Verizon contract/upgrade ?'s

[krispy_mobile]

I'm an AT&T customer moving to Verizon this Thursday when the HTC incredible is released. I change phones often and am not generally a fan of being stuck in contract. However, I'm used to carriers who don't offer upgrades in contract.

Verizon's upgrade system is new to me and I'm not sure if I'd be better off paying the extra $70 and going with a 1-yr contract or going with a two-year contract and upgrading while in contract. I'm assuming I'll be happy enough with Verizon to get through 2 years.

1) If I go 1-yr and decide to change phones, but stay with verizon, do I get good phone pricing?

2) How does this compare to upgrading phones after a year into a 2-yr contract?

3) Are there any drawbacks to either scenario in terms of plans and pricing?

Thanks for you help!

 

[NVR2ND]

1. only at the 10 month mark then you can renew(upgrade) with discount pricing.

2. 10mth pricing is the same -a NE2 discount that you might be reading about on here.

3. No. However I would be interested to hear what type of price plan you are lookin at getting. If you are going on a plan that is higher than 50/month(just calling plan) than you can get a new phone every 12 months with a new 2 year agreement. So you are basically getting a true annual agreement with 2 year pricing.

Hope that helps.

 

[krispy_mobile]

Thanks NVR2ND, that's a big help. My plan will be talk and text 900 @ $79.99/month. I did a bit of searching about the annual upgrade for > $50/mo customers and found this on the Verizon forums:

"The Annual Upgrade program is available to any line of service billing $49.99 or higher per month. You do lose your New Every 2 eligibility, as that is wholly dependent upon fulfilling 20 months of a 24-month contract. There is also a $20 Annual Upgrade fee. On a Family Share plan, the primary line is the only line on the account eligible, as it is the only one billing more than $49.99 per month.

If you bill at $79.99 or higher per month, the Annual Upgrade fee of $20 may be waived AND you may still be eligible for up to $50 off your phone if you sign a new 2-year agreement* (like the New Every 2 program, except it is only up to $50, whereas with the New Every 2 it has been up to $100 in the past).

You have the option of signing a 1 or 2-year agreement at that time and getting 1 or 2-year pricing accordingly.

These types of upgrades can be done online, through customer service, or at a store location."

*Billing at $79.99 or higher per month does not automatically qualify you to have the Annual Upgrade fee waived or to receive the extra $50 toward a device. Check directly with Verizon Wireless regarding your account to find out what you qualify for.


So, it seems if I go 2yr contract I save $70 and after a year I can upgrade my phone getting 1 or 2 yr pricing, depending on if I go 1 or 2 year new contract. I could also possibly get $50 credit and upgrade fee waived as well. Essentially, going with a 1 year contract from the start, costs me $70 and only gives me the ability to leave Verizon earlier with no benefit on phone upgrade or resign pricing.

One last question. If I'm a year into a 2yr contract and do the upgrade based on 1 or 2 year pricing, does the extra 1 or 2 years get added to the balance of time on my initial contract?

 

[chdtpn]

Well since you are moving from one carrier to another I would probably get the 2 year. No one can beat at&t or verizon imo so if you're comfortable staying with them for 2 years I would definitely do it.

I read something about a CPO program with verizon. That's Certified Pre-Owned Phones. And I thought to myself that would be a great way to get the MOTO Droid which it really would be. I have a Droid Eris and have been wanting a MOTO Droid for some time now..

So I called Verizon about this yesterday and they told me that I was eligible and could get the MOTO for $289.99 even tho it is CPO I don't mind because Verizon has fixed it thats why it is CERTIFIED and if it beaks again they will give you a new one.. You just can't have the extended warranty, insurance or anything like that I do believe. You can do this once a year and the pricing for the phones on the list are for the 1yr upgrade. So really, if you get bored of the incredible you can always get another phone on the list.

Not every phone is on the list tho just a select few.

INFORMATION ON THE CPO PROGRAM

LIST OF PHONES

Hope this helps you with the upgrading part.

 

[krispy_mobile]

There seems to be no drawback to the 2yr if I want to keep upgrading next year an option. After living with terrible coverage with AT&T, I'm a bit wary about contracts, but Verizon's coverage looks to be better for the places I travel and friends with them have no call quality/coverage issues, so I'll go 2yr.

I realize most of this information is available through Verizon but I wanted to confirm how it has worked out from real experiences. Thanks for the help.

 

[chdtpn]

There seems to be no drawback to the 2yr if I want to keep upgrading next year an option. After living with terrible coverage with AT&T, I'm a bit wary about contracts, but Verizon's coverage looks to be better for the places I travel and friends with them have no call quality/coverage issues, so I'll go 2yr.

I realize most of this information is available through Verizon but I wanted to confirm how it has worked out from real experiences. Thanks for the help.

Understable. I always understand things better when they are explained to me over the phone, video or on a forum rather than googling the answer and guessing what something meant.

 

[NVR2ND]

One last question. If I'm a year into a 2yr contract and do the upgrade based on 1 or 2 year pricing, does the extra 1 or 2 years get added to the balance of time on my initial contract?

Your 2 year agreements restarts on the date of the new phone. So if you are a year in on 5/1/10 then your agreement would run until 5/1/12, but you could renew on 5/1/11. Which would then make you up fro another renewal at 5/1/12, with a contract end date of 5/1/13.

I hope that makes sense.

As for the other part, I work for an indirct. So We try to make it as easy as possible to not mess up.

 

[tony bag o donuts]

Nope your existing contract get's "torn up" and you start a new two yr contract.