Disappointed with Verizon Wireless

[disney1990]

DH & I were eligible for new cellphones (new every 2) on January 15th. We left for a 4 day Disney Cruise on January 17th.

Well, I went online today to try and order new cell phones and the two phones that we want now require that we have a data plan.

These SAME two phones (Sansung Alias and LG Chocolate Touch) did NOT require a data plan before we went on vacation.

I called Verizon Wireless today and they said that it was changed on January 18th and they now have to have a data plan.

Since I am still unemployed, I just cannot justify getting a data plan so I guess we will be keeping our old cell phones for a while longer.

AAAGGGGGGRRRRRRRR

 

[RachaelA]

You need a data plan with the LG Chocolate Touch now????? That sucks. I want to get rid of my blackberry and I don't want a data plan.

It seems like you need a data plan for every phone out there!

 

[eandt]

We just got the LG Env Touch which requires a data plan but for some reason it is only $10 more per phone (we have 2) for unlimited web browsing, email etc. Still haven't figured out everything that it can do for the 10 bucks but so far it seems like a decent deal. Our kids lines (LG Dare, Env2) stayed the same and still include unlimited text etc. I still haven't figured out what the difference is between the $30 plan required for a "smart" phone and the $10 data plan we have.....

 

[luvmy3]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100116/ap_on_bi_ge/us_verizon_wireless_pricing

 

[RooRach0906]

I have the LG Env Touch and my DH has the LG Dare we got them in Sept bc DH didnt take his phone out of his pocket on a rollercoaster in Aug and it fell somewhere we did get it back and if it wouldnt have rained that day it would have work it was a aluinmun but it rained and it was drenched. Anyway we didnt do an insurance claim bc we had our old phones and no point in paying $50 when we could upgrade in a month, but we normally wait til our contract is completely up which would have been Jan... well I am glad we didnt bc we would have had to get the data plan too... but I dont have it and dont want it. DH says in two years if we cant get phones we like we are changing companies but I know we wont Verizon is the ONLY company that works in our area... we live way out. Anyway I just wanted to say I think its crazy that they are doing that bc my best friend had the same issue three weeks ago.

 

[CloveLeaf]

We just got the LG Env Touch which requires a data plan but for some reason it is only $10 more per phone (we have 2) for unlimited web browsing, email etc. Still haven't figured out everything that it can do for the 10 bucks but so far it seems like a decent deal. Our kids lines (LG Dare, Env2) stayed the same and still include unlimited text etc. I still haven't figured out what the difference is between the $30 plan required for a "smart" phone and the $10 data plan we have.....

The $10 data plan is not unlimited. It is just 25MB. After that 20MB, you pay $0.2/MB.

 

[luvmy3]

I have the LG Env Touch and my DH has the LG Dare we got them in Sept bc DH didnt take his phone out of his pocket on a rollercoaster in Aug and it fell somewhere we did get it back and if it wouldnt have rained that day it would have work it was a aluinmun but it rained and it was drenched. Anyway we didnt do an insurance claim bc we had our old phones and no point in paying $50 when we could upgrade in a month, but we normally wait til our contract is completely up which would have been Jan... well I am glad we didnt bc we would have had to get the data plan too... but I dont have it and dont want it. DH says in two years if we cant get phones we like we are changing companies but I know we wont Verizon is the ONLY company that works in our area... we live way out. Anyway I just wanted to say I think its crazy that they are doing that bc my best friend had the same issue three weeks ago.

There are a few smaller carriers that use the Verizon network so you could switch to one of them and still have coverage. I was looking at prepaid phones at Walmart and there is one called Straight Talk that works on Verizons network. There is another called PagePlus.

 

[eandt]

We were told by Verizon that the $9.99 per phone data plan was 25mb which is probably more than we would use in a month anyway but with the $100 unlimited data/voice plan we now have its unlimited and only added $10 per phone to the first two lines from what our old plan was. We also get an 18% company discount so for us it was a good deal. Two free EnV Touch phones and unlimited data for less than $20 bucks more than our old plan.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Don't even get me started on Verizon right now....we are not friends!!! I used my upgrade to get dh a new phone last month. He got a Casio G'rock which is a waterproof/shock proof type phone to upgrade from his G'zone. I was going to wait and use his upgrade in August. Ofcouse now the phone I want requires a data plan and the one he got doesn't.....grrrrrrr.

 

[CloveLeaf]

I have the LG Env Touch and my DH has the LG Dare we got them in Sept bc DH didnt take his phone out of his pocket on a rollercoaster in Aug and it fell somewhere we did get it back and if it wouldnt have rained that day it would have work it was a aluinmun but it rained and it was drenched. Anyway we didnt do an insurance claim bc we had our old phones and no point in paying $50 when we could upgrade in a month, but we normally wait til our contract is completely up which would have been Jan... well I am glad we didnt bc we would have had to get the data plan too... but I dont have it and dont want it. DH says in two years if we cant get phones we like we are changing companies but I know we wont Verizon is the ONLY company that works in our area... we live way out. Anyway I just wanted to say I think its crazy that they are doing that bc my best friend had the same issue three weeks ago.

You may want to consider Page Plus. It is a verizon MVNO. It uses the verizon prepaid network. They have unlimited talk & txt plus 20MB data for $39.9/month. And 1200 min talk, 1200 txt/mms and 50MB data for $29.9. Pay as you go rate varies from $0.04-$0.1 per min and $0.08 per txt. There is no contract. You can port you number to them and basically talk and text will work for almost all verizon phones without making any change. Internet for smart phones will work out of the box. You will have to change some hidden settings to get WAP work for feature phones. But be aware, their customer service is terrible. If you want to talk to a CSR and do something, they might put you on hold for an hour. Guess they just have too many new subscribers and too few CSRs.

 

[CloveLeaf]

We were told by Verizon that the $9.99 per phone data plan was 25mb which is probably more than we would use in a month anyway but with the $100 unlimited data/voice plan we now have its unlimited and only added $10 per phone to the first two lines from what our old plan was. We also get an 18% company discount so for us it was a good deal. Two free EnV Touch phones and unlimited data for less than $20 bucks more than our old plan.

Your corporate discount only applies to the primary line of your family plan. You might have another discount for data. Probably 20% for the primary line. And if you surf the full HTML websites, you will blow your 25MB in a week or two. It is probably fine for occasionally checking email and surfing WAP sites.

 

[disney*mom*82]

I just got the chocolate touch a few weeks ago, cant remember exact date, but we do not have the data plan. I cant imagine why it would need one. It is a great phone and I really do love it, if I were you, Ide call and talk to someone else, if not happy with that result, try again. I guess if that fails, try and look for a different one you guys like, stinks, but new phones come out all the time. I do look at the ratings first, to make sure it is a decent phone. GL

 

[RooRach0906]

There are a few smaller carriers that use the Verizon network so you could switch to one of them and still have coverage. I was looking at prepaid phones at Walmart and there is one called Straight Talk that works on Verizons network. There is another called PagePlus.

You may want to consider Page Plus. It is a verizon MVNO. It uses the verizon prepaid network. They have unlimited talk & txt plus 20MB data for $39.9/month. And 1200 min talk, 1200 txt/mms and 50MB data for $29.9. Pay as you go rate varies from $0.04-$0.1 per min and $0.08 per txt. There is no contract. You can port you number to them and basically talk and text will work for almost all verizon phones without making any change. Internet for smart phones will work out of the box. You will have to change some hidden settings to get WAP work for feature phones. But be aware, their customer service is terrible. If you want to talk to a CSR and do something, they might put you on hold for an hour. Guess they just have too many new subscribers and too few CSRs.

We could never do prepaid just bc our cell phones are our house phones and I burn text like crazy (the whole reason I got the Env Touch was for the keyboard, I went two years w/o one and it drove me nuts) I also talk a lot... lets just say my phone gets charged twice a day from me talking and texting. Also we have a MiFi which is a wireless internet card that can do up to 5 computers before this we had dial-up (no highspeed out here) and I am NOT going back to dial-up plus we do get a discount on our bill with verizon anyway bc of DH job.

Another thing about it is tho before Alltel became verizon and they did share towers and use the same network, I worked for Alltel my Verizon personal worked at my house, my Alltel business did not.

But I do want to say Thank you for the suggestions, you were tryin to help and that why I love these boards tons of helpful people.

 

[Swimalie]

Yucky news. I am due to get a new phone on Feb 20th. I don't text and rarely send pictures so I don't plan on getting a phone with any data plan. I hope I can get a basic one that does not require any more fees (I have the $39.99 basic plan now)

 

[sharlon]

I ordered my new phone from the Verizon wireless website because they were out of them in the local stores (LG env3). I placed the order on 1/15 (Friday) and it was delivered on 1/18 (Monday). When I tried to activate it, it didn't work, so I had to call customer service. The woman told me I had to have a data plan. I said that I didn't, the website was very clear about that on 1/15, as was the saleswoman in the local store. That's why I picked the env3 over the Touch (which did require a data package already). Because I had ordered the phone on the 15th, they waived the requirement, but I made it very clear that was not acceptable.
I know a lot of tweens/teens have phones like the env3 because of the keyboard, mine included, and they absolutely do not need data packages. I think Verizon is going to get a huge backlash from this.

 

[msmayor]

I ordered my new phone from the Verizon wireless website because they were out of them in the local stores (LG env3). I placed the order on 1/15 (Friday) and it was delivered on 1/18 (Monday). When I tried to activate it, it didn't work, so I had to call customer service. The woman told me I had to have a data plan. I said that I didn't, the website was very clear about that on 1/15, as was the saleswoman in the local store. That's why I picked the env3 over the Touch (which did require a data package already). Because I had ordered the phone on the 15th, they waived the requirement, but I made it very clear that was not acceptable.
I know a lot of tweens/teens have phones like the env3 because of the keyboard, mine included, and they absolutely do not need data packages. I think Verizon is going to get a huge backlash from this.

Actually, I think more and more carriers will move to requiring data plans with some of these "phones".

A lot of the newer devices are more like personal digital assistants that have phone capabilities as a feature...not the other way around. Its one reason why Blackberry as a phone provider now requires a data plan.

 

[maggiew]

We could never do prepaid just bc our cell phones are our house phones and I burn text like crazy (the whole reason I got the Env Touch was for the keyboard, I went two years w/o one and it drove me nuts) I also talk a lot... lets just say my phone gets charged twice a day from me talking and texting. Also we have a MiFi which is a wireless internet card that can do up to 5 computers before this we had dial-up (no highspeed out here) and I am NOT going back to dial-up plus we do get a discount on our bill with verizon anyway bc of DH job.

Another thing about it is tho before Alltel became verizon and they did share towers and use the same network, I worked for Alltel my Verizon personal worked at my house, my Alltel business did not.

But I do want to say Thank you for the suggestions, you were tryin to help and that why I love these boards tons of helpful people.

My kids have an Alias 2 and it has a QWERTY keyboard. That one probably doesn't require data plan but would make it easy for you to text.

Maggie

 

[RooRach0906]

My kids have an Alias 2 and it has a QWERTY keyboard. That one probably doesn't require data plan but would make it easy for you to text.

Maggie

Im not due for an upgrade for two years... I just got the EnV Touch... I just wanted to say tho that b/c my best friend is due for one I do know that the Alias 2 does require the data plan.

 

[RooRach0906]

Actually, I think more and more carriers will move to requiring data plans with some of these "phones".

A lot of the newer devices are more like personal digital assistants that have phone capabilities as a feature...not the other way around. Its one reason why Blackberry as a phone provider now requires a data plan.

The Blackberry requires a data plan bc it is always trying to refresh the email capablitiy on it so it ends up interfere with the towers and messes with the service of the tower... I know this from when they were first released it was not require til about two months later and on top of that the company (Alltel) sent out letters to people who already had it say they had to add the plan or could come and change out there phones bc of this.

I really dont think these phones have those type of issues bc they are not SmartPhones... they are just high end phones with more features than just the basic phone.

Im not tryin to flame you I am just explaining that I dont think there is a real reason for this new requirement.... but there could be...

 

[DVCBELLE]

Another reason why I will be leaving Verizon for my local wireless company when my 2 year is up in two months!!

Our local company ran a why pay for 2 promotion in the fall and if you had home internet with them - you get wireless internet for free! So I got a blackberry for DH that isn't costing anything right now and then we will switch completely to them - they have an awesome unlimited EVERYTHING (voice, text and date) plan for $140 for 2 phones which is what I pay Verizon right now for limited minutes and his blackberry!!