Buy One Get One Question

[Silex73]

Hey guys,

I'm on a family plan with 4 phones eligible for upgrade. I want the Fascinate but no one else does and I was curious if I could upgrade my line (line 1) and set the free phone up to another line (line 3)... then when the phones come activate both lines 1 & 3 then activate line 3 on its old no data plan required phone. And keep the free Fascinate as a backup?

Now the question here is if I do that would I be charged data on line 3 even though its using a dumb phone? Like is the contract when I get the 2 phones mean that I have to pay the data for all 2 years, because I think (hope) that this would work.

Any thoughts on if this would work, or if I am just completely missing the mark with this?

 

[jokerls240]

When you get the free phone on line 3, you don't even have to activate it. You could just go online and change the plan back to its original in a day or so. Verizon will prorate your bill for the short time that you "used" the data plan. The only downside is that the contract for both lines will be renewed for another 2 years. If the user of line 3 wants to upgrade before then, they'll be up a creek...

The only way to avoid renewing the contract is to not take the free phone, return it within 30 days, or pay full price for one of the phones. But plans can be changed at any time without renewing the contract on that line.

 

[dbdynsty25]

Joker is right. I upgraded to a droid x on one of my "regular" lines. I ordered online for the instant rebate, activated it for about 3 min. on the regular line with the data plan and everything, then re-activated old phone and took off the data plan, then activated X on my line. Worked like a charm.

 

[p08757]

I did a very similar thing to get off my BB Storm 1 last January. There is no problem doing this. VZW just cares about keeping the contract going.

 

[joebob2000]

So where they mention "new 2 year activation and 29.99/mo data plan required" they really are just joking about the last part? You can ditch the data plan whenever you want?

 

[Menno]

The only way to "Ditch" the data plan is to activate a phone that doesn't require it back on that line.

The data plan is REQUIRED for the fascinate to be active, but you don't need it if you don't have the phone active. Be warned that a lot of third party retailers have a clause in their contract about how long the phone has to be active on your account (with the data plan) or they might charge you back the cost of the phone or some other fee.

This is because the only reason most of these smartphones are profitable for them is because of the bonus they get from selling data.