[Laos101]

Someone may want to consider sticking this for people who always ask questions about Verizon Contracts.

First off, this information has been gathered from 6 different representatives from several departments of Verizon Wireless Support, including Customer Service, Win-Back, and Save (Retentions).

We recently had an issue over our contract upgrade dates constantly changing, after we got phones changed due to repairs and other such issues.

As it turns out. Verizon works its contracting system in the following setup as a result, this may seem obvious to some, and others not so much.

1. There are two forms of contracting through verizon. You have your Account's contract, and your phone's contract. Your account contract is dominant to the rest of your account and changes every 1-2 years (depending on your sign date). you get both contracts signed at once when you purchase a phone and service plan.

2. The account contract lasts 1 or 2 years, depending on how long you sign for. This contract starts counting from day 1 and at the end of 12 or 24 months, you can re-sign. This account does not affect your phone upgrade dates or other features, instead it controls your pricing and lock-in prices for your accounts. This of course leads us to..

3. Your phone contract. This contract is unique to each phone, and can change rapidly if you don't keep track (They don't tell you when this is changed). This will last 12-24 months depending on the following

1. If you are not on a family plan, it lasts until 12 months. After 12 months you qualify for upgrade pricing. Whether or not your contract lasts 12 or 24 months, you qualify to upgrade after 12. After 24 months, you then get a discount of some amount of cash

2. If you are on a family plan, then your primary line has the privileges of the 12 month rule. However, all non-primary lines must wait until the contract has expired on your phone contract! This means you must wait 24 months on a 2 year contract, no exceptions!

However, on a 1 year contract, you only need to wait 1 year.

Here's the irritating, and confusing part.

Whenever you have your phone changed by a store, or telephone manager, either because of defects, your phone isn't available, they run out, etc. If you do not receive your phone model, they will have given you a manager approved upgrade. This may sound great, except that now your 12 or 24 month contract to your phone (which lets you upgrade) has been RESET.

if you signed your 2 year contract on 12/09/2007 and received a phone. But then on 10/05/2009, your phone died and they no longer carry it. Then you must get a different phone.

In turn, they give you a touch pro (for example). They just gave you a manager approved upgrade. Now your phone contract will expire on 10/05/2011, NOT 12/09/2009, but your Account contract still expires on 12/09/2009.

This applies to all phones, smartphones and what not.

Also, one last note, Verizon Smartphone data plans are 30$ a month and you cant get around that fee. That's mandatory for them. If you can't take the pricing, get a blackberry and pay 15. Oh and none of the plans cover it. you need to pay for the plan separately from whatever you pay for calling, text etc. (so that 100$ data plan is a waste,)

Last but not least, is about customer service.

For those who did not know, Verizon divides Support into 4 main subsidaries

Sales, Information, etc.

Customer Service (The grunts of support. 611 send you there)

Win-Back Department (After you leave Verizon and have second thoughts, or they call you. If you still have a contract with Verizon (or never had one) then they will not negotiate, nay even TALK to you before-hand (They will ask you to hang up or be redirected).

Save Department (Retentions). If you are on the lower end of your account contract's expiration date, or are desparate, these people are your last shot. With the new FCC regulations on ETFs, they are getting a lot more heat than usual since they have less to play hard ball with.

They are (IMO) the judgement team of Verizon. If they say no, then it's definitely no. If you come in, they don't just say yes or no, they will read your account history from beginning to end, and decide your value to the carrier. Essentially, they are weighing you against your problems, complaints, and also money spent. They also check your ETFs, and will see if you have put in a lot of money in comparison. If they see that you have an expensive contract, a low ETF, and a good reason. They will give in. These guys (along with Winback) have some of the most powerful resources. They can reset Upgrade Dates, offer phones, and give discounts with a short talk. But remember, if you come with a weak start, and don't act convincing enough, they wont even blink, those cold-hearted beings...

Some final Notes

Always research competitors (you cant negotiate with verizon unless they think you know the best deals with sprint)

Remember, Customer Service managers and specialities (Winback/Save) are NOT stupid. They WILL do the math. they have your account, they WILL read your history and see your value to the carrier. They judge you like a pig at the state fair and will give their mighty hands of justice.

Post below if you have any comments, questions, PMs, concerns etc.

P.S. This is based on the experience, as i stated above, primarily of a 5 hour phone call between CS, Winback, and Save. With a lot of suttle negotiations, my father and I convinced them to reset the upgrade dates on 4 of our 5 phones.

By the way, we are done with 2 year contracts. the 50$ more for just a 1 year contract is SOOOOOOO worth it.