Verizon to allow early upgrades for upcoming new phones?...

anthony2558

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yeah the difference is gonna be on the full retail price of prob $599.00 to 699.00 not quite sure what their "no contract" price is going to be.
 

cadzilla74

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I'm not sure what the OP meant by "early upgrades"? My wife wasn't due for an upgrade on her BB Bold until next March but she got an e-mail from Verizon offering an early upgrade. We both have unlimited data on our shared plan. We hit the store today to check out a Droid3 because she insists on having a physical keyboard. She liked it, we bought it and got it for $199 and still have the grandfathered data plan. We had to pay a $20 fee for the early upgrade and she's getting $100 back on the Bold trade-in.
 

Mortiel

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I'm not sure what the OP meant by "early upgrades"? My wife wasn't due for an upgrade on her BB Bold until next March but she got an e-mail from Verizon offering an early upgrade. We both have unlimited data on our shared plan. We hit the store today to check out a Droid3 because she insists on having a physical keyboard. She liked it, we bought it and got it for $199 and still have the grandfathered data plan. We had to pay a $20 fee for the early upgrade and she's getting $100 back on the Bold trade-in.

Well, for the customers that signed or renewed a contract before January of this year were part of the New Every Two program. The program gave a additional discount to the 2 year pricing of a phone at 20 months into a 2 year contract, which started at $100, but then got cut back to $50/$30 (depending on your price plan. The additional benefit of the New Every Two was that any lines on this program on a price plan at $49.99 or higher got an annual upgrade at 12 months, with a $20 early upgrade fee.

If you have started a new line or renewed a contract after January of this year, then you are not in this program.
 

phoenixone

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I'm not sure what the OP meant by "early upgrades"? My wife wasn't due for an upgrade on her BB Bold until next March but she got an e-mail from Verizon offering an early upgrade. We both have unlimited data on our shared plan. We hit the store today to check out a Droid3 because she insists on having a physical keyboard. She liked it, we bought it and got it for $199 and still have the grandfathered data plan. We had to pay a $20 fee for the early upgrade and she's getting $100 back on the Bold trade-in.

Although I originally heard this on the news, I did find a few articles regarding the early upgrades. Interesting enough, it doesn't state these early upgrades are for those who don't have smartphones yet but it does make sense that's what it's for. Here is one of the articles I was able to find online:

Verizon Wireless Offering Early Upgrades to iPhone 5 and Motorola Droid | Headline News
Rooting my phone has made it a very pleasant phone to have now. But I sure wouldn't mind an early upgrade to get my hands on the TB successor, Vigor:cool: (only if I get to keep my unlimited of course..hehe)
 

MacQ32

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I just wish there was some deal that would let me keep my unlimited data and dump my thunderbolt for a bionic....

you will always have your unlimited data plan unless you come off of it at anytime. know the policy before criticizing?

apparently you arent alone. you have unlimited forever regardless of how often you switch phones as long as you maintain a smartphone plan at all times. quit crying
 

Jude526

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My upgrade date is March 2012. They let me upgrade early due to issues. They waived the 20.00 fee and also gave me a leather case. Customer care. Not store level.

sent from my Thunderbolt
 

upz3

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Anyone here noticing odd upgrade dates on their phones in general? I got this phone in March 2011 when it came out on the last of the 1-year contracts and Verizon's website says I can't upgrade until 11/17/12......
 

FrankXS

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Anyone here noticing odd upgrade dates on their phones in general? I got this phone in March 2011 when it came out on the last of the 1-year contracts and Verizon's website says I can't upgrade until 11/17/12......
I'm almost positive that the 1-year contracts ended prior to March 17th, 2011. For consumer accounts, anyway. I know certain corporate accounts operate by different rules and often allow 1 yr upgrades. Even today, I think. Just sayin'...

Sounds like you might have been misinformed by CS. Or... the website might not have been updated correctly.

-Frank
 

potatolover1102

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Anyone here noticing odd upgrade dates on their phones in general? I got this phone in March 2011 when it came out on the last of the 1-year contracts and Verizon's website says I can't upgrade until 11/17/12......

They definitely offered a one year option on the bolt. I would call and have that fixed.
 

paintdrinkingpete

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It's pretty common knowledge that both NE2 and "early" upgrades are a thing of the past, at as it is written onto the contract.

I am still willing to bet, however, that VZW will still send out occasion offers to "loyal customers" with limited-time deals to upgrade to new devices, specifically the more highly-anticipated, highly-advertised phones, such as the iPhone 5 and Android phones like the Bionic. I could be wrong, but it makes sense to keep people happy and makes more money for them (if you buy a device when it first comes out and the 2 year contract price is at it's highest), plus it extends your commitment to them, since you would naturally have to renew/extend your contract in order to get the deal. They've done this in the past, and I don't see why they would stop.

Either way, if you're not willing to pay retail for a new phone, make sure the one buy is one you can live with for at least 18 months, because there is no guarantee you'll be able to upgrade before then.

As far as "unlimited" data goes, yes, Verizon has stated that everyone with current unlimited data can keep their plan, even if switching to a new device as long as it's on the same contract. What I am waiting for, however, is when certain new phones "no longer use your particular plan, so you'll have to choose a new plan for phone 'x'...", kinda like they did with the America's Choice plans and such. And then, tell you that their new line of plans no longer support unlimited data. In other words, if you want to keep unlimited data, you'll be stuck using an older device and be unable to activate the newest ones (i.e. the ones you want to buy). Again, nothing but speculation here...here's hoping I'm wrong!
 
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anon(394005)

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I too can confirm that the 1 year contract was an option when I got my Thunderbolt at the end of March (ordered online via my personal Verizon account).
 

FrankXS

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They definitely offered a one year option on the bolt. I would call and have that fixed.

I too can confirm that the 1 year contract was an option when I got my Thunderbolt at the end of March (ordered online via my personal Verizon account).
My mistake. It was April 17th it was eliminated. Not before the release date of March 17.

Verizon Officially Eliminates 1-year Contracts Online, Before April 17 - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

There were however very few exiting Verizon consumer plan customers who qualified for the 1 year contract option, because if you were still within an existing contract and "upgrading" at the discounted rate, they normally only offered it as a two year contract. This definitely applied if you used the "early annual upgrade" (which I did). This of course was not specifically related to eliminating the one year contract. Just mentioning that very few existing customers on existing contracts were eligible for one year pricing/contracts at the time of the ThunderBolt release. Some were though.

Just to clarify... some folks think the term "annual upgrade" is the same as a "one year contract". It's not. Entirely different animal. 'Course, that's gone now too :)

-Frank
 

recDNA

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Well I've been a verizon wireless customer, uninterupted, since the days of the original motorola fip phone and they haven't sent me an offer to upgrade to bionic. How "loyal" do you have to be?
 

phoenixone

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Well I've been a verizon wireless customer, uninterupted, since the days of the original motorola fip phone and they haven't sent me an offer to upgrade to bionic. How "loyal" do you have to be?

When they had the cup and string line phones. Lol.
 

upz3

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No they were discontinued a week after the TBolt was released. I know I was able to get 1 year contract because I checked online. I'd be able to verify my purchase if my basement didn't flood due to Irene with the receipt. I do remember getting the phone at 1-yr for $239 (my upgrade discount played into that somehow) if I did 2-yrs it was going to be well under $200.

My last 2 year upgrade was in 2008 with the LG Voyager.... that lasted a year until the Eris came out (which I purchased at a 1 year contracted price).... I was up for a new contract on since August 2010 waiting for the Thunderbolt. I'm going to play it safe and go to my local Verizon store this week and get it fixed.
 

opjones

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Loyal customers may get the option, it'll be via mail or email. I was able to upgrade from my Droid X to the Bolt only after 6 months of having the X. I was mailed a flyer with my phone number on it telling me I could upgrade. I was the only person that the verizon store had seen when I brought in the flyer, but they processed it without a question. I've been crossing my fingers they do the same for the Bionic, but I'm not holding my breathe.
 

natehoy

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Well I've been a verizon wireless customer, uninterupted, since the days of the original motorola fip phone and they haven't sent me an offer to upgrade to bionic. How "loyal" do you have to be?

Less loyal than you, apparently. :D

Seriously, you've been an uninterrupted customer since the days of yore, how much trouble do you think they'll go to in order to keep you? It's like politics - if you've always voted Demublican, and you tell everyone that you will continue to always vote Demublican, and the day you vote for a Republicrat is the day you'll keel over and die, then neither the Demublicans or the Republicrats are going to expend a whit of effort to gain your vote. You've already made it clear that they are either wasting their time because they can never lose your vote, or because they can never gain it.

Call Verizon and mention that you're considering "jumping ship" because other companies have rollover or this or that or the other thing (just be sure it's some feature they can match or have a chance of making happen for you - don't say things like "your phones suck" or "there's no coverage at my house" or something they CANNOT resolve for you, but do say "I'm not happy with my current phone and I'd like a new one, please") and allow them to convince you to stay. Be polite, but make it clear that you're thinking about possibly (and regretfully) breaking a long-term loyalty to them.

You've been with them so long they are probably depreciating you as a long-term asset with furniture and fixtures. Make a little noise, make sure they know you exist, and make sure that they know that a little effort will keep you around.

Hey, it never hurts to ask. Plus if you shop seriously with another carrier, the fact that you've been a loyal customer of their competitor might make them come up with some interesting and creative ideas to earn you as a customer.
 

paintdrinkingpete

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Well I've been a verizon wireless customer, uninterupted, since the days of the original motorola fip phone and they haven't sent me an offer to upgrade to bionic. How "loyal" do you have to be?

Honestly, if you were referring to my previous post, all I really meant by "loyal" is "current smartphone subscriber". For the last 3 phones I've had on Verizon, I've bought each one after I got an email or snail mail flyer indicating that I could upgrade the "latest and greatest new phone" (Most recently the Thunderbolt) at the 2 year contract price well before my actual update period was actually up.

It's almost something I've come to expect. If you've had your current phone for at least 12 months, check your SPAM filters and junk mail...it just may be there. I received an offer once after only having my then-current device for 8 months. I'm a new device junkie, so I almost always jump at the offer.

For what it's worth though, I've been a Verizon wireless customer since the late 90's (then Bell Atlantic Mobile I believe).
 

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