The other day, I gave my cell phone carrier, Verizon Wireless, a call about some issues with my cell phone bill. Nothing major, certainly nothing blog-worthy.
And then, I just made an off-handed comment about how I’m glad I was grandfathered into the “unlimited data” package from a while back. And that someday, I’ll trade in this BlackBerry I have for maybe an iPhone or a Galaxy Nexus or something that can do 37 different things – including making phone calls.
That’s when the Verizon customer service rep dropped a surprise on me.
Not a good surprise.
“Well, Mr. Miller, we’re trying to do away with the unlimited data plans. Actually, if you sign up for a new iPhone with a two-year data plan, you won’t have unlimited data any more. You’ll have to pay for your data use, depending on how much you use.”
Oh really? You think that’s happening? Chuck says that’s not happening. Chuck has unlimited data. You promised Chuck unlimited data. Full unlimited data. I guess the Redchecks didn’t get the message that I was grandfathered in when Verizon did one of their little “we’re changing our data plans and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it, so just close your eyes and Rue Brittania.” I guess my Hamilton College buddy and WHCL alum Mark “Zip” Pisani was right all along, that Verizon would indeed pull some underhanded stunt like this.
“Oh, we did away with the unlimited plan a while back. In fact, we’re trying to get everybody to switch to the tiered payment plans,” she said.
Uh… well…
“Well, Mr. Miller, we do have an option if you want to keep your unlimited data plan.”
And what might that be?
“Well, you’re currently not in a two-year contract with us. So if you were to purchase an iPhone and stay out of the two-year contract, you would keep your unlimited data plan.”
Sounds simple enough.
“You do realize, Mr. Miller, you’ll have to purchase the iPhone at full retail price.”
Full retail price, what’s that, $200 for an iPhone 5? I can handle that.
“Actually, Mr. Miller, full retail price for a 16g iPhone 5, with tax, will only cost you, with tax, seven hundred dollars.”
Seven… hundred… dollars?
“And it has to be a Verizon-brand iPhone. You can’t just purchase any iPhone out there. It has to work with our carrier network. And we have to make sure that the phone isn’t a customer’s lost or stolen iPhone, because we can’t turn that phone on for you if that’s the case.”
Okay, so if I go to the Apple Store and purchase an iPhone directly from them –
“You could do that, but it needs to be a Verizon iPhone.”
And how do I tell an Apple iPhone from a Verizon iPhone?
“Oh, you can’t. We don’t put any identifying marks on our phones like that. Apple won’t allow us to do that. So you’re just going to have to purchase the iPhone directly from us.”
Wow.
“And actually, I’m just looking over your past usage on your BlackBerry, Mr. Miller, and it doesn’t even look like you go over a gigabyte of data in an entire month. From what we can see, you don’t really need that unlimited data plan, if you want we can take that off and you can simply pay for your data usage when you get your new iPhone. Now would you like your iPhone in black or white?”
Hold on, Redcheck. Let me get this straight.
Verizon is telling me that although I do have a lifetime guarantee for unlimited data on my cell phone – a guarantee that was provided by Verizon itself – that guarantee is voided if I upgrade to a new phone with a two-year contract, a phone that would actually benefit from my using unlimited data. And if I get the two-year contract, then I have to pay for additional gigabytes of data per month. Or I can just stick with my little old BlackBerry and never upgrade. Verizon’s going for the old “ABC’s.” You know what ABC stands for? “Anybody But Chuck.”
Congratulations, Verizon. You’ve now completely leapfrogged over Time Warner Cable, OnStar, Chilly Day Credit Card Company, August Cove Resorts and Rocky Mountain Film Lab on my list of the most customer-unfriendly organizations. As Casey Kasem might say, “The new number one company on our survey today is Verizon Wireless, with their cover of the New Edition classic, ‘Mr. Telephone Man.'”
So you’re going to play this game, eh? You’re going to lie to me, you’re going to stab me in the back and laugh while I bleed all over the floor? Jeez, if you’re going to hurt me like that, at least we should have gotten married. Har. You know, I wouldn’t have gone with Verizon if my ex-wife hadn’t signed us up for the plan. I would have gone with Cingular or MCI or Nextel or one of those other REAL telecommunications companies. But yeah, if you’re going to treat me like this, maybe it’s like we’re married. Yeah, all our friends could have given us wedding favors of Verizon gift cards and ring tones and –
That’s right. Light bulb went on. Gift cards. That’s brilliant.
Verizon wants to play games? So can I. He he he he…
So here’s the plan. Verizon Wireless offers gift cards, and you can use those gift cards to purchase Verizon Wireless products. And that would include iPhones.
Now obviously I don’t have $700 in my back pocket to just throw at Verizon to get an iPhone.
But I can do the old “Christmas Club” plan, where I purchase a Verizon Wireless gift card every so often – nothing major, just a $25 card or a $10 card – until I have enough cards in a deck, maybe 52 in all – and then I’ll wait.
I’ll wait for one of two things – the day when Verizon announces the distribution of a new iPhone 6; or the day when all the shoppers visit the mall for their Black Friday purchases.
I’ll show up. I’ll wait in line. With a deck of Verizon Wireless gift cards, shuffling them like I’m a dealer at Binion’s Horseshoe. Heck, I’ll even announce the date and location on my blog, so that all of you can come and watch what will become the world’s longest iPhone purchase transaction.
Because I will make the cashier ring out all the gift cards, one by one – EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM – until I’ve redeemed enough cards to earn an iPhone.
And I don’t care if I hold up the line. And I don’t care if the cashier gets frustrated having to take all this time to run every single card through.
See, Verizon, you gotta understand. I want to work with you. I want to have a decent relationship with my telephone service provider. But honestly, it’s a really, really bad idea to mess with me. Just ask Rocky Mountain Film Lab and August Cove Resorts.
Honestly, I could stay with my BlackBerry phone and be happy. But you made the cardinal sin of treating me – one of your customers – like I was worthless. Like I was just another money pot for you.
Trust me. We’ll see each other later this year. I’ll bring the deck of cards. You bring the iPhone. I don’t care if it’s white or black – heck, maybe you should custom-build me a cobalt-blue iPhone.
Oh, and Verizon Wireless? One more thing…
CAN YOU 
ING HEAR ME NOW???
Chuck The Writer 
I got the same spiel, and a pathetic offer of 500
bankable overage minutes that I do not need if I agreed to extend my current unlimited data plan (at the same price as I had been paying for two years to subsidize my phone) for a year. This seems to signal that Verizon fears defections of customers after their contract obligations end. I wonder if any readers have had any success wringing better terms out of Verizon by threatening to defect to another carrier, which is what I may do. Maybe this comment section can become a reader forum for useful tricks in hitting back at the beast.
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Hell hath no fury like a blogger scorned…. ;{)}
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Sprint is the one cell phone provider that still allows for unlimited data. You can transfer the same number over, sign a 2 yr contract, and get the discounted price. Verizon is also typically the most expensive of the 3, at least that is what we found for our family plan. Verizon as well as the other Sprint and AT & T, also have authorized retailers such as Radio Shack where you can purchase their products from, so the lady is full of it. I just upgraded a phone, got an iphone through Radio Shack, and it was less expensive than purchasing through my cell company.
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Love this post Chuck! We are going through the same thing-Verizon is just killing us on phone charges. We have 4 phones, 2 smartphones, 2 regular (or “feature” phones as they call them). If we want to get iphones and upgrade, our bill will more than double.
Our solution is to go to Virgin Mobile or Straight Talk once our contract is up. About $45 per month per line with UNLIMITED everything.
PS. I would love to watch you check out with all your gift cards, let us know. I will bring the popcorn 🙂
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Veronica – as soon as I have accumulated enough cards and I know when one of the big “iPhone release dates” occur, I’ll let everybody know in the blog. I’ll even let people know WHERE and WHEN I’m going to do this. Make my popcorn with extra butter, please…
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Unsurprisingly, the rep was not correct. You could go buy an iPhone 4S off of ebay or amazon (as long as it is the verizon radio) and use that.
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Cingular, now AT&T allows you to upgrade and keep your unlmited plan (if you were already grandfathered into it)-I just did that, getting an Iphone 4s from my iphone 3.
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If you’re not under contract why not just drop Verizon altogether? I have an iphone with AT&T and have an essentially unlimited plan. I forget the fine print of the plan right now but let’s just say my monthly bill has been more or less the same (plus or minus $5) every month for the last two years. Plus they now offer insurance on the iphone – does Verizon? The insurance covers everything. So if you drop it in the toilet or down a sewer grate or whatever, you can get a new phone the same day – no deductible.
Your plan about the gift cards sounds like you’re allowing them to win. Also, gift cards typically have expiration dates on them (usually one year from when they’re activated). You might wind up screwing yourself down the road when you try to cash them all in and half of them are expired.
Last but not least do you have to have an iPhone? There’s a million Android phones out there that have essentially the same features and the same or similar apps and accessories available.
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Chad – the gift cards have no expiration date or reduction fees. I already checked that. Also, AT&T grandfathered their users with the unlimited data plan as well. Realistically, the gift card plan means that I can show up at their store – maybe on one of the biggest days of the year, when a new iPhone is being released or Black Friday or something like that – and I could take my sweet time purchasing that iPhone and they would not be able to rush me out of the store to wait on the next customer. In other words, I can put a crimp in their big sales day by giving them the longest, most complicated transaction ever. If it weren’t for the fact that I would probably get a hernia bringing them in, I’d pay for the iPhone in rolls of pennies if that would suit me. Hee.
Besides, I’m not going to leave Verizon. They’re not getting rid of me that easily.
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Go over to Radio Shack and get an iPhone 4S for $50. All of that other stuff is just BS. I had unlimited and went to the tier plan. I still never go over my limit and I live on my iPhone.
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YES! Going to Crossgates on Black Friday to watch you buy a phone sounds great…even more exciting than watching you stand around waiting to deliver an Equinox meal.
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Another person in the same boat, come August.. I’m keeping my fingers crossed the next Nexus from Google is dropped this summer and will work on Verizon so I can just pick up their phone (for about $300-$400 instead of the inflated Apple/Samsung price of $700) and keep myself unlimited.. It’s a shame they have by far the best rural coverage for hiking/skiing in the area or I’d just bite the bullet and go elsewhere..
that being said, I love your plan.. also, recently Verizon has been selling a refurbed Galaxy Nexus for $225 off-contract (meaning you could keep your unlimited) every once in a while.. keep your eye out for that if you need a phone in the meantime..
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Ugh! I’m in the same boat! I think it’s ridiculous that we have to lose our unlimited data! Oh, you’ve been a loyal customer for how many years? Here – let me sock it to you instead. Grrr!
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Nexus won’t happen. They are announced in the fall and release around winter. Google doesn’t want to jump through the hoops to make a CDMA/LTE phone so it probably won’t be verizon again anyway.
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Wow, I’ve never seen so much press for Radio Shack in one spot! I love that your fans are banding together to support you, Chuck. Lots of good ideas there, but none so lively as your gift card revenge!
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(I won’t say I told you so because you already linked to my 2011 comment telling you that this would happen 😉
Having not said that, here are a few points:
1) I have heard/seen stories that VZW *is* honoring the old grandfathered Unlimited plan in certain circumstances. That may be for upgrades only, or it may be for people who escalate their claim through the system or it may be for people who stand there in the store and get chummy with a store employee. The phone rep may not have access to the same back end that the store reps do.
2) This is what we get for having two different infrastructures and no real competition/regulation in our cell system.
3) SameBoat is correct, if you must stay with VZW, the Galaxy Nexus on sale is a good idea. VZW has had it very cheap before and given that it is a year old they may clear it out soon. Even a year-old phone like this will be a huge step up from the BB. And by the time you get it, VZW might actually have deigned to put the latest JellyBean Android on it.
4) Here’s another vote for leaving the VZW fold. Buy an unlocked Nexus 4 from Google, get a Straight Talk micro Sim (make sure it is on the ATT network if you are in areas where T-Mo is tricky) and don’t look back. $45.00 for everything. Including “unlimited” data.
5) Finally, although I hate to admit that the VZW jackals make a good point, the fact that you do not ever go anywhere near using a lot of data every month should probably have some place in your calculations.
It comes down to this, as it did in 2011, the subsidy cell phone model in the USA is completely bonkers and broken. Luckily, we now have the glimmerings of a way out: Decent unlocked phones on pay-as-you-go MVNO networks with decent coverage. Hey, we might even get LTE on a couple of those soon.
(But don’t get me started on the lack of interoperability of LTE frequencies in the USA… we’ve blown it, again!)
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Don’t say that we didn’t warn you…seven months ago.
http://consumerist.com/2012/05/18/verizon-if-you-want-your-unlimited-data-plan-youll-have-to-pay-full-price-for-your-next-phone/
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The difference in data usage between any kind of Blackberry and an iPhone 5 is like comparing drinking a milkshake through a straw with getting blasted with a fire hose attached to a milkshake hydrant.
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This is why I went with Net10. Unlimited for $50. Want to use a different phone then what they have? Just call them and find out if you can get a sim card for that phone. You can install that yourself. You can even keep your old number. I have 3G on my phone and the service is pretty good.
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Hmmm….so Verizon gets to use your money while you buy up gift cards. Then some minimum wage clerk, who has no dog in this fight, has to process those cards, while other people, who also don’t have dogs in this fight, get to wait in line behind you.
Not my style of vengence.
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@Public Hey, what’s the harm if it makes Chuck feel better?
I love when people use their blogs to play out their petty customer service complaints, and as you say, this is even better because it will inconvenience a bunch of innocent people.
Petty customer service complaints, where have I seen those before? Oh, yes. On the Edge with Kristi.
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Edward – I wouldn’t completely call it a “petty customer service complaint.” This isn’t the equivalent of being charged an extra $1 for a takeout container at a restaurant. This is Verizon’s unabashed attempt to undo something that might actually BENEFIT its customers. And trust me, if Verizon really gave two shakes about its customers, it wouldn’t do sneaky, surreptitious stuff like this. Now would they?
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So, if Verizon is so bad, leave. You’re going to “punish” them by spending more money with their company? That’s brilliant!
And you’re right, this isn’t the equivalent of the takeout bag situation. This is worse because your misguided protest will make everyone miserable, not just you.
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Edward –
Verizon operates on a “take what we give you or walk” attitude. Well, I took their initial offer of unlimited data. They can’t just take that away just because they feel like it. What kind of customer service is that? Miserable customer service, IMHO. And you know what? If workers can protest against their company with strikes and walkouts, maybe it’s time that consumers like me did their own personal protest. And in the great words of Edward Beale, I’m going to open up a window and scream, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it any more!” 🙂
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