In just the last week, three of the four national wireless providers have each announced their version of some sort of program to entice people to pay more for early upgrades. But AT&T and Verizon aren’t lowering their monthly rates to account for the higher phone prices (and T-Mobile is actually charging extra for the program), people who enroll in these offerings are really just paying for other customers’ phones. [More]
verizon wireless
Verizon Jumps On The “Pay For Early Upgrade” Bandwagon With New Edge Program
By 7.18.13
Yesterday we looked at the motives and math behind the new early upgrade programs from AT&T and T-Mobile and said that Verizon would likely be unveiling its own version of something similar. Well that day has come, with Verizon Wireless announcing its Edge program that let’s you upgrade as early as 6 months after getting your new phone, if you’re willing to pay a bit extra. [More]
Here’s Why Wireless Companies Are Going Gaga About Early Upgrade Programs
By 7.17.13
In the last year, AT&T did away with early upgrades for customers, then announced AT&T Next, an early upgrade program. Verizon was the first to get rid of early upgrades, but its soon-to-be-announced Edge program is expected to encourage early upgrades. Meanwhile, T-Mobile recently showed off its JUMP early upgrade plan to allow subscribers to get new devices up to twice a year. Why all the sudden, and seemingly contradictory, focus on early upgrades? [More]
Verizon Store Still Won’t Sell Me A Smartphone Without A Contract
By 6.4.13
Greg recently fought a new battle in his ongoing war with Verizon. His war is in defense of a noble goal: over and over, he just wants to buy a phone for the full retail price without signing a new two-year contract. If this seems like it should be pretty straightforward, you don’t work at a Verizon corporate store. [More]
Today Was The Deadline For Wireless Companies To Enact Bill Shock Alerts. Did Everyone Make It?
By 4.17.13 — Updated: 4.18.13
In October 2011, the FCC and the nation’s major wireless providers agreed to put systems in place that would alert subscribers when they neared and passed their plans’ thresholds for things like calling minutes, texts, data, and international roaming. Per the agreement, all the providers were supposed to have all their alerts in place by today. So did everyone finish on time? [More]
Verizon Wireless Does Away With Early Upgrades
By 4.15.13
If you liked the 20-month early upgrade terms for Verizon Wireless customers, this will not be good news. On Friday, the company quietly announced that it lengthening that upgrade period to the full 24 months of your contract. [More]
The $30 SIM Replacement Fee: When A Verizon Store Isn’t A Verizon Store
By 4.2.13
It was a really exciting time for reader Poochie’s wife. She was getting an iPhone 5. Yaaay! Once everything was set up in her brand-new phone, though, the SIM card failed. No problem: Poochie pulled out his own phone and asked his trusty friend Siri where to find the nearest Verizon store. That store wanted $30 to replace the SIM of a phone that was just out of the box and under warranty. If that seems unreasonable, that’s because… it is. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 1: AT&T Vs. Verizon
March 27, 2013
It’s the final day of Round One play in the Worst Company In America Thunderdome, so why not start it off with a showdown between the two largest — and most-hated — telecom titans around! [More]
Verizon Thinks My Wife Spent 10-Hour Roaming Call Talking To Co-Worker’s Voice Mail
By 3.15.13
RL isn’t arguing that his wife made a roaming call to a co-worker from a hotel in Venice, Italy. His dispute with Verizon wireless is regarding how long that call was. His wife says that it was ten minutes long. Verizon counters that it was ten hours and nine minutes. Considering that the call was to a voice mail box, that must have been an epic, almost close to the the actual meaning of the word “epic,” voicemail. [More]
Verizon Wireless’ Parents Vodafone & Verizon Deciding Whether To Get Married Or Break Up
By 3.5.13
Listen, Verizon Wireless: Let’s make one thing clear — even if mommy and daddy break up, it’s not your fault. Actually, it would be but that’s just business. Verizon Communications and Vodafone have a joint venture in Verizon Wireless as it stands right now, but they’re trying to figure out whether to just merge or end the whole arrangement. [More]
Verizon Charges Customer $299 For Refurbished iPhone That Never Worked
By 3.4.13
It hasn’t even been two years since a New Jersey teen first received his iPhone 4. He’s since been through four of the devices, following a string of faulty refurbished replacements. To rub salt in that wound, Verizon Wireless charged him $299 for the most recent refurb, claiming the damage was his fault. [More]
FCC Yells At 2 Million People To Turn Those Darn Cell Phone Signal Boosters Off, Changes Its Mind
By 2.22.13
What’s an average citizen to do if they can’t get a cell phone call to go through, perhaps because they live far from cell towers or their network is just shoddy? About 2 million people in the United States currently use wireless signal boosters, devices that can help strengthen cell phone signals. The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules on those yesterday, at first saying everyone would have to turn them off and get permission from carriers, but backpedaling shortly after. [More]
Verizon’s Redbox Instant Video Service Launching New App For Xbox 360
By 2.6.13
Entering the already busy arena of online streaming video services, Xbox 360 announced yesterday that it’s teaming up with Verizon to offer the company’s Redbox Instant Video exclusively on its gaming consoles. It’s always good to have options, and it seems companies are going to continue coming up with competitors for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon’s video services. And when companies compete, we win. Hurray! [More]
AT&T To Buy Alltel — Wait, Didn’t Verizon Already Buy Alltel?
By 1.22.13
Earlier today, it was announced that AT&T would buy up Alltel’s U.S. wireless service for $780 million, leading many to wonder how AT&T is buying a company that was already purchased by Verizon a few years back. [More]
Report: Cops Want Wireless Carriers To Save Text Messages, You Know, Just In Case
By 12.4.12
That thing you texted to that person the other night which you deleted out of overwhelming shame the next day? Messages like that could be pored over in the future by cops if various law enforcement officials have their way. They’re reportedly asking Congress to make wireless carriers record and store customers’ private text messages for at least two years, in case police need that info for a future investigation. [More]
Verizon Wireless Waiving Domestic Text & Voice Charges For Sandy Victims
By 11.9.12
Hurricane Sandy uprooted the lives of many people on the East Coast last week, making even simple things like paying a cell phone bill a hardship. Verizon Wireless announced this week that in order to help ease the burden for is East Coast customers left without power, cell service, Internet or even landlines, it will waive fees for all domestic voice and text usage. [More]
Verizon And Asurion Can’t Agree Whether I Have Insurance
By 11.8.12
N.’s Samsung Galaxy S3 misses and drops calls. That’s okay, though: the phone has insurance with Asurion in case the damage was accidental. As it turned out, the phone was cracked underneath its tough Otterbox case, so this issue is an insurance problem. Only Verizon can’t find any record of N’s insurance policy. Asurion assured N. that everything was fine and sent him back to Verizon. Verizon insists that there’s no insurance plan. [More]
Verizon Says I Can Port Numbers Without Paying ETF, Charges Me $910 ETF Anyway
By 11.8.12
When Consumerist reader Jill’s husband left his job at Verizon earlier this year, he’d been told that he could port all five of the wireless lines on their family’s account to another carrier without paying any early termination fees, and so they did. But when that final bill came from VZW, they suddenly owed nearly $1,000 in ETFs. [More]
