Anyone else troubled by VZW's recent trends?
I have noticed a trend with VZW that is troubling to me. It seems that as of late there have been several increases in cost.
International long distance increase
411-charge increase
Text message rate increase
Holiday airtime charged as minutes
GSM roaming increase (yes GSM roaming on VZW)
VZW charge of 40 cents per line increase
I have been a customer for only a couple of months but I am starting to question if this is going to continue to be a trend on the part of VZW. I have been happy with the service so far but now is the time to bail so I can get out without an ETF, if I choose to do so.
Does anyone have any input on whether or not I just happened to join at a bad time, or is this a regular occurrence with VZW?
I ha...
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International long distance increase
411-charge increase
Text message rate increase
Holiday airtime charged as minutes
GSM roaming increase (yes GSM roaming on VZW)
VZW charge of 40 cents per line increase
I have been a customer for only a couple of months but I am starting to question if this is going to continue to be a trend on the part of VZW. I have been happy with the service so far but now is the time to bail so I can get out without an ETF, if I choose to do so.
Does anyone have any input on whether or not I just happened to join at a bad time, or is this a regular occurrence with VZW?
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They are losing money. They are on an older signal. The signal is expensive and it is very difficult to roam with GSM. It also costs a lot.
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are you saying that vzw is GSM? or that its difficult to roam on a GSM network (like Cingy)?
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he means that the transitional roaming on gsm costs a lot to verizon and it happens quite often. I think he knows fully well vzw is cdma
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vzwgal21 said:
are you saying that vzw is GSM? or that its difficult to roam on a GSM network (like Cingy)?
I am saying that GSM international roaming was one of the things that they recently raised their price on. Almost double to be exact. I am not asking for the Cingy lovers (Springaf)to tell me to switch I am just asking if the VZW employees notice this kind of thing on a continuous basis or is it rare.
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To my knowledge, you shouldn't be able to roam GSM domestically...
And even if you did, you need the sammy 790 or the new moto a840
That should be extremely rare.
And even if you did, you need the sammy 790 or the new moto a840
That should be extremely rare.
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I'll tel you as a multiple chain salesman, this is nothing new to verizon. They cahnge almost as much as Qwest Wireless, not quite tho. Its true that their service is good but now would be the perfect time to bail, cuz you won't have the deact fee. Just check the threads posted for details. But straight up, if you are unsure, quit now, keep your number, and try another service. If you don't like anyone else, switch back. Its that easy.
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If you are a few months into your contract as previously stated, you are going to be charged an ETF unless you can come up with a good excuse of how the change in some of our charges directly effects you. Be sure to review the Customer Agreement on www.verizonwireless.com before calling customer service to request cancellation w/o an ETF.
The raise in our prices I don't believe is only a Verizon Wireless thing, please review the other carriers before believing Verizon is the only one doing this. I'm not exactly saying that we are not the only company doing so, but if Verizon is doing something...please believe the other carriers are not too far behind. With the cost of price plans dropping industry-wide, the monies have to be recoupe...
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The raise in our prices I don't believe is only a Verizon Wireless thing, please review the other carriers before believing Verizon is the only one doing this. I'm not exactly saying that we are not the only company doing so, but if Verizon is doing something...please believe the other carriers are not too far behind. With the cost of price plans dropping industry-wide, the monies have to be recoupe...
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vzworacle said:
If you are a few months into your contract as previously stated, you are going to be charged an ETF unless you can come up with a good excuse of how the change in some of our charges directly effects you. Be sure to review the Customer Agreement on www.verizonwireless.com before calling customer service to request cancellation w/o an ETF.
A. people are already getting out without problem and
B. the change in the charges affect the consumer by taking additional money out of their poscket with a NON-MANDATED additional charge.
vzworacle said:...
The raise in our prices I don't believe is only a Verizon Wireless thing, please review the other carriers before believing
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"IF THE CHANGES HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOU, HOWEVER, YOU CAN END THE AFFECTED SERVICE, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE."
sorry but trying to cancel for .40 cents a mo is ridiculous. it doesnt have an adverse effect on you. i think its pretty funny when people try to get out of a contract because of this. we just give them a $12 credit which covers the .40 for longer than your contract. if .40 makes you mad chk with your new carrier. thats still the lowest admin chrg of the big carriers.
sorry but trying to cancel for .40 cents a mo is ridiculous. it doesnt have an adverse effect on you. i think its pretty funny when people try to get out of a contract because of this. we just give them a $12 credit which covers the .40 for longer than your contract. if .40 makes you mad chk with your new carrier. thats still the lowest admin chrg of the big carriers.
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well, my friend did not get the $12 credit, he got the get out of contract without ETF deal...
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Well, I will stand up for holiday minutes for a carrier. US Cellular has free holiday minutes. So, if you want holiday minutes, there you go, if you live in their territory.
I would like to have the holiday minutes, but, you have to choose what you need most, I could use USCC, but, they have limitations, such as your promo minutes only work in their territory, and a 50% rule. So, I am glad that verizon only took away the holiday minutes, if they take away my freedom to us my minutes when and where, well, then that could change things, so, I for one am happy to only lose the holiday minutes.
I would like to have the holiday minutes, but, you have to choose what you need most, I could use USCC, but, they have limitations, such as your promo minutes only work in their territory, and a 50% rule. So, I am glad that verizon only took away the holiday minutes, if they take away my freedom to us my minutes when and where, well, then that could change things, so, I for one am happy to only lose the holiday minutes.
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You can leave without ETF for any charge increase that adversely affects you.
i.e.: 411 connect won't affect you if you havent made a 411 call in your life...
They have raised the charges a few times in the past few years, but still remain lower than the competition.
The largest part is actually the taxes, over which they have no control. They are completely out of controll.
You will pay the following taxes and fees in my locality:
Total Fees: 7.1% + $1.05
State E911 Charge: $1.00
Federal Universal Service Charge: 1.7%
State Gross Reciepts Charge: 5.4%
Regulatory Charge: $0.05
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Get the subtotal from above, and start taxing.
Total Tax: 10%
Federal Sales Tax: 3%
State Sales Tax: 6...
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i.e.: 411 connect won't affect you if you havent made a 411 call in your life...
They have raised the charges a few times in the past few years, but still remain lower than the competition.
The largest part is actually the taxes, over which they have no control. They are completely out of controll.
You will pay the following taxes and fees in my locality:
Total Fees: 7.1% + $1.05
State E911 Charge: $1.00
Federal Universal Service Charge: 1.7%
State Gross Reciepts Charge: 5.4%
Regulatory Charge: $0.05
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Get the subtotal from above, and start taxing.
Total Tax: 10%
Federal Sales Tax: 3%
State Sales Tax: 6...
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vzwinagent said:
$9.99 Share Lines..... that's all that needs to be said.
said about what? Cingular's add a lines are once again $9.99, so to recap...
Cingular:
Same plans as VZW but with rollover
better international long distance and roaming
no "pesky" middle of nowhere rate hikes
VZW:
opposite of above.
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International long distance increase - It costs us to allow you to make those calls, the costs increased for us too
411-charge increase - Again, probably due toe the fact that we as a company are charged more
Text message rate increase - We do have to maintain a network here
Holiday airtime charged as minutes - Again, we do have to maintain a network
GSM roaming increase - It costs us to roam, therefore it has to cost you to roam
VZW charge of 40 cents per line increase - It's not a charge we can help either, it's a Federal charge, not something we chose to do
411-charge increase - Again, probably due toe the fact that we as a company are charged more
Text message rate increase - We do have to maintain a network here
Holiday airtime charged as minutes - Again, we do have to maintain a network
GSM roaming increase - It costs us to roam, therefore it has to cost you to roam
VZW charge of 40 cents per line increase - It's not a charge we can help either, it's a Federal charge, not something we chose to do
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LilHobbit said:
International long distance increase - It costs us to allow you to make those calls, the costs increased for us too
i could understand ROAMING, but LONG DISTANCE????
LilHobbit said:
411-charge increase - Again, probably due toe the fact that we as a company are charged more
don't you RUN the directory assistance service????
LilHobbit said:
Text message rate increase - We do have to maintain a network here
no, its more like a mistake was made in the first place, and now the company is seeing this. has nothing to do with maintaining the network.
LilHobbit said:...
Holiday airtime charged as
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LilHobbit said:
International long distance increase - It costs us to allow you to make those calls, the costs increased for us too
How much did it go up for you guys? I am with alltel and it cost me .20 cents a minute to call sweden or any European state. Other countries maybe a little more.
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aloha said:...
I have noticed a trend with VZW that is troubling to me. It seems that as of late there have been several increases in cost.aloha said:International long distance increase.
International long distance actually came down significantly with the new plan that vzw offers, as low as .10 per minutealoha said:411-charge increase.
increasing this charge puts VZW on par with what other carriers are chargingaloha said:Text message rate increase.
This puts VZW on par with what Cingy charges. And with the unlimted in plans you get tons of texting for very little.aloha said:Holiday airtime
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As much as I hate cost increase, I can see why some of the charges are increased. Gas prices are at all time highs, every business uses gas in one way or another. Verizon has company cars that use gas, their phones are shipped in, using fuel. I am a truck driver, and I see it at the pumps, fuel is over a dollar higher then it was a year ago, those costs are going to be passed along to the consumer. People do not realize how much the gas prices effect everything, even cell service, there is not a business out there that is not affected by the gas prices, and companies can only absorb so much of the increase before passing it along to the customer. If you have not seen increases in prices at your stores, well, it is only a matter of time....
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Georgia1 said:
companies can only absorb so much of the increase before passing it along to the customer. If you have not seen increases in prices at your stores, well, it is only a matter of time.
a. i can almost guarantee this is not a fuel related increase, and
b. if they need to raise rates, do it up front with customers, not on the backend. it would be just as easy to change rate plans to include 50 less anytime mins, but god forbid they show the customer they need money to cover the cost of a business decision. Cingular did it up front - they made their add-a-lines $15 for a while to
make the money back from the merger, they didn't impose a "administrative charge" on people's bills.
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I agree that this is a bad trend. Thye are increasing your monthly rate by .40 per month, in hopes most people won't notice. And increasing the incoming message charge from 2 to 10 cents per message. Seems like they're trying to increase rates for people already on contract in a somewhat sneaky way. Obviously, you don't really want to leave Verizon if that's your best option. But if you live in an area with a good alternative, such as US Cellular in the Midwest, I'd make the switch and save the money. Enough cancellations, and Verizon may be forced to honor the rates the customers contracted for. Seems like they might be getting a bit greedy.
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Good lord. I hope that when bread goes up another nickel you find a forum to complain about how much more you are going to have to pay every month to feed your family.
That being said, I don't necessarily agree with adding fees to existing customers, but even by admition, lets compare with Cingular.
15.00 add on lines.
VZW 9.99
Add the 40 cents and you have 10.39 to Cingular's 15. I guess we could just raise our rates by 50 percent and everyone would be happy so that they don't have to see that 40 cent charge.
I used to deliver pizza in college. I loved the people that wouldn't tip because "it wasn't their job to pay my income". Ok. Lets go with the alternative. You don't have to tip anyone. But for me to beat up my c...
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That being said, I don't necessarily agree with adding fees to existing customers, but even by admition, lets compare with Cingular.
15.00 add on lines.
VZW 9.99
Add the 40 cents and you have 10.39 to Cingular's 15. I guess we could just raise our rates by 50 percent and everyone would be happy so that they don't have to see that 40 cent charge.
I used to deliver pizza in college. I loved the people that wouldn't tip because "it wasn't their job to pay my income". Ok. Lets go with the alternative. You don't have to tip anyone. But for me to beat up my c...
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Celling it said:International long distance actually came down significantly with the new plan that vzw offers, as low as .10 per minute
.20 to .49 in some markets and .65 to 1.49 in others
aloha said:GSM roaming increase
Celling it said:Not sure what you are talking about here???
Then why are you addressing it. VZW went from 1.29 to 2.49 and from 2.49 to 4.99 on these cost. If you don't even know what it is do a little research.
I was asking if this was a trend on VZW's part not for a debate on each increase in charges that I mentioned. And for the record, saying that every other carrier is doing it is inaccurate. I came from a carrier that held steady prices while I was with them.
.20 to .49 in some markets and .65 to 1.49 in others
aloha said:GSM roaming increase
Celling it said:Not sure what you are talking about here???
Then why are you addressing it. VZW went from 1.29 to 2.49 and from 2.49 to 4.99 on these cost. If you don't even know what it is do a little research.
I was asking if this was a trend on VZW's part not for a debate on each increase in charges that I mentioned. And for the record, saying that every other carrier is doing it is inaccurate. I came from a carrier that held steady prices while I was with them.
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Nice to see that you totally skipped the ppint about how VZW dropped the .55 fee about 6 months ago. Like I said before no one notices the little things that are in there favor, it is take, take, take. Drop a .55 charge and add a .40 charge 6 months later. The customer is way ahead.
Everything in this world increases in price over time, food, gas, cars, cable, electric, etc, why would a cell phone be any diferent???
Everything in this world increases in price over time, food, gas, cars, cable, electric, etc, why would a cell phone be any diferent???
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It seems at its core, Verizon is driven by the mentality of being a Baby Bell rather than a high tech company. Probably the best model for making money, but not very endearing to techies -- which would probably characterize most who frequent this forum.
We're used to technology driving down costs. Verizon looks for every opportunity to make a nickle. Customer satisfaction lies in there someplace. I'm not sure our moaning means much to Verizon.
Waiting for Verizon to change is long-suffering process for most of us.
In the meantime, we'll either live with the existing situation or jump around hoping technology and competition will drive Verizon along. I read where Cingular is putting up several new towers here in Iowa. Maybe, in...
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We're used to technology driving down costs. Verizon looks for every opportunity to make a nickle. Customer satisfaction lies in there someplace. I'm not sure our moaning means much to Verizon.
Waiting for Verizon to change is long-suffering process for most of us.
In the meantime, we'll either live with the existing situation or jump around hoping technology and competition will drive Verizon along. I read where Cingular is putting up several new towers here in Iowa. Maybe, in...
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This debate/argument, BS has really gone on long enough everybody. The Cingular fans are in here claiming how wonderful Cingular is because they didn't raise their "Federal Universal Service Charge" from the $1.23 it already costs (not to be confused with teh Federal Excise Tax, the Federal Universal Service Charge is not mandated by the government, it's just a fee imposed by Cingular with a fancy name just like Cingular's State Telecommunications Excise Surcharge).
The point is this... Verizon Wireless implemented a $.40 raise in adminstrative fees to cover the costs incurred with lowering price plans. Verizon doesn't always raise fees, nobody was upset when they lowered family share lines to $9.99, added miunutes to the basic price pla...
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The point is this... Verizon Wireless implemented a $.40 raise in adminstrative fees to cover the costs incurred with lowering price plans. Verizon doesn't always raise fees, nobody was upset when they lowered family share lines to $9.99, added miunutes to the basic price pla...
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VZW_insider said:...
This debate/argument, BS has really gone on long enough everybody. The Cingular fans are in here claiming how wonderful Cingular is because they didn't raise their "Federal Universal Service Charge" from the $1.23 it already costs (not to be confused with teh Federal Excise Tax, the Federal Universal Service Charge is not mandated by the government, it's just a fee imposed by Cingular with a fancy name just like Cingular's State Telecommunications Excise Surcharge).
The point is this... Verizon Wireless implemented a $.40 raise in adminstrative fees to cover the costs incurred with lowering price plans. Verizon doesn't always raise fees, nobody was upset when they lowered family share lines to $9.99,
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rambofone said:...VZW_insider said:
This debate/argument, BS has really gone on long enough everybody. The Cingular fans are in here claiming how wonderful Cingular is because they didn't raise their "Federal Universal Service Charge" from the $1.23 it already costs (not to be confused with teh Federal Excise Tax, the Federal Universal Service Charge is not mandated by the government, it's just a fee imposed by Cingular with a fancy name just like Cingular's State Telecommunications Excise Surcharge).
The point is this... Verizon Wireless implemented a $.40 raise in adminstrative fees to cover the costs incurred with lowering price plans. Verizon doesn't always raise fees, nobody was upset when they
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The issue isn't just about a few rate increases. Verizon's handling of BT technology is extremely frustrating. After waiting years for some decent BT options, Verizons strategies have been very customer unfriendly.
Having waited and recently purchased an 8100 I find myself very frustrated. I don't expect anything for nothing, but I hate to have a wonderful BT DUN capability that I can't even use like my 4400 access (plus no calendar sync with 8100 mobile office)
So now we're talking a card and a $60 data plan, and inconvenience -- not .40 cents/mo.
Having waited and recently purchased an 8100 I find myself very frustrated. I don't expect anything for nothing, but I hate to have a wonderful BT DUN capability that I can't even use like my 4400 access (plus no calendar sync with 8100 mobile office)
So now we're talking a card and a $60 data plan, and inconvenience -- not .40 cents/mo.
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