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Two of my relatives just signed up for Verizon Wireless' "America's
Choice" plan.
On the surface it sounds good, 400 shared peak time minutes
per-month, unlimited nights and weekends usage, no long distance
charges and additional benefits.
They have been with Verizon Wireless for about 10 days and the 1st
bill came, with some surprises:
1/ TRICK
Their "month" did not start when the phones were activated,
SURPRISE ! -- it started 4 days later. We learned that your "month"
can start anytime - the dealer told us today it is sort of random,
3-days after you sign up, or 10 days or 15 days.
The problem for them was that the first 3 days were treated as a
pro-rated partial month. They got screwed because they used their
beautiful new cell phones a lot those 1st 3 days thinking they had 400
peak minutes to spread over 30 or 31 days, but Verizon Wireless
pro-rated the 3 days at 13 peak minutes each which, in their newbie
enthusiasm, they had exceeded - resulting in a 3-day [ at 45-cents per
minute ] charge of around $7 for "excess minutes".
2/ SCAM [ adding insult to injury ]
The scam is the use of 13 minutes per day for the pro-rated period.
Apparently they get that figure by dividing 4800 minutes per year by
365 = 13.15 minutes per day.
The accurate number should take into account that weekends are free.
2x52 = 104 free days. 365-104 = 261 days to which peak minutes apply.
4800/261 = 18.39 minutes allowance per peak day.
3/ $40 billing computer "mistake"
They advertise: "One- or Two-year agreement required per line. $35
activation fee per line on one-year agreements, and $15 activation fee
per line on two-year agreements."
My relatives signed up for 2-years, confirmed by Verizon's billing
department and the dealer today. But the bill shows two $35
activation fees, not two $15 activation fees. One can assume that
their billing computer makes this "mistake" for everyone.
Comments welcome, especially about any tricks we may ahve missed.
QE in NJ
Two of my relatives just signed up for Verizon Wireless' "America's
Choice" plan.
On the surface it sounds good, 400 shared peak time minutes
per-month, unlimited nights and weekends usage, no long distance
charges and additional benefits.
They have been with Verizon Wireless for about 10 days and the 1st
bill came, with some surprises:
1/ TRICK
Their "month" did not start when the phones were activated,
SURPRISE ! -- it started 4 days later. We learned that your "month"
can start anytime - the dealer told us today it is sort of random,
3-days after you sign up, or 10 days or 15 days.
The problem for them was that the first 3 days were treated as a
pro-rated partial month. They got screwed because they used their
beautiful new cell phones a lot those 1st 3 days thinking they had 400
peak minutes to spread over 30 or 31 days, but Verizon Wireless
pro-rated the 3 days at 13 peak minutes each which, in their newbie
enthusiasm, they had exceeded - resulting in a 3-day [ at 45-cents per
minute ] charge of around $7 for "excess minutes".
2/ SCAM [ adding insult to injury ]
The scam is the use of 13 minutes per day for the pro-rated period.
Apparently they get that figure by dividing 4800 minutes per year by
365 = 13.15 minutes per day.
The accurate number should take into account that weekends are free.
2x52 = 104 free days. 365-104 = 261 days to which peak minutes apply.
4800/261 = 18.39 minutes allowance per peak day.
3/ $40 billing computer "mistake"
They advertise: "One- or Two-year agreement required per line. $35
activation fee per line on one-year agreements, and $15 activation fee
per line on two-year agreements."
My relatives signed up for 2-years, confirmed by Verizon's billing
department and the dealer today. But the bill shows two $35
activation fees, not two $15 activation fees. One can assume that
their billing computer makes this "mistake" for everyone.
Comments welcome, especially about any tricks we may ahve missed.
QE in NJ