Verizon Wireless is one of the first carriers to do something before everyone else, but not this time around. This week the company was the last of the large mobile carriers in the United States to require customers to pay an upgrade fee when they purchase new equipment when on contract. Verizon customers were the last to be free of the upgrade fee while Sprint and AT&T customers were getting charged $36 to upgrade to a new device on contract. T-mobile also charges their customers but T-Mobile customers only get charged $18.
Verizon Wireless released a statement regarding the new fee saying, “On April 22, Verizon Wireless is implementing a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers purchasing new mobile equipment at a discounted price with a two-year contract. This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to expect which includes Wireless Workshops, online educational tools, and consultations with experts who provide advice and guidance on devices that are more sophisticated than ever. While the upgrade fee is not unique to Verizon Wireless, most devices can be traded in with our green friendly trade-in program at www.verizonwireless.com/tradein as a way to save money or potentially offset the fee completely.”
Whatever the carrier wants to call the fee and what the money goes for customers are still going to complain and hope that at least the fee might not go up in the future. Many of the customers think the fee is unfair and realize the carriers need to make ends meet, but most of them also know that the cost of smartphone is built into the monthly fees paid by subscribers. Last time around, which was also this week, Verizon Wireless announced they would be requiring customers to purchase a landline with one of the company’s high-speed internet plans.
Verizon Wireless, like many other companies have noticed a major loss when customers dump their landlines for cell phones and keep internet services. Currently, the company will require customers that want to upgrade or update their account will be forced to buy a landline phone as well. Landline phones have gone almost completely away over the past couple years and customers are not going to be happy about the requirement and rightfully so.
