A bit discouraged by some VZW reps, still have unanswered questions....

**CuCullin** · 08-09-2012, 01:04 PM

So I made a trip today over to Verizon Wireless to get some questions answered, as I have an upgrade available for my phone.

I am currently on a shared plan, two smartphones (d2g and nexus) and a mifi, for me and my wife. I picked up the mifi when the Droid (1G) did not have tethering available, and kept it when upgrading to the D2G, since 4G phones were not readily available. Both phones are unlimited, the mifi is a 5GB plan.

I know that I will lose unlimited when I upgrade - I don't have an issue with this at all. I would like to go to the Share Everything Plan at 8GB, and since tethering is included, drop the mifi. When I tried asking at the store, the rep was.... lets just go with 'short', and fairly hostile. I'm a pretty calm guy, I'm not upset, wasn't then, I'm just put off by the behavior - it felt like since I wasn't a new customer, they had absolutely no interest in talking to me at all.

Anyways - does anyone know the VZW perspective? I want to pick up an S3, the Nexus stays the same, drop the mifi, and move from the family share plan to the share everything 8GB.

Thanks for any help

**oberkc** · 08-09-2012, 01:50 PM

I am not sure I know what is your question? Are you asking whether what you would like to do is possible? Are you asking why the verizon wireless rep responded as he did? Are you asking whether it is a good idea to make the plan change as you propose?

**racedog** · 08-09-2012, 02:48 PM

I would get the person's name and then call Verizon and report it. I had one bad experience with a rep that was hostile even though I was only asking questions and simple ones at that. I reported them, I have not seen them at the store since then.

R

**CuCullin** · 08-09-2012, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by oberkc

I am not sure I know what is your question? Are you asking whether what you would like to do is possible? Are you asking why the verizon wireless rep responded as he did? Are you asking whether it is a good idea to make the plan change as you propose?

I guess I wasn't clear - sorry about that, I was a bit put off by the rep's behavior. At that point, I was so irritated that I've been considering just waiting out the contract, and going with Sprint. I'll be making a call like racedog suggested.

The question is if its possible.

**Butthead007** · 08-09-2012, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by racedog

I would get the person's name and then call Verizon and report it. I had one bad experience with a rep that was hostile even though I was only asking questions and simple ones at that. I reported them, I have not seen them at the store since then.

R

They sent him to the 8th level of hell: a call center....you may not see him, you may hear him...'

to OP, how much data are you using? under the new plans, you could use the mifi as well. But...what are you using? How many minutes? It almost might be worthwhile looking at full retail when you average out the cost of the new plan and any increases vs full retail amoritized over time.

**silver6054** · 08-09-2012, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by CuCullin

I guess I wasn't clear - sorry about that, I was a bit put off by the rep's behavior. At that point, I was so irritated that I've been considering just waiting out the contract, and going with Sprint. I'll be making a call like racedog suggested.

The question is if its possible.

Still not quite sure of the question! So you want to use your upgrade to upgrade from a D2G to an S3. That of course is fine, you lose unlimited data and you want to switch to the Share Everything/8GB. The Nexus will move to that plan as well and share the data. So I assume the issue is dropping the Mifi? Is that still in contract? If so, I assume you either need to pay an ETF or add it to the share everything, even though you don't really need it. Not sure what the cost is, less than the $40 for smartphone but obviously better if you didn't have to pay.

**kupe** · 08-10-2012, 07:32 AM

I recommend you do all your transactions online. The reps on the stores are interested in new sales, new accounts, new (as in additional) plans. Converting from one plan to another earns them nearly nothing - sadly, some of them aren't professional enought to hide their disappointment.

**Sam73065** · 08-10-2012, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by kupe

I recommend you do all your transactions online. The reps on the stores are interested in new sales, new accounts, new (as in additional) plans. Converting from one plan to another earns them nearly nothing - sadly, some of them aren't professional enought to hide their disappointment.

There were reports that VZW store reps who convert old plan customers to the new Everything Share plans were being rewarded with a commission equal to selling a new contract as an enticement for the store reps, and likely phone reps too, to push the new plans. The problem I have is that you can no longer trust the reps to give me honest opinions on what is in my best interest. Not that one should ever completely trust a sales weasel to operate in anything other than his/her best interest, but now even less so.

**CuCullin** · 08-10-2012, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by Butthead007

They sent him to the 8th level of hell: a call center....you may not see him, you may hear him...'

to OP, how much data are you using? under the new plans, you could use the mifi as well. But...what are you using? How many minutes? It almost might be worthwhile looking at full retail when you average out the cost of the new plan and any increases vs full retail amoritized over time.

Minute-wise, I use all of nothing - current plan is the 700 minute shared, we use maybe 500 minutes, tops.

Data-wise, generally speaking my wife uses 2GB, I use 2GB on the phone, and about 4-5GB on the mifi. So I'm thinking the 8GB plan because of that, 10GB later if needed.

Originally Posted by silver6054

Still not quite sure of the question! So you want to use your upgrade to upgrade from a D2G to an S3. That of course is fine, you lose unlimited data and you want to switch to the Share Everything/8GB. The Nexus will move to that plan as well and share the data. So I assume the issue is dropping the Mifi? Is that still in contract? If so, I assume you either need to pay an ETF or add it to the share everything, even though you don't really need it. Not sure what the cost is, less than the $40 for smartphone but obviously better if you didn't have to pay.

Correct! The issue is dropping the mifi - its still in contract, I think until the end of the year. Obviously cheaper to keep it, but I'd prefer not to pay the extra $20 or $30 it is per month until then.

Originally Posted by kupe

I recommend you do all your transactions online. The reps on the stores are interested in new sales, new accounts, new (as in additional) plans. Converting from one plan to another earns them nearly nothing - sadly, some of them aren't professional enought to hide their disappointment.

This is why I'm not a big fan of commissions.... I think it ruins the 'store' experience. Is there still a reasonable way to talk to a rep online? Usually I just go through the store, I prefer to talk to someone to double check that I'm not missing anything.

Originally Posted by Sam73065

There were reports that VZW store reps who convert old plan customers to the new Everything Share plans were being rewarded with a commission equal to selling a new contract as an enticement for the store reps, and likely phone reps too, to push the new plans. The problem I have is that you can no longer trust the reps to give me honest opinions on what is in my best interest. Not that one should ever completely trust a sales weasel to operate in anything other than his/her best interest, but now even less so.

*nod* That is an issue, and definitely a concern for me. Again, this is why I hate commission - take away the advantage to lie, and you get people just interested in answering questions. I've gone through this store before - granted it was three years ago or so - and the experience was very, very different. The CSR's went out of their way to help with a problem I was having with my blackberry, and called up to get authorization to get a Droid when it was obvious the blackberry software update began causing issues.

**cmandd** · 08-10-2012, 10:15 AM

Maybe the rep felt like you needed hand holding. I'm not seeing what you really needed assistance with.
1. You knew you were eligible to upgrade
2. You knew you would move to the Share plan
3. You knew the MiFi was under contract and had to choose whether to pay the ETF or keep it

What exactly did you need from the rep?

Most of the time when customers come in like this, they ask the same questions over and over because they fear actually making a decision and just want someone to tell them they are making the best decision.

**Kierydon** · 08-10-2012, 10:20 AM

Short answer: yes you can do what you think you can do. Also from talking to the reps, adjusting an existing plan pays them about the same amount as selling a phone case, they care about new lines, just do it online.

**CuCullin** · 08-10-2012, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by cmandd

Maybe the rep felt like you needed hand holding. I'm not seeing what you really needed assistance with.
1. You knew you were eligible to upgrade
2. You knew you would move to the Share plan
3. You knew the MiFi was under contract and had to choose whether to pay the ETF or keep it

What exactly did you need from the rep?

Most of the time when customers come in like this, they ask the same questions over and over because they fear actually making a decision and just want someone to tell them they are making the best decision.

No, they actually just about ignored my questions, wouldn't let me finish a sentence, and even interrupted me to have an unrelated conversation with a coworker. Not even saying 'excuse me', just turning their head and continuing the conversation.

And my issue is, I don't see why I should have to pay the ETF when the transition is so drastic. I'm losing unlimited, and was directed by Verizon to use the mifi because the Droid was unable to use tethering when I picked it up. Unfortunately, I couldn't even get that far with a rep, as they had no interest in talking to me at all.

Did they think I needed hand holding? I don't care, that isn't my problem. Their job is to answer questions, to talk to customers. Its obvious this crew didn't want to, so I won't be using them. I will be reporting them as was recommended here.

What did I need from the rep? Clarification on what the costs were for the Shared Plan. Answers on contract implication for my phone and my wife's phone which are separately contracted, as well as the mifi, which would be under a single plan due to this change.

I couldn't get that far, because they had absolutely zero concern for what I had to say.

**cmandd** · 08-10-2012, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by CuCullin

And my issue is, I don't see why I should have to pay the ETF when the transition is so drastic.

This is the crux of the issue. People always think they should be able to break a contract because of XYZ.
The simple explanation is, you signed a contract by your own volition, under no forced duress so you have to abide by the contract.

You have some choices:
1. Upgrade and keep the Mifi
2. Upgrade and pay the ETF
3. Skip the upgrade and wait till the contract is over
4. Find someone who needs a MiFi and AOL it to them

Reporting them will do nothing. People who are trying to get out of contracts or circumvent policy generally tend to overstate the situation in hopes it will help their case. Management realizes this.

**jamesstarks15** · 08-10-2012, 12:18 PM

Reporting the rep after the fact does nothing. Asking for the store manager on the spot might have helped.

There is no way to get out of that contract without etf unless you find some rogue manager seriously willing to bend over. They are not forcing you to lose unlimited, you are initiating all changes.

**CuCullin** · 08-10-2012, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by cmandd

This is the crux of the issue. People always think they should be able to break a contract because of XYZ.
The simple explanation is, you signed a contract by your own volition, under no forced duress so you have to abide by the contract.

You have some choices:
1. Upgrade and keep the Mifi
2. Upgrade and pay the ETF
3. Skip the upgrade and wait till the contract is over
4. Find someone who needs a MiFi and AOL it to them

Reporting them will do nothing. People who are trying to get out of contracts or circumvent policy generally tend to overstate the situation in hopes it will help their case. Management realizes this.

As I didn't even get that far in the conversation, and have no desire to use this as leverage....

Right. I brought up reporting because it was recommended by someone here.

I'm not looking to simply break a contract; the terms are changing, and Verizon has had no trouble working with me in the past when they've made a big change. However, that and the behavior are two entirely separate issues, and I'd appreciate you not acting toward me as if I was someone overreacting to their attitudes.

Originally Posted by jamesstarks15

Reporting the rep after the fact does nothing. Asking for the store manager on the spot might have helped.

There is no way to get out of that contract without etf unless you find some rogue manager seriously willing to bend over. They are not forcing you to lose unlimited, you are initiating all changes.

Aren't they though? There is no option that lets me maintain my unlimited service, aside from buying all replacement phones in full (which would be silly, since Verizon's big dollar monthly fees are that high to subsidize phone replacements - so I'd be overpaying massively.) I can't keep my current plan and upgrade, correct?