[ale] [OT] Time for a Cell Phone Change

[Greg Clifton]

Chris,

I've been with V forever, the $350 cancellation fee is rather new (like in
past 1-2yrs.), in the past it was much less, though I don't recall, maybe
$100 or $150? I'm not fixing to believe that these new fangled smart phones
are THAT much more expensive than the earlier dumber ones. I'm in the
computer hardware business and my mantra for years (a corollary to Moore's
Law) has been "Better, Faster, Cheaper each Iteration." I am convinced the
same thing holds for cell phones, else, how could Metro sell a smart phone
for $200 or less with NO contract???? The way I see it, Verizon has
something to fear from the likes of Metro and perhaps other prepaid plans
and therefore wants to lock customers in to a post-paid plan via
the exorbitant cancellation fee.

Going back to Verizon is my fall back if Metro service is intolerable, not
the intention. But Verizon pay as you go is WAY more than a family plan even
with the REQUIRED extra data $. I actually have lost my phone and have
activated a Verizon prepaid phone @ $1.99/day of usage w/ free "in-calling"
and .05 texts to get me by till 5/4. Also, the $19 Droid X @ $30/month EXTRA
data plan costs $720 in 2 yrs.

Assuming roaming fees won't be an issue when all carriers go with LTE (what
2 more yrs till it is fully built out), coverage concerns should become a
thing of the past. Maybe that is what Verizon & AT&T are concerned about?

On Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 5:10 PM, Chris Fowler
<cfowler at outpostsentinel.com>wrote:

> On Fri, 2011-04-29 at 16:55 -0400, Greg Clifton wrote:
> > Paul,
> >
> >
> > I realize that the cancellation fee is prorated, its just the
> > principle of the thing. Pretty much everybody agrees that Verizon has
> > the best coverage, so WHY do they need to stick you with the $350 fee
> > in the first place. Now AT&T, I can understand, but is Verizon just
> > copying them?
>
> To pay for the phone.  up till yesterday Verizon had the Droid X for $19
> with 2 year agreement.  You want to just take their phone and bolt?  You
> can BUY any phone on the Verizon network and then pay as you go it you
> wish.  With Metro you're going to pay $200 for that nice Android phone.
> It ain't a Droid X but at least it "is" Android.
>
>
> >
> >
> > My bill drops on the 4th so I'm going to chat with the Metro folks
> > this weekend and maybe give Verizon one more chance to wave the
> > required data plan before I bail.
>
> Never will happen.  Never.  The problem was that before forcing people
> schmucks would run up high data bills and complain to Verizon.  It was
> easier to Verizon to simply force a data plan.  Now everyone does it.
>
> If you don't mind crappy coverage in the remote burbs then Metro is your
> best solution.
>
>
>
>
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