Dan Robinson
EF5
During my third chase trip May, my Verizon jetpack stopped broadcasting a wifi signal, and no devices (laptop, etc) could connect to it. I stopped at an OKC Verizon store to have them look at it, and they confirmed it was toast. The contract on the device still had 9 months left on it and it was out of warranty, so I figured I'd just have to pay full price for a new Jetpack ($250-300 or so) and that would be it.
No, it turns out. Verizon has a policy where the contract is irrevocably tied to the device. If the device breaks, gets lost or stolen, you not only have to pay full price for a new one, but you have to start a *new contract* for the new device. You can't put the new device on the old contract's plan/line. This means you end up with two contracts at the same time, the old one which you can't even use because the device isn't working. Your old contract stays active unless you a.) keep paying the line access fee for it every month until the contract runs out, or b.) pay an early termination fee of $180.
It's just crazy. Contract 1 subsidizes the cost of Device 1. If Device 1 breaks/gets lost/stolen out of warranty, you'd then pay full price for Device 2. If Device 2 goes on Contract 1, the company makes all of its money on both devices. The way they do it now, if your device breaks, not only do you have to pay full price for a new device, you have to pay the big extra cost of terminating a contract. It doesn't make sense why you can't put Device 2 onto Contract 1. You're not breaking Contract 1, in fact you're paying full retail for a second device on top of fulfilling the first contract!
Are all carriers like this? I spent an hour on the phone with a rep as well as in the store, and they both said the same thing and there was no other option.
No, it turns out. Verizon has a policy where the contract is irrevocably tied to the device. If the device breaks, gets lost or stolen, you not only have to pay full price for a new one, but you have to start a *new contract* for the new device. You can't put the new device on the old contract's plan/line. This means you end up with two contracts at the same time, the old one which you can't even use because the device isn't working. Your old contract stays active unless you a.) keep paying the line access fee for it every month until the contract runs out, or b.) pay an early termination fee of $180.
It's just crazy. Contract 1 subsidizes the cost of Device 1. If Device 1 breaks/gets lost/stolen out of warranty, you'd then pay full price for Device 2. If Device 2 goes on Contract 1, the company makes all of its money on both devices. The way they do it now, if your device breaks, not only do you have to pay full price for a new device, you have to pay the big extra cost of terminating a contract. It doesn't make sense why you can't put Device 2 onto Contract 1. You're not breaking Contract 1, in fact you're paying full retail for a second device on top of fulfilling the first contract!
Are all carriers like this? I spent an hour on the phone with a rep as well as in the store, and they both said the same thing and there was no other option.
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