Archived Thread

NFT: Advice: New Phone Needed w/7 Months Left on Contract

Mr. Bungle : 6/20/2015 3:22 pm

I've been a Verizon Wireless customer for a very long time, and I've always done the free phone upgrade with each new 2-year-plan committment. So I have no experience acquiring a new phone outside of that experience.

But, very long story short, I've got a crap phone now that barely works (and no insurance), but I have until the end of January 2016 before I can do my next free upgrade. No way I'm gonna make it.

When I look at the retail prices of phones on Verizon's website, I can't believe how astronomically high they are. I asked a guy at Verizon earlier today if he could switch my phone number from the broken phone to a previous (also crap) phone I still have. He said, "Yeah, as long as it used to be registered with Verizon." Does that mean I can't buy just any phone anywhere and have my number switched to it?

There have to be better options for me right now, but I doubt I can call Verizon and get honest advice from them. And since I'm new to this, I think it would be better to ask those with much, much more experience and knowledge of the details.

I don't need a phone with a lot of bells and whistles. I don't need state of the art or bleeding edge. I'm just looking for the type of Android phone that I'd get for free if I were upgrading today. But I don't want to pay $400 for one of those just because it's 7 months early. What are the best ideas?

Thanks.

check ebay

antdog24 : 6/20/2015 3:51 pm : link

you should be able to find a nice used phone for well under $400. I broke my HTC DNA pretty bad, went on E-bay and got an HTC One m7 for $120 with a case. No problems just make sure it has a clean ESN.

to add

antdog24 : 6/20/2015 3:52 pm : link

I was able to just take my sim card out of my DNA and put it in the One and it worked seamlessly

Ask them about their 'Edge Program'

jc in c-ville : 6/20/2015 3:56 pm : link

If you're a long time customer like me, I was able to get a new phone with them utilizing their edge program and I had two months left to go when my previous phone died.

This is not the same Verizon as 17 months ago, when getting a phone, you either go the edge program route where you pay your phone off over a two year period with 0 upfront cost, or, you sign the two year with major upfront cost.

I think we are starting to see the end of Verizon, A T & T along with Sprint monopolize America's cell phone carriers as people are fed up combined with newer options. I for one will pay off my phone earlier and attempt to find a cheaper option (carrier) that utilize the towers of the larger outfits.

RE: Ask them about their 'Edge Program'

MookGiants : 6/20/2015 4:00 pm : link

In comment 12336259 jc in c-ville said:

Quote:

I don't think he'll be eligible for the edge program until his current contract is up. He'd either need to already be on the edge program right now or out of contract, if on edge program he could "edge" up.

I think

MookGiants : 6/20/2015 4:01 pm : link

ebay is your best option.

It's been awhile since I've been with Verizon

Dave in Buffalo : 6/20/2015 4:52 pm : link

but I'm pretty sure they have upgrades and new contract options available with 6 months of your contract's expiration. Might just be a matter of waiting another month.

what type of phone do you have?

giantfan2000 : 6/20/2015 5:09 pm : link

i would look on web to see if your phone has not been recalled

i had an iphone 5 that gave me all sorts of problems
turns out it was recalled
they gave me a refurb iphone 5 to replace it

Craigslist

mattlawson : 6/20/2015 5:52 pm : link

Bought a phone for my wife. Cash. New SIM. FLAWLESS

Do what my wife did when you went thru three phones

schabadoo : 6/20/2015 7:10 pm : link

Post on Facebook that you need an old Verizon phone. We had an old Iphone in an hour.

There are so many old phones laying around. Just ask.

Just FYI

River Mike : 6/20/2015 9:46 pm : link

there are NO free upgrades. You pay for every phone you get from them. For a $650 phone you will pay 27.08 a month over and above the line charge. 27.08 x 24 months = $650. The contracts are nothing more than finance plans for the phone. If you own your own phone you can get a plan with just line charges and no "contract".

Try Swappa

AF Russ in Rome : 6/21/2015 7:51 am : link

Swappa.Com is pretty awesome for buying cell phones. There's great seller reviews so you can be sure to get it from a trusted source. Good idea to get the I'd number from seller and check with Verizon first just to be sure. If you don't need to have the very latest phone this is a way better option than contract or edge.

A couple things...

bigblue5611_2 : 6/21/2015 7:56 am : link

I work for Verizon and have no reason to give you anything else but an honest answer. First, if you want a good phone that is going to last, stop getting cheap/free phones, you get what you pay for. Second, what plan are you on? Depending on your account, ask if you are eligible for early edge, this would require that you trade in your current phone, provided that it is in good working condition (no cracks or water damage) to get a new phone on the edge program. If you are on a plan that shares 6gb or higher, you will get a $25 discount off the line access for doing this so it will wash most, if not all of the payment for the phone. It's not just adding on payment as River Mike said. Example, the Galaxy S6 is $24.99 a month, so it's a wash with the discount and the iPhone 6 would be like paying $2.08 a month ($27.08 per month for phone). If you are on a plan that shares 4gb or less then it's a $15 discount and you have to decide which phone is worth a bit extra to you, I'd suggest the G3 if you like android, or even the G4 ($3.74 and $5.83 extra per month respectively).

One more note

bigblue5611_2 : 6/21/2015 8:00 am : link

I don't know what promotion you may have on account, so that's why I suggested to ask. You may have early edge to get any phone you want, you may have early edge with only options being droid maxx or droid turbo (get the turbo out of these 2) or you may not have this promo at all but may pop up on your account in the near future in which case I would say to keep checking on it.

So many good responses on here so far.

Mr. Bungle : 6/21/2015 10:52 am : link

Thank you so much, everyone.

I'll respond in detail to some of you when I have more time later today.