Verizon Will Start Charging a $30 Upgrade Fee Starting April 22nd

[vigilantjon]

Gotta love this - pay to pay more

So much for customer service. So goes any loyalty to the customer. We all know Verizon and all the carriers are in business for 1 purpose only - to make money and profit to bolster share prices. This is a fundamental problem with corporate today - it's all about profit and value - not creating a sustainable economy. OK, I'm getting off my soap box now...

So a fee to use a service that you pay a lot for already... Unbelievable. Smart planning on their part. Get us all hooked on cell phones as they have become as ubiquitous in our life as any technology ever has. They set us up to steal us and our choices are becoming limited.

 

[huskur]

What the Big Red should have done is just raise the prices of their subsidized phones by $30 and then there wouldn't be cryers on "upgrade fees" and they still make the profit they were looking for in the first place.

 

[Zooterpust]

They DID raise prices already

The DroidX cost $200 two years ago; the Droid Razr Maxx costs $300 now. That's a substantial increase.

 

[Vulcan1600]

So much for customer service. So goes any loyalty to the customer. We all know Verizon and all the carriers are in business for 1 purpose only - to make money and profit to bolster share prices. This is a fundamental problem with corporate today - it's all about profit and value - not creating a sustainable economy. OK, I'm getting off my soap box now...

So a fee to use a service that you pay a lot for already... Unbelievable. Smart planning on their part. Get us all hooked on cell phones as they have become as ubiquitous in our life as any technology ever has. They set us up to steal us and our choices are becoming limited.

I've been with my electric company for 36 years and they show no love for my loyalty either. I bet they pocket the money and don't upgrade or do anything. Certainly VZW doesn't believe in upgrading their infrastructure either.

 

[huskur]

The DroidX cost $200 two years ago; the Droid Razr Maxx costs $300 now. That's a substantial increase.

The Droid X cost $200 two years ago: the Droid Razr is $99. Thats a substantial decrease.

Just sayin'

The droid X is more comparable to the Bionic or original Razr. Not the Maxx

 

[jerkwad]

What the Big Red should have done is just raise the prices of their subsidized phones by $30 and then there wouldn't be cryers on "upgrade fees" and they still make the profit they were looking for in the first place.

First, it's 'criers' but this is not English class ;-) Second, calling people 'cryers' is pretty lame, dude. Not wanting to pay more than we have to is not crying...arguing that we _should be paying _more is ridiculous. *smh*

Hell, if they wanted to hide this fee they could have done many different things. Raise prices on new contracts by about a dollar a month and not give us BS reasons why (training clinics, etc) would probably be more palatable.

They, clearly, have no desire to hide this fee because they don't care about the customers, nor do they have to. People like you, with your skewed view of what is fair and right and logical, give them no reason to do anything different than find ways to take as much of our money as possible.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[huskur]

First, it's 'criers' but this is not English class ;-) Second, calling people 'cryers' is pretty lame, dude. Not wanting to pay more than we have to is not crying...arguing that we _should be paying _more is ridiculous. *smh*

Hell, if they wanted to hide this fee they could have done many different things. Raise prices on new contracts by about a dollar a month and not give us BS reasons why (training clinics, etc) would probably be more palatable.

They, clearly, have no desire to hide this fee because they don't care about the customers, nor do they have to. People like you, with your skewed view of what is fair and right and logical, give them no reason to do anything different than find ways to take as much of our money as possible.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Apparently you have some kind of hostility towards me for some reason. Really, I don't care. Look, "criers" they are no matter how you look at it. I am not crying about it. Guess what? You can't change it. You won't change it. It's about bringing in the dollar and offset handset fees that they lose or only break even or have minimal gain on.

As far as not caring about their customers? I have never had an issue with customer service or nor any issues with VZW stores for that matter. Of course they care about customers, without customers they would be out of business. Is that not a correct statement. Due to your skewed views you likely cannot see past that.

I don't want to pay more for upgrading devices. Who does? My point is you can't change it and I can't either.

Rarely do I have incorrect spelling but thanks for pointing that out.

 

[huskur]

Never fight a battle you can't win

 

[Droid Kain]

I didn't mention anything about jumping ship. I actually like Verizon and their service. Just think its starting to get expensive. I too will end up eating the fee when the time comes. Doesn't make it any less annoying. Just sayin...

 

[roadrageburleson]

Maybe I am just too damn old, but I remember when customer service was (freely given). It was expected that you get good customer service and it was expected to be free. I grew up working retail and was expected to be professional and knowledgeable about my products and all advice and questions were answered free of charge and with a great attitude. This is just a way to nickle and dime the customer to death. When I upgraded my sons phone recently I drove 30 miles out of my way to go to a different Verizon store where I could get good customer service which my local store has never provided. If I were to start doing this to my customers they would start trying to find someone else to do business with. It is going to take everyone to start holding on to their phones for 4 or more years and not upgrading every 2 to get them to understand that we are not going to take this crap. I am a Droid 1 owner and I am sticking with it till it dies.

 

[jerrya]

Im not happy about it, but I am not going to complain. They have always been really great with me and my issues, replacing phones free, giving me exactly what I wanted. When my wife finally went with a smart phone (does the iPhone count as smart?) and they had eliminated the 'unlimmited' data plan, I asked them to put her on my grandfathered unlimited, and they did, same price as I am paying, and niether of us have been throttled, and I am well over 5MB a month! Contract changes overnight, refunding fees when I asked, and generally really been great whenever I have a problem.

Since most carriers are loosing money over phones (contract 200 dollors, while the phone actually costs 400 bucks) I think 30 bucks isn't bad. Yea, I wish they wouldn't, and will ask for a refund when its time to upgrade (might even get it), if I don't, I think 30 bucks over 2+ years isn't bad.

 

[huskur]

Maybe I am just too damn old, but I remember when customer service was (freely given). It was expected that you get good customer service and it was expected to be free. I grew up working retail and was expected to be professional and knowledgeable about my products and all advice and questions were answered free of charge and with a great attitude. This is just a way to nickle and dime the customer to death. When I upgraded my sons phone recently I drove 30 miles out of my way to go to a different Verizon store where I could get good customer service which my local store has never provided. If I were to start doing this to my customers they would start trying to find someone else to do business with. It is going to take everyone to start holding on to their phones for 4 or more years and not upgrading every 2 to get them to understand that we are not going to take this crap. I am a Droid 1 owner and I am sticking with it till it dies.

Thats what they want you to do. They make their money off their plans. Phones are very minimal and alot of time they take a loss to get you to extend the contract. By not upgrading you are fueling their pockets

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

It is going to take everyone to start holding on to their phones for 4 or more years and not upgrading every 2 to get them to understand that we are not going to take this crap.

that does make sense, but thats even less likely to happen than VZW reading this forum and changing their minds...they know that everyone, even people who arent tech savvy, gets a real bad upgrade itch once they get that email saying your eligible lol

to the guy who said we shouldn't fight this since we can't change it, grow a pair. when the big kids in school took your lunch money, did you just say "eh, have it, i cant win a fight against you"? If you don't fight this, will you fight a $50 upgrade fee in a couple years?

 

[mayorkelley]

I'm done, and I'll be shopping around on my next upgrade. We'll be looking at all other alternatives/options.

I know I'm not the norm, I take another tack than most. I work very hard for my dollar and I resent paying any company a fee like this. How you do in life is not necessarily how much money you make, but how much money you spend. Just because one company implements this fee does not make it right. VZW customer service and customer satisfaction are no longer the priority, they aren't what they used to be.

Case and Point: I've been a customer of VZ since 1986 when I participated in the first test market for "cell" mobile phone technology. They've been good to me over the years, but I've gone from having to buy a $1500 phone (my first in 1986), to free phones (due to my long term customer status), to VIP status, to no special customer status, to increasing fees for services and upgrades and everything in between. I still pay $200 a month for this service, and adding this fee is just insulting. I've grown tired of being nickeled and dimed to death, and companies like this will continue to do it until customers push back.

BTW, I called to voice my opposition to this fee, only to get a call back from an operator who left me a phonemail message with the corporate Madison Avenue excuses they're using to justify the additional fee in the first place. That tells me how much they value my $2400 a year, and the some $52,000+ I've spent since my first bill. No thanks, I'll have a look around now.

 

[mayorkelley]

Now that I finally did a rough calculation of what I've spent on cell services since 1986, I realize I am an idiot.

I've used the service and devices for work, to generate sales revenue. But today people are just as happy to communicate via email as they are with a phone call. It's definitely time to reevaluate and look at my options.