I saw the commercial for upgrading to the iphone6 and also chatted with a rep. She explained about the trade in and how it works. The one thing she didnt tell me nor does the commercial is that you have to be eligible for an upgrade. So another wasted tri

Question

I saw the commercial about upgrading to the iphone6 and also chatted with a rep about it. She explained how the trade in works. Neither she not the commercial says anything about being eligible for an upgrade. So another wasted trip to Verizon. I will be eligible for upgrade in Feb 2015. I have the 5s in excellent condition. If I am willing to extend my contract for another 2 yrs I don't see why it should matter about an upgrade. I think I should be able to trade in and get reduced price. Just another ripoff but at least they could tell you upfront what is expected before a trip is made..

Answer 1

You don't need to be eligible for an upgrade to take advantage of the trade-in. You can still get the $200 off on the trade in, however I think that offer may have already expired. The $200 off would simply be on the full retail price which starts at $650.
You have to be eligible for an upgrade to get a discounted phone, but that has ALWAYS been the case. The commercial says NOTHING about waiving that requirement of the contract you had already signed. The trip was wasted ONLY because you were hoping to get out of your contract when NO indication you would be able to do so was given.
Verizon doesn't "extend" contracts as you would like because Verizon would have people with 10 year contracts and an ETF of over $1000 if they chose to leave. Of course, people would then complain about that.
Example:
Sign a 2 yr contract and have a $350 ETF.
After a year, you want a new phone and extend the contract 2 years(3 years total now) with another $350 ETF, bringing the ETF up to $350 + $350 - $120 = $580
After a year, you want a new phone and extend the contract 2 years(4 years total now) with another $350 ETF, bringing the ETF up to $350 + $580 - $120 = $810
After a year you want a new phone and extend the contract 2 years(5 years total now) with another $350 ETF, bringing the ETF up to $350 + $810 - $120 = $1040.
ONLY 3 years after signing your original contract someone could easily be locked in with a 5 year contract and a $1040 ETF for a single line. Verizon would be CRAZY to allow people to do this.