I am currently a subscriber of Verizon Wireless yet I work for another wireless provider. That being said, I carry two phones. One for my personal use and one for work use. My personal line is my Verizon line. I am often asked why I carry a Verizon phone yet work for another company. The answer was simple! They treated me fairly and my reception was acceptable as well as my monthly rate. For those reasons alone I had decided to resign my contract shortly after being hired by a competitor of thiers. Well, that was 4 years ago. When my contract came up I decided to go ahead and resign another one to get new phones for the wife and I at a discounted price.
Now, that contract is up yet again, I was interested in getting a new phone for my wife as I was happy with mine. After doing some searching, I purchased a Blackberry Curve from a guy who had Verizon before he switched to the wireless company I work for. So, I take my new Curve into my local agent store where I am told that although I did not purchase this phone directly from a Verizon store that I still had to carry the Blackberry data package. This is a shock to me. The company I work for carries the Blackberry Curve as well and YES we require you carry the data package on your phone but ONLY if you purchase the phone from us. If you were to go purchase a Blackberry from any other source, say a friend or EBay, and bring it in to us we simply activate that line on your account.
Well, at this point I believe it is simply a requirement of the agent I took the phone into so I call *611. A woman answered who verified who I was and then asked how she could help me. I explained my situation to her and she verified what the agent had told me. At this point I asked to speak to someone higher than her and she tells me NO, I can speak to her. Now I am upset. So then I explain that I work for a wireless company and I KNOW that Blackberry's will work without having an internet package. She tells me that the idea behind it is that if you want a Blackberry then you want the internet. I responded that I understood where she was coming from but I didn't want the internet package. She responded that the Blackberry may be too advanced for me then... WOW! At that point I asked her to verify that I was out of contract which she did and then I asked a few questions about the cancellation policy and hung up. I do want to say that this woman too tried to get me to upgrade. HAHAAHA...
I then call back and this time I went through the options until I got to the cancellation department. I asked her to look up my account and asked some questions about thier cancellation policy. Of course the woman answers them and then asks me why I am wanting to cancel. I explain my position and how I was talked down to. This woman was very polite and apologized to me. I did find it humours that she tried to get me to upgrade and buy 2 Blackberry's as they had a buy one get one special going on. I politely declined and reiterrated that I did NOT want the data packge, thus being the basis of my desire to cancel.
Ok, story told, let's get down to the nitty gritty...
Here are the two reasons I was given that I had to get the data package:
1. If you want a Blackberry then it is assumed you want the data package.
2. The phone is constantly updating with the network and with out the data package I would incurr massive data charges.
As I said, I work for a wireless company who sells the Blackberry Curve. I can name atleast a handfull of people who carry this phone with out the data package. The Blackberry Curve CAN be used without a data package and your phone CAN be set up not to access the data portion of the network thus avoiding the data charges.
The fact is, this is a HUGE revenue stream for the company and by requiring it on ALL data phones is a sure fire way to increase profits as more and more people go wireless for nearly everything!
I understand all companies have policies but there is no need to lie to enforce those policies.in addition, I would assume that the $82-$85 per month I pay now for the total of about 400 combined minutes a month is mostly proffit at this point as I am already a customer and have been for nearly 10 years. That being said, you would also think that Verizon would allow the rules to be bent in such situations. Essentially the are going to be losing loose my business over a $39.99 data package.
I urge you ALL to stick with a GSM network if you trully value your freedom. Any GSM phone can be used with ANY GSM provider as long as the GSM phone you have is unlocked and operates on the same frequency! You are then able to share your pictures, music, ringtones and contacts with other unlocked GSM phones. Hell, I had a program on my Palm Treo that allowed me to use my Treo as a remote conrtol for TV's via infrared! You truly are free to enjoy all the capabilities of your phone!
Avoid Verizon at all cost. They may be the largest wireless network in the US but the larger they get, the smaller you get! Tell your friends, tell your family and tell everyone to avoid this company like the plague!!!
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