Vzw to Kill grandfathered unlmtd data plans with 4g upgrades

[Green_Laser]

www.bgr.com/2012/05/16/verizon-grandfathered-unlimited-data-plans-ending/

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[tony bag o donuts]

I said this along with some stuff with the Nexus back in December and everyone here slammed me for it. Of course I said it would happen by March....

 

[Green_Laser]

Well, you weren't far off at all.


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[rvhighway]

I read that article and it only spoke of losing the unlimited plans when upgrading from 3G to 4G phones. In my case I have a 4G phone already and am on the unlimited plan. The next time I upgrade, it will be 4G to 4G. Does that mean I get to keep unlimited or am I smoking dope? It's not clear in the article, in fact it's absent, although I probably know the answer . . . which means I must be smoking dope. Any thoughts?

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I read that article and it only spoke of losing the unlimited plans when upgrading from 3G to 4G phones. In my case I have a 4G phone already and am on the unlimited plan. The next time I upgrade, it will be 4G to 4G. Does that mean I get to keep unlimited or am I smoking dope? It's not clear in the article, in fact it's absent, although I probably know the answer . . . which means I must be smoking dope. Any thoughts?

You're right, it's not mentioned in the article, but having said that...

When you upgrade to a new phone, you'll have to renew your contract, and then they'll force you to tiered data. Well, you say, you could just keep your current phone or buy one off contract and maintain your current agreement? That sounds good, but unfortunately once your 2 year deal expires and you go month-to-month, they can change the terms of the contract (as long as they notify you first)....so yeah, you're probably smoking dope.

 

[tropper]

Not so my wife upgraded from 3G eris to 4G Rezound and never had to upgrade contract. The only thing I got out of the message was that anyone on a 3G contract currently wont be able to upgrade to 4G now as my wife did. And if I miss read it and they screw me I have FU money in the bank, Ill walk my happy butt next door and get some sprint unlimited LTE lovin.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Not so my wife upgraded from 3G eris to 4G Rezound and never had to upgrade contract. The only thing I got out of the message was that anyone on a 3G contract currently wont be able to upgrade to 4G now as my wife did. And if I miss read it and they screw me I have FU money in the bank, Ill walk my happy butt next door and get some sprint unlimited LTE lovin.

To start, I don't work for Verizon, nor am I defending them in any way...I'm just sharing my interpretation based on my experiences.

When your wife upgraded, she may not have had to "upgrade" her contract, but I can almost guarantee that she had to "renew" it (unless she paid full retail and/or had some kind of very special circumstance). In other words, the 2 year timer on the agreement was started over. She wouldn't have had to "upgrade" because the same plan she had been using was still available. (and there is currently no difference between plans for 3G and 4G devices).

If, however, verizon dumps all their current plans (as they've stated they are doing), then they can't force you to change the terms of your current contract while it's still valid...but they can force you to change contracts to upgrade a device. You could avoid this buy paying full retail or buying an unlocked device somewhere else, but once again, their terms do state that after the life of your contract is up (usually 2 years) and you're essentially going "month to month" they can change the terms of the contract at any time as long as they notify you ahead of time.

Again, I may be wrong...they may be willing to let everyone currently with a 4G unlimited plan keep that plan forever....they *could* do that. But, even though the statement released said nothing about 4G to 4G upgrades, I'd still be shocked if we didn't all get a screwed over by this.

Not trying to argue, just my 2?

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

And then there was this:
http://www.androidcentral.com/verizon-clarifies-new-data-plan-policies

I may consider paying full retail when I buy my next phone...but I'd be very weary about it. I still don't believe there's anything in our contracts that would prevent VZW from turning around and changing our plans whenever they desire once the initial 2 years are up.

Of course, they may not care since VERY few people will probably elect to take that route, so the percentage of folks with unlimited data plans would eventually be very low.

 

[tropper]

To start, I don't work for Verizon, nor am I defending them in any way...I'm just sharing my interpretation based on my experiences.

When your wife upgraded, she may not have had to "upgrade" her contract, but I can almost guarantee that she had to "renew" it (unless she paid full retail and/or had some kind of very special circumstance). In other words, the 2 year timer on the agreement was started over. She wouldn't have had to "upgrade" because the same plan she had been using was still available. (and there is currently no difference between plans for 3G and 4G devices).

If, however, verizon dumps all their current plans (as they've stated they are doing), then they can't force you to change the terms of your current contract while it's still valid...but they can force you to change contracts to upgrade a device. You could avoid this buy paying full retail or buying an unlocked device somewhere else, but once again, their terms do state that after the life of your contract is up (usually 2 years) and you're essentially going "month to month" they can change the terms of the contract at any time as long as they notify you ahead of time.

Again, I may be wrong...they may be willing to let everyone currently with a 4G unlimited plan keep that plan forever....they *could* do that. But, even though the statement released said nothing about 4G to 4G upgrades, I'd still be shocked if we didn't all get a screwed over by this.

Not trying to argue, just my 2?

No Pete im not trying to argue either, I was just saying I got from the article that they wont allow Unlimited upgrades from 3G to 4G anymore. You are correct she did have to renew her contract not sign a new one. We signed to renew the existing contract. If they do not allow me or us to renew again then is screw you Im off to sprint where unlimited plans are the mantra of the commercials and the LTE is as well.