having the $15 data plan for just a little bit of data was (I don't remember the exact size of that plan). I think that majorly backfired with them because they were thinking people would get that little bit of data and go over every single month resulting in paying high fees. With wifi so prevalent for most people, they knew they had to gouge the lowest level data prices. Tiered data seems AMAZING right now in comparison to this (again, for most people). $50 for 1GB just makes my head spin... but if you want 10GB, the "value" drops down to nothing ($10 a GB). :angry:

 

[MdicnMan]

Already been posted. The discount will be applied only to the shared plan itself. Not to the line access charge.

Sorry, I thought I only saw someone guessing. A lot of posts to read through.

Anyway, that isn't so bad then.

2 smart phones at 40 = 80
10GB at 100 = 80 (100 less 20%)

Currently at 89/mo each for unlimited with no discount. So if I never hit the 10GB ceiling it's 18 bucks cheaper.

Still not sure I like it.