Verizon Eligibility Transfer Surprise
I have upgraded twice over the years as new iPhones became available. I have 3 numbers and have upgrade eligibility on two with Basic service numbers. My third number is an iPhone 5s smart phone data plan. So, this time I called Verizon and confirmed I could again do a number to number transfer of eligibility as I have in the past to get the upgrade to the iPhone 6 on my existing data line. The agent confirmed the plan. Great.
So, I ordered and got my new iPhone 6 on 9/19/14. I called Verizon to do the number swap. No problem, BUT the Basic plan number with eligibility would now be assigned a smart phone data plan in addition to the existing number with a data plan. Something I do not want or need. This is a new policy as of August 24, 2014. Surprise!
The Basic number is now on a $39.00 plan, as of the swapping and it cannot be undone without canceling the whole order. To cancel the order I must return the new iPhone6 within 14 days. Verizon no longer includes a return shipping label. You must go to a Verizon web site and download a return label. Guess what, the site does not work and will not print a label. I had to call Verizon and get an address for the return. I had to pay and then send in a copy of the USPS bill to get a refund on my Verizon account. Easy.
I do not want to go to the EDGE plan. My only move is to send back my new iPhone 6 and cancel the whole transaction. No amount of explaining would get Verizon to treat me as they have in the past. Nice move three weeks prior to the big introduction.
As I escalated my problem through Verzon’s customer service, I was treated politely and professionally. The agents were always uninformed about this change at first and then were instructed that on August 24, the policy was changed. All agents were sorry and thought the change was unfortunate. Since I did not want to change my current plan, no tricks with discounts could be used to get the $39.00 cost per month down.
A friend informed me that Costco was giving big discounts on the iPhone 6. So off I went to the Costco Verizon kiosk and they looked up my account. The non-Verizon agent strongly said that no change would be made to my Basic account after the transfer. I told them my story and they had heard nothing of it. I called Verizon again to verify, speaking to a new person. At first she said no change to the Basic plan with a transfer, but then she checked and found the change to a data plan was true.
The bottom line is that Verizon customers doing a transfer from a basic plan to an existing data plan phone upgrade, will incur a $39.00 charge every month for two years on the Basic plan number. All of the Costco Verizon customers are in for a big surprise when the bill comes. If they fail to discover the issue and return the phone in 15 days, they are stuck. Somewhere in the contract you accepted on line, is this description (I am told), but when I asked to be shown the contract, the Verizon agent could not point to the document. Verizon made this big policy change and did not tell all of their agents, representatives and customers.
I hope some Verizon customers find this useful.