Since I only use my phone for believe it or not just for phone
calls this will make me think twice before getting another phone
from them. I think I am on year 3 and still don't need a new one
but for the same money I could go to Page Plus or any other service
for less probably. I barely use it but when we are away from home it
has come in handy for call forwarding from our home phone.
Heck half of what I pay them is in taxes anyways. I don't need any
of those items they listed as a reason for the new fee. Let me see
turn on turn off, answer call that is about my extent for use.
--
Lee US Army Retired
2004 Georgie Boy Cruise Master
Skype: lee.g.bray and logitech
"Lee" <lbray5032@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:hoTjr.7689$Fh4.6688@news.usenetserver.com...
> Since I only use my phone for believe it or not just for phone
> calls this will make me think twice before getting another phone
> from them. I think I am on year 3 and still don't need a new one
> but for the same money I could go to Page Plus or any other service
> for less probably. I barely use it but when we are away from home it
> has come in handy for call forwarding from our home phone.
>
> Heck half of what I pay them is in taxes anyways. I don't need any
> of those items they listed as a reason for the new fee. Let me see
> turn on turn off, answer call that is about my extent for use.
Not sure why you are wasting your money with VZ then. I was with VZ from
the beginning, but left for PagePlus because I am an EXTREMELY light user.
I now get exactly the same service for less than 1/10th - 1/15th of the
cost.
Let's see: Verizon: Minimal single-line plan is 450 Anytime Minutes for
$39.99. Text extra for 20¢/Txt, 25¢/MMS (or 1000 for $10). Add, what,
$10-15 for taxes and "fees?" Up to a minimum of $50-55 without sending a
single text. A la carte data is $1.99/MB, but that's only for dumb phones:
Smartphones require a $30 plan on top of everything above. Minimum VZ cost
to sign up with them is now about $85 for me and my Palm Pixi -- maybe $50
minimum if I just used my old Moto RAZR.
Page Plus: Buy a PIN that gets me $0.04/min, $0.05/text. 450*$0.04 = $18.
No taxes/fees. A la carte data is $0.99/MB. At my level of usage, less
than $5/mo. Or I could splurge on the 250/250/10MB plan for $12 and not
have to pay that extra $30/month minimum for the privilege of using my
smartphone.
My s/o is a super power user -- 1500-2000 minutes a month, lots of texts
(not too much data, thankfully). We moved
her to PagePlus where she gets unlimited talk and text, and some (100 M
data, for $39.95. If she wanted more data she could get the $55
unlim/unlim/1GB plan. Similar plan on VZ is $69.99 (unlim voice) plus $20
(unlim text) plus $10 (75 MB data). That's $100! Taxes and fees -- $15?
Now up to $115. Oh: it would cost her another $20 to use her smartphone
(but she'd get 2GB data). Yes, that's now $135+ or more than 4X what
she is paying on PP; 2.5X more if she opted for the 1GB data plan...
On 4/19/2012 7:29 AM, tycho wrote:
> "Lee"<lbray5032@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> news:hoTjr.7689$Fh4.6688@news.usenetserver.com...
>
>> Since I only use my phone for believe it or not just for phone
>> calls this will make me think twice before getting another phone
>> from them. I think I am on year 3 and still don't need a new one
>> but for the same money I could go to Page Plus or any other service
>> for less probably. I barely use it but when we are away from home it
>> has come in handy for call forwarding from our home phone.
>>
>> Heck half of what I pay them is in taxes anyways. I don't need any
>> of those items they listed as a reason for the new fee. Let me see
>> turn on turn off, answer call that is about my extent for use.
>
> Not sure why you are wasting your money with VZ then. I was with VZ from
> the beginning, but left for PagePlus because I am an EXTREMELY light user.
> I now get exactly the same service for less than 1/10th - 1/15th of the
> cost.
>
> Let's see: Verizon: Minimal single-line plan is 450 Anytime Minutes for
> $39.99. Text extra for 20¢/Txt, 25¢/MMS (or 1000 for $10). Add, what,
> $10-15 for taxes and "fees?" Up to a minimum of $50-55 without sending a
> single text. A la carte data is $1.99/MB, but that's only for dumb phones:
> Smartphones require a $30 plan on top of everything above. Minimum VZ cost
> to sign up with them is now about $85 for me and my Palm Pixi -- maybe $50
> minimum if I just used my old Moto RAZR.
>
> Page Plus: Buy a PIN that gets me $0.04/min, $0.05/text. 450*$0.04 = $18.
> No taxes/fees.
Actually Page Plus has a 50¢/month fee.
Besides the far lower cost for light users on Page Plus, the other big
advantage is the ability to use a smart phone without being required to
purchase a data plan. A lot of people like having smart phones but need
very little 3G data because of the huge expansion in the availability of
free Wi-Fi.
A la carte data is $0.99/MB. At my level of usage, less
> than $5/mo. Or I could splurge on the 250/250/10MB plan for $12 and not
> have to pay that extra $30/month minimum for the privilege of using my
> smartphone.
>
> My s/o is a super power user -- 1500-2000 minutes a month, lots of texts
> (not too much data, thankfully). We moved
> her to PagePlus where she gets unlimited talk and text, and some (100 M
> data, for $39.95. If she wanted more data she could get the $55
> unlim/unlim/1GB plan. Similar plan on VZ is $69.99 (unlim voice) plus $20
> (unlim text) plus $10 (75 MB data). That's $100! Taxes and fees -- $15?
> Now up to $115. Oh: it would cost her another $20 to use her smartphone
> (but she'd get 2GB data). Yes, that's now $135+ or more than 4X what
> she is paying on PP; 2.5X more if she opted for the 1GB data plan...
>
> Me: scratching my head...
Very few people are aware of Page Plus, and no doubt Verizon would like
to keep it that way. Just ask your travel agent.
Verizon's worst nightmare is that its moderate usage smart phone users
learn about Page Plus. And of course any non-smart phone user that
remains on Verizon is probably just unaware of other options for
continuing to use Verizon's network since even the family plans on
Verizon are much more expensive, even with the most generous corporate
discount.
In a similar vein, yesterday AT&T took steps to discourage its light to
moderate usage postpaid customers from moving to their GoPhone service.
You can no longer purchase blocks of data on GoPhone if you are using
pay-as-you-go. You can only purchase blocks of data on GoPhone if you
sign up for a monthly voice/text plan.
AT&T was apparently finding that many customers who were using mainly
moderate amounts of data, but little voice or texting, were moving to
GoPhone pay-as-you-go for voice and text, buying blocks of data, and
spending $15-30 per month for iPhone service, versus $90+ per month.
After all, AT&T was encouraging its users to use Wi-Fi when available,
and the few places that still charged for Wi-Fi provided by AT&T were
free to AT&T customers.
Hey Tycho, reason being I am one of those old farts who does not
rally understand all of this stuff but will re read your comments
and then consider changing! thanks for the info. Big Help!
tycho wrote:
> Me: scratching my head...
--
Lee US Army Retired
2004 Georgie Boy Cruise Master
Skype: lee.g.bray and logitech
On 4/19/2012 5:18 AM, Lee wrote:
> Since I only use my phone for believe it or not just for phone
> calls this will make me think twice before getting another phone
> from them. I think I am on year 3 and still don't need a new one
> but for the same money I could go to Page Plus or any other service
> for less probably. I barely use it but when we are away from home it
> has come in handy for call forwarding from our home phone.
It's hard to imagine any current or legacy Verizon voice plan that would
cost less than Page Plus, unless you're using a tremendous number of
mobile to mobile or night and weekend minutes on Verizon, minutes that
would be charged on Pageplus.
If you do plan to remain on Verizon, you should get a new phone as soon
as you're eligible since you're paying for the new phone subsidy as part
of your monthly charges. Sell it on craigslist if you don't want it. But
with that new $30 fee, buying a new non-smart phone doesn't make much
sense since the resale value of a dumb phone, even a new one, will not
be much more than $30.
"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:4f902d62$0$16132$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> On 4/19/2012 7:29 AM, tycho wrote:
>> "Lee"<lbray5032@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
>> news:hoTjr.7689$Fh4.6688@news.usenetserver.com...
>>
>> No taxes/fees.
>
> Actually Page Plus has a 50¢/month fee.
>
*oops* yes, forgot about that. Yes indeed on the Standard Plan. Not on any
of the Monthly Plans.
> Besides the far lower cost for light users on Page Plus, the other big
> advantage is the ability to use a smart phone without being required to
> purchase a data plan. A lot of people like having smart phones but need
> very little 3G data because of the huge expansion in the availability of
> free Wi-Fi.
"Lee" <lbray5032@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:Q4Wjr.50377$%B6.30552@news.usenetserver.com.. .
> Hey Tycho, reason being I am one of those old farts who does not
> rally understand all of this stuff but will re read your comments
> and then consider changing! thanks for the info. Big Help!
>
> tycho wrote:
>> Me: scratching my head...
>
> --
No problem. I'm not exactly a youngster, being much closer to 60 than 50.
Do read it and post here if you have questions. Bottom line, you can
probably save a ton, get the same service, and keep your phone and phone
number to boot. It's a tad more complicated, and there is new stuff to
learn, but its not really a hassle. The payoff: my cell bill is,
literally, less than $5/month. And I have a nifty Verizon-branded low-end
smartphone for which I do not have to pay a required $30/mo data plan. It
cost me $40 brand new, in a Verizon box. I was using my Verizon RAZR on
Page Plus before I switched to the smartphone. Switching phones now on
Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
On 4/19/2012 2:18 PM, tycho wrote:
> "SMS"<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
>> Actually Page Plus has a 50¢/month fee.
>>
> *oops* yes, forgot about that. Yes indeed on the Standard Plan. Not on any
> of the Monthly Plans.
Page Plus is actually the exception when it comes to fees on prepaid.
Usually all taxes, government fees, and junk fees are included. 50¢ is
pretty low though.
On postpaid, the average U.S. wireless customer pays taxes and fees of
16.26%. When comparing prices between prepaid and postpaid, the fees are
a significant percentage of the monthly total.
The average spending for a non-smart phone in the U.S. is a tad over
$600 per year, or $50/month. In 2010, the average spending for Android
owners was $197 per month and for iPhone users it was
$165.<http://www.surfmobee.com/?p=1781>. That's rather amazing
considering the monthly cost for unlimited voice, text, and data in
2010, on a top tier carrier, was around $130. The rest of that money
must have gone for things like downloaded apps and music, handset
insurance, tethering, international roaming, etc. No wonder AT&T wanted
to put the kibosh on users taking their iPhones to GoPhone and just
buying blocks of data.
sms88 wrote on [Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:05:59 -0700]:
> On 4/19/2012 2:18 PM, tycho wrote:
>> "SMS"<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
>
>>> Actually Page Plus has a 50¢/month fee.
>>>
>> *oops* yes, forgot about that. Yes indeed on the Standard Plan. Not on any
>> of the Monthly Plans.
>
> Page Plus is actually the exception when it comes to fees on prepaid.
> Usually all taxes, government fees, and junk fees are included. 50¢ is
> pretty low though.
>
> On postpaid, the average U.S. wireless customer pays taxes and fees of
> 16.26%. When comparing prices between prepaid and postpaid, the fees are
> a significant percentage of the monthly total.
>
> The average spending for a non-smart phone in the U.S. is a tad over
> $600 per year, or $50/month. In 2010, the average spending for Android
> owners was $197 per month and for iPhone users it was
> $165.<http://www.surfmobee.com/?p=1781>. That's rather amazing
Both of those totals seem awfully high to me
We spend ~110 a month for one line with unlimited data and one basic
phone on family plan.
I also use 1.5GB of data on that android phone, even with wifi enabled
at work now (finally) and at home.
> No problem. I'm not exactly a youngster, being much closer to 60 than 50.
> Do read it and post here if you have questions. Bottom line, you can
> probably save a ton, get the same service, and keep your phone and phone
> number to boot. It's a tad more complicated, and there is new stuff to
> learn, but its not really a hassle.
I think the way to decomplicate it for the standard plan is to pay $76
for the 365 day/2000 minute card. That's $6.25/month versus $5/month but
it's not a big deal.
> The payoff: my cell bill is,
> literally, less than $5/month. And I have a nifty Verizon-branded low-end
> smartphone for which I do not have to pay a required $30/mo data plan. It
> cost me $40 brand new, in a Verizon box. I was using my Verizon RAZR on
> Page Plus before I switched to the smartphone. Switching phones now on
> Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
My family has four Android smart phones on Page Plus. All gently used,
without a scratch on them, bought for about $100 each. In two cases I
met the seller at a Verizon store to verify that the ESN was clean, in
one case I bought it from Digicircle, and in the most recent case I
figured out how to check for a clean ESN on Verizon's web site.
I think that our monthly cost for service is about $36 per month for
four phones. I have the $12/month plan, everyone else is on
pay-as-you-go, which I will probably switch to next month as well. I
like having a smart phone because occasionally there is a need to check
something on the web when out and about, but the reality is that there
is such a tremendous amount of free Wi-Fi that for non-urgent stuff it's
not an issue to wait until there's Wi-Fi rather than use 3G.
My kids can still text, but I tell them to use e-mail or Facebook from
home or at school when possible. At home I encourage the use of the
landline since it's included as part of DSL service and has unlimited
long-distance included (plus it sounds better!).
The downsides of Page Plus:
1. You bring the unsubsidized, Verizon-compatible, handset (no Verizon
prepaid phones anymore).
2. No Blackberry devices (they work as a phone, but not with the RIM
servers)
3. iPhones work, but are discouraged
4. U.S., Canada, and Mexico service only.
5. Roaming off of Verizon's native network costs extra.
6. All minutes are charged, no off-peak or mobile-to-mobile (even to
Verizon phones).
7. No high-use data plans (1GB is the most).
8. Periodically get "Your account has a zero balance" message even when
the account has plenty of money. This must happen at least once a month
to me or someone in my family.
SMS wrote on [Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:21:27 -0700]:
> On 4/19/2012 2:26 PM, tycho wrote:
>
> something on the web when out and about, but the reality is that there
> is such a tremendous amount of free Wi-Fi that for non-urgent stuff it's
> not an issue to wait until there's Wi-Fi rather than use 3G.
In your limited area, maybe.
Most restaurants do NOT offer free wifi, most supermarkets do NOT
offer free wifi, most places not coffee bars or mcdonalds do NOT offer
free wifi
At 19 Apr 2012 15:05:59 -0700 sms88 wrote:
> On 4/19/2012 2:18 PM, tycho wrote:
> > "SMS"<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
>
> >> Actually Page Plus has a 50¢/month fee.
> >>
> > *oops* yes, forgot about that. Yes indeed on the Standard Plan. Not
on any
> > of the Monthly Plans.
>
> Page Plus is actually the exception when it comes to fees on prepaid..
> Usually all taxes, government fees, and junk fees are included. 50¢is
> pretty low though.
>
> On postpaid, the average U.S. wireless customer pays taxes and fees of
> 16.26%. When comparing prices between prepaid and postpaid, the fees
> are a significant percentage of the monthly total.
>
> The average spending for a non-smart phone in the U.S. is a tad over
> $600 per year, or $50/month. In 2010, the average spending for Android
> owners was $197 per month and for iPhone users it was
> $165.<http://www.surfmobee.com/?p=1781>. That's rather amazing
> considering the monthly cost for unlimited voice, text, and data in 2010,
> on a top tier carrier, was around $130. The rest of that money must
> have gone for things like downloaded apps and music, handset insurance,
> tethering, international roaming, etc. No wonder AT&T wanted to put the
> kibosh on users taking their iPhones to GoPhone and just buying blocks
> of data.
If you read the article closely, the data aggregator had no idea whichof
those phones were on family plans or not, or which were on business
plans, making the data a) virtually useless, and b) most likely inflated.
> If you read the article closely, the data aggregator had no idea which of
> those phones were on family plans or not, or which were on business
> plans, making the data a) virtually useless, and b) most likely inflated.
With 275,000 randomly selected accounts you'd have a good distribution.
That's a very large sample, much greater than even the samples Consumer
Reports uses in their cellular surveys.
Are you saying that you believe that some of those surveyed were
reporting bills that included more than one smart phone? Or are you
saying that the average bill included family plan discounts for some
percentage of those surveyed?
Given the ARPU for the major carriers is $46-53, and about half of all
users are on smart phones, it's difficult to believe the $165-197 per
month figure. But you do have a lot of prepaid customers dragging the
ARPU down.
On Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:21:27 -0700, SMS reported of Page+:
> 8. Periodically get "Your account has a zero balance" message even when
> the account has plenty of money. This must happen at least once a month
> to me or someone in my family.
Haven't been with PP nearly as long as you, but on three lines, since last
October, that hasn't happened even once, yet. Not even for the handset that
*did* have a zero balance ... and then crossed a 25th-of-the-month without
being able to get dinged its monthly 50-cent dues :-) . And when I topped
it up again the start of the next month with a $10 PIN (actually costing
only $9.50), those 50 cents were entirely forg[iv|ott]en.
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
At 19 Apr 2012 21:50:01 -0700 SMS wrote:
> On 4/19/2012 7:12 PM, Todd Allcock wrote:
>
> > If you read the article closely, the data aggregator had no idea
> > which ofthose phones were on family plans or not, or which were on
> > business plans, making the data a) virtually useless, and b) most
> > likely inflated.
>
> With 275,000 randomly selected accounts you'd have a good distribution.
> That's a very large sample, much greater than even the samples Consumer
> Reports uses in their cellular surveys.
They're not "randomly selected". Pageonce, the source of this "analysis"
is a bill paying service that offers smartphone apps. Their methodology
was flawed. They determine the type of smartphone by which app paid the
bill, and its cost by the amount paid to the cell carrier via the app.
They don't analyze the actual bills in any way, other than knowing the
amount by what you paid cia their service.
If you have a Samsung Galaxy and four iPhones amongst your wife and kids
sharing a family plan, and pay your $250 AT&T bill from the Galaxy,
you've put $250 in the "Android" column, because all Pageonce knows is "
$250 paid to AT&T from our Android app..."
> Are you saying that you believe that some of those surveyed were
> reporting bills that included more than one smart phone? Or are you
> saying that the average bill included family plan discounts for some
> percentage of those surveyed?
No, I'm saying it *wasn't* a survey. It was a flawed analysis of
statistics based on incomplete data.
> Given the ARPU for the major carriers is $46-53, and about half of all
> users are on smart phones, it's difficult to believe the $165-197 per
> month figure. But you do have a lot of prepaid customers dragging the
> ARPU down.
You put more relevant data in that paragraph than Pageonce did into their
analysis.
On Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:50:01 -0700, SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
wrote:
>On 4/19/2012 7:12 PM, Todd Allcock wrote:
>
>> If you read the article closely, the data aggregator had no idea which of
>> those phones were on family plans or not, or which were on business
>> plans, making the data a) virtually useless, and b) most likely inflated.
>
>With 275,000 randomly selected accounts you'd have a good distribution.
>That's a very large sample, much greater than even the samples Consumer
>Reports uses in their cellular surveys.
A discussion about the number of samples and their random distribution
and John Navas is nowhere to be found? It must be a new era...
On 4/27/2012 10:41 PM, Azzie Padrit wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:50:01 -0700, SMS<scharf.steven@geemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 4/19/2012 7:12 PM, Todd Allcock wrote:
>>
>>> If you read the article closely, the data aggregator had no idea which of
>>> those phones were on family plans or not, or which were on business
>>> plans, making the data a) virtually useless, and b) most likely inflated.
>>
>> With 275,000 randomly selected accounts you'd have a good distribution.
>> That's a very large sample, much greater than even the samples Consumer
>> Reports uses in their cellular surveys.
>
> A discussion about the number of samples and their random distribution
> and John Navas is nowhere to be found? It must be a new era...
Oh geez, don't even talk about that. The last thing we need is someone
with no understanding of statistical sampling chiming in. However Todd
did explain how despite the huge sample size this data aggregator had
problems that rendered the huge sample size meaningless.
Hi, still have not done anything to date but just the fact that I would
have to pay another $30 really ticks me off. I wonder how much of a
problem this has cost their company by imposing this fee? Guess it will
not bother anyone until they have to replace their phones. Have been
looking to see if there has been any publicity about it and have not
seen anything about it. Did check out the web site and saw the
additional fee charge. Really irritates the heck out of me. I just
don't use a lot of minutes and what I pay is high compared to my usage.
I guess they are pushing people to the higher costing smart phones and
even more fees to connect. They won't change unless they lose a lot of
business for sure.
tycho wrote:
Switching phones now on
> Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
--
Lee US Army Retired
2004 Georgie Boy Cruise Master
Skype: lee.g.bray and logitech
On 4/29/2012 6:34 AM, Lee wrote:
> Hi, still have not done anything to date but just the fact that I would
> have to pay another $30 really ticks me off. I wonder how much of a
> problem this has cost their company by imposing this fee?
Since Verizon was the last of the four major carriers to impose this fee
it probably has not cost them many customers at all, at least not to the
other top tier companies.
AT&T: $36
Sprint: $36
Verizon: $30
T-Mobile: $18.
The problem for the top three carriers is the huge subsidy on the
iPhone. It's why Verizon tries to steer customers to one of their 4G
phones, rather than to an iPhone, with their periodic "double the data"
promotions.
On 4/29/2012 9:34 AM, Lee wrote:
> Hi, still have not done anything to date but just the fact that I would
> have to pay another $30 really ticks me off. I wonder how much of a
> problem this has cost their company by imposing this fee? Guess it will
> not bother anyone until they have to replace their phones. Have been
> looking to see if there has been any publicity about it and have not
> seen anything about it. Did check out the web site and saw the
> additional fee charge. Really irritates the heck out of me. I just don't
> use a lot of minutes and what I pay is high compared to my usage.
>
> I guess they are pushing people to the higher costing smart phones and
> even more fees to connect. They won't change unless they lose a lot of
> business for sure.
>
>
> tycho wrote:
> Switching phones now on
>> Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
>
>
The more resources you use, the more it costs. If you JUST want to make
and receive calls (voice), there's no extra charge. If you want to
"surf the net", send and receive mail, watch your favorite television
program, etc. you should expect to pay extra. Your phone has to
function as a pocket computer? Expect to pay. Etc. . . . I think you
can still buy a "dumb phone" but they may disappear next month!!
Richard B. Gilbert wrote on [Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:06:49 -0400]:
> On 4/29/2012 9:34 AM, Lee wrote:
>> Hi, still have not done anything to date but just the fact that I would
>> have to pay another $30 really ticks me off. I wonder how much of a
>> problem this has cost their company by imposing this fee? Guess it will
>> not bother anyone until they have to replace their phones. Have been
>> looking to see if there has been any publicity about it and have not
>> seen anything about it. Did check out the web site and saw the
>> additional fee charge. Really irritates the heck out of me. I just don't
>> use a lot of minutes and what I pay is high compared to my usage.
>>
>> I guess they are pushing people to the higher costing smart phones and
>> even more fees to connect. They won't change unless they lose a lot of
>> business for sure.
>>
>>
>> tycho wrote:
>> Switching phones now on
>>> Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
>>
>>
>
> The more resources you use, the more it costs. If you JUST want to make
> and receive calls (voice), there's no extra charge. If you want to
> "surf the net", send and receive mail, watch your favorite television
> program, etc. you should expect to pay extra. Your phone has to
> function as a pocket computer? Expect to pay. Etc. . . . I think you
> can still buy a "dumb phone" but they may disappear next month!!
Well believe it or not that is all I use my cell phone for! I bought
it to remain in contact with family and as you said I guess the way I
use it is as a "dumb" phone. Not willing to pay more than what I pay
now. Out of 7.5 hours I used 2.5 hours. Just not worth it to me.
Appreciate the comeback. As long as there are people that will pay
the fees and want to walk around playing games or whatever they do
with the so called smart phones they will continue to raise the fees.
Thanks for your comments.
Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
> If you JUST want to make
> and receive calls (voice), there's no extra charge. If you want to
> "surf the net", send and receive mail, watch your favorite television
> program, etc. you should expect to pay extra. Your phone has to
> function as a pocket computer? Expect to pay. Etc. . . . I think you
> can still buy a "dumb phone" but they may disappear next month!!
--
Lee US Army Retired
2004 Georgie Boy Cruise Master
Skype: lee.g.bray and logitech
On Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:06:49 -0400, "Richard B. Gilbert"
<rgilbert88@comcast.net> wrote:
>On 4/29/2012 9:34 AM, Lee wrote:
>> Hi, still have not done anything to date but just the fact that I would
>> have to pay another $30 really ticks me off. I wonder how much of a
>> problem this has cost their company by imposing this fee? Guess it will
>> not bother anyone until they have to replace their phones. Have been
>> looking to see if there has been any publicity about it and have not
>> seen anything about it. Did check out the web site and saw the
>> additional fee charge. Really irritates the heck out of me. I just don't
>> use a lot of minutes and what I pay is high compared to my usage.
>>
>> I guess they are pushing people to the higher costing smart phones and
>> even more fees to connect. They won't change unless they lose a lot of
>> business for sure.
>>
>>
>> tycho wrote:
>> Switching phones now on
>>> Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
>>
>>
>
>The more resources you use, the more it costs. If you JUST want to make
>and receive calls (voice), there's no extra charge. If you want to
>"surf the net", send and receive mail, watch your favorite television
>program, etc. you should expect to pay extra. Your phone has to
>function as a pocket computer? Expect to pay. Etc. . . . I think you
>can still buy a "dumb phone" but they may disappear next month!!
>
I have a smartphone, android with 4G. I have unlimited text and 5GB of
data. It's only 100 voice minutes but additional minutes (that I never
get to) are 10 cents. It's $30 a month including all taxes. No you
don't have to pay extra.
<nobody@nada.com> wrote in message
news:6e8rp79pppfijf6c2taptkec4vrnpkn8n0@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:06:49 -0400, "Richard B. Gilbert"
> <rgilbert88@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>On 4/29/2012 9:34 AM, Lee wrote:
>>> Hi, still have not done anything to date but just the fact that I would
>>> have to pay another $30 really ticks me off. I wonder how much of a
>>> problem this has cost their company by imposing this fee? Guess it will
>>> not bother anyone until they have to replace their phones. Have been
>>> looking to see if there has been any publicity about it and have not
>>> seen anything about it. Did check out the web site and saw the
>>> additional fee charge. Really irritates the heck out of me. I just don't
>>> use a lot of minutes and what I pay is high compared to my usage.
>>>
>>> I guess they are pushing people to the higher costing smart phones and
>>> even more fees to connect. They won't change unless they lose a lot of
>>> business for sure.
>>>
>>>
>>> tycho wrote:
>>> Switching phones now on
>>>> Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
>>>
>>>
>>
>>The more resources you use, the more it costs. If you JUST want to make
>>and receive calls (voice), there's no extra charge. If you want to
>>"surf the net", send and receive mail, watch your favorite television
>>program, etc. you should expect to pay extra. Your phone has to
>>function as a pocket computer? Expect to pay. Etc. . . . I think you
>>can still buy a "dumb phone" but they may disappear next month!!
>>
>
> I have a smartphone, android with 4G. I have unlimited text and 5GB of
> data. It's only 100 voice minutes but additional minutes (that I never
> get to) are 10 cents. It's $30 a month including all taxes. No you
> don't have to pay extra.
>
> And the phone cost under $200 to buy outright.
On Tue, 1 May 2012 04:33:07 -0400, "Andy" <N@n.com> wrote:
>what you saved you spent buying it outright
>
Really? Let's look at the cost over 24 months. 24 months at $30 plus
the phone, $720 (including taxes) plus $189 for the phone = $909. Show
me where you can get that kind of deal on a phone otherwise. Verizon's
cheapest plan would be $40 voice, $10 for limited text, $30 for 2 GB
4G data. That's a $80 month plus the taxes, or $1920 and at least
another $100 in taxes. That's already over double what I'm paying.
Even if the Verizon phone were free, and the 4G phones aren't, it's
far cheaper. Try doing the math next time.
>
><nobody@nada.com> wrote in message
>news:6e8rp79pppfijf6c2taptkec4vrnpkn8n0@4ax.com.. .
>> On Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:06:49 -0400, "Richard B. Gilbert"
>> <rgilbert88@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>>On 4/29/2012 9:34 AM, Lee wrote:
>>>> Hi, still have not done anything to date but just the fact that I would
>>>> have to pay another $30 really ticks me off. I wonder how much of a
>>>> problem this has cost their company by imposing this fee? Guess it will
>>>> not bother anyone until they have to replace their phones. Have been
>>>> looking to see if there has been any publicity about it and have not
>>>> seen anything about it. Did check out the web site and saw the
>>>> additional fee charge. Really irritates the heck out of me. I just don't
>>>> use a lot of minutes and what I pay is high compared to my usage.
>>>>
>>>> I guess they are pushing people to the higher costing smart phones and
>>>> even more fees to connect. They won't change unless they lose a lot of
>>>> business for sure.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> tycho wrote:
>>>> Switching phones now on
>>>>> Verizon -- circling back to the original topic -- would cost $30...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>The more resources you use, the more it costs. If you JUST want to make
>>>and receive calls (voice), there's no extra charge. If you want to
>>>"surf the net", send and receive mail, watch your favorite television
>>>program, etc. you should expect to pay extra. Your phone has to
>>>function as a pocket computer? Expect to pay. Etc. . . . I think you
>>>can still buy a "dumb phone" but they may disappear next month!!
>>>
>>
>> I have a smartphone, android with 4G. I have unlimited text and 5GB of
>> data. It's only 100 voice minutes but additional minutes (that I never
>> get to) are 10 cents. It's $30 a month including all taxes. No you
>> don't have to pay extra.
>>
>> And the phone cost under $200 to buy outright.
>
On 5/1/2012 11:06 AM, nobody@nada.com wrote:
> On Tue, 01 May 2012 09:07:35 -0700, sms88<scharf.steven@geemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 5/1/2012 1:33 AM, Andy wrote:
>>> what you saved you spent buying it outright
>>
>> Only if you're bad at math.
>
> Which explains why so many get sucked into paying way more than they
> have to for cell phone service.
Except to be fair, you keep harping about a plan that is no longer
available.
Still, it's still far cheaper to buy a new or used smart phone and sign
up for a service like RedPocket, StraightTalk, or PagePlus.
It's very difficult for some people to spend $649 all at once (i.e. for
an iPhone) versus paying $199 plus an extra $50 per month for 24 months
($1200). That $450 subsidy costs $1200 for a net difference of $750 but
the $1200 is spread out over time, like a payday loan.
In actuality it costs about $31/month extra to go under contract for two
years. Not a huge amount, but I'd rather have that money than give it to
AT&T or Verizon.
>On Tue, 01 May 2012 09:07:35 -0700, sms88 <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On 5/1/2012 1:33 AM, Andy wrote:
>>> what you saved you spent buying it outright
>>
>>Only if you're bad at math.
>
>Which explains why so many get sucked into paying way more than they
>have to for cell phone service.
On Tue, 01 May 2012 11:50:38 -0700, SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
wrote:
>On 5/1/2012 11:06 AM, nobody@nada.com wrote:
>> On Tue, 01 May 2012 09:07:35 -0700, sms88<scharf.steven@geemail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 5/1/2012 1:33 AM, Andy wrote:
>>>> what you saved you spent buying it outright
>>>
>>> Only if you're bad at math.
>>
>> Which explains why so many get sucked into paying way more than they
>> have to for cell phone service.
>
>Except to be fair, you keep harping about a plan that is no longer
>available.
Even used 4G phones are expensive. The PagePlus $30 plan would
proabably be enough but the phone would cost more and I'd be trading
low voice limits with cheap overage costs for low data limits with
high overage costs. My wife, who uses no data, just voice and text, is
on Page Plus.
>It's very difficult for some people to spend $649 all at once (i.e. for
>an iPhone) versus paying $199 plus an extra $50 per month for 24 months
>($1200). That $450 subsidy costs $1200 for a net difference of $750 but
>the $1200 is spread out over time, like a payday loan.
>
>In actuality it costs about $31/month extra to go under contract for two
>years. Not a huge amount, but I'd rather have that money than give it to
>AT&T or Verizon.
Ref additional fees for Verizon 
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