Verizon Pixel $320, Pixel XL $420 with DPP and bill credits

[dpham00]

For those interested. includes $150 Best Buy instant discount and $7.09/mo. carrier bill credit for 24 months.

Pixel

Google Pixel 4G LTE with 32GB Memory Cell Phone Black G-2PW4100-021-A - Best Buy

Pixel XL

Google Pixel XL 4G LTE with 32GB Memory Cell Phone Silver G-2PW2100-021-B - Best Buy

 

[1901Madison]

No option to pay off early, right?

 

[dpham00]

No option to pay off early, right?

You can pay off early but you would forfeit any remaining bill credit.

 

[vzwuser76]

You can pay off early but you would forfeit any remaining bill credit.

In other words it's a sneaky way of doing a 2 year subsidized contract. Think about it, on the old 2 year contracts you paid usually around $200-300 for a higher level phone, and if you left before the contract was up, you paid an ETF. Here, you pay full price for the device and get monthly discounts, if you leave before the pay period is up you lose however many bill credits are currently remaining. It works just like a 2 year contract, without calling it that.

 

[dpham00]

In other words it's a sneaky way of doing a 2 year subsidized contract. Think about it, on the old 2 year contracts you paid usually around $200-300 for a higher level phone, and if you left before the contract was up, you paid an ETF. Here, you pay full price for the device and get monthly discounts, if you leave before the pay period is up you lose however many bill credits are currently remaining. It works just like a 2 year contract, without calling it that.

Except that on the current plans or any recent plans, two year contracts raise the line access charge from $20 to $40 for 24 months, or $480 over 2 years. This deal doesn't increase the line access charge.

 

[vzwuser76]

Except that on the current plans or any recent plans, two year contracts raise the line access charge from $20 to $40 for 24 months, or $480 over 2 years. This deal doesn't increase the line access charge.

Of course not, because you're making payments on the device. When you do a 2 year contract, you pay a bit up front, and then pay the line access fee each month until the end of the contract. So while the newer plans save you a little over the older 2 year contracts, you're still tied to Verizon for a period of 2 years if you wanna see the entire discount. If you leave early, while not assessed a fee like an ETF, you lose the remaining credits.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Not a contract, but an inncetive not to leave Verizon as you would owe more on the phone by forfeiting credits.

 

[dpham00]

Of course not, because you're making payments on the device. When you do a 2 year contract, you pay a bit up front, and then pay the line access fee each month until the end of the contract. So while the newer plans save you a little over the older 2 year contracts, you're still tied to Verizon for a period of 2 years if you wanna see the entire discount. If you leave early, while not assessed a fee like an ETF, you lose the remaining credits.

That is true but let's take the price of the pixel xl. $420 . Bill credits Total about $170 . Total even if you where to lose all bill credits going through this deal is $590. Or you can buy it straight from Google for $770 and don't deal with bill credits.

 

[vzwuser76]

That is true but let's take the price of the pixel xl. $420 . Bill credits Total about $170 . Total even if you where to lose all bill credits going through this deal is $590. Or you can buy it straight from Google for $770 and don't deal with bill credits.

The difference is the Best Buy discount of $150. Otherwise, it would be the same from Verizon or Google. I bought mine on the Black Friday promo from Verizon last November (regular Pixel). There was no discount like the one from Best Buy on my promo, so if I were to try and pay it off right after ordering it, it would've cost me the same if I had bought it from Google. So the only reason it's cheaper is the BB $150 discount.

Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that these types of promo Verizon has been running (they've run them for pretty much every phone they have since last November) are contract without calling it that. That was my only point. You still have to stay with Verizon for 24 months just like with a contract, and instead of an ETF when you leave before the end of the contract, you surrender your future bill credits. But you still have to pay off the remaining balance of the phone at the full rate as well. So just like ETFs made people think twice about leaving their contract early, the loss of bill credits does the same.

I'm not arguing that one is cheaper than the other necessarily, but how they work are essentially the same. You have to pay for a certain period of time and leaving before that time period has elapsed will cost you more than if you'd stayed through until the end.

 

[dpham00]

The difference is the Best Buy discount of $150. Otherwise, it would be the same from Verizon or Google. I bought mine on the Black Friday promo from Verizon last November (regular Pixel). There was no discount like the one from Best Buy on my promo, so if I were to try and pay it off right after ordering it, it would've cost me the same if I had bought it from Google. So the only reason it's cheaper is the BB $150 discount.

Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that these types of promo Verizon has been running (they've run them for pretty much every phone they have since last November) are contract without calling it that. That was my only point. You still have to stay with Verizon for 24 months just like with a contract, and instead of an ETF when you leave before the end of the contract, you surrender your future bill credits. But you still have to pay off the remaining balance of the phone at the full rate as well. So just like ETFs made people think twice about leaving their contract early, the loss of bill credits does the same.

I'm not arguing that one is cheaper than the other necessarily, but how they work are essentially the same. You have to pay for a certain period of time and leaving before that time period has elapsed will cost you more than if you'd stayed through until the end.

Yeah no doubt bill credits are an incentive to keep you on board for 24 months.

With that said, i would still love the option of two year contracts and would take them in a heartbeat if Verizon offered it since i don't plan on moving to another carrier

 

[vzwuser76]

Yeah no doubt bill credits are an incentive to keep you on board for 24 months.

With that said, i would still love the option of two year contracts and would take them in a heartbeat if Verizon offered it since i don't plan on moving to another carrier

Well without any limited time discounts, the price for 2 year contracts and 24 month payments is probably about the same. I'd imagine the Pixel XL would cost around $300 on a 2 year contract, then add the extra $20 tacked on to line access fees and you'd be right at $780 by the end, where with a 24 month payment plan, the total would be the same as buying outright from Google which would be $10 less at $770. I don't see any other benefits to having a 2 year contract either, like warranty or anything like that.

I wasn't arguing that either the 2 year contracts or this 24 month payment plan with bill credits were a good thing. Prior to this, if you got the device on a promo, the discount was applied right away, so that if you decided to leave early, you could pay it off and still get the full discount. Since they introduced the bill credit promos, you have to stay the full period to get the full discount. I'm sure the reason it happened is some people jumped on the promo, got the discount, paid off their device and left. And since Verizon isn't going to lose money, they punish everyone including their longtime customers by making you stay the full period. I considered leaving Verizon this year, but currently my only other option is AT&T and they're essentially the same thing except their coverage is a bit spottier in our area. But my father recently had a cardiac monitor implanted and the base station connects to cellular and of course it's AT&T's network. With either AT&T or Verizon, we'd have to use a femotcell (or Verizon's Network Extender) to get a decent reliable signal in the house. The only difference is, his cardiac monitor would work with AT&T's femtocell.

I've been with Verizon since 2000 (and was with the cell company that Verizon eventually swallowed up for 3 year before that), so it's not like I jump cell providers. If I'm going to make a switch, it's for a good reason, not just for a good deal on devices. Unfortunately, to dissuade people from doing that, they have to impose those rules on everyone, loyal customers and newcomers alike.