VZW Rep/General Account Questions only.

[issanni]

I have a similar question, except I bought a Palm Pre on 2/9. What are the chances of getting the 30 day exchange policy extended so I can see the N1?

They very very rarely extend the exchnage policy if you want to see the N1 I would return the pre and go back to your old phone til the N1 comes then decide between the N1 and the pre

I assume you mean that I would have to cancel my Verizon account altogether correct? I can't be without a phone indefinitely, so I guess I'm stuck paying full price...bummer.

 

[sabitu]

I need some advice as to when would be the best time to change my plan and upgrade my phone to avoid prorated charges.

My current plan is the old Nationwide Basic Family share 3000 minutes. I no longer need this many minutes so I want to switch to the Nationwide Family Share Talk & Text w/2000 minutes. My billing cycle ends on 3/6 and the new one begins on 3/7.

In addition to the plan change I am also eligible for a phone upgrade on 3/9 which I will use to get the Droid. My question is when should I change my plan to avoid any prorated charges? And will changing my plan before 3/9 effect my NE2 discount?

 

[sweaner]

I have a similar question, except I bought a Palm Pre on 2/9. What are the chances of getting the 30 day exchange policy extended so I can see the N1?

They very very rarely extend the exchnage policy if you want to see the N1 I would return the pre and go back to your old phone til the N1 comes then decide between the N1 and the pre

That is too bad. Although they probably don't want go down that slippery slope, a longer time with the Pre may convince me not to go with the N1 or Droid.

 

[tylonal]

I have a question, a few pages back you were explaining about employee discounts and how verizon periodically reviews the accounts and back charges for the discounts when the employee no longer works for the specific company. My question is, what about employees that retire, are they backcharged? My dad worked for a company for over 30 years who offered him a substantial discount on his verizon plan. He retired but the discount is not specifically listed in his benefits. Should they be worried about possibly being backcharged or what?

Hmm, well the potential is always there but I honestly don't know how this would be treated. Sorry.

Good question, and here's some new info for you folks, straight from our fraud devision. With all of the accounts that they have been finding that are no longer eligable for the employee discount, they have simply been shutting it down and in some cases, backdating the charges. Now, the new info is: they will no longer be backdating charges (unless you are an extreme case and have been abusing your discount substancially). All that will hapen is in your next bill, at the bottom of all the pages, where all of the legal stuff is, willbe a new little box that says somthing to the affect of
"We have noticed a discrepincy in your billing, this discrepency will be taken care of in your next billing cycle, if you have any questions, etcetcetc"

So...no, in my opinion, and from what I have recently leared from my coleagues in fraud, no, your dad is safe, even if vzw finds out, all they will (more than likly) do is cut off the discount.

 

[tylonal]

I need some advice as to when would be the best time to change my plan and upgrade my phone to avoid prorated charges.

My current plan is the old Nationwide Basic Family share 3000 minutes. I no longer need this many minutes so I want to switch to the Nationwide Family Share Talk & Text w/2000 minutes. My billing cycle ends on 3/6 and the new one begins on 3/7.

In addition to the plan change I am also eligible for a phone upgrade on 3/9 which I will use to get the Droid. My question is when should I change my plan to avoid any prorated charges? And will changing my plan before 3/9 effect my NE2 discount?

Sweet, all awesome questions dude.
General rule of thumb is, it is always the least confusing to make any changes to start at the beginning of your next bill cycle, or "future date".
If I we're in your shoes, what I would do is call up and ask for my upgrade date to be changed, just have them knock it back a few days (they can do up to a month). Then once that has been done, go into the store, purchase your phone and at the same time make a "future dated order" for your plan to change on the 7th (wich you can do over the phone, or when you are in the store).
Just keep in mind, they won't be able to future date that order until you have that phone active unless you are switching from anothoer smart phone, because of the feature differances and the pricing changes that need to occur (see earlier post about pricing for smart, and semi smart phones).

I know that is all probable kind of confusing, so if you need clarification, just let me know.

 

[sabitu]

Sweet, all awesome questions dude.
General rule of thumb is, it is always the least confusing to make any changes to start at the beginning of your next bill cycle, or "future date".
If I we're in your shoes, what I would do is call up and ask for my upgrade date to be changed, just have them knock it back a few days (they can do up to a month). Then once that has been done, go into the store, purchase your phone and at the same time make a "future dated order" for your plan to change on the 7th (wich you can do over the phone, or when you are in the store).
Just keep in mind, they won't be able to future date that order until you have that phone active unless you are switching from anothoer smart phone, because of the feature differances and the pricing changes that need to occur (see earlier post about pricing for smart, and semi smart phones).

I know that is all probable kind of confusing, so if you need clarification, just let me know.

Thanks for the info, this really helps. Now if I did what you suggested and upgraded to the Droid tomorrow for example, and future dated the new plan on the 7th, then would the $29.99 data fee be tacked on to this cycle's bill since the Droid would have to be activated?

Can you clarify why they can't future date the plan without the Droid first being active? Lets say for instance I future date the new plan on the 7th and add the $29.99 data option to my line along with the new plan. Would it be possible to do this and then upgrade to the Droid after the new plan is in effect?

 

[Spectral]

Sweet, all awesome questions dude.
General rule of thumb is, it is always the least confusing to make any changes to start at the beginning of your next bill cycle, or "future date".
If I we're in your shoes, what I would do is call up and ask for my upgrade date to be changed, just have them knock it back a few days (they can do up to a month). Then once that has been done, go into the store, purchase your phone and at the same time make a "future dated order" for your plan to change on the 7th (wich you can do over the phone, or when you are in the store).
Just keep in mind, they won't be able to future date that order until you have that phone active unless you are switching from anothoer smart phone, because of the feature differances and the pricing changes that need to occur (see earlier post about pricing for smart, and semi smart phones).

I know that is all probable kind of confusing, so if you need clarification, just let me know.

Thanks for the info, this really helps. Now if I did what you suggested and upgraded to the Droid tomorrow for example, and future dated the new plan on the 7th, then would the $29.99 data fee be tacked on to this cycle's bill since the Droid would have to be activated?

Can you clarify why they can't future date the plan without the Droid first being active? Lets say for instance I future date the new plan on the 7th and add the $29.99 data option to my line along with the new plan. Would it be possible to do this and then upgrade to the Droid after the new plan is in effect?

The $29.99 plan needs to be added when activated. If you wanted to avoid having a lot of prorated charges on your bill for adding it in the middle of your bill cycle my best suggestion would be to upgrade the day your bill cycle ends or a day before. That way you will on get one day of prorated charges and the month in advance of $29.99. And there is not a way, unless you already have a PDA/Smartphone, that you could have the data plan be effective BEFORE you add the Droid. The reason for that being the data plan for the Droid is specific to just PDA/Smartphones so it is not something that is available with a standard device, their data plan is different in name and features. I hope that all makes sense, if not post a reply and I'm sure myself or someone can clear everything up.

 

[tylonal]

Sweet, all awesome questions dude.
General rule of thumb is, it is always the least confusing to make any changes to start at the beginning of your next bill cycle, or "future date".
If I we're in your shoes, what I would do is call up and ask for my upgrade date to be changed, just have them knock it back a few days (they can do up to a month). Then once that has been done, go into the store, purchase your phone and at the same time make a "future dated order" for your plan to change on the 7th (wich you can do over the phone, or when you are in the store).
Just keep in mind, they won't be able to future date that order until you have that phone active unless you are switching from anothoer smart phone, because of the feature differances and the pricing changes that need to occur (see earlier post about pricing for smart, and semi smart phones).

I know that is all probable kind of confusing, so if you need clarification, just let me know.

Thanks for the info, this really helps. Now if I did what you suggested and upgraded to the Droid tomorrow for example, and future dated the new plan on the 7th, then would the $29.99 data fee be tacked on to this cycle's bill since the Droid would have to be activated?

Can you clarify why they can't future date the plan without the Droid first being active? Lets say for instance I future date the new plan on the 7th and add the $29.99 data option to my line along with the new plan. Would it be possible to do this and then upgrade to the Droid after the new plan is in effect?

The $29.99 plan needs to be added when activated. If you wanted to avoid having a lot of prorated charges on your bill for adding it in the middle of your bill cycle my best suggestion would be to upgrade the day your bill cycle ends or a day before. That way you will on get one day of prorated charges and the month in advance of $29.99. And there is not a way, unless you already have a PDA/Smartphone, that you could have the data plan be effective BEFORE you add the Droid. The reason for that being the data plan for the Droid is specific to just PDA/Smartphones so it is not something that is available with a standard device, their data plan is different in name and features. I hope that all makes sense, if not post a reply and I'm sure myself or someone can clear everything up.

That is correct. However if you wanted to get your droid today, it really wouldn't hurt anything. Your next bill will only have the 30$ plan, less the ammount of days you did not have it. So if you only had it for 2 days of your bill cycle, you would only be charges about...what? 2 dollars? But keep in mind, first month is always more expensive because vzw charges for EVERYTHING a month in advance.
Also, the reason I suggested that you don't make the order until you have your phone is this: if you future date and order, then get a phone that requires an instant change to the account (wich would be the case if you did not already have a smartphone) a lot of times when that happens, the computer will not aloow it to happen. So the rep, not knowing what is wrong, will only be able to see that there IS a order that's been future dated, however it is interfering with upgrading your phone, so they will cancel the order, change your phone, and not reapply the future dated order.
Yes its confusing, but u asked. Lol

 

[sabitu]

The $29.99 plan needs to be added when activated. If you wanted to avoid having a lot of prorated charges on your bill for adding it in the middle of your bill cycle my best suggestion would be to upgrade the day your bill cycle ends or a day before. That way you will on get one day of prorated charges and the month in advance of $29.99. And there is not a way, unless you already have a PDA/Smartphone, that you could have the data plan be effective BEFORE you add the Droid. The reason for that being the data plan for the Droid is specific to just PDA/Smartphones so it is not something that is available with a standard device, their data plan is different in name and features. I hope that all makes sense, if not post a reply and I'm sure myself or someone can clear everything up.

That is correct. However if you wanted to get your droid today, it really wouldn't hurt anything. Your next bill will only have the 30$ plan, less the ammount of days you did not have it. So if you only had it for 2 days of your bill cycle, you would only be charges about...what? 2 dollars? But keep in mind, first month is always more expensive because vzw charges for EVERYTHING a month in advance.
Also, the reason I suggested that you don't make the order until you have your phone is this: if you future date and order, then get a phone that requires an instant change to the account (wich would be the case if you did not already have a smartphone) a lot of times when that happens, the computer will not aloow it to happen. So the rep, not knowing what is wrong, will only be able to see that there IS a order that's been future dated, however it is interfering with upgrading your phone, so they will cancel the order, change your phone, and not reapply the future dated order.
Yes its confusing, but u asked. Lol

Thanks guys, I think I get it now. I'll follow your suggestion tylonal and call CS and have them move my upgrade up a few days. This way I can go ahead and get the Droid now and have them future date my plan change to the 7th. The only thing that worried me about doing this was having the entire $29.99 data fee tacked on to this months cycle. But since I will only get charged for the next few days it's no problem. Thanks again for the help.

 

[destinydmm]

What would happen if I upgrade my phone online w/ Walmart or Best Buy, pay the discounted price but am not eligible to upgrade yet?

Wanted to know what, if any, would the penalty be?

Trying again, questions can get lost in here.

 

[dlwhtrose]

I have a question, a few pages back you were explaining about employee discounts and how verizon periodically reviews the accounts and back charges for the discounts when the employee no longer works for the specific company. My question is, what about employees that retire, are they backcharged? My dad worked for a company for over 30 years who offered him a substantial discount on his verizon plan. He retired but the discount is not specifically listed in his benefits. Should they be worried about possibly being backcharged or what?

Hmm, well the potential is always there but I honestly don't know how this would be treated. Sorry.

Good question, and here's some new info for you folks, straight from our fraud devision. With all of the accounts that they have been finding that are no longer eligable for the employee discount, they have simply been shutting it down and in some cases, backdating the charges. Now, the new info is: they will no longer be backdating charges (unless you are an extreme case and have been abusing your discount substancially). All that will hapen is in your next bill, at the bottom of all the pages, where all of the legal stuff is, willbe a new little box that says somthing to the affect of
"We have noticed a discrepincy in your billing, this discrepency will be taken care of in your next billing cycle, if you have any questions, etcetcetc"

So...no, in my opinion, and from what I have recently leared from my coleagues in fraud, no, your dad is safe, even if vzw finds out, all they will (more than likly) do is cut off the discount.

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. Its funny cuz since I posted that question my mom called Verizon on a totally different issue and asked them about my dad's discount and what happens now that he is retired and has been for a few years. The Verizon supervisor told her that even though its not listed in his benefits, it is a continued benefit because of the agreement Verizon has with the company he retired from. And basically he retired he didn't quit or get fired so all that worry for nothing. But many thanks to all that tried to answer me.

 

[r314bd]

I've got a question for the VZW reps! Many people have told me that my voice sounds muffled or unintelligible with my Droid...I asked people who I talk to frequently if they noticed the problem with my old phone (RAZR) and they said that it used to be crystal clear. I googled "droid muffled" and found HUNDREDS of reports of the exact same problem. I tried all the software tweaks (VOCODE, power cycling, etc.) with no success.

Now I first called Motorola and spoke a sentence to the rep with the phone against my ear and with the phone in front of my mouth, and he noticed exactly what I was talking about...HUGE difference he said. I essentially determined that it was a mic axis issue. So I took it to my local VZW store and the reps dismissed my claim and said it sounded fine. Well...that's bullsh*t.

So my question is...do I have any other recourse for getting this fixed/replaced under warranty?

 

[Spectral]

What would happen if I upgrade my phone online w/ Walmart or Best Buy, pay the discounted price but am not eligible to upgrade yet?

Wanted to know what, if any, would the penalty be?

Trying again, questions can get lost in here.

If you are not eligible for an upgrade through Verizon then upgrading at Walmart or Best Buy will not work either. They also go off the same upgrade dates. If you got a discounted price and a new two year contract there would not be any penalty although it would be an error through Best Buy or Walmart so they themselves may have their own recourse for that.

 

[Spectral]

I've got a question for the VZW reps! Many people have told me that my voice sounds muffled or unintelligible with my Droid...I asked people who I talk to frequently if they noticed the problem with my old phone (RAZR) and they said that it used to be crystal clear. I googled "droid muffled" and found HUNDREDS of reports of the exact same problem. I tried all the software tweaks (VOCODE, power cycling, etc.) with no success.

Now I first called Motorola and spoke a sentence to the rep with the phone against my ear and with the phone in front of my mouth, and he noticed exactly what I was talking about...HUGE difference he said. I essentially determined that it was a mic axis issue. So I took it to my local VZW store and the reps dismissed my claim and said it sounded fine. Well...that's bullsh*t.

So my question is...do I have any other recourse for getting this fixed/replaced under warranty?

Be persistent about it. Do not go through the stores because they are a pain in the ass to deal with troubleshooting and sending out replacement devices. Call customer service. Let them know what is going on. Through customer service there is not much troubleshooting that can be done so you will need to be sent to technical support for them to trouble shoot. Many times technical support over the phone are much easier to get replacement devices through.

 

[mzmtg]

My wife and I will be upgrading to new Droids at the end of next month (can't wait!).

Later this year, we will be traveling to Russia (twice) to adopt a child.

Will our Droids work in Russia? Completely? Partially? Not at all?