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joetaxpayer
I'M Here Till Thursday
join:2001-09-07
Sudbury, MA
552.8 23.8

joetaxpayer

Member

[Pricing] On changing plans

I have 3 phones on Verizon, and was on the 2GB/mo data. 20 days into the plan, I saw we were at 1.566 GB, and figured this was a good time to try to shift plans mid cycle. I bumped to 4GB. With 2GB=$60 and 4GB = $70, I figured, worst case, I'd have the full 4GB for the month, and pay the full $70.

Instead, each was prorated (no problem) but since for the first 2/3 of the month, I was over 2/3 the allowance, I was hit with the $15 anyway. Which is funny, since I ended the full month at 1.976, and did this to avoid the risk of going over.
Nice guy on the phone, reversed the $15. This is not a rant, not even if I had to pay the $15. Just sharing the method their system uses to calculate the usage and overage. I needed the 4GB for the upcoming mo, so changing early just cost me a few dollars. From the above, the mid-cycle bump in plan can still trip the $15/GB overage fee.
tdumaine
Premium Member
join:2004-03-14
Seattle, WA

tdumaine

Premium Member

Correct. You should never change mid cycle for this very reason.

A. Backdate to cover current month overages.
B. Future date to start on the next cycle.

Then you never have the pro rated allowance. It only charges you X days of money so you only get X days of the 2gb.

Start a cycle with 2gb, change it to 4gb halfway thru the month, you only get 3gb in the end. Half of 2 = 1, Half of 4 = 2, and dont use more than 1gb on the front half or 2gb on the back half.

joetaxpayer
I'M Here Till Thursday
join:2001-09-07
Sudbury, MA
552.8 23.8

1 edit

joetaxpayer

Member

said by tdumaine:

Correct. You should never change mid cycle for this very reason.
A. Backdate to cover current month overages.
B. Future date to start on the next cycle.

What struck me was that I was charged the overage even though the total month didn't even hit the original 2GB.
Are you suggesting a back-date is permitted? I can wait till day 28 and change the plan effective the prior day 1?
(EDIT - I went into the account and see the 'backdate' option. Which actually says it will help you avoid the overage charge. Now it makes sense. My mistake for not reading that page carefully)
said by tdumaine:

Start a cycle with 2gb, change it to 4gb halfway thru the month, you only get 3gb in the end. Half of 2 = 1, Half of 4 = 2, and don't use more than 1gb on the front half or 2gb on the back half.

I understand. I simply thought this would produce a 3GB allowance for the month.

(and in the end, a cheap lesson, $15. Not the $1000's I've read about from people who had some strangely low data plans)
tdumaine
Premium Member
join:2004-03-14
Seattle, WA

tdumaine

Premium Member

Ya, the backdating makes it think you were on the plan the whole month. Just cant backdate to a lower plan tho. It's always cheaper to backdate to the next higher plan (a $10 charge for 2 more gigs) than to take the overage charge ($15 for a single gb).

More just confirming what you said, i was at work for a bit today