Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I have The America's Choice Family Share Plan with:

400 anythime, unlimited nites and weekends and 1000 Natl. Share In Net cal
min (whatever that is).

I have 4 phones:

The primary is $39.99
the other 3 are $20.00 each..

I usually come close to using the 400 minutes but have only gone over a
couple of times.

Is there a better plan for me?

I have been looking at Verizonwireless.com for hours and between that and
the flyer in the monthly bill I am totally confused

Sponge

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

I think that the current rate for Family Plan is $59.95 for the first 2
phones and $9.95 for each additional phone and you get 500 anytime minutes
with unlimited nites & weekends and unlimited IN-Calling (calling other
Verizon cell phones).


"Sponge" <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:khSFe.1288$7Q1.713@fe09.lga...
>I have The America's Choice Family Share Plan with:
>
> 400 anythime, unlimited nites and weekends and 1000 Natl. Share In Net cal
> min (whatever that is).
>
> I have 4 phones:
>
> The primary is $39.99
> the other 3 are $20.00 each..
>
> I usually come close to using the 400 minutes but have only gone over a
> couple of times.
>
> Is there a better plan for me?
>
> I have been looking at Verizonwireless.com for hours and between that and
> the flyer in the monthly bill I am totally confused
>
> Sponge

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:02:53 GMT, "Tom Hruska" <tom.hruska@verizon.net>
wrote:

>I think that the current rate for Family Plan is $59.95 for the first 2
>phones and $9.95 for each additional phone and you get 500 anytime minutes
>with unlimited nites & weekends and unlimited IN-Calling (calling other
>Verizon cell phones).
>

The current plan is now $69.95 for 700 minutes 2 lines and still $9.95 for
additional phones.

It's always nice to see VZW decide for you what you want.


>
>"Sponge" <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:khSFe.1288$7Q1.713@fe09.lga...
>>I have The America's Choice Family Share Plan with:
>>
>> 400 anythime, unlimited nites and weekends and 1000 Natl. Share In Net cal
>> min (whatever that is).
>>
>> I have 4 phones:
>>
>> The primary is $39.99
>> the other 3 are $20.00 each..
>>
>> I usually come close to using the 400 minutes but have only gone over a
>> couple of times.
>>
>> Is there a better plan for me?
>>
>> I have been looking at Verizonwireless.com for hours and between that and
>> the flyer in the monthly bill I am totally confused
>>
>> Sponge
>

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Sponge <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote in news:khSFe.1288$7Q1.713@fe09.lga:

> Is there a better plan for me?
>

Sure. Which carriers cover your area besides VZW? Most all of them have
better plans than being FORCED into this low-minutes national plan most
cellular users have no need for.

Think about how far you've traveled in the last 6 months. Will a one or
two state coverage cover this area for you? If not, how often do you
travel that far away? Would you be better off with a 2-state plan that
gave you twice as many minutes, like Verizon used to do, for you to share
between the phones?

Who else do you often call to their cellphone? What company are they with?
Most companues now let you call other customers for free, anytime. If you
call them very often, it may be to your advantage to get on their company's
system and call for free. Believe it or not, not every cellphone is on
Verizon!..(c;

I was on Verizon...GTE before that...Cellular one before that...since they
had two towers on AMPS. I got a better deal on Alltel, here in the South.
800 minutes across SC, NC, the SC side of Georgia/TN/VA near NC for $39.
Unlimited N/W, free LD, all the usual toys. I have no contract. The plan
was for 700, then Alltel sent me a letter telling me to call this 888
number for another free lifetime 100 minutes forever, just to show they
appreciate my business. The Alltel system here is AMPS/CDMA and is even
more mature than what Verizon bought up. A-800 upstate, B-800 along the
coast of SC. Verizon is a hodgepodge of A-800 and a little PCS up in
Myrtle Beach because they didn't service Myrtle Beach, at all, until
someone sold them this little PCS company. When I go to Florida, or
anywhere across the country, which is quite infrequently, Alltel sells me
100 minutes of nationwide service for $10, no roaming. If I use that up,
they sell me another 100 minute block for $10 more....not the $297 roaming
fees Verizon charged me from their LDC plan back when. If I don't travel
out of SC/NC area, I don't pay with half minutes for areas I'm not going to
use. It just works better...cheaper.

I'm sure you can also fine a better deal if you shop around your area like
this. Now that you can take your phone number with you, why not? Alltel
doesn't charge me $15 for an office visit, either!....well, yet.

--
Larry

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 19:35:59 -0400, Larry wrote:


> Sure. Which carriers cover your area besides VZW? Most all of them have
> better plans than being FORCED into this low-minutes national plan most
> cellular users have no need for.

I'm in NY near NYC so I get most of the popular ones ie:
Nextel, Sprint, ATT etc

> Think about how far you've traveled in the last 6 months. Will a one or
> two state coverage cover this area for you? If not, how often do you
> travel that far away? Would you be better off with a 2-state plan that
> gave you twice as many minutes, like Verizon used to do, for you to share
> between the phones?

I travel maybe every other month out of state up and down the east coast
mostly and it does come in handy.

> Who else do you often call to their cellphone? What company are they with?
> Most companues now let you call other customers for free, anytime. If you
> call them very often, it may be to your advantage to get on their company's
> system and call for free. Believe it or not, not every cellphone is on
> Verizon!..(c;

Most of the people I call are on Verizon, with Nextel a close second.
I haven't had any complaints with coverage, but the guys using other
carriers sure do, especially Nextel.

My complaint with Verizon is their hodgepodge of plans, bonus offers and
the way their website, stores, flyers included in your bill ALL SEEM TO
CONTRADICT EACH OTHER!!
It is truly a mess.

I've been with Verizon since the 90's and while I can't knock the service
and even the Customer Service people (up until now, read below), their
bills/plans and special offers are totally confusing to me.

Here is an example:

On Monday I ordered via the website, a Moto E815 to replace one of my 3
family share fones VX6000 (not the primary) which was $99.00. I also got
the car charger and was going to get the belt clip and Bluetooth headphone
but they were out of stock. I received a confirmation of my order via
email.

The next morning I look on the website and now they are giving away a free
Moto V265 fone FREE with the E815!
Not that I need another phone, but it's the point that counts.

If that was not bad enough, my bill contains a flyer which has discounts
on Customer Choice Bundle and Essential Package which would have saved me
$5.00 on the charger and $5.00 on the case.
This isn't on the web at all.

On top of that, I get no further communication from Verizon about my order
(it says processing on the web) until tonight when it finally says order
complete and I will receive it in 2-3 business days.
This was after a call to CS where I got transferred to 3 different numbers
before I was speaking to the correct person, who was very pleasant BTW.

The entire thing, at least to me is a mess.
They have so many plans, so many special offers, so many hidden offers
(ie:the $59.99 Family plan which I think still exists, although not
advertised) that it's nothing but a ball of confusion.

Like I said, I have been happy up until now but I feel like I am losing
control of my cellfones and billing. It's like playing an enormous chess
game hoping you time your moves correctly so you don't get screwed.

Anyone else feel like this?

Sponge

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:06:57 -0400, Sponge <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Anyone else feel like this?

Word of warning: While Larry might raise a valid point from time to
time, he's our unofficial group troll. He's a former VZW customer who
got pissed off and just never got over it, even after moving to
Alltel, which isn't available to you and much to Larry's chagrin,
isn't worth a tinker's damn in upstate SC.

But to your point, I cannot and will not defend any of VZW's actions
you mentioned, other than to say that in my experiences, the worst
offenders of "the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing"
are telecommunications companies. One would think a company that
specializes in communications could do a better job of it in-house.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Ahhhh..Give me the days of AMPS and the bagphone....



"Sponge" <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:khSFe.1288$7Q1.713@fe09.lga...
>I have The America's Choice Family Share Plan with:
>
> 400 anythime, unlimited nites and weekends and 1000 Natl. Share In Net cal
> min (whatever that is).
>
> I have 4 phones:
>
> The primary is $39.99
> the other 3 are $20.00 each..
>
> I usually come close to using the 400 minutes but have only gone over a
> couple of times.
>
> Is there a better plan for me?
>
> I have been looking at Verizonwireless.com for hours and between that and
> the flyer in the monthly bill I am totally confused
>
> Sponge

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

The Ghost of General Lee wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:06:57 -0400, Sponge
> <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Anyone else feel like this?
>
> Word of warning: While Larry might raise a valid point
> from time to time, he's our unofficial group troll. He's
> a former VZW customer who got pissed off and just never
> got over it, even after moving to Alltel, which isn't
> available to you and much to Larry's chagrin, isn't worth
> a tinker's damn in upstate SC.
>
> But to your point, I cannot and will not defend any of
> VZW's actions you mentioned, other than to say that in my
> experiences, the worst offenders of "the left hand not
> knowing what the right hand is doing" are
> telecommunications companies. One would think a company
> that specializes in communications could do a better job
> of it in-house.

I've never had a problem. I have no doubt that I may be an
exception. I have fairly straight forward needs. 3 line family
share with somewhere between 1500 and 2000 minutes.
I'm the only one that needs occassional data usage. I spent
some time a few years ago to fully understand all the plans
options and promotions. Now I just barely pay attention to
changes and new offerings. If it's something that I might be
interested in I look into it. Most of it isn't. For example, last
year I caught that small window (2 months?) where they had
the last promo with the AC1 plans. Got the exact same plan
with 500 additional minutes for the exact same price.

Most of the changes are mainly packaging. Old family shares
you got a plan with a primary line and added lines at $20 each.
Now you get a family share with 2 lines and add lines at $10
each. What was the change there? Cheaper for those with
multiple secondary lines. No change for those with 3 lines
and $10 more for those with 2 lines but more minutes?
.... packaging.

AC1 to AC2 could be significant for a very few people as it
could possibly effect service. For the *great* majority of users
it had no effect, dumbed it down where everybody could
understand, made the marketing comparable to Sprint and
the likes, and probably saved a few people from shooting
themselves in the foot with accidental roaming charges.

Surely everybody remembers the endless threads on what
is the difference between Home, Extended, and Roaming
and what does the solid or flashing triangle mean again?

Of course the change did bring a high point to Larry who
had visions of his name in an imaginary supreme court case.

Remember when you always had to qualify with "In MY
area/region" when referring to your plan or offerings?

I've never really seen much, if any, inconsistency. I only
deal with CS or the web so maybe the stores are different.
Where you do see a lot of confusion, half truths, twisted
facts, and "well, I heard..." is here. Most is because people
like the attention, have some other adgenda, or would
rather hear what they want to hear and don't want to
spend maybe an hour to understand something they
will be spending many hundred dollars a year on.

Sure there are some incentives that are only on the web
site, some only by mail, but they mostly amount to a one
time, $10 here or there and are more or less noise relative
to what you're paying for service.

-Quick

So get it down once and sort of listen for changes in the
background. It's not that tough and it's not rocket science.

-Quick

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

The Ghost of General Lee wrote:
>
> Word of warning: While Larry might raise a valid point
> from time to time, he's our unofficial group troll.

Does that make Xman the official troll?

> He's a former VZW customer who got pissed off
> and just never got over it.

I figure Larry got pissed off when he retired. You know,
lonely old guy with not much useful to do any more.
Remember how much better he got for a while after
moving that sail boat up the coast? Something to do
and a little human interaction. I think Larry is just in
need of a hug every now and again... You live in his
neck of the woods, you should do it.

-Quick

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 04:52:30 GMT, "Quick"
<quick7135-news@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote:

>The Ghost of General Lee wrote:
>>
>> Word of warning: While Larry might raise a valid point
>> from time to time, he's our unofficial group troll.
>
>Does that make Xman the official troll?

Pretty much, but I didn't want to bestow that official honor on him.

>> He's a former VZW customer who got pissed off
>> and just never got over it.
>
>I figure Larry got pissed off when he retired. You know,
>lonely old guy with not much useful to do any more.
>Remember how much better he got for a while after
>moving that sail boat up the coast? Something to do
>and a little human interaction. I think Larry is just in
>need of a hug every now and again... You live in his
>neck of the woods, you should do it.
>

Kiss my ass!;-) He lives down on the coast, I live in the upstate.
Let him go hug a shark.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Larry is "pissed" in general. Or so it seems.
Check out alt.online-service.comcast sometime.
Pretty much the same stuff - just the name is changed.
There it's "Comcrap".

But... I don't think they've been subjected to the
Yamaha tome 200 times.... yet.

I think our 'buddy' Larry just hates large corporations.
And gets his warm & fuzzys by being a curmudgeon.
Some just get their jollies by being a general PITA


"Quick" <quick7135-news@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:iwZFe.1664$kk6.724@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> The Ghost of General Lee wrote:
>>
>> Word of warning: While Larry might raise a valid point
>> from time to time, he's our unofficial group troll.
>
> Does that make Xman the official troll?
>
>> He's a former VZW customer who got pissed off
>> and just never got over it.
>
> I figure Larry got pissed off when he retired. You know,
> lonely old guy with not much useful to do any more.
> Remember how much better he got for a while after
> moving that sail boat up the coast? Something to do
> and a little human interaction. I think Larry is just in
> need of a hug every now and again... You live in his
> neck of the woods, you should do it.
>
> -Quick
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

justme wrote:
> Larry is "pissed" in general. Or so it seems.
> Check out alt.online-service.comcast sometime.
> Pretty much the same stuff - just the name is changed.
> There it's "Comcrap".

Interesting, because he's a Knology Cable customer. He's said so a couple
times over the year. Maybe he used to be a Comcast customer.

> I think our 'buddy' Larry just hates large corporations.

He hates everyone.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

In alt.cellular.verizon, Sponge <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote:

> My complaint with Verizon is their hodgepodge of plans, bonus offers and
> the way their website, stores, flyers included in your bill ALL SEEM TO
> CONTRADICT EACH OTHER!!
> It is truly a mess.

Yep. And their bills are a friggin mess!

I just signed up for a family plan (I used to have an individual plan) and
got new phones for me and 3 family members. The initial bill is 10 pages
long!

It has charges and credits and breakdowns and redundant bullshit. They do
their level best to make it all as confusing as possible.

--
Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?

-- System of a Down

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 22:18:54 -0400, The Ghost of General Lee wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:06:57 -0400, Sponge <le_yam@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Anyone else feel like this?
>
> Word of warning: While Larry might raise a valid point from time to
> time, he's our unofficial group troll. He's a former VZW customer who
> got pissed off and just never got over it, even after moving to
> Alltel, which isn't available to you and much to Larry's chagrin,
> isn't worth a tinker's damn in upstate SC.

Thanks for the warning


> But to your point, I cannot and will not defend any of VZW's actions
> you mentioned, other than to say that in my experiences, the worst
> offenders of "the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing"
> are telecommunications companies. One would think a company that
> specializes in communications could do a better job of it in-house.

That's kind of what I expected.
Like I said, I have been with Verizon since the 90's, which actually
included a brief stint with Sprint (for my business), which was terrible
and Cingular, which was even worse. This was about 3 years ago so maybe
things have improved.

FWIW, the phone arrived at 9am this morning, so I have to give Verizon
credit on their 2-3 days ship time.
I only wish their web people would update the site with a tracking number
or something like other companies do.

I'll let everyone know how the E815 compares to the VX6000 as soon as I
switch them and use it for a couple of days.
Sponge