Contract problem if I drop 1 of 2 smart phones from Verizon?

[cadzilla74]

I'm hoping someone here can answer this rather than forcing a trip to the Verizon store.

I currently still have unlimited data on Verizon for both my Thunderbolt and my wife's Razr Maxx HD.

I've been wanting to upgrade my TBolt to a new phone and now have the choice of 2 really nice units but only one will come to Verizon. The S4 and the HTC One.

I prefer the One which brings me to my question.

If I just drop the TBolt from my Verizon account but my wife keeps the account open with her phone will I still incur a penalty from Verizon for early cancellation? Verizon has great coverage and there is no reason to take my wife's phone anywhere else.

I'm actually way overdue for a 2 year free upgrade on my TBolt but Verizon simply has nothing I'm interested in and I'm fully prepared to pay retail for my next phone to keep the unlimited data. The S4 appears to retail for $650 but I've seen prices for the One about $75 lower. If I was a Samsung fan, which I'm not, this would be a no-brainer, buy the S4 for $650, keep Verizon, keep unlimited data, done deal. But I'm really leaning towards the One as the device I can live with comfortably for the next 2 years and the idiots in charge at Verizon decided to limp to the starting gate with the DNA instead and screw everything up.

My company offers 25% employee discounts for all the major US carriers so I'm thinking of jumping ship to ATT to get a One for myself. ATT has made great inroads into my area in TX and they now rival Verizon in LTE speeds in the greater DFW area so I won't be taking a coverage hit just to get the phone I want.

I'd like to be patient with Verizon and hope they get the One but, to be honest, I'm a bit of a tech junkie and I really need a new phone now. ICS offered some welcome updates once the TBolt finally got it but at a performance hit that makes it run quite inefficiently for certain functions it used to handle easily on GingerBread.

OK .... TLR .... the short question ... will Verizon screw with my current contract if I drop one smart phone but keep the other active? I want my wife to still have unlimited data and I don't want to pay them an early withdrawal fee for their stupidity in not providing the best phones to their customers.

Thanks guys! This Forum has always been a great source of good info.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

If your contract is up on your line which it probably is since you're overdue for an upgrade you should be just fine. No etf and your wife's phone should keep unlimited.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[dpham00]

No problem with dropping your line so long as you fulfilled your contract. Keep in mind though, once you are off unlimited unthrottled 4GLTE, you can't add it to your line (the only way to get it back would be to assume liability of an unlimited unthrottled 4GLTE line).

Att doesn't offer unlimited data on new lines. If you do wish to make a few bucks, you can sell your line, they go for around $250 on ebay

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[cadzilla74]

Thanks for the info! I'm going to dig around in ATT's plans and see if the carrier switch will be worthwhile. Might just wait a bit longer to see what happens with Verizon's offerings.

 

[spiraleze]

The thing I see with your situation is that it looks like if you jump to AT&T for the HTC One, you and your wife would each have individual plans (one Verizon, one AT&T) and that would be more expensive per month for your service even with the discounts.
Not a problem if you don't care about the monthly costs but I suggest you "run the numbers" before taking the plunge.
Good luck.

 

[androidluvr2]

The thing I see with your situation is that it looks like if you jump to AT&T for the HTC One, you and your wife would each have individual plans (one Verizon, one AT&T) and that would be more expensive per month for your service even with the discounts.
Not a problem if you don't care about the monthly costs but I suggest you "run the numbers" before taking the plunge.
Good luck.

good point!

 

[cadzilla74]

Yep. The numbers have been crunched and I'll be staying on Verizon for now. I'll just wait to see what phones show up in the near future. Not interested in buying an S4 for $750 since I had a chance to play with one recently and didn't care for it all that much. Not knocking the S4, just not for me.

 

[spiraleze]

Yep. Not knocking the S4, just not for me.

That is the great thing about the free market, we can choose whatever phone WE want from a large selection of models with different capabilities and styles.
Good luck with your search.

 

[OhioG]

Yep. The numbers have been crunched and I'll be staying on Verizon for now. I'll just wait to see what phones show up in the near future. Not interested in buying an S4 for $750 since I had a chance to play with one recently and didn't care for it all that much. Not knocking the S4, just not for me.

Technically if you go to AT&T you'd be giving up unlimited data and since you are willing to give up unlimited, might as well do it on Verizon. So don't think of sticking with Verizon as paying the 750 but the 200.

 

[cadzilla74]

Actually not willing to give up unlimited at this point. That was part of the number crunching factored in. Just don't want to pay full retail for a device I'm not all that thrilled about and, sadly, nothing Verizon has on the shelf right now is going to pry my wallet open. I have no need for any carrier's "cost subsidy" for a phone that effectively ends up with me at their mercy, I saved up my nickels and dimes to buy a new phone. <Sigh> oh well, there are bigger problems in the world than my idiotic cell carrier being unable to provide good service and coverage along with offering the flagship devices to go along with it.

How clueless is Verizon anyway? They just partnered with AOL???!!! Seriously? Is there anyone making decisions in that company younger than 80?

 

[Issemann]

I'd like to be patient with Verizon and hope they get the One but, to be honest, I'm a bit of a tech junkie and I really need a new phone now.

I am in the same exact boat as you (except I still have 4 months left on my contract). Even so, I am still willing to give it all up and switch to AT&T just to get my hands on the HTC One. In fact, as of today, I am one step closer to do exactly that! I still have my unlimited data account intact, but I ordered the HTC One from AT&T and just got it today.

First off, I can't put it down! This thing is simply a beautiful piece of machinery. Coming from the S3, I am very pleased with everything about this phone - the screen, the performance and especially the speakers and overall quality. I purchased the 64GB model, so storage shouldn't be a problem. My company discount got me an affordable 5GB/mth data plan.

My fear is this... As soon as I put my unlmtd. line up for sale on eBay, Verizon will announce a kick-*** phone for their network. I have 14 days to return the One. If Verizon doesn't smarten' up by then, I'm leaving them for good! I'm done with their lack of devices, bloatware and expensive service!