Extra Perks for Buying Note 2 Full Price?

[roberte1342]

This might be a good idea for someone on a grandfathered plan, however here are the problems:

1. Amazon has their own Terms of Service agreement that does not allow you to do what you did. I believe the new device must remain active on the designated line for 6 months. I would expect additional charges from them.

Excerpt from Amazon's TOS:
If you transfer this equipment to another carrier's service or to another line in your family account and deactivate the line that Amazon established for your device (emphasis mine)

The way I interpret this is that as long as the line I originally upgraded the Note 2 on, stays active regardless of what device is attached to it, throughout the 181 day commission maturity period then what I did is OK. At no time was that phone number deactivated. I am fully aware that I must keep this line (phone number) active up to two years to avoid an ETF from Verizon. In my case, this $9.95 number was due for an upgrade and I took advantage of it. AFAIK VZW ties everything contract wise to the phone number and not the device.
I'll keep an eye on this and will certainly post a followup if I get dinged in any way or something unexpected happens. But everyone I've talked to says everything is OK.

2. The $9.95 is really about $15 after all the taxes. Added up over 24 months is $360 for the additional line. At this point you might as well have paid retail and not been locked into an additional two years.

Ok, lets do the math. $15 * 24/mo = $360. $360 + $279 = $639. OP paid $750. $750 - $639 = $111 in savings. I already admitted that there are not significant savings if you do not have a purpose for the extra line. Since I already had the dumbphone line and plan on keeping it for my kid this cost was already budgeted. So, in my case the savings are $390. This is a far cry from paying full price.
Granted, there are risks. I felt it was worth taking. I'll be the first to post in this thread should any problem come up. Your advice is sound that anyone else doing this should be aware of this risk and find out for themselves ahead of time.

3. God forbid you ever need to change rate plans to the new share everything plan. The $9.95 goes to $30 for a dumb phone.

If for some reason VZW announced 100GB data buckets for the base SA plan then I'll feel ripped off and consider changing over. Since I don't see pigs flying yet I think I'm going to stay where I am for the foreseeable future or until VZW forces me over, which would not surprise me.

I have personal experience with #2 and #3 so I am not talking BS here. I had to go to an unlimited minutes plan for work. This was something unforeseen when I did the extra line thing in October, 2011. That's way before share everything. I had no choice but to pay the ETF rather than move my extra line to a $30 +tax bill.

If you are going to do it, I would stay away from Amazon on this one and buy from BB or VZW direct. Be prepared for the what if scenario, and know that you really ARE paying full price when adding up the cost of the extra line.

My wife upgraded her phone through Amazon to an S3 for $100, no additional fees or taxes. So far so good. I've been shopping with Amazon for over 12 years and have never had a problem that couldn't be solved with a single phone call. Mucking around with BB or VZW has been an experience I'd rather avoid. But with anything like this YMMV.

 

[weasel123]

I bought mine at full price so I could still get unlimited data and my monthly rate would not go up $20 bucks. Then I asked the rep to give me some kind of discount since I was buying at full price and I got a $120 credit towards my bill. not bad

 

[droptine8]

Morning folks,
I ran into the same issue as everyone above and thanks to a kiosk owner in a local mall I was able to get the upgrade price of $299 and keep unlimited data.From what I was told the folks at the Verizon stores are aware of the work around and can make it work but are told that it shouldn't even be brought up. I'll do my best to explain the details, the only thing I know for a fact is that it worked.
He added a month to month (this is important) line to my existing Unlimited data contract. That new line being added gets you a phone upgrade or phone at discounted price. He then transferred the upgrade to my existing number and voila. After one month I called verizon and cancelled the month to month line. My total cost was:
$299.99 for the Note 2
$9.95 for one month of an additional line
$30.00 (if I remember correctly) for an additional sim card.
I hope this info was helpful and I'm not sure if verizon has or will nix this loophole but it worked for me and I am grateful for that kiosk owner in a local mall.
Cheers

 

[Jackson Galaxy]

Not having to sign a new contract is a pretty good peek IMHO

 

[jneusch]

Excerpt from Amazon's TOS:
If you transfer this equipment to another carrier's service or to another line in your family account and deactivate the line that Amazon established for your device (emphasis mine)

The way I interpret this is that as long as the line I originally upgraded the Note 2 on, stays active regardless of what device is attached to it, throughout the 181 day commission maturity period then what I did is OK. At no time was that phone number deactivated. I am fully aware that I must keep this line (phone number) active up to two years to avoid an ETF from Verizon. In my case, this $9.95 number was due for an upgrade and I took advantage of it. AFAIK VZW ties everything contract wise to the phone number and not the device.
I'll keep an eye on this and will certainly post a followup if I get dinged in any way or something unexpected happens. But everyone I've talked to says everything is OK.


Ok, lets do the math. $15 * 24/mo = $360. $360 + $279 = $639. OP paid $750. $750 - $639 = $111 in savings. I already admitted that there are not significant savings if you do not have a purpose for the extra line. Since I already had the dumbphone line and plan on keeping it for my kid this cost was already budgeted. So, in my case the savings are $390. This is a far cry from paying full price.
Granted, there are risks. I felt it was worth taking. I'll be the first to post in this thread should any problem come up. Your advice is sound that anyone else doing this should be aware of this risk and find out for themselves ahead of time.



If for some reason VZW announced 100GB data buckets for the base SA plan then I'll feel ripped off and consider changing over. Since I don't see pigs flying yet I think I'm going to stay where I am for the foreseeable future or until VZW forces me over, which would not surprise me.



My wife upgraded her phone through Amazon to an S3 for $100, no additional fees or taxes. So far so good. I've been shopping with Amazon for over 12 years and have never had a problem that couldn't be solved with a single phone call. Mucking around with BB or VZW has been an experience I'd rather avoid. But with anything like this YMMV.

I hope it works out for you. I was pointing these things out because everyone's situation is different and you cannot predict the future. I'm not sure why the OP paid $750. Full retail is $649, which is then a net cost of $10. If you needed the additional line the decision is much easier to make, but to carry the additional line for 2 years might not make a lot of sense.

I too spend a lot of money on Amazon and am a Prime member. With that said, I will stick to brick and mortar to purchase my cell phones. Mainly because I want the Best Buy protection plan. They will also price match, they have a great return policy and no restocking fees.

We all make our choices for our own reasons. The beauty of this forum is to share our individual thoughts, help others decide what's best for them, and to seek help when needed.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[scott750]

I bought mine at full price so I could still get unlimited data and my monthly rate would not go up $20 bucks. Then I asked the rep to give me some kind of discount since I was buying at full price and I got a $120 credit towards my bill. not bad

Dang I wish I knew something like this was possible to ask for? I wonder if I could walk into a vzw spite or call vzw and ask for the same discount?

I hope it works out for you. I was pointing these things out because everyone's situation is different and you cannot predict the future. I'm not sure why the OP paid $750. Full retail is $649, which is then a net cost of $10. If you needed the additional line the decision is much easier to make, but to carry the additional line for 2 years might not make a lot of sense.

I too spend a lot of money on Amazon and am a Prime member. With that said, I will stick to brick and mortar to purchase my cell phones. Mainly because I want the Best Buy protection plan. They will also price match, they have a great return policy and no restocking fees.

We all make our choices for our own reasons. The beauty of this forum is to share our individual thoughts, help others decide what's best for them, and to seek help when needed.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I got mine 4 Days after being released, so retail was $699+tax=~$750

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 2

 

[anon(394005)]

<clip> I'm not sure why the OP paid $750. Full retail is $649

May have gotten it directly from Verizon (like I did) where it's still $699 + tax. My total with tax was $762 and I'll honestly say I don't regret one cent of it! This phone (and keeping unlimited data) is the bomb!

 

[Eddster]

I too took the full retail plunge.

 

[scott750]

May have gotten it directly from Verizon (like I did) where it's still $699 + tax. My total with tax was $762 and I'll honestly say I don't regret one cent of it! This phone (and keeping unlimited data) is the bomb!

Yup I got mine from the vzw store.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 2

 

[MiXoLoGiSt]

If I remember correctly Verizon charges a $50 fee for buying a phone at full retail so the price would actually come out to be $700 plus taxes.

 

[weasel123]

Dang I wish I knew something like this was possible to ask for? I wonder if I could walk into a vzw spite or call vzw and ask for the same discount?

The rep actually said that it would be best to buy it outright then sign a contract. I would've ended up paying more in the long run than retail. I just asked the guy that I wanted to feel like I got the better deal and he was cool about it. He even called me a week later to make sure everything went smoothly.





I got mine 4 Days after being released, so retail was $699+tax=~$750

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 2

 

[CodyAB30]

My fianc? and I have share everything with 6gb data. We never use more than 3.5 in a month unless we take a trip or something, but having 6gb is really no different than having unlimited for our usage (we use way more data than that, but 75% of the time we are on wifi). And im paying less per month. It works out great for us, we use all the data we want and save money.

 

[Diordna11]

You have to factor in Amazon's $400 ETF in your scenario somewhere. They nail you if you change within 180 days.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Android Central Forums

 

[Shanicenicolle]

My fianc? and I have share everything with 6gb data. We never use more than 3.5 in a month unless we take a trip or something, but having 6gb is really no different than having unlimited for our usage (we use way more data than that, but 75% of the time we are on wifi). And im paying less per month. It works out great for us, we use all the data we want and save money.

Most people don't need unlimited data because they have wifi at home. People are always surprised when I look up their data usage and it's only 1gb per line

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

 

[anon(394005)]

Most people don't need unlimited data because they have wifi at home. People are always surprised when I look up their data usage and it's only 1gb per line

Sounds like me, I really don't NEED unlimited, but I WANT it for the peace of mind knowing that I'll never have to worry about overages regardless of what I do with the phone. That and my home Internet (DSL) is A LOT slower than LTE and I also just don't want to be bothered switching back and forth between Wi-Fi and mobile data.

 

[Johnly]

I had unlimited data up until this phone. I just got to thinking of the cost of paying full retail to keep my unlimited data and it became apparent it was unnecessary for me. Most everywhere has wifi nowadays anyway. I used to go over on minutes sometimes, and actually prefer my phone now with unlimited talk time. If I didn't have wifi at my house and used the phone as my only means of Internet, then maybe I could see trying to keep unlimited.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[byrds8]

Most people don't need unlimited data because they have wifi at home. People are always surprised when I look up their data usage and it's only 1gb per line

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

I take it you work for Verizon?

 

[fwhomeboy]

I take it you work for Verizon?

Hmmmm. Imagine that. I wonder if that's the CEO again ? Telling everyone "Nobody needs Unlimited Data anymore."

 

[jneusch]

I wish I didn't have to give up unlimited data but I felt the unlimited talk was more important to me, in my situation. I have been able to mange data very well by using wifi at home and in the offices and hotels as I travel for work. I have able to keep my data under 2gb per month and under 4gb for the entire family plan. My wife and daughter don't do a lot with the data outside the house which makes it easier.

I paid full retail because I like to have new devices on my schedule, not VZs. Resale value of flagship type devices are strong so I really don't feel like I have overpaid. The added benefit of not extending my contract is nice too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[scott750]

I normally use just under 2 GB of data. And that's using Wifi at the house. But when I travel I can easily go up to 4-6GB. I didn't want to pay for a bigger plan just to have it available on the rare occasion.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 2