[Mr. Marco]

I know many of your addicted to your blackberry devices get a pretty big itch that won't go away until you have the latest and greatest device in your hand lol.

My question is regarding how you guys upgrade your devices basically almost whenever you want even still while locked in a contract with VZW. Do you just bite the bullet and pay the full price of the new deivce? Is there a way to basically work around the contract and get the device for the promotional price and sign a new contract?

I'm wondering about all this because I am considering switching to the Tour but I purchased my Storm in Dec '08 with 2 yr contract.

[Bittersweet BB]

I know many of your addicted to your blackberry devices get a pretty big itch that won't go away until you have the latest and greatest device in your hand lol.

My question is regarding how you guys upgrade your devices basically almost whenever you want even still while locked in a contract with VZW. Do you just bite the bullet and pay the full price of the new deivce? Is there a way to basically work around the contract and get the device for the promotional price and sign a new contract?

I'm wondering about all this because I am considering switching to the Tour but I purchased my Storm in Dec '08 with 2 yr contract.

You can do an early upgrade and re-sign a contract. I have no problems whatsoever with VZW so I don't mind being locked in.

When the Tour is released I will do an early upgrade (I'll be about 9 months short of 2 years) and re-sign to get the 2 yr pricing. That's what I did when I got my curve.

I could never pay full price! I just don't " got it like that".

[Mr. Marco]

So basically you can keep telling them you want a new phone and keep resiging a new 2 yr contract?

They don't care to let the full 2 yrs ride out till the end?

[Bittersweet BB]

So basically you can keep telling them you want a new phone and keep resiging a new 2 yr contract?

They don't care to let the full 2 yrs ride out till the end?

Well they let you do early upgrades, but you'd miss out on the NE2 discount, or not get as much of a discount. I don't have the specific timeframes but it's on their website.

I'm not saying you could just keep doing that every 3 months or anything, but my contract is well over a year in, so I can do an early upgrade and re-sign. VZW doesn't care bc you may save a couple hundred dollars on the price of the phone, but they make that money back quickly when you pay a few months worth of bills.

[shaydakiss23]

So basically you can keep telling them you want a new phone and keep resiging a new 2 yr contract?

They don't care to let the full 2 yrs ride out till the end?

After 1 year ur eligible for an early upgrade. You'll get 2 year contract pricing, but you wont get the same credit towards the phone that you would get if you waited for 2 years.

After that one year, if you decide to upgrade, ur basically signing another 2 year contract, which I dont mind. I agree with Bittersweet, I'm kosher with Verizon and dont plan on leavin. I got my Storm in January, when January 2010 rolls around i'll early upgrade to the Tour and use em both!

[Mr. Marco]

Well I'm on a family plan and my line isn't eligible for the NE2 anyways. I am more into getting the Tour for lets say $199 with new 2 yr. contract.

So as I said above, since my 2 yr contract started in Dec '08 you think Verizon will give me a hard time as far as having me resign another contract and get the phone for the promotional price?

[asdfjkandreax]

do you do the early upgrade in store or is it possible to do it online?

[Mr. Marco]

not sure online, but I am pretty sure your best bet with squaring everything away would be dealing with a VZW store employee or customer care over the phone.

I am guessing that online you are either eligible or not. You need to deal with people.

[shaydakiss23]

Well I'm on a family plan and my line isn't eligible for the NE2 anyways. I am more into getting the Tour for lets say $199 with new 2 yr. contract.

So as I said above, since my 2 yr contract started in Dec '08 you think Verizon will give me a hard time as far as having me resign another contract and get the phone for the promotional price?

Nah, they CAN'T give you a hard time. It's within their guidelines. They're not bending the rules at all by allowing ppl to do this. And as far as being on a family plan, I'm the second phone on a family plan as well. I may not be eligible for the new every 2 credit after 2 years, but I am eligible for new every 2 pricing after 2 years.

You can even use the other person's upgrade. My wife was actually the one eligible for an upgrade in January, but instead I used her upgrade (Verizon allows this as well, no fight necessary). I'll use the same one again in January for my early upgrade...or rather her early upgrade. lol.

[Crayons15]

so even if you aren't the main line you can still re-sign the contract after one year and get a new phone?

[paa79594]

They want you to sign that contract... so they're going to let you upgrade if they get to lock you in. They get your contract money, and they get the money from the new phone.

Win win for them.

[noaim]

once in a while they also may let you grab a second line for discounted price then turn your first line into a pay as you go phone after 30 days or something..

now if the tour is 600 bucks you could also ETF your account for 175 or cheaper then pay 199 or 249 whatever it costs and still get it cheaper then the full price however you risk losing your number.

[stormdevil]

Nah, they CAN'T give you a hard time. It's within their guidelines. They're not bending the rules at all by allowing ppl to do this. And as far as being on a family plan, I'm the second phone on a family plan as well. I may not be eligible for the new every 2 credit after 2 years, but I am eligible for new every 2 pricing after 2 years.

You can even use the other person's upgrade. My wife was actually the one eligible for an upgrade in January, but instead I used her upgrade (Verizon allows this as well, no fight necessary). I'll use the same one again in January for my early upgrade...or rather her early upgrade. lol.

As a VZW emp,
Here it is straight up... you have to wait at-least 20 months to do an upgrade on a secondary line once you sign a 2yr contract. You might fine a nice manager or rep over the phone, but the reps in the store really don't have any power in allowing customers to do early upgrades. Now if your line is the primary line, than you can do an early upgrade every 12 months, but you wont qualify for the additional NE2 credit, you just get the 2yr discounted price.

So far from what you've mentioned, your a secondary line on a family share plan and you just signed a contract dec '08. I don't see how or why they would let you do an upgrade at the 2yr pricing without even completing 8 months on your existing contract. Personally I see where your coming from in wanting a nice fancy new device. But in the grand scheme of things, its a business and it wouldn't be a good business decision if they did that. Think about how much they subsidized your last device for you with the assumption you would complete 2yrs. With that said, you can definitely try and see if a store manager or rep over the phone will allow you to do a contract extension to get the new device.

[stormdevil]

They want you to sign that contract... so they're going to let you upgrade if they get to lock you in. They get your contract money, and they get the money from the new phone.

Win win for them.

not if you haven't even completed 7-8 months left on your existing contract. Only way I can see it is if you don't have an existing data plan, then yes, they may do the early upgrade to get the additional revenue from the customer adding the data package.

[tmacfan4321]

Well I'm on a family plan and my line isn't eligible for the NE2 anyways. I am more into getting the Tour for lets say $199 with new 2 yr. contract.

So as I said above, since my 2 yr contract started in Dec '08 you think Verizon will give me a hard time as far as having me resign another contract and get the phone for the promotional price?

Figure out if the main line has a NE2 on it and just use that for your upgrade. Verizon can move upgrades around from line to line and you will still keep your number.

[shaydakiss23]

As a VZW emp,
Here it is straight up... you have to wait at-least 20 months to do an upgrade on a secondary line once you sign a 2yr contract. You might fine a nice manager or rep over the phone, but the reps in the store really don't have any power in allowing customers to do early upgrades. Now if your line is the primary line, than you can do an early upgrade every 12 months, but you wont qualify for the additional NE2 credit, you just get the 2yr discounted price.

So far from what you've mentioned, your a secondary line on a family share plan and you just signed a contract dec '08. I don't see how or why they would let you do an upgrade at the 2yr pricing without even completing 8 months on your existing contract. Personally I see where your coming from in wanting a nice fancy new device. But in the grand scheme of things, its a business and it wouldn't be a good business decision if they did that. Think about how much they subsidized your last device for you with the assumption you would complete 2yrs. With that said, you can definitely try and see if a store manager or rep over the phone will allow you to do a contract extension to get the new device.

Yea, what I was telling him is that he would be eligible to get the 12 month early upgrade in December, not now. I'm sure thats how he was understanding it as well. At least I thought...

[ScottRPriester]

As a VZW emp,
Here it is straight up... you have to wait at-least 20 months to do an upgrade on a secondary line once you sign a 2yr contract. You might fine a nice manager or rep over the phone, but the reps in the store really don't have any power in allowing customers to do early upgrades.

Not necessarily; store reps are more empowered than ever to make decisions like that. Of course, in the end, mgmt has to approve it. HOWEVER, these decisions are only made in the event of equipment failure,lost or stolen, or in the case of multiple phone replacements. In the case of lost/stolen, you are offered one year agreement price. I would not, however, expect to be given two year agreement price when a secondary line wants to upgrade just because a new device is out.

Now if your line is the primary line, than you can do an early upgrade every 12 months, but you wont qualify for the additional NE2 credit, you just get the 2yr discounted price.

Also, a twenty dollar early upgrade fee may apply

So far from what you've mentioned, your a secondary line on a family share plan and you just signed a contract dec '08. I don't see how or why they would let you do an upgrade at the 2yr pricing without even completing 8 months on your existing contract. Personally I see where your coming from in wanting a nice fancy new device. But in the grand scheme of things, its a business and it wouldn't be a good business decision if they did that. Think about how much they subsidized your last device for you with the assumption you would complete 2yrs.

I agree 100 percent.

[MarcusJY]

Now if your line is the primary line, than you can do an early upgrade every 12 months, but you wont qualify for the additional NE2 credit, you just get the 2yr discounted price.

Can you tell what is the additional NE2 credit?

[stormdevil]

Can you tell what is the additional NE2 credit?

its depends on when the 2yr contract was last signed... it can be anything from $30, $50, or $100. There are no more $100 credits through VZW, this shouldn't be a big deal because the 2yr prices of the phones has gone down. But I believe that if your Primary line is on a $79.99+ price plan, than you receive a $50 credit through the new terms of service. With that said, on the old terms of service you would've received a $100 credit. The switch to the new terms was during this spring and I can't remember the date for the life of me. But some customers out there can still potentially qualify for a $100 credit if they haven't upgraded in more than 5-6 months. Also, if your below a $79.99 price plan on the primary line than you receive a $30 credit.

[JoJoCal19]

once in a while they also may let you grab a second line for discounted price then turn your first line into a pay as you go phone after 30 days or something..

now if the tour is 600 bucks you could also ETF your account for 175 or cheaper then pay 199 or 249 whatever it costs and still get it cheaper then the full price however you risk losing your number.

It would be better to go online, add a second line to your account for $9.99/mo and get the Tour for $199 (guess) and then IMMEDIATELY assign an older non data required phone to that line and put the Tour on your main line. On day 31 cancel the new line and pay the $175 or maybe $170 ($5 off for the month) ETF and then you basically have the Tour for $199 + $170 ETF + $9.99 1mo service so like $380, which sure beats $500+ retail. The other advantage is its like a payment plan since youre initially paying the $199 for the phone and then a month later paying $175 instead of plopping down $380 at once

[Terrigno]

Read the thread I have in here about trying to get the Tour for a better price. It worked when I got my curve. Its a few threads down.

[Terrigno]

It would be better to go online, add a second line to your account for $9.99/mo and get the Tour for $199 (guess) and then IMMEDIATELY assign an older non data required phone to that line and put the Tour on your main line. On day 31 cancel the new line and pay the $175 or maybe $170 ($5 off for the month) ETF and then you basically have the Tour for $199 + $170 ETF + $9.99 1mo service so like $380, which sure beats $500+ retail. The other advantage is its like a payment plan since youre initially paying the $199 for the phone and then a month later paying $175 instead of plopping down $380 at once

Ahh I didnt see this post. But you are right on the money my friend. Thats exactly how you do it. And that cheaper price sure beats a full retail price like he said.

[risk235]

I had good luck with telesales. They are pretty good at offering you a deal when you still are in contract.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[dst255]

I bought the LG Dare (bleh) on my primary line in early July 08. I then bought the Storm on my secondary line, and switched the device to my primary line. I haven't checked up with anyone at VZW yet, but from my understanding, my primary line should be eligible for an early upgrade this July. Or at least, I hope so ... c'mon Tour!!