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Verizon Offering $650 To Switch To Their Network (pcmag.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Verizon is offering up to $650 to customers who switch to their network. PC Mag reports: "To get the discount, you'll need to port your number to Verizon, trade in your current device, and buy a new 4G LTE smartphone. Verizon will give you up to $650 on a prepaid card to cover the installment plan balance, minus the device trade-in value, or up to a $350 via a prepaid card to cover your old carrier's early termination fees (minus the device trade-in value). Your existing phone needs to be in 'good working condition,' and you have to keep your new Verizon line active for at least six months."
More like Anonymous Verizon Employee; am I right?
Well, Slashdot, your slashvertisements have hit a new low. Going to have to add the entire root domain to ABP now.
Verizon is by far the most awful provider in San Francisco. Enormous data dead zones between Fell and California, frequently switching to 3G and even (yikes!) 1x (which I assume is like even slower than EDGE). I switched to Big Red because my company made me, and I so so miss AT&Ts coverage in the bay area. And then they have the nerve to buy out the entire Montgomery Muni station and advertise how great they are. **** them.
Those deals that seem too good to be true...often are. There are so many restrictions in the fine print, and you have to wait six months, by the time you realize you aren't getting the $650 because of some technicality, it's too late.
Thanks for the fucking ad, samzenpus.
This site has been becoming less and less relevant as time goes on. But this makes it very clear. Slashdot is not news for nerds. It is revenue for Dice Holdings. And they're not even trying to hide it. It's been real...
5-digit uid poster here.
The only thing that would make this worse is if this was a paid post.
That's an awfully big bribe - which makes me think I smell desperation... But I don't live in the US so I don't know. Is Verizon really doing that badly? Are they on the brink of some sort of collapse? Or is there some sort of fishook in the deal (like only applying to $100 / month plans or such) that would make this run-of-the-mill and more of an advertisement than news of import.
Nothing is more scary than when someone wants to pay you to switch to their service.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
Verizon offering Slashdot admins $650 to advertise that they are offering customers $650 to switch to their network.
Not in your pocket. That's what I think is the case from reading Verizon's actual announcement. If you have a huge outstanding balance with your old carrier (but you also pass Verizon's credit check), and you hanker to trade in your current smartphone and buy a 4g smartphone from Verizon and use their service for 6 months or more, then it might be a good deal.
They must be dying to offer this. Strong companies can survive by profiting much more steathfully.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Looks like the big 2 (VZ, ATT) are realizing that "being the best" or "being the biggest" aren't good enough for most folks when they can get service much much cheaper (and with switcher discounts to boot). And in some cases the service being offered by Sprint and T-Mobile are even better than the big 2.
3 years ago me and a dozen of my closest colleagues were on AT&T and Verizon. Now, I'd say about half are on T-Mobile (including me) and one is on sprint. Sure, this is an anecdote, but I also personally have 10 people on my plan (including friends) and the billing has been pretty much no-nonsense (simply no overages) and rock solid.
I've touted the benefits of T-Mobile before, but even it T-Mobile became twice as shitty I'd never go back to AT&T with their regular data overages and Verizon with it's crazy share plans that would make a family/friends plan a nightmare.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
Why would anyone switch to the disgusting company that forced the supercookie on its users without even telling them, not to mention massive NSA creepy collusion shit?
I pay $50/month for MetroPCS with unlimited calling and 4GB of data. I simply cannot understand why anyone would be stupid enough to ever give money to a company like Verizon.
If Whorezon is offering 650 bucks for the switch, it only means that it will rip off those who switch for significantly more than that /.'s way.
There should be plenty of spare change to throw
My wife and I both switched from Verizon to Google's Project Fi. Even with the ETFs, even with paying the 24-month amortized payments on the Nexus 5X, we're at break-even in four months, and it's gravy from there on out. The cost savings was huge. Once we did the numbers, it was a no-brainer to break our Verizon contracts early. Fi's coverage so far has been excellent.
If they are trying to bribe customer to come to them they must be really bad.
There is nothing interesting here, this is total spam, also its not that great of a deal once you are stuck with Verizon for 2 years. You guys have really been sucking it up lately.
So we get fucked if we have a high trade in value phone? stick your head in a lake Verizon.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I left you for Cricket on principle. I will only leave Cricket if their model changes to be like yours.
Please?
Let me be perfectly clear about something that i absolutely mean as i'm saying it, in full sincerity - let lighting strike me and my parents die prematurely if i'm lying and ever go back on my words through action:
I'd rather have no Internet whatsoever than be subscribed to Verizon.
I just paid Verizon a fair pile of money to buy out my Edge plan so I could port my number AWAY from them.
Bought a Nexus phone and signed up with Project Fi and cut my wireless bill by about $70 a month. Leaving Verizon hurt in terms of cash spent now but I'll start saving money in about 8 months and from them on, saving $70 a month is SO worth it.
Miss the Galaxy S6 I had on Verizon but the Nexus works OK and the Fi service is fine.
Sig for hire.
They'll give you $650 for a brand new iPhone you bought yesterday. Everything else nets you $200 or less. What you really need to watch out for are those lovely "Regulatory Compliance" fees they pretend are taxes. They don't disclose them when you ask them the monthly service fee, and it's usually $5-$10 bucks per line. The best part is people look at them and get made at the gov't for charging a tax when it's the company pocketing the money. Then those folks turn around and demand taxes get cut and their fee goes up while Verizons taxes go down.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
they've got the wrong kind of bandwidth, so you get crummy service outside of major cities or inside buildings/garages. That's why they've been pushing wifi calling and it's enabled on their devices. That's what makes AT&T & Sprint so big. Tmobile bought up some spectrum recently so we might see some improvements, hard to say (I don't know enough about spectrum and what else they could use it for).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
So, I have to give up my perfectly good $400 phone that I already paid for, pay $250 to cancel my current contract, then pay Verizon full "retail" price, probably $5-600, for a low to mid quality/capability smart phone...
Then, of course, there's having to deal with Verizon. This is a hassle to which a cost cannot even begin to be attached.
So, tell me why this is an attractive deal?
I had Verizon, and got piss poor service in downtown LA (Financial district), as well as no service on most of my train commute to/from Orange County.
I switched to T-Mobile about a year and a half ago, and couldn't be happier. Better service, better phone selection, considerably cheaper, unlimited data, and they don't nickle and dime me for every little thing like Verizon loves doing, such as wanting to charge me an extra $20/month to use the data that I've already paid for by setting my phone up as a mobile hotspot.
Verizon can suck it long, and suck it hard.
Remember this?
Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
That was 4 months ago, while Sprint was running their promotion. Here is my breakdown of what things cost:
Verizon bill: I was paying $170 per month for my family plan. 2 GB total data between 3 phones (yes we have very strict wifi discipline)
I switched to Sprint, they paid for my Verizon early termination fees.
New Sprint bill: $111 per month for my family plan, 4 GB. I don't know if that 4GB data is standard. The guy at the Sprint store looked at my bill, said oh you're getting 2GB... we'll double that to 4 GB free. I'm like, sure.
So I'm saving almost $60 a month with Sprint as opposed to Verizon. Now, with this new Verizon promotion, they will pay you $350 (plus the early termination fee). But with Verizon's ripoff monthly rates, it wouldn't take long for Sprint's lower rate to overtake the $350.
http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2006/04/6585-2/
Verizon delivering yum or apt-get for Android, then MANDATING it on all Android devices, would be instantaneous credibility that will not be obtained any other way.
I will never understand how a mobile network operator desires insecure end-point operating systems. It's profound foolishness.
Maybe you buy companies to ruin them.
I'm Googling "Slashdot alternatives," as this kind of advertising is disgusting.
Then I'd have to have a shitty smartphone that's so full of security holes that a swisscheese has more structural integrity, and I'd be going to from shitty AT&T to even shittier Verizon. Honestly, I wish I could get along with NO phone of any kind, wireless or landline, and not have to bother with any of these wanker companies, but occasionally people do need to be able to get a hold of me without having to knock on my door. Thanks so much for taking something that should be simple and cheap and turning it into an expensive nightmare, shithead phone companies!
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
On occasion I like to visit my wife's family in Brazil. Verizon operates on CDMA technology, so I couldn't pop in a pre-paid SIM and use the same phone in Brazil. You see, Brazil (like most of the developed world) uses GSM instead of CDMA.
You will still end up paying a pretty penny even with the purported $650 in credits. They will hose you on the device cost and will NOT pay for the taxes (especially in CA) you have to pay to dispose your old cell phone. I switched my wife's service and still ended up paying upwards of $300 for the supposedly free switch.