Verizon Announces Wireless Pricing Changes

How cute, Verizon found a way to keep their $1.99 charge for those users that never actually want or need to to use any data services. I'm guessing, just as it happens now, that even an inadvertent trip along the data route will bring about this $1.99 fee.

I guess it's that time of year again to find out how each of the big companies is going to screw their customers over in the new year.

Forced data plans.....there's customer service for you.

Remember it's all about providing customers with value!!!!

Just call and they will credit you the $1.99 fee. I've called a few times and they didn't even question it and just credited it back.

Time to check out the other providers and dump Verizon

does this effect people that have a contract already or just new ones?

What I'm interested to see is if they'll still honor their data block. All of my phones have text and data blocked so there's no chance of getting a text message or data fee.

Wonder if they'll keep that ability in place.

I guess their highest rated network ratings make them feel they can charge the highest prices. But, people have choices - use another cell phone company. T-Mobile and Sprint are the cheapest post paid plans. And, of course, you can get unlimited voice & data plans from several pre-paid vendors.

I left Verizon last year. Don't like Verizon prices - do the same.

Verizon lowers prices by $10-$30 a month...
Still, prepaid no-contract plans are less than half that albeit with a less than stelar lineup of phones. Don't forget your taxes & fees... these are still contract prices. So, the verdict is in.. Fios Prices UP, UP ,UP.. and Wireless prices dooown (slightly, begrudgingly).

Companies with lower prepaid unlimited pricing:

Tmobile
MetroPCS (sprint)
AT&T
Tracfone (straight-talk)
Net10(also-dba tracfone)

again, the phones available for these plans suck and/or are expensive compared to the featuresets.

I am still on the old "Free-Up" prepaid plan.

I buy $30 worth of time every 60 days.

Pretty much works out to $15 a month service for me.

I starting to look real hard at the pre-paid phones like Trac Phone and such at Wally World.

Is it a 900 number that costs $1.99 per call?

Most people won't notice it on their bills or understand what this charge is for, and a majority of those that do evidently don't do anything about it. It reminds me of how mail-in rebates are used to display a great deal, while the process of actually getting these savings is usually a confusing ordeal with returns showing up several weeks or even months later.

It's just a gimmick that has proved to make millions of dollars, and not something that will likely be changed by the entity making this profit.

NOT NEWS! The MAJOR changes already happened about 2 years ago when they removed MOU (minutes on use) data --and-- about 6 months ago when they removed the vcast vpack.

Again... this is EXACTLY how things are right now except :

- There is a $19.99 75 meg option which is going to be removed. Only the $9.99 (25 meg) and $29.99 (5 gig) options will remain.

- There is a new "category" of phones called 3g multimedia phones. These phones are now REQUIRED to have at least the $9.99 plan. These are phones that have substantial multimedia capability but run a proprietary OS (anything not blackberry, windows mobile, or android). These usually have larger screens, a non-wap browser, a simple e-mail client, and are designed to promote multimedia messaging.
Verizon has ALWAYS strongly suggested the purchase of a data plan for these... (after all, what idiot spends the cash on a phone like this if you aren't going to use the 3g multimedia features!?) They *used* to give you the option to sign these up for Vcast ($15 unlimited data), but that was already removed last year.

So to summarize :
- They are removing the $19.99 75 meg option
- They now REQUIRE (versus strongly suggest) a $9.99 data plan if you get yourself a fancy phone

Everything else stays the same. If you want a basic phone, you still pay the same price!

P.S. 25 megs is actually quite a bit of data for a non-smartphone. I wish it were more too, but it's not some bizarro-unrealistic number that would force everyone onto the $30 plan. My old verizon htc touch smart phone (windows mobile) averaged about 50 megs a month (with push mail / google maps / youtube web browsing, etc.).

P.P.S. If you want a fancy "media" phone, pageplus will give you 1200 minutes, 1200 texts, and 50 megs of data on the verizon network for $29.99/month (less if you buy the refill cards online)

Absolutely, I wouldn't expect that to change. The problem is that Verizon already charges a ton of money for text and picture mail features that a lot of people want and use, but I've not seen Verizon offer the ability to block just the data for online services that generates this $1.99 fee. Your choice is to completely block all types of data, like you are doing. The solution would be to make the first MB free, but that would cause Verizon to lose millions of dollars each month, so a consumer friendly solution will never happen. Verizon will just continue to blame the phone manufacturer's software, and keep raking in this bonus profit.

Hell, VZW's executives figured that if credit card companies can get away with raising interest rates and banks can charge higher fees, they might as well join the party - afterall, who isn't look for profits & huge year-end bonuses. AND, ***** the government & AG's inquiries about the bogus $1.99 mystery fees on the customer bills. "Let's get even"

We, the consumers, do have choices & vote with our wallet & can pay for things with a debit card (processed as a credit card with no transaction fees)

VZW's "We never stop working for you ...." Duh, and just hand over your wallet. Nah, I can terminate the contract & port my wife's number into a prepaid plan (and save an additional 25% in taxes, fees & mandatory surcharges) later this year when the contract is up for renewal.

Don't we love government de-regulations !! NOT

so can we use this as leverage to get out of a current contract?

Yes, other than eliminating an entire price tier, lowering the $9.99 cap from 50 to 20 cents per additional megabyte, reclassifying all phones, reducing total number of phones offered, revamping voice plans, expanding which phones must have at least a $9.99 plan -- and essentially revamping their entire price structure so that most of their customers who use data pay more money -- this is not news.

No, since it doesn't effect existing customers.

My wife got an env3 to replace her defective env2 at Christmas with no data plan. I wonder if, when or how VZ will try and get her on a data plan. She does not use the internet and only wanted the env3 because she liked it as it was similar to the old env2.

Keep tuned sports fans.

I carry 2 cell phones
One is mine the other is company
Ok read between the lines

Why am I forced to pay for a data plan when I only used it once to download the backup software. Or are they now going to charge us for backup even though it is a "free" option

As I said in an earlier post, the BIGGER the company, they want NOTHING to do with helping out the peon..

Time Warner AT&T Comcrap.. Verizon all sort of SUCK

After I think some more I have 3 lines and 2, 3g, deivce with one totally data block

I would expect they'll follow the directory listing plan that requires a fee to not be listed, and start charging you a $1.99 "Data Block" fee.

Or go pre-paid like PagePlus. PagePlus uses the Verizon network!

What do you think I'm doing when my contract is up?

MetroPCS is not sprint.

If you get one of those 3G phones the it doens't matter if you have data blocked you are still required to get the $10 or $30 plan.

Verizon is going to make sure it gets at least $100 a month per customer.

If you EVER thought ANY company was out to "help out the peon" you've been sadly misguided in your thinking... business is out to make money, plain and simple. ANY business is out to protect themselves and survive any economic climate, and make a profit. They never do anything to "help" any of their customers.. even when it appears they are doing something to "help" the customer, every single move any business makes is to bolster their own bottom line - period.. nothing more. And, unless they are breaking the law, there is nothing wrong with that - it's part of capitalism... businesses are going to make as much money as the current market climate will allow.

In this case, however, I believe Verizon is making a mistake. HOWEVER, they still have their contracted customers, that in my opinion, are too stupid to pay their ETF fee, break out of the chains of VZ's dungeon, cut their small losses and move to another provider. I CONSTANTLY remind my wireless providers that their $200 ETF fee can easily be placed on my credit card and be done with... and then promptly remind them that it's the last $200 they'll make from me. And, the longer I have left int he contract the better. Sprint, for example, if $130 a month.. they can either take care of me and treat me fairly and keep that monthly invoice for 24 months, of consider me gone and pocke the $200, which for the most part goes to the cost of the hardware I got anyway.

Sadly, too many people are too stupid to pay the fee and simply leave.. they'd rather continue to pay an average $75 monthly bill for the next 2 years and take the crap.

right now she doesn't. BUT if you change your plan then they will require it.

basically this is a way for Verizon to increase your bill by $10 a month without having to say they are raising prices.

Check out Straight Talk and PagePlus (search google). These two are using Verizon network but are month-to-month and excellent pricing.

In other words, Verizon may continue to make invalid charges, but will be happy to refund your money if you catch them doing it and challenge them.

No doubt, it's just their friendly way to provide an incentive to check your bill carefully each month. And for the millions that don't...

Don't need to worry about a $1.99 fee now, as it, along with the fine for it will be recovered by a mandatory $9.99 fee for MOST devices.