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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."

53 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Anonymous reader? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More like Anonymous Verizon Employee; am I right?

    1. Re:Anonymous reader? by rockout · · Score: 1

      It'd be great if commenters would just fill the top of these comments with how great the other services are.

      --
      I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
    2. Re:Anonymous reader? by Krojack · · Score: 1

      I had Verizon since right before they ended the unlimited data. I was grandfathered in and stayed on it. I won't lie when I say they have great coverage. The speeds were also more than enough at 50+mbit. When I traveled, I always had service for the most part. Earlier this month I changed to Project Fi due to Verizon raising my data fee by $20/month. I felt it's unjust to charge me more because dick head bob over there sucks 2TB+ a month.

      Now Project Fi uses Sprint and T-Mobile networks. In my area T-Mob is pretty good until you get to the country side. Sprint is pure shit. (I live in the second largest city in my state too). For the price I pay now I'm fine with it so far. Time will tell.

      Verizon coverage is great and I praise that. The company on the other hand is one of the worse. Their tactics, how they treat their customers, delayed system updates and going out of their way to try and lock down a device as hard as possible.

    3. Re:Anonymous reader? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I don't work at Verizon and I don't have a Verizon phone but I'm going to make the switch! This is awesome and I've told all my friends about it. Everyone I know has great things to say about Verizon Wireless! Verizon Wireless, and this switch, is going to make my New Years 10x better!

      This message is not brought to you by a Verizon employee!

  2. Damn Ads! by yeshuawatso · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, Slashdot, your slashvertisements have hit a new low. Going to have to add the entire root domain to ABP now.

    1. Re:Damn Ads! by BradleyUffner · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, Slashdot, your slashvertisements have hit a new low. Going to have to add the entire root domain to ABP now.

      I've been reading Slashdot for a VERY long time. I've seen it go down hill these past few years, but this is the first "story" that made me say "What the actual fuck?" out loud.

    2. Re: Damn Ads! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      News For Herds, Stuff that doesn't matter.

    3. Re:Damn Ads! by chipschap · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No kidding. Slashdot shilling for Microsoft is bad enough, but VERIZON?

      There seems to be no limit on "how low can you go".

    4. Re:Damn Ads! by dknj · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The problem is us low-uid drones keep coming back and reading (and some of us continue posting to the comment section). Ergo, nothing will change. Just like the anti-beta team that was slowly silenced by the developers forcing the problematic design on us all. Solyent News picked a horrible name and just faded into obscurity (yes they have very similar content but the comment section is desperately lacking). So where else do we have to go.. Reddit? ha. IRC? I know a few that have. But must that I've talked to have just given up. They never login anymore and continue to read slashdot and give into the ad viewership. Which, what is up with that ?autorefresh and waking up to blaring audio ads because I left slashdot open in a tab.

      If my ADD didn't need a fix, slashdot would be dead to me now. At least OSNews hasn't strayed from it's path in over 15 years.

    5. Re:Damn Ads! by theNetImp · · Score: 1

      agreed who the fuck cares...

    6. Re:Damn Ads! by peragrin · · Score: 1

      I left OSnews 10 years ago because it became thom howler bitch blog, and sometimes OS news.

      I find several other websites have OS news up with actual in depth coverage long before OSnews does a comment and a link to those same articles.

      Every once in a while I go back, and see the same article, usually thom bitching about apple while buying their products.

      in that case yes OSnews hasn't strayed from their path.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    7. Re:Damn Ads! by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      So where else do we have to go.

      Can't some of us get together and make a replacement? Surely we have enough technical people here to put together existing technology in a way that works for what we want.

      I moved to Reddit from Fark and Slashdot in 2012. It was ok, but is missing a lot of what Slashdot was. (Particularly decent moderation). Voat is more or less just Reddit reskinned.

      Can't someone put a BuzzWord version of Usenet and IRC with a moderation system of somesort? I'll make an attempt: "We should leverage docker technology to create a cloud based distributed discussion system and live chat."

      Slashdot Moderation was designed well enough that it's surviving Slashdot selling out. Watching Redditors and Twitter users trying to 'game' Brianna Wu's "AMA"^H^H^H Ask Slashdot:" was entertaining to say the least. "What do you mean I can't just create another account and downvote stuff I don't like!!?!?!". Can't someone figure out how to use a 'cryptocurrency' to moderate usenet? Hell I'd pay $0.01 to read a +5 Insightful or +5 Informative Slashdot post these days. Nothing has quite captured Slashdot 2001-2004 +5 posts. If Redditors see something longer than a paragraph it's "TLDR".

      I tried to 'live chat' on Facebook with a few friends and different groups. 2 tabs and 5 conversations is enough to pull a new PC to its knees. Now Redditors have just rediscovered IRC like it's something new and novel.

    8. Re:Damn Ads! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      PipeDot is great. Clean layout, modern site engine, a trusted developer behind the wheel.

      All it currently lacks is content and comments. We know how to get those, people simply need to visit the site and say what they think.

      I can't recommend it highly enough, and here I am, a lowly grad student (still) who's been reading /. for fifteen years and has finally realized how totally abhorrent the place truly is...

    9. Re:Damn Ads! by Matheus · · Score: 1

      ...says the Anonymous Coward... :)

    10. Re: Damn Ads! by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      The thing is it needs to be a new platform, not a new site.

      Voat is going to fail because it's just Reddit rehashed.

      Pipedot is going to fail because it's just Slashdot rehashed.

      Make a damn new website. Use IRC as the chat backend (It's field tested to death and works), use Usenet as the message storage backend (It's field tested to death and it works), figure out a 'moderation' system on top of that and let anyone make their own site.

    11. Re:Damn Ads! by segin · · Score: 1

      I find several other websites have OS news up with actual in depth coverage long before OSnews does a comment and a link to those same articles.

      I'm guessing one is Phoronix, but link me the rest, please?

  3. Awful in SF by Pausanias · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Awful in SF by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      They are useless where I live as well, in the sticks two hours north of San Francisco. The only networks which are worth half a crap here are GSM ones, and they are not that good either. I can't switch to Verizon's "network" because Verizon doesn't have a "network" in my area. If they want to lure in more customers, maybe they should work on fixing the massive gaps in highly populated areas, let alone where I live. That might do more than offering to buy people out of a contract with a carrier which actually has coverage where they live.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Awful in SF by Solandri · · Score: 1

      I'm on Sprint, and Sprint is worse in the Bay area.

      What's really needed is to decouple the network from the service providers. Right now the carriers control the network, the service plans, and the phones. Those all need to be decoupled (de-tripled?) so each is forced to compete on their own merits, not subsidized by inefficiencies in an unrelated market. There should be companies which own networks of cell towers, who compete to provide the best coverage. The carriers should provide service plans and nothing more, using part of that revenue to rent time from tower networks. And you should be buying your phone from the manufacturer via retail stores like Best Buy and Amazon, not from the carrier.

      Do that and an area with bad coverage becomes an opportunity for someone to build towers and make money. Not something a carrier can ignore because it's "good enough" and their better coverage elsewhere means people are afraid to switch to a different carrier.

  4. Watch the fine print by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Watch the fine print by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well the technicality here is even though I live in the most densly populated state and Fios is only 60' away all I can have is dial up or 3g, the 4g will work if I sit outside or buy their booster :( So that tax to expand broadband, where is it being built?

    2. Re:Watch the fine print by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I am a current Verizon customer, and am normally fine w/ their service and coverage in GA. I do have issues w/ their sales promotions that are totally one sided.

      I currently have an iPhone 5s and a Verizon Ellipsis 7. Both of them - the term ends in May of next year. The sound in my Ellipsis has stopped working, and the warranty on that was 1 year. Recently, I was contacted by Verizon encouraging me to upgrade my phone. I declined, since I'm not planning to upgrade until the iPhone 7 is out. But I did want to upgrade the tablet, and they told me I'd have to wait until May before I could. So no flexibility on their end. I can't even cancel this line and take another w/o the fees - they have no flexibility on that either. So I told them they'd just have to wait out, since they had nothing of value to offer me.

      I'm not unhappy w/ Verizon, although I do wish they did a better job on their Lumia line in upgrading it to Windows 8.1 and then 10: last I checked, the Ikon was still on Windows 8.0. However, I won't upgrade except when I want. They'll just have to live w/ it.

  5. So this is Slashdot? by WD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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...

    1. Re:So this is Slashdot? by SeriousTube · · Score: 1

      They say they're trying to sell it. Who knows if it's worth anything though.

    2. Re:So this is Slashdot? by suburbanmediocrity · · Score: 1

      We hit the technological singularity about a decade ago. There is no more tech news. How many truly nerd stories come out? Six months of weekly stories on the latest comic book movie? "New" technology that is repackaged stuff that's been around since the 90's? A find of a new exoplanet, black hole or dinosaur bone? What else is there? Most posts here now are either political or security hence politically related.

    3. Re:So this is Slashdot? by Ian+A.+Shill · · Score: 1

      Slashdot is a focus group. We are the product.

      --
      For hire.
    4. Re:So this is Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Let's switch to PipeDot and try to rebuild something great there.

  6. Smells desperate by Adrian+Harvey · · Score: 1

    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.

    1. Re:Smells desperate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Things that both make this an ad and not a good deal:

      - You have to switch to Verizon, which if you aren't familiar with them is a terrible proposition
      - You have to trade your old phone in for one of their carrier-locked spyware-ridden pieces of garbage
      - "Up to" $650 minus the trade-in value for the 'good condition' phone they just made you give them just translates to "we'll buy out your current contract and/or phone payment plan", so you're not actually gaining anything here.
      - You have to stay switched to Verizon for six months.

    2. Re:Smells desperate by thevirtualcat · · Score: 1

      Verizon has always extensively monetized their service.

      Remember when they disabled bluetooth file transfers in order to stop people from loading ringtones onto their phone? Or send pictures for free?
      How about when they disabled third party access to the GPS chips in some blackberries to force people to pay for VZNavigator?
      Or how about when they used to charge a fee for transferring your contact list from your old phone to your new one? (Yeah, that one was a long time ago.)

      Verizon has always been a shitty company and they got away with it because of their coverage. Unfortunately for them, their coverage is a vanishingly small advantage these days.

  7. Suckers by penguinoid · · Score: 2

    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
    1. Re:Suckers by unixisc · · Score: 1

      One could do a factory reset of the phone before turning it in

  8. "up to" $650 paid to your previous carrier by John.Banister · · Score: 1

    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.

  9. Death knell for Verizon! by EzInKy · · Score: 1

    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.
  10. Tmobile has hit it's mark now by rsborg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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
    1. Re:Tmobile has hit it's mark now by pauljlucas · · Score: 1

      I've tried Sprint twice in my life separated by at least a decade. Both times, service was terrible. The most recent time, Sprint was literally an order of magnitude slower than Verizon at downloading while standing on Market Street in the middle of downtown San Francisco. (No, I don't work for Verizon.)

      --
      If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
    2. Re:Tmobile has hit it's mark now by rsborg · · Score: 1

      I've tried Sprint twice in my life separated by at least a decade. Both times, service was terrible. The most recent time, Sprint was literally an order of magnitude slower than Verizon at downloading while standing on Market Street in the middle of downtown San Francisco. (No, I don't work for Verizon.)

      I was fully expecting this level of data coverage/service from T-mobile when I switched a couple of years ago in 2013 but *that* desperate to get away from AT&T and Verizon (wife and I had separate carriers at the time). It was a godsend - of special note was the HD Voice - which T-mobile rolled out back in 2013 for iPhone5 and other phones - what was usually a shoutfest during commute hours on the way home turned into a much more enjoyable experience.

      T-mobile isn't perfect - spotty rural coverage and in-building coverage (like say no coverage inside an Ikea or museum, but no problems in my office building). But honestly I don't spend much time outside a metro and T-mobile says they're working on it (bought some 700Mhz spectrum which should improve the indoors coverage).

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
  11. The Supercookie Company?!? by meadow · · Score: 2

    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.

    1. Re:The Supercookie Company?!? by nobodie · · Score: 1

      So you like T-Mobile eh?
      (they own Metro PCS)

      --
      Subversion of spatial scale luxury decoration ideas.
    2. Re:The Supercookie Company?!? by meadow · · Score: 1

      Yes I think they are one of the best.

  12. very happy with Google Fi by chrispitude · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:very happy with Google Fi by RubberDogBone · · Score: 1

      Just did the same thing this month, leaving Verizon for Fi.

      Math worked out same as yours. I'm saving about $70 a month and it breaks even after month 8 only taking so long because I had to pay off a fairly new Edge phone, sell it, and then buy a Nexus 6. The service has been fine on Fi. The $40 bill a month is just amazing. Very pleased.

      --
      Sig for hire.
    2. Re:very happy with Google Fi by chrispitude · · Score: 1

      My first Google "Project Fi" cellphone bill:

      $20.00 - Fi Basics -Calls, texts, 24/7 support
      $10.00 - Data - 1 GB at $10/GB
        $5.51 - Taxes & regulatory fees
      $35.51 - Service total

      $12.46 - Device payment - $12.46/month, $274.08 remaining

      $47.91 - Billing total

      I used almost exactly 1GB of data, so my monthly total for cellphone service (including regulatory fees!) was $35.51. The amortized payment on the phone itself is an extra $12.46 until I pay it off. The phone was surprisingly good at finding free WiFi service while I was out running errands.

  13. minus the trade in value? by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    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.
  14. No thanks Verizon. I fired YOU! by RubberDogBone · · Score: 1

    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.
  15. Naw, it's simpler than that by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    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.

    --
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  16. Tmobile's problem is coverage by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    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).

    --
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    1. Re:Tmobile's problem is coverage by rsborg · · Score: 1

      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).

      It's totally worth it for me. I pay $15/mo, all 10 of my lines can call mobile phones in like 70 countries including France, India and Mexico.

      Plus the consistent billing is like suddenly dsicovering you're cured from lifelong irritable bowel syndrome. Seriously no bill anxiety, no worries about overage at all. When I was in France last year I worked (voice, text, data+tether) like I was simply in a remoter part of the US. With very very minimal costs and all unlimited.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    2. Re:Tmobile's problem is coverage by mgcarley · · Score: 1

      They're nearly matching VZW in terms of population now, and based on reports they're only working to increase that... probably even take the lead in addition to adding more towers where they already exist (speculation on my part).

      As for the coverage, yeah, that's a frequency problem. But they're starting to roll out LTE Band 12 (700MHz) now which is supposed to increase coverage and building penetration.

      I would think that the combination of these two things will largely resolve the service issues.

      (Disclaimer: Not an employee, but I like what they're doing with the network and my company offers some services atop TMUS).

      --
      Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
  17. Never! by MagickalMyst · · Score: 1

    Remember this?

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
  18. I switched FROM verizon to Sprint by Spy+Handler · · Score: 1

    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.

  19. Nice deal but no thanks by kheldan · · Score: 1

    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!
  20. CDMA by laie_techie · · Score: 1

    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.