Upgrade fees
I think upgrade fees for equipment upgrades are pointless. Just another way to squeeze more money out of a consumer. If I am willing to extend my contract for 2 YEARS, especially when I am not under contract, I should get a better deal. I should not have to pay some stupid fee that serves no purpose. Its not like I am making significant changes to my account. I simply want a new phone. For example... I want a Blue Razr. I already have to pay $150 for the phone, get a $50 MAIL IN rebate (instead of an INSTANT rebate) and then stick with Cingular for another 2 years... Where is the benefit in that? To save a lousy $50? I dont think so. I do understand that Cingular is a company that is there to make money, not give
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mmcnier said:...
I think upgrade fees for equipment upgrades are pointless. Just another way to squeeze more money out of a consumer. If I am willing to extend my contract for 2 YEARS, especially when I am not under contract, I should get a better deal. I should not have to pay some stupid fee that serves no purpose. Its not like I am making significant changes to my account. I simply want a new phone. For example... I want a Blue Razr. I already have to pay $150 for the phone, get a $50 MAIL IN rebate (instead of an INSTANT rebate) and then stick with Cingular for another 2 years... Where is the benefit in that? To save a lousy $50? I dont think so. I do understand that Cingular is a company that
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actually...the discount is never going to be better for an existing customer.
I have seen Cingular completely waive the "Upgrade Fee" during the upgrade process the past 3 times now..out of 4 upgrades. They don't charge the upgrade fee for customers migrating in.
VZW don't charge the upgrade fee, but for existing customers, they will get 100-150 off the retail price of the phone at most, similar to Sprint. Oddly sprint does charge the upgrade fee. (Must be something to do with having to pay Qualcom the royaty fees for using CDMA technology.)
I have seen Cingular completely waive the "Upgrade Fee" during the upgrade process the past 3 times now..out of 4 upgrades. They don't charge the upgrade fee for customers migrating in.
VZW don't charge the upgrade fee, but for existing customers, they will get 100-150 off the retail price of the phone at most, similar to Sprint. Oddly sprint does charge the upgrade fee. (Must be something to do with having to pay Qualcom the royaty fees for using CDMA technology.)
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jmac32here said:
actually...the discount is never going to be better for an existing customer.
I have seen Cingular completely waive the "Upgrade Fee" during the upgrade process the past 3 times now..out of 4 upgrades. They don't charge the upgrade fee for customers migrating in.
VZW don't charge the upgrade fee, but for existing customers, they will get 100-150 off the retail price of the phone at most, similar to Sprint. Oddly sprint does charge the upgrade fee. (Must be something to do with having to pay Qualcom the royaty fees for using CDMA technology.)
No, Verizon gives up to $100 off the new customer price - not retail price. This makes most phones free, with the exception of some high end p...
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That is correct. If the new customer price of a phone is $150 with a $50 rebate, the upgrading customer will get the phone for $50 with a $50 rebate, which equals a free phone. Pretty sweet.
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werd.
btw, sprint charges that upgrade fee to make "an even playing field for new and existing customers" which i think is b.s. i waived it as often as i could and plan on doing the same thing at cingular. it's just good business. they don't need that extra $35.00
btw, sprint charges that upgrade fee to make "an even playing field for new and existing customers" which i think is b.s. i waived it as often as i could and plan on doing the same thing at cingular. it's just good business. they don't need that extra $35.00
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actually, you are saving more than 50.00 dollars guy. the phone retails for 319.99... so, what is the savings again? and. i know it's not advertised but every company charges, whether they break it down or jack the price up a bit, it's included... if you don't believe me, do research on what other companys charge new vs. existing customer...if you are wanting the discounted upgrade, then the 18.00 upgrade fee is applied. the company generates a contract/ivr contract/changes the imei in the billing system/if the phone you are going to requires certain ota updates, those are sent/oh. and the company charges that fee. oh yes, it is a fee. sorry. not trying to be rude, but if you play the game, follow the rules. we all have to do it. and when yo...
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Lets also remember that in technicality, GSM is a standard, CDMA is propriatary and owned by Qualcom.
Having worked with Sprint, VZW, and now Cingular, I see some difference.
Sprint give their customer either 75 or 150 off the retail of the phone, based on how long they had it. Being the only carrier to allow upgrades after one year, their $36 upgrade fee kinda makes since. They still have to make up the price of your old phone as well as give you a discount on your new one. (prolly cuz the one year thing)
VZW doesn't charge an upgrade fee, but generally, the cheapest phone for upgrades was $50 after the $100 upgrade discount. Now you can goto VZW store and have to pay at least $100 for an upgrade..depending on where you go.
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Having worked with Sprint, VZW, and now Cingular, I see some difference.
Sprint give their customer either 75 or 150 off the retail of the phone, based on how long they had it. Being the only carrier to allow upgrades after one year, their $36 upgrade fee kinda makes since. They still have to make up the price of your old phone as well as give you a discount on your new one. (prolly cuz the one year thing)
VZW doesn't charge an upgrade fee, but generally, the cheapest phone for upgrades was $50 after the $100 upgrade discount. Now you can goto VZW store and have to pay at least $100 for an upgrade..depending on where you go.
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bingo. and when i had tmobile and did upgrades, the cheapest upgrade phone was 20.00 bucks, for a new customer it was always free. and yes cingular does do deals for certain customers. tdma/fromer at&t... some people on really old phones that only supported 1900 gsm... people with reall old 8 or 16k sim cards... high revenue, low usage... depends. sometimes they do sweeps and allow people to upgrade in certain markets for the hell of it and don't advertise, just for a week or so will allow them, no ryhme or reason, the billing system just does it. and anyone that works for the company has seen it... someone eligible to upgrde for no other reason than the billing system says so...
we should start an electric company forum and blast th...
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we should start an electric company forum and blast th...
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haha true, ive seen some people be in contract 6 months and be eligible???
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Wow, how far you really are off. Maybe that is why you are so frustrated.
First off, the $50 rebate is in additon to the discount you get instantly in the store.
Second, if you spend that much each month on one phone you are allowed to upgrade potentially every year.
If you don't understand the incentives, you won't find a value.
First off, the $50 rebate is in additon to the discount you get instantly in the store.
Second, if you spend that much each month on one phone you are allowed to upgrade potentially every year.
If you don't understand the incentives, you won't find a value.
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I should state that the Retail price of the RAzr is STILL around $300 dollars, so paying $150 in the store is about a $200 discount, plus another $50 rebate.
Guess what upgrades on the Razr for VZW is---anybody-- (logs onto his MY VZW Account)
Verizon's New Every two give's ONLY a $100 rebate on the phone OR a $100 credit on the bill. But NEVER both.
Guess what upgrades on the Razr for VZW is---anybody-- (logs onto his MY VZW Account)
Verizon's New Every two give's ONLY a $100 rebate on the phone OR a $100 credit on the bill. But NEVER both.
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Not true. Two year pricing minus $100 and any applicable rebates.
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Agreed. Why does Cingular say the RAZR retails for $300+ when you can buy online at many different sites for $125-$150 cheaper?? I will always buy my phones from other places, so therefore they will be unlocked and not branded with Cingular's crappy software.
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Well, with online...many sites offer deals only to new customers.
Of course if you look around, you may find a better price...but that also means it may not gain full functonality of the service you have.
Since the Razr is whith almost everyone. Lets also remember that they prolly also design the phones to only work with certain frequencies depending on carrier. The unlocked-non branded ones may be cheaper, but may be more difficult to get data with.
I guess it really depends on your style. I would buy from a Cingular store or partner, just so I know for a fact I'm getting the full service for my phone.
Also with online is the hassle of shipping, possible shipping charges. The possibility that it gets lost, especially if bein...
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Of course if you look around, you may find a better price...but that also means it may not gain full functonality of the service you have.
Since the Razr is whith almost everyone. Lets also remember that they prolly also design the phones to only work with certain frequencies depending on carrier. The unlocked-non branded ones may be cheaper, but may be more difficult to get data with.
I guess it really depends on your style. I would buy from a Cingular store or partner, just so I know for a fact I'm getting the full service for my phone.
Also with online is the hassle of shipping, possible shipping charges. The possibility that it gets lost, especially if bein...
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Ahhhh. Well I appreciate your insight, however I was not referring to ordering from letstalk.com or somewhere like that. I meant buying from a vendor like I do, and my phone works well with all of Cingular's services.
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Customers who order online can activate their phones by going to www.verizonwireless.com, registering for My Account, and doing an ESN change. Or take in store and have it done.
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The upgrade fee is just a way for Cingular to advertise the phone for $18 less than it will actually cost a customer. Cingular COULD advertise their "free" phone for $18 (and their $50 phone for $68, their $100 phone for $118, etc), but this way Cingy can advertise for the phones as being available for less. Don't let anyone make you believe that this fee is for any "processing of the upgrade to new equipment" as it is simply a marketing tool to make a new handset look less expensive than it actually is.
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I disagree. The upgrade fee is shearly to generate revenue thats it. The phones are already discounted less than many carriers discount them without charging upgrade fees. Anyone who says otherwhise is a liar.
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YOU ARE SUCH A RETARD.
I COULD BEGIN THE BIGGEST RANT EVER BUT I'LL STOP MYSELF VERY EARLY AND ONLY BRING UP A FEW POINTS.
A) You are the typical ignorant customer. Why don't you learn something. You DO get a better deal than a new customer. Why? Because a NEW customer pays a $36 activation fee. You pay half of that.
B) How can you compare rent to a freaking cell phone. Wow, you get HALF OFF one months rent.... Let's pretend your rent is $1000 a month. That's $12000 a year, correct? And your landlord is givng you $500 off. Awesome. That's what, 4%? I think the subsidized cost of a handset is pretty comparable on a scale next to this.
C) If you are out of contract, Cingular is not MAKING YOU DO ANYTHING. THEY ARE NOT WALKING ALL O...
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I COULD BEGIN THE BIGGEST RANT EVER BUT I'LL STOP MYSELF VERY EARLY AND ONLY BRING UP A FEW POINTS.
A) You are the typical ignorant customer. Why don't you learn something. You DO get a better deal than a new customer. Why? Because a NEW customer pays a $36 activation fee. You pay half of that.
B) How can you compare rent to a freaking cell phone. Wow, you get HALF OFF one months rent.... Let's pretend your rent is $1000 a month. That's $12000 a year, correct? And your landlord is givng you $500 off. Awesome. That's what, 4%? I think the subsidized cost of a handset is pretty comparable on a scale next to this.
C) If you are out of contract, Cingular is not MAKING YOU DO ANYTHING. THEY ARE NOT WALKING ALL O...
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Haha I was waiting for forever for a response to that.
THANK YOU. FINALLY.
😈
THANK YOU. FINALLY.
😈
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I had a customer walk out of the store today just because she would not pay the upgrade fee. She felt her two years of dedication to Cingular and the whopping 39.99 she spends a month for service was enough. I told her she could get a phone online and not sign another ocntract. Then she gets mad cause I won't let her use my computer here to buy a phone on e bay. come the **** on!!! Almost worth losing my job just to slap the $h!t out of her
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i remember when the upg fee was $10 in my market! but that was when we were still activation TDMA
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well I can remember when we didn't have upg fees 🤣
and boy when they came out, the sales people thought it was the end of the world 🙄
and boy when they came out, the sales people thought it was the end of the world 🙄
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I believe the upgrade fees used to go to the store, but then corporate decided they wanted the whole pie.
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nope...COR stores never had them prior to '02. We never even thought about adding them because that's not how we made commision.
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it was probably differnt from market to market, but i worked for COR and we had them, just managers didnt enforce it too much till they realized how much money our market was losing
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my current employeer... the creators of VIP/ Elite/ Basic... they are smart 😉
i worked for COR for PART of -02
i worked for COR for PART of -02
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In both the North Texas region and Southern CA region upgrade fees were paid in store and kept by the agent. They transitioned to Cingular charging those fees and the agents kept the same commission as before (minimal as it was it basically dropped by $1😎.
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WOW! you pay $800 a month rent? crazy.
sorry about your phone issue.....
sorry about your phone issue.....
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